Demonstration in Canberra

While I was on the way back from Thredbo on Friday, the coach, whose route would pass by the Canberra airport, encountered a small demonstration there.



I did not get the details of the demonstration as I was inside the coach, but it seems to me that they're fighting for more benefits for cleaners. It was a rather small group... I estimate about thirty people in the demonstration, but boy it was lively! In fact, it was quite like a parade, with the demonstrators blowing whistles and shaking sand-filled bottles.

They halted traffic for a minute or two (during which I took this photograph), but it created little disruptions otherwise. In fact, I saw some passers-by waving and smiling at them approvingly. The drivers who were stopped by the crowd did not seem to mind either (but of course if they did, I doubt they would show it). There was even a television crew interviewing someone who seems like the organiser of the demonstration, probably some union leader.

I cannot comment if the demands and actions of the demonstrators are appropriate, since I know nothing about their situations, but it is at least, personally, enlightening to see for myself how a demonstration is really like (albeit a small scale one). It is one thing to think and read about demonstrations and another to really see one with my own eyes.

It's quite... educational (for a lack of a better word) to observe the contrast between Australian society and Singaporean society. I believe there will be more to discover; at least I'm certain of one: NUS grades are based on a bell-curve while ANU grades are absolute. I will definitely follow this pretty closely.