You meet some pretty interesting characters when you work in the taxi industry. One of the guys I met at the Airport and Casino ranks is Ming, or maybe its Minh, I'm not sure. He's a real cheerful character who came to Australia from Burma. I know it is Myanmar now but I'll still call it Burma. Minh's English is quite good; some other Asians taxi drivers, particularly the Vietnamese ones, their English is quite poor and I have difficulty understanding them when I chat to them. I asked Ming one night why his English is so good and he said that there are three basic subjects in Burmese schooling: Burmese, Mathematics and English.
Minh is a refugee. He fought with the guerilla army in the Burmese countryside against the military dictatorship for seven years before escaping to Thailand where he was placed by the UNHCR in a refugee camp. Obviously his claims for asylum were accepted and he was given a choice between three countries to go and live: USA, Canada and Australia. He choose Australia because it was closer to Burma; he had hoped that the situation in Burma would improve and he could return. Little do people know, I certainly didn't, that Burma during the 1950s and 1960s was a prosperous country where the Buddhists lived peaceful lives. Then the military came along and fucked it all up.
Minh works hard. He does six nights a week, 12 hour shifts and then after that he does his cleaning jobs for two hours in the early hours of the morning. His wife works as a cleaner at a university as well, so they are able to pay off a mortgage and support their daughter who goes to university in Melbourne. Ming hopes one day to go to university and study and get a better job. I hope he does, he deserves it.
