Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

I disagree. Your Bible clearly tells you what to do. Once again you are showing your smugness and arrogants.

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So this is turning into a Muslim vs Christian thread?

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

Certainly looks that way, although I'm still having a chuckle at the stats for a 3.5% Muslim UK population. Not last time I went to the UK it wasn't.

Statistics are slippery things - the same happens with the stats for the NSW Chinese population. They ask where they're born, but many Chinese families continue to speak in Chinese and conform totally to their culture even when 2nd generation. By the 3rd and 4th generations they've turned into 'can't be stuffed' Aussies.

I've spent two days at Macquarie Uni in Sydney and, honestly, did not hear one word of English being spoken, nor one non-Asian face. I know one really lovely Aussie girl who studies there and she says it'd dreadful as most of the Chinese students are not capable of writing much above basic English, so writing a research essay on physics is impossible, and yet they're given 'very' high marks. She says even simple things like getting a can of Coke from the vending machines on campus is impossible as they're all full of green tea - she's not joking either, I tried the same thing and gave up as I don't read Chinese!

This might sound like racist ranting...it's not. Just an appreciation for the way things are. Each country has it's own migration issues, at least Australia is being colonised by a group who are hardworking and keen to get on. However, as one leading academic has pointed out....who afterwards lost his job due to it, "don't expect the same sort of 'helping hand' when every managerial position is taken by a person of Chinese extraction. They will look after their own". The only solution is that all Aussies start working and studying as hard as the Chinese....hopefully not plagiarising and manipulating the system quite to the extent as they do though! I do think the Chinese can teach us a lot about friendship, manners and family duty though, we have many Chinese friends and always enjoy their company and are amazed at the lengths they go to support family members.

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

I know at least two university lecturers here in Qld, at different universities, who say exactly the same thing. It's big business, I think a lot of lecturers don't like it but are not going to cut off their nose to spite their face by failing Asian students paying triple what Aussie students are - upfront too, not sitting in HECS for years.

One friend said you had students at PhD level who didn't have a grasp on basic English/grammar. :confused::thumbdown:

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

Collectivist cultures have a lot going for them, rather than our individualistic one. However, I think they are slowly going the same way. I hear old peoples' homes are gaining popularity in Asian countries, something that was unheard of previously as it was family duty to look after the elders.

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

you're right - it's possibly less than that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_i...United_Kingdom

http://www.mcb.org.uk/library/statistics.php

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

I always makes me laugh that people think the UK is full of Muslims. They see a 'dark' skin and make a multitude of assumptions.

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

My boys both hated their degree courses at ANU because so much of the work was group based assessment - and when half your group cannot speak English and half of the rest are too p*ssed to be bothered doing the work, that really rankles for a conscientious student. DS2 was so incensed at one point he appealed a decision and got what he was worth even if the group wasnt. It would be nice if the unis were actually centres of excellence!

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

I had this problem last semester. Group of five, one Aussie, one German, me (Pom), one Japanese, one Chinese. The Jap and Chinese didn't put any effort in at all, they didn't give a sh*t. I don't care what nationality anyone is, if you are affecting my mark, I'm not happy about it! I put a complaint in to my tutor about them (which I felt a bit bad about as the Japanese girl was actually really lovely, just slack).

We didn't find out until the end that they we assessed our group members and were then marked accordingly. I got a 7, hate to think what they got! :p

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

I did a recruiting trip to the UK last month in Oxford Manchester and Warwick business schools. 10% of the students only were British and these are good schools!!

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

What's the other 90% made-up of then?

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

Mauritius is a shining example of this (I am half-Mauritian - French colonial).

Mauritius was a British territory until 1968. After that, with the majority of immigrants being from the Indian sub-continent, things started to change.

To cut a long story short, my Mum's relatives (of French colonial descent) still live there and they have recently been told that if they own any property on the beach (within a certain distance from the waters-edge) then they must pay tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of pounds in tax to keep the property. This action was quite deliberate and aimed at taking from the white people to give to the majority ethnic Indian population. Historically, the ethnic Indians did not find themselves in possession of this type of property so they decided that it was time to just take it. It's a tactic that Mugabe would have been proud of.

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

Yes, all well and good being multicultural, but once the balance tips, then you have recent migrants becoming part of the politics and organisation of the country - at what point does the culture change to that of another country. I was just checking on the B'ham council website and see that the Mayor is Muslim. In the blurb, there wasn't much about being a proud Brummy, just lots about being Muslim.

Last time my stepdad was visiting Brum, he was absolutely devastated to walk through areas with signs put up (obviously not official ones) that said "no whites after 8pm". He asked locals why the police didn't take them down and he was told they were terrified of the consequences. Apparently being around 'before' 8pm was OK, as they wanted whites to spend their money at the local shops.

And before the PC brigade gets involved, he certainly wasn't making this up, he's a proud old Brummie who has always got on with everyone no matter what their colour and this really saddened him.

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

I must have read a different bio to you

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/Generat...93&EXPAND=5092

Re: Schoolboys get detention for refusing to pray to Allah!
 

I'd vote for him! Sounds like a great chap.

This is the problem. Immigrants move in, contribute to the system (working, paying tax, having kids who then become second generation immigrants). At what point down the line are they allowed to have their say? Does it make it more palatable if large groups have moved here en masse (say, Brits moving to Australia)?

I know as an immigrant myself I expect to adapt to the ways of the host country but I also expect as a long term member of that society to have a say and have certain rights (as well as responsibilities) extended to me.

Second generation immigrants usually also want to retain their original cultural background as well as their new cultural identity, which then really complicates the issue.

It's a very complex situation and one that we do have to address given the transient nature of today's world.