Int'l frogs boiling in melting pot

Some 547,000 overseas students help to create a 15.5 billion-Australian-dollar annual industry for Australia. But the country's third-largest export, following only coal and iron ore exports, is under threat by a re-emergence of racist attitudes against international students.

Hundreds of students took to the streets on Sept 2 in Sydney to once again protest against racism. They urged the Australian government to seriously heed students' grievances over issues such as safety, accommodations, visas, transport concessions and unreliable institutions.

None of these problems are new. The inefficient bureaucracy system and ingrained racism in Australia have kept all of these problems unresolved. The situation is similar to putting a frog in slowly heated water. International students are not the only frog in the hot pot and they will likely hop out if the situation worsens. Ultimately, the Australian economy will be the victim of the boiling water.