Law Week Writing Competition

Diversity Makes the Difference

Different Foood and Music
In Australia some people like to have food from different countries and from their own country. So people started to open different restaurants and cook different food.

Such as sushi from Japan that can have fish or different types of seafood, meat, or vegetables in it. Or people might like to have pizza from Italy with many different toppings such as pineapple, capsicum, mushroom or meat and many more other toppings. Or doner kebabs from Turkey with fresh tabouli, plus there are also Korean barbeque restaurants from Korea which you can also have a bowl of rice, raw slices of mushroom, cooked bean sprouts, Korean dumplings (which are called Mandu in Korea).

Also the music is different because different people listen to different music. People might like to listen to Aboriginal music, old music, Chinese music, classical music, French music, new music, hip hop music, instrumental music and many more other different types of music. People like to listen to different music because the people that sing the songs have different voices like a really high sound, a really low sound or just a normal voice to sing with.

All the music and food in Australia is great because both of these things are different. It is great because you can dance to music and do all sorts of things to music. The food is also great because there are different tastes, spices and smells in all kinds of food.

Diversity
How would the world be
Without diversity
All the same food
No different mood

How would the world be
Without diversity
Beliefs would be the same
And so would, every game

How would the world be
Without diversity
There would be no different tunes to play
Music would so be boring all day

Diversity is just great
All the festivals that we celebrate
There is always different food on the plate

Diversity is just great
Not everyone thinks the same
People wanted something different
So that’s why they came

Diversity is just great
People want to do new things every day
And people don’t have to always play

Diversity
Many people from came across the sea
From the earliest Aborigine
They came by boats of wood and steel
They came to this place so they could feel
Happy and content and free

My ancestors came from Italy long ago
They settled down in Australia the land of fair go
They fished and planted grapes and seed
So that people could feed
They built cities and bridges and roads and dams
So that people could be proud of this wide brown land

In recent times from Asia they came and gave us spice and
noodles and lemon grass
Now our food is really world class

At my school there are people from all over the place
And at Coogee Public we always respect other peoples race
There is no division if you are black or white or yellow or brown
Or if you are in a wheel chair because you have fallen down

We respect people’s difference and their right to be free
Australia the landof diversity.

Diversity Makes the Difference
I walked down the main street and I smelt the delicious foods from all over the world. It was getting close to Chinese New Year, so people had started putting up decorations and lanterns on the streets. Everything was colourful and alive.

I walked over to a particular stall that I knew well. My friend, who was the owner, was looking a sad and troubled. I asked her, "Liu-Min, what’s the matter with you?’’

"Well I was just thinking, where will I go?" she mumbled

"What do you mean?" I questioned. She told me how the officials were thinking about making ‘my’ part of town more ‘Australian’.

As I walked home, I thought about what my friend had said. How could anyone think of such a horrible thing? It made me angry, frustrated and annoyed.

Within that week, sure enough most of the town seemed less exciting. The foods were nice, but they weren’t the same as all the different smells from all over the countries making your taste buds tingle. Sure for a little time it was okay, but having every thing native made me feel ill after a while. It made me remember when I used to play with kids whose language I couldn’t understand.

Every one had noticed the change. My parents wrote to all the officials. Then one by one, I saw familiar faces returning to the streets. And once again, I saw my friends. I smelt new foods, but most importantly I saw all around me, diversity.

Diversity
Diversity means difference

Without it what would we be

No education, no new things

And not much fun for me

A bad situation comes to mind

No new ways of thinking

Without diversity we would not know much

We’d just be blinking

I am hungry for new food

Nothing new to try

After all without diversity

We’d eat things that are alike

We all go to another place

It’s so easy to speak

Then suddenly a new language appears

We can’t even say “Eeek”

Because of diversity

Our world is a very beautiful place

And now that we have diversity

We are all in one race


The Girl Who Was Different
I absolutely HATE my new school! Everyone makes fun of me because I’m Indian and most of all because I’m mute. They tease me loudly when the teachers aren’t there and because I can’t speak, the only thing I can do is give them a note telling them to stop bullying me. But it’s not as if that makes any difference. They just tear my note up and shriek with laughter, telling me that I’m useless and that it wouldn’t be much better if I’d yelled at them! I’m still a coward. Whenever they say this I know that it’s true because if I had the courage, I’d have written my mind and wrote that just because I’m different it doesn’t mean I’m not special. I know that diversity is one of the best things in the world. If we didn’t have diversity everyone would have the same thoughts, the same appearance and the same ideas.

Maybe all of these kids know that deep down diversity is a unique, special and amazing thing that will never fade.

So one day, I set off to show them about difference. Once I was in the classroom I took the chalk and wrote “diversity may not show as clearly to you as it does to me but I know that diversity is always there and it is always a good thing” on the black board. Some students nodded and smiled, others waved. Now they understand.

Diversity Makes a Difference
Not long time ago, in a land far away a lot of people didn’t like each other. They didn’t talk to each other, they didn’t play together and they didn’t even say hello to each other in the street. They didn’t get along because they didn’t like each other’s culture and food. Then one day a stranger came into town. He rang a bell and every glum person came into town.

“Come on everyone lets try everyone’s culture!” he said in a happy voice but everyone refused. “You’re crazy,” they said and all left.

Then one morning the people in the town heard music. They saw the man with food and asked if they could try some and he said yes. Then they ate, danced and laughed all day. Now everybody in the town is happy and gets along because they enjoy sharing in each other’s cultures.