Bad news continues.......

Well providing bad news is not the most beloved thing to do. But in current economic crisis that's exactly I have to do ,,,, December employment figures were release today and following article is on that.

http://business.theage.com.au/business/massive-drop-in-fulltime-jobs-20090115-7hdk.html

Flat Growth at Zero

The outlook for the Australian economy for 2009 seems to be ... well, as expected ...not that good. But it is sad to hear that the recovery is not expected on its way as one would be expecting. Following article explains why Australian economy will have a slower recovery than some of its European counterparts.

http://business.theage.com.au/business/zero-growth-tipped-for-2009-20090114-7gjo.html

For people who are planning to migrate, this will not be a good news at all......

Gloomy outlook for people who migrate....

Things are not happening good back here. The following article explains the situation in Australian job market as pertoday and over last few months. The whole story can be reduces to the following sentense in it.

"The rate of decline in job advertising intensified in the month of December, providing further evidence that the demand for new labour across the Australian economy is now at recession levels"

Read the full article at......

http://business.theage.com.au/business/job-ads-at-recession-level-20090112-7eq8.html

This one makes me scared as well .....

When in come to employment ..the outlook for the coming three months seems to be gloomy ...... see the following article .....

http://business.theage.com.au/business/jobless-numbers-likely-to-rise-as-sales-and-profits-fall-report-20090105-7ajc.html

Aussie News ....

I wish a peaceful year for the whole world......

Again after a long time .... It is a shame that I cannot continue updating this on a regular basis. Anyway, late is better than never .....

There are few friends of mine who are planning to migrate to Australia in coming months and some more are there in the pipeline to get the PR. I was sending them frequent updates on job situation in Australia, exchange rate fluctuations, migration policy changes etc. when ever I come across any ..... I thought of updating this blog as and when I send such a mail to my friends (At least by that way I will be able to keep this blog alive...... shhh.....) :D

To give a brief outlook I should say this is not the ideal time to migrate to Australia. If someone has a reasonable good job back in SL and if not having a very urgent reason to leave Sri Lanka it is better to stick to the current job for another 6 months at least. Most of the organisations have stop recruiting and some has actually started re-structuring ( another word for layoff ) ..... I am particularrly looking at the IT sector and online job advertisements have been dried-out in a considerable way. Following article may give a reasonable view of what has happened ...

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,24865128-15335,00.html?from=public_rss

On the otherhand AUS$ had been trading around Rs70 throughout last few months has started gaining against Sri Lankan rupee. At the moment its trading around Rs.81 ... Last couple of weeks there was an upward trend and if someone is planning to migrate sooner it is might be a good idea to buy some currencies now. Well I am not an expert in currency market and no one should rely on my words here (Disclamer... :))

We I might be adding these sort of posts in future .... so keep tune on ....

Re-thinking....

Since I posted my last post, I met several Sri Lankans who had taken advantage of the service provided by places like Salvation Army. I asked them (with very carefully selected words) why they went for that service. They told me different stories some are really sad and some are really disgusting. 

But, most of the people had got that service due to their financial difficulties. They had spent about Rs. 200,000 for PR process and another Rs.200,000+ for their air tickets and had been in a bad situation when they came to Australia. So they had not been in position to buy anything and had taken the easy path. Well, I do not like to blame them for what they did. Some had come here with their wives and children, and some in the middle of the winter etc etc. But in the same time I think its part of their stupidity to jump in to such difficulties. 

When most of the people get their PR, they tend to forget everything and start counting dates to migrate. This is the reason for most of these difficulties. I heard about a person who had come here with his wife and the small child without knowing anyone here and without having a place to stay. He must have been thinking Australia as a country which dying to get people in, providing them with food and shelter etc.     

This is a country which has more than enough wealth. But it will not provide much help to the people with PR. PR is like a probation period and once you get citizenship only, the government is concern about your job, studies etc. (I think it is because the govt. has to provide 'doll' otherwise.... fair enough). So basically you will be on your own once come here. 

So for people who do not plan their migration, there is very less chance to stand up on their own without getting help from the charity organizations. 

So my conclusion for today is, if you get help (begging in my terms) from charity, you should not be ashamed of what you did, but ashamed of not planning your life properly and put yourself in a position of begging.   

Moral Issue...

Well yes... its after more than two months. So many things happen during these period but things are going on well now.

Thought of writing this today due to constant suggestions from friends, relatives on something I don't like to do. First of all, I moved to a new apartment.Since I did not have anything on my own had to buy everything from A to Z. Believe me, its costly. To give you some understanding, following are prices of few low-mid end appliances in Sri Lankan rupees.

• Fridge - 45,000 upwards
• Microwave Oven - 9000 upwards
• Washing Machine/Dryer - 60,000 upwards
• Computer - 110,000 avg
• Bed/mattress (Double) - 50,000 upwards
• Iron, Rice Cooker, Toaster, Kettle - 10,000 upwards
• Table - 10,000 upwards
• Sofa set (Low end) - 50,000 upwards
• TV - 20,000 (CRT), 80,000 upwards (LCD - current trend)
  

Since I had to spend money for all of the above, several friends & relatives suggested to go to places like Salvation army where they provide these free of charge. BUT.. I decide against it. Well, why.....Following is my logic behind it.

First of all we should re-think why we came to Australia. I personally came to live a comfortable life. But expecting that comfort, should we loose our dignity? When I first came I didn't want to do an odd job like cleaning etc. Why should I clean someones dirt when I could have done a respectable job back in Sri Lanka without coming here. Not that I put people who do the cleaning to a lower level, but the job itself.

Well this might not be the case for everyone. But I am sure people who are migrating under Skill migration program are having some standard of living in SL. So why do they put them in a relatively lower position. How many of these people who suggested to get things from Salvation Army would have done the same in Sri Lanka. None.... why.... because back there we were used to live respectable lives. Getting something like that would have been feel like a refugee. But same person when migrated put their mind in to refugee mind-set. Really interesting how mind works, isn't it.

If people are worrying about above cost, the best thing is to bring things from Sri Lanka. If people send their appliances via sea freight I think it will cost them about Rs, 100,000. But for me spending that is better than begging.

You must be thinking I am a really proud person who write this with my ego. Well yes... I am proud of what I am doing and not begging someone for things I want. I am sure someday in future I will be able to look back and have a satisfied mind.

So no sofa, no TV... for another couple of months ... :)