Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation    • Increase font
size   • Default font size   • Decrease font size    by Cathy
Huang and Sue Pon  From the Orient to Oceania    Susie Sue Tin’s
love for the unexpected complimented her being—imagine a tall,
immaculately dressed young Chinese woman who enthusiastically
spoke her mind with an unfailing Australian accent. Many people
don’t know that historically, Chinese Australians constitute a
large swath of the Chinese diaspora. Initially lured by the
promises of making a fortune and earning lifetime pride, Chinese
left their homes for the “New Gold Mountain,” as Australia was
dubbed in the mid 19th century (the original Gold Mountain, gam
saam, being San Francisco).  The Chinese established major
Chinatowns in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. People became
merchants and hawkers, fishers, but eventually represented a
whole variety of industries including scrub cutters,
interpreters, cooks, and storekeepers.  Susie Sue Tin’s father
left his Chinese village of Har H