What is it about Australia that makes it the greatest place on earth to live? It is very easy to reflect on your homeland with rose-coloured glasses. When living in the US, I would reminisce about Australia's magnificent beaches and national parks, the irreverent humour of Doug Mulray, the natural beauty of Australian girls. I conveniently forgot about the Sydney traffic, the tall poppy syndrome, the flies in summer and the hidden and sometimes overt racism.

My parents felt strongly that immigrants should assimilate. It always made sense to me that if a country was attractive enough to uproot your family, leave your loved ones, learn a new language, and travel for weeks on a boat across an ocean to, then why would you wish to change anything about the local culture?

But racism was rife in those days. I can't remember a day that I wasn't jeered or mocked by some group of kids. It made a child tough. Australia has become multicultural and racism has diminished over the last 50 years but it disturbs me when I hear some of our politicians reassuring overseas governments that it doesn't exist at all. One of my visiting Indian neurosurgeons was spat on by an adult male who drove past him as he waited at a traffic light. It is incorrect and naive to say there is no anti-Arab or no anti-Indian sentiment; just ask someone of Middle Eastern or Indian appearance.

Spending nine years in the US was enlightening. Before I went, I had an internal conflict on the issue of immigration. My parents were immigrants, but I was proud that the Chinese never featured in the tabloids or the evening news. I wanted it to stay that way and I thought that limiting the number of Chinese entering the country would ensure the bad ones were excluded.

My time in the US made me reflect on how a country that was not much older or bigger than ours had achieved such standing on the world stage. In general, Americans were not more intelligent, diligent or talented. They have natural resources, so do we. Their pioneers did it tough, so did ours. They had national pride, so do we. Speak to most Americans and they will be the first to concede the dependence of their economy on the hard-working and fiercely loyal Mexicans. Speak to almost any taxi driver there and you will be inspired by a story of tragedy and conflict followed by hope and opportunity and concluded by a statement of national pride - in America.

I hope that our country would benefit from immigration of peoples from countries of conflict, or those subjected to political persecution, who are simply seeking refuge from violence and a better life for their children. I believe Australia has a moral and social obligation to demonstrate a higher level of kindness to and acceptance of refugees. I don't know how this may be achieved but I certainly know that both sides of politics are floundering. I would humbly suggest that a bipartisan approach would be one step closer to a solution and we need it now.

Australia is a great country. Generations of Aussies have given us the foundations onto which we may construct an even greater nation - one that is culturally and socially sensitive; acknowledges a responsibility to our own people as well as neighbours who are less fortunate; and identifies, nurtures and rewards innovation. I would like to see this Australia Day as a turning point. I want my fellow Australians to think of the lives that have been sacrificed for what we take for granted. I want everyone who finds themselves angry and intolerant to think first about the misfortunes of those who are less fortunate, such as those with cancer. I want anyone who has come from another country to embrace the Australian way of life. I want all Australians to see how immigrants have contributed to our nation and to appreciate that a prosperous country has a responsibility to share our resources. Finally, I want to thank Australians for giving me professional and personal fulfilment, for believing in me when some of my colleagues didn't, and for seeing a Chinaman as an Aussie, not as a foreigner.

Turning Point To A Greater Australia