The Australian Dream & $1 Properties

At that time, I had been in Australia for about six months. Almost every cent I had earned from the five jobs over that period had been saved, except for the money spent on the new push-bike. I had almost no other expenses as my meals and accommodation were supplied to me free of charge. From my first volunteer job in the West End take-away shop up until then, I had accumulated all the skills necessary to find another job that would pay me, at least, according to the government award rate. I had saved about $7,000 in total, which enabled me to repay all my dear relatives and friends. As a decent human being, I had not only to meet but also to exceed their expectations and never wanted to let them down, so I decided to take advantage of this opportunity when the restaurant’s management changed by quitting my Chinese restaurant dishwashing job. On hand over day, I told the owner that I would not be staying and I would like to receive all my pay entitlement. When I got my payment, I experienced a strong feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction, knowing that it was now me who wanted to leave!

One of the happiest moments of my life was when I knew that I would be able to repay all my friends and family members ahead of the promised one-year time. Although it had only been a verbal promise to most of them, it meant everything to me. Having worked for 80 to 100 hours a week without taking off one single day in the last five to six months, I felt relieved to have this day off to go to the bank, withdraw all the money and send it to my wife. I had instructed her to pay back everyone who had helped me with my initial funding, including my relatives, as soon as she received my money and to add 20 per cent interest. No one had ever asked for 20 per cent interest when they lent me the money but I wanted to whole-heartedly thank them for their trust in me. In the meantime, my wife Diane started to apply for a student visa in Australia.

After the money was sent, I was back to zero again. I wanted to start over and to rebuild my start-up capital as soon as possible so I could sponsor my wife and daughter and also take my career to the next level. I had not been job-hunting for over three months, so I again started replying to the job advertisements from the Courier-Mail. This time it was a lot easier to find another cleaning or restaurant job. I was now armed with work-experience from, possibly, the toughest workplace trainer, “professional cleaning” and “Chinese restaurant dishwashing”, both jobs, which I now insist that all my children experience before allowing them to work in our family business full time.