Everybody Belongs

Written by Neshal Jayasinghe, Year 3 
Winner of the Tutors SA Harmony Day Essay Writing Competition 2019 for the Middle Primary Category

Harmony Day is about making people from different countries such as India, China, Africa, England and Japan belong together in the Australian Community. Harmony Day is celebrated on the twenty first of March in every year. It is organised by the Australian government and is a way to celebrate our cultural diverse society. Harmony Day began in 1999 coinciding with the United Nations International Day. The name Harmony is a Latin baby name which means ‘Concord’. This year we are celebrating the 20^th year anniversary of harmony celebrations. Everybody gets to wear orange colour clothes to show that every person is included.

Harmony Day is important because it celebrates the country’s cultural diversity. Harmony Day is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians. Harmony is when we feel happy. Harmony is when people get along together no matter what their race, status or religion. As Australian community is made of people from different countries which migrated here 2 or 3 generations back, they have brought different cultures with various languages, food, dress styles, customs and beliefs. This diverse community makes the country more interesting.

Harmony Day is an important symbol of tolerance and acceptance. It encourages Australians to respect all cultures, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values. Harmony is when people are nice to one another. It’s a day of peace and you can’t hurt each other and everyone lives happily. When everyone is included and respected and is happy there will be no fights and especially no wars. Therefore it is very important that we respect all cultures, otherwise the people will get their feelings hurt and sad and angry and will end up in fights and then no one will like to live in Australia.

Harmony is a flow of life. It creates and supports projects that engage cultures of immigrants for greater social and economic benefit. Immigration means when a person leaves their home country to live in another country and cultural harmony now connects people, knowledge and ideas for positive change.

I think that Harmony Day is a good day because we can make friends from different countries and learn their cultures by participating in local activities. It also makes Australia a very nice country to live in.

The views, information, or opinions expressed in this essay are solely from the author and do not necessarily represent those of Tutors SA and its employees.