Perhaps I should have made it clear that my piece was originally written in response to a request from the Secretary of the Kenya Administration Club(members include former Provincial/District Commissioners, Ambassadors/High Commissioners and myself!) here in the U.K. Our former Colonial masters wanted to know how we'd settled in this "foreign" land. While I appreciate the positive feedback from Mervyn Lobo, I'd just like to comment on some of the points raised by Melwyn Fernandes.
As far as I can remember, jobs in those days were aplenty, and I personally encountered no discrimination in the job market. While I am aware that some Goans worked for London Transport (Tube network) and/or British Rail, many other Asians took on jobs as bus drivers/conductors. Not so sure if any Goans worked as dustmen("earned more than the collar and tie") - but if they did, good luck to them for not shirking manual labour(something which, sadly, many of us have looked down upon for ages). I am not aware of any "culture of bribery", but Melwyn may well have proof of this? Neither am I aware of the property value of houses(at least in our area) falling,when we (the very first non-Whites , with four children) moved into our present home. In fact, our White neighbours went out of their way to welcome us and we have had excellent relations with the neighbourhood all these years. I was also sorry to hear from Melwyn that "our people were only good for cleaning church benches and cut flowers for the church". Never encountered this situation here, nor any problems with arranging a funeral. Understandably, as the Goan/Asian population in London increased, the need for an Asian Chaplaincy was felt. Here, I feel my late brother(Wilfred) may have had a hand in its esbablishment since the late Fr. Moraes once told me that the late Cardinal Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, had shown him a letter Wilfred had sent him from Kenya, suggesting that the need for an Asian Chaplaincy be considered. Thanks to Goan Voice(U.K.), we are kept aware of what's going on, on our doorstep and beyond, while goanet has a far wider outreach. All in all, I think we Goans have certainly made our mark in this country - something we should all be proud about. Mervyn Maciel