In today’s Fairfax press there is another one of those ‘which city is better’ stories. It must be the alternate month because this time around Sydney has come out ahead of Melbourne. I don’t get hugely excited by these stories because a) they’re usually pretty vanilla and reflect the interests of whoever commissioned them and b). rarely use criteria that I have any particular interest in. But this got me thinking – I’ve lived in both major cities and as a Muslim living in Australia, which city did I myself prefer?
Disclaimer : this is obviously going to be pretty subjective and the judge’s (that’s me in case you forgot) decision will be final and no correspondence shall be entered into (unless you are going to tell me that you agree with me!)
Coming up with a criteria was a bit of a challenge but this is the list of things that on first blush were important to me, though not necessarily in order of priority.
- Schools – having 4 kids this is vital.
- Halal Food – both raw ingredients and eating out
- Access to a Mosque
- Access to Islamic teachers
- Islamic Community environment
- Wider community environment
- General liveability – transport, services etc.
1. Schools
What I’m looking for here is the ability of the average Muslim family (mine) to access a good school. This means there needs to be a balance between academic and life skills. The school should be engaged with the wider community so that the kids experience interaction with non-Muslim children and it should offer a broad range of academic subjects to cater for a spectrum of students.
My kids have gone to Islamic schools in both cities and in my view Melbourne comes out on top in this category. The Sydney schools may be, on the whole, slightly ahead academically but I think this is at the expense of the other areas and I would prefer to help my kids with the school work knowing that they are learning how to be part of a multi-cultural society where they will in fact be the minority.
Scores:
Melbourne – 7.5
Sydney – 6.5
2. Halal Food
At the risk of alienating my fellow Melbournians, Sydney wins this category hands down. The sheer range and availability of halal food is far superior in Sydney. While you would expect this given the different sizes in Muslim populations between the 2 cities, Melbourne should really be doing better. To only have 1 halal McDonalds and 1 or 2 halal KFC’s is inexcusable. And a side not for any senior management from Hungry Jacks who may be reading this – open up a halal outlet and you’ll kill both the others!
Scores
Melbourne – 6
Sydney – 8
3. Mosque Access
This is really hard to judge. Sydney obviously has more Mosques/Musallahs than Melbourne does but this is reflection of size and nothing more. So all I can judge it on is my own personal experience and comparing the access I personally had in the two places that I have lived, Melbourne comes out ahead. Within a 15min drive from my home I would have access to probably 6 or 7 places to pray and being able to walk out my back door and straight into the Mosque is a huge bonus.
Scores
Melbourne – 9
Sydney – 8
4. Islamic Teachers
What I’m referring to here is madhab based traditional scholarship. This is where Melbourne comes out the big loser in the overall comparison. With one or two noteable exceptions Melbourne is much more modern, if I can use that expression, university based scholarship than Sydney is.
Scores
Melbourne – 5
Sydney – 8
5. Islamic Community environment
Putting aside the scholarship issue I actually think Melbourne, as a community, is ahead. The main point for this, and it may not be a consideration for others, is that Melbourne is nowhere as sectarian or ethnically based as Sydney. I like having the community mixing more freely where nationality is not an issue in any real sense. It is much more what Islam is about I think. Again this could be a factor of the size of the two communities but for the moment Melbourne gets the nod. Oh….there is also far less community politics in Melbourne…enough said.
Scores
Melbourne – 8
Sydney – 6.5
6. Wider community environment
If I had thought about this 2-3yrs ago I think Melbourne would have come out on top but I don’t believe there is any real difference anymore. The Islamophobia has become a national issue thanks to our politicians and I don’t think it makes any real difference where you live anymore.
Scores
N/A
7. General Liveability
This category covers all those day to day things that make life easy – transport, services, shopping etc. From our personal experience Melbourne comes out ahead in this category. While it is more spread out than Sydney is, it is actually much better to get around. The public transport system is far better (yes Melbournians, believe it or not! Now imagine what it must be like in Sydney..) Overall I really do think it is a slightly more friendly city. Sydney is by far the more picturesque but day-to-day that doesn’t really do much for me or the family.
Scores
Melbourne – 8
Sydney – 6.5
Total Scores
Melbourne – 43.5/60
Sydney – 43.5/60
What the?????
Well there you have it. You can take you pick depending on what does it for you.
(In all honesty I did not rig those scores or keep a running total as I was doing it)
