Blacksamurai comments

Nah, you're obviously a latecomer to NZ, pretty sure you aint the Kiwis whose English/Scots/Welsh/Irish 18th and 19th century ancestors made what became the modern NZ and you're not one of the traditional Maori people from there.

If you were from those groups you'd know that NZ is too small in population now for the global realities, it was thriving economically when agriculture and manufacturing were its backbone and it was late 20th century and now 21st century governments in NZ who didn't have the vision to meet new realities. U

Unemployment was the reason many Kiwis left for Australia and the UK, it still is, and that was long before China was welcomed. Your ownership of 'many hectares of land in NZ' is probably as welcome to the locals as other foreigners buying up land that the locals can't afford to buy.

Lol at the assertion that Kona Senior and his son who's a viable candidate for Prime Minister are Communist China dupes who 'swallow' the CCP's propaganda. Just as well there are people in positions of power everywhere who understand that the world is complex and nuanced unlike someone here.

The western democracies elevated the poverty stricken People's Republic of China into the global community, outsourcing industries to it and favoring it in trade deals, allowing its citizens to live in western countries and take dual citizenships there. That's the reality. Whether it was the correct move is questionable but the fact is China exists a geopolitical and economic power and govts all over the world have to deal with this reality. I doubt a Kono Govt wants to have it both ways like the US Govt members, Senate members and Congress members who are now roundly condemning China but gained financially by cultivating PRC political and business networks.

As for New Zealand's economy being in trouble supposedly due to China - obviously you know nothing about NZ. Its small population of around 4million and continued brain drain to Australia has hurt it economically especially now that agriculture and manufacturing no longer are its source of prosperity in the global world order and haven't been for a while.

NZ's going to have to re-invent itself as some kind of hub in order to have a good economy again and international students won't cut it just like Australia gambled on international students boosting its economy. The housing disaster at the moment in Australia whereby rental housing availability has sunk is due in part to allowing big numbers of international students into that country, increasing the population and decreasing housing availability as well heeled students can afford to study there and rent. These problems are the direct result of bad Governments in both NZ and Australia.

Interesting to see that a few posters think Kono is soft on China with one comment even saying Kono senior and junior 'kow-tow' to China. That statement about the Kono running for PM completely misses the fact he is a moderate on China. Like it or not, western type democracies including Japan can't afford economically or geopolitically to have a constantly combative attitude to a huge trading partner that key democracies helped become the powerhouse it is today after Nixon's visit back in the 70s.

China is in the position it is today because it was given entry into the international community and countries like mine started outsourcing vital industries to China. In turn China gave international businesses cheap manufacturing and provided a growing market for global goods. Politicians like Kono accept that reality though he would be wary of China's expansionism like just about every other Japanese politician except for the usual extreme left wing cheerleaders. Kono is also not an apologist for Japan's 20th century wrongs in China but he understands that China will never forget that regardless of whether it ever turns into a democracy or not.

Domestically Kono can offer the bold leadership to take Japan to the level it should be at technologically. Japanese companies influenced the world at one time but the society has been allowed to have an aversion to modern digitalization and streamlining of services which leads to productivity and cuts bloated budgets inflated by top heavy bureaucracy that still likes paperwork. Japan is also vulnerable to tax evasion at a number of levels including the cash in hand economy especially the entertainment industry.

And yep, I think that musicians and rappers including foreigners and all those people not paying tax on often double incomes because one is undeclared need to pay their dues. One person's free ride is always another's burden, those who pay always make up for those who don't. Kono will finally get the job done on making My Number what it should be in 2024 and the upgrading of paper health insurance cards to proper ones that link to the system and save time as well as money.

The LPD is seen as stable which is one of the reasons for its lasting success. The old Democratic Party of Japan now operating under a different name had some talented politicians but the Renho move was a gamble that failed. She would have been a better leadership pick around now when there's more acceptance for women's participation in political life.

Say what you like about Abe but the man never came across as incompetent or dumb. He was a cool hand at playing his cards, had the family background that made him familiar with political realities. The move towards the left currently in western democracies won't work in Japan and it's not really working anyway in those countries.

The western left's pet project of jacking up legal immigration and rewarding illegal immigration when a country's own citizens can't afford to buy houses/apartments and there's a sharp jump in homelessness and medical fees rocketing for those who pay taxes while others over-use the system for free, is on display. Japan won't go there which is a big reason why the LPD stays in power. Japan is not willing to let all that happen.

Koizumi isn't Prime Ministerial material. Whether you like his father or not, Prime Minister Koizumi did some reforms that went some way to re-structure the Japanese economy in terms of curbing monopolies and making possible more competitiveness.

Not all the decisions were good but the best ones saw Japanese markets opened up more and led to more consumer choices. One of the reasons why prices in Japan for many necessities actually became cheaper for a couple of decades.

As for having a PM not afraid to go to Yasukuni - there's a time and a place for that. Going before the PM election is just a publicity stunt. Ishiba and Kono seem the best candidates.

Nope, candidates who think that flaunting a trip to Yasukuni Shrine just before the process of selecting the next LDP Prime Minister aren't suitable as they are looking backwards instead of to the realities now and in the future.

I hope Kono gets it - amid an abundance of mediocre, crony-led candidates he has the smarts and brings something different. Without politicians like him in influential positions, Japanese society will keep relying on all the excessive bureaucracy that comes from resisting digitalization and streamlining of information and public services.

The complaints about My Number miss the point that the inefficiencies are rooted in resisting making it compulsory and implemented in a timely fashion when it first was introduced. That's the problem. There is no modern, efficient first world economy that doesn't have this kind of system.

The people here doing business who gripe in newspaper articles about giving My Number or other details as part of their process or allow people they employ are simply evading tax like in the entertainment industry and not just the adult one. The music industry here is famous for tax evasion, paying performers in cash and not keeping records, allowing performers to resist giving their My Number etc. The current Japanese system facilitates tax evasion which honest people pay for and Kono knows this. One good reason he should be Prime Minister among others.

Don't know why my words in the post below are being altered - I wrote about the kinds of foreign residents similar to tourists in their bad behaviour:

'Problem is they involve the unwilling public. I and my Japanese friends have seen them filming people WITHOUT permission.'

All the excuse making that 'Japanese pople are allowed to be idiots in their own country so don't pick on foreigners' misses the context. Japanese society has its own unofficial rules as well as official ones for what's acceptable and what's not. The last few years in places like Shibuya, foreigners have pushed the boundaries to be an unwelcome, selfish, and semi aggressive presence in streets near conbini, drinking alcohol.

Most of them are not tourists but foreigners living in Japan and filming themselves and their junior high school antics. Problem is they involved the unwilling public, I and my Japanese friends have seen them filming people with permission, and their behavior has encouraged other foreigners like tourists to do the same. And I've never seen so many young J people drinking alchol in those spots until these self-centred foreign 'creators and influencers' started doing it.

In the USA and the other countries these foreigner losers come from, police and security staff don't play about drinking alcohol in public where it's not permitted. In Japan a lot of behavior in public is self monitored and in the context of group thinking so these 'creator and influencer' clowns have got away with doing all this because the authorities in Japan have a softer approach.

Japanese females don't usually get in the face of those foreign men standing around, calling out to them, telling their friends 'Look at her, she wants me' , walking around filming and saying 'Yeah, I'll do her' and putting it all on their live streams. In the countries these losers come from, females have a different approach. Here too, these loser foreigners rely on the language barrier to get away with talking like that.

One of the solutions is to stop issuing visas to those kinds of foreign residents. Most of them work for shady eikaiwa with low pay and no benefits so it's easy for them to get those jobs and stay here - raise the bar for getting a Specialist in Humanities visa when the applicant has no teaching diploma or language teaching qualifications generally so they can't and make it a renewal condition to pay health, pension and taxes all on time and consistently. That will cut out those turkeys.

The Japanese police were too nice - the fool should have been hit with a large financial penalty under some local regulation about risky criminal behavior. If the fool had fallen off the roof he could have injured or even killed a bystander or passer by.

And yep, you can put a lot of the blame onto the foreigners who live in Tokyo and hang out at conbini in the Shibuya area. I see them regularly hanging out conbini and one especially, a Family Mart, spilling out onto the street and sidewalk drinking alcohol and making noise to draw attention to themselves.

These are residents and the most obnoxious ones like the narcissist with red dyed dreadlocks call themselves 'creators and influencers' but are just sad, rapidly ageing foreign losers who won't go home because their behaviour is unacceptable back in the US or wherever. Especially going up to young females as if these J females want middle aged foreign losers annoying them, talking dirty about them and just filming the public in Shibuya without their permission. Deal with this problem of foreing residents and you'll cut out most of the bad foreign tourist behavior copying it.

You've gotta wonder at some of the posters here - on one hand saying that major earthquakes have few casualties, that the warnings from authorities are fear mongering etc, on the other hand disrespecting the people of the Tohoku region for 2011 when supposedly they 'couldn't take it'.

What is wrong with you people? The fact that authorities are talking this way is typical Japanese communication - be ready because within certain time periods, major seismic upheavals happen in the Japanese archipelago. Nobody is telling people to panic - they are simply stating the reality that Japan is entering a new period of renewed seismic activity. Normalcy bias along the lines of Oh this is Japan, aint no big deal is dangerous.

Japanese building codes have improved and will prevent loss of life when the next big ones come but everywhere I look in Tokyo, there are older buildings that will not be swaying and absorbing pressure but will collapse and cause casualties. Plenty of these buildings of all kinds throughout Japan. Plenty of propane gas cannisters standing outside homes, plenty of unsecured power lines etc. Unless you live in one of those newer kinds of housing your chances of getting buried under your collapsed building increase.

Many earthquake casualties occur on the streets when earthquakes strike. Cars have accidents, people are literally squashed or impaled by falling debris and advertising signs, fires start and damage to power lines and other electrical infrastructure means the possibility of electrocution. You'd have to rebuild cities like Tokyo and Osaka to prevent these horrible facts when a major earthquake hits and that's not going to happen.

As for the genius on here who said that 2011 showed J people 'panicked' or 'couldn't handle it' - were you actually living in Japan then? The news and private videos showed a level of stoicism that was also heartbreaking, damn, I remember seeing videos of people at a school when the tsunami struck and they were watching their neighbors carried along by the massive water flow in their damaged houses. They all could do nothing but there was not the level of hysteria you'd expect.

Just a big iiwake - lol at the restaurant owners saying it costs more to 'hire English speakers' nado. That right there is a lie because already stores and restaurants throughout Tokyo to give one example employ foreigners, often international students, who already speak good Japanese and English.

Foreign staff in conbini have to do a lot more tasks than staff serving in restaurants and they're under non stop pressure as conbini are so busy. They do exactly the same as Japanese employees and get paid the same wage.

Stop the horseshizz 'arguments for'. This is just a cynical money grab. LOL if anybody wants to have to pull out their ID in a country they live/work in when they go out to eat to prove they're not a tourist, feel free. Others like me will be giving their yen to businesses that deserve it and don't pull that bull.

Here we ago, cue more the sky is falling, the sky is falling, Japan has 24.9 million people! chicken little narrative.

The real problem Japan has is managing the population decline - at the moment the public discussion is stuck in the 'How can we make more young people have children?' instead of accepting that this is part of a worldwide, first world country trend and Japan is too smart of a society to go down the road of irresponsible mass immigration that is pushing so much of the increased homelessness and strain on resources in countries like Canada and Australia at the moment.

You can't force people to have children unlike the weird narrative pushed by some persistent posters on this topic in JT discussions. Hiking up payments to families will help some things but it won't make those who don't want to have children or don't want to get married here, do that. Rightly. The stats in western countries generous with welfare shows that people having the most children are mostly from low income/refugee backgrounds/single mother relying on others' taxes to keep those benefits coming. Japan must never even go near there and it won't.

Japan's greatest period of growth was in the wreckage post WW2 and its population was much lower. The population decline can be managed successfully but it{s going to need more investment and collaboration by private enterprise and making use of non politician input. Osaka needs a rejuvenation and that city and cities like Nagoya could attract the population that drift to Tokyo with better planning and opportunities.

And all the talk about giving more free money to families misses that the ageing popuation will need way more resources than it gets now. This can be an opportunity as the silvers have specific needs. The govt could invest in affordable retirement villages for example in areas on the outskirts of the metropolis and attract mini mall developers for services, restaurants and stores, making hubs where communities can exist. The way some people talk about Japan's population situation, you'd think you can solve it by throwing money at families and ignoring the growing silvers population.

Better Koike San than Shinji Kun the Carpetbagger from Hiroshima. Amazing how a dude from a city that has absolutely zero in common with Tokyo including population and proximity thought he should be running Japan's No 1 City.

When he announced he was a candidate I remember the J media including this one referring to his energetic exchanges with rivals - yeah, just the qualification to lead Tokyo not. Renho was a much more credible candidate but we're probably seeing the same ol safe choice mentality of the older demographic who do vote more than the 18 yr olds here.

What people don't know is basic economics - you can't have eternally low prices as part of deflation-aimed policies that Japan had for decades and at the same time improve the economy. For decades Japanese and foreigners alike had low prices - even now some of the prices are catching up to what they around 20 years plus ago. Yeah, inflation sucks but deflation went on for too long.

As for the need to raise wages - that doesn't come by itself. The kinds of countries like Japan - western style democracies with first world economies and living standards - that have higher minimum wages and average salaries than Japan have higher prices for goods, services and labor. You can't raise wages and salaries across the board and have cheap prices.

The Australian genius on here celebrating his cheap beer and noodles and other things cheaper than back in his home country just doesn't get that when your workers can get paid 3,500 yen and more per hour in the hospitality industry, yeah that beer price will be higher. The costs passed on will be even higher in other industries in Australia - high wages and a welfare system that gives a tax free welfare pension of arund 250,000 yen per month with no contributions unlike the J public pension system to name just one aspect of the Aus system - will cost in terms of cost of living.

Oh yeah and to the posters saying it's fine and dandy for everybody especially tourists to carry around our trash all day until we get home or to a hotel to dispose of it in our trash - that is one of the dumbest things among many dumb things that are posted here.

Again, people need to travel outside Japan and their home country more. I also went to Paris last year, have been a number of times, and nope, they haven't removed their public trash bins. This is a city and country that has experienced terrorist attacks over the last decade in numbers that Japan will never have in a hundred years.

A more truthful reason why there aren't trash bins around very much in Tokyo and other cities in Japan is because the city authorities don't want people using them as their personal trash bins for trash from home. They've had problems with that before when there were public trash bins. Conbini have also stopped supplying trash bins in some cases because they don't want to spend money and time on having to get rid of trash that's not from products bought there.

As usual an unelected bureaucrat is pushing something that most of the population here don't want - in this case, 60 million tourists a year.

Out of touch and no thought for Japanese people and foreign residents trying to go about their daily lives with numbers of tourists that already aren't at a comfortable level because the most wanted places to visit are big cities like Tokyo that have high population densities but not wide streets in many cases and old cities like the traditional part of Kyoto that was never mean to have so many visitors day and night.

Sure some tourism is necessary for the economy but aren't the numbers already enough without having goals of 60 million? As for some on here thinking it's great to keep jacking up prices for places like Himejii Castle beyond what's reasonable, you need to go to other countries and see how reasonable prices work to attract tourists and local visitors who are satisfied with the experience.

I went to the Irish Republic last year and Malahyde Castle was a great experience for around 2, 200 yen with guides given to groups and all this arranged easily - you just waited until a session was over and then you could go in with other people who were outside the front entrance and could enjoy the grounds beforehand The ticket also gave access to the gardens and hothouses etc.

As for the poster saying disabled people should get into Himejii Castle for free - why? Disabled ramps and special facilties cost money and the problem with all the calling for this group and that group to get access to somewhere for free so loved in the US and western countries is that nothing is ever free. There's always somebody paying more than they should because of others who get in for free.

The Japanese public weren't ready for Renho when she became the leader of the main opposition party. Her straight shooting talk was a liability but in 2024 it probably will be better received. She and Koike are two intelligent women who are good communicators so the campaign should be better than the usual snorefest and Arigato Gozaimuses with waving white gloves.

As for the dude from the small mountain town outside in Hiroshima, WTF has Shinji Ishimaru done for Tokyo? Being known for his 'fierce exchanges' with the media and members of the municipal assembly is just about the lamest 'qualification' I've heard about in J politics. Wouldn't trust him to handle anything in any real city politics especially as being the big shot in a small rural town in Japan is the last thing Tokyo needs.

Koike is in this position because the opposition as usual ran the wrong candidate - somebody who had policies that were good but failed to get elected before as governor and couldn't get over his partisan politics image. Koike also ran with her own party which is the Liberal Democratic party Lite so she caught very conservative voters as well as those who thought she was going to be a true independent.

This is all more about the failure of the Democratic Party of Japan/Constitutional Party of Japan to run candidates who can actually explain why they are different and get enough of the middle ground voters. However, the attacks on Koike's educational history are plain wrong. She earned her degree and speaks good Arabic, she's also made an effort to use more Engish in office and to directly address foreign residents when she discusses issues.

Her problem is she hasn't made any real independent political moves to deal with big Tokyo issues. Like so many politicians she's in the pockets of the developers and sees the future as investing in more huge glass towers instead of preserving Tokyo's fast disappearing heritage areas. However, the redevelopment of the Meiji Stadium should have been taken up as an environmental issue long before the recent campaigns and famous supporters like Murakami paid attention too late.

You've gotta press these politicians when you first hear of what they intend to do and support, and again the fact she's even seeking a third term without much to justify it says it all about the lame organisation of the opposition and its failure to tap into those voters with potential to change the status quo like the young voting demographic and female demographic below 50.

LOL this aint a flying car - it's a kind of helicopter. For a start a car would have enclosed space. What next - showing robots and saying their human staff?

A no brainer for the temple staff - have a policy that if the cat statues bought are left at the temple then no writing. If they are taken away then the customer can do whatever they like. They did pay for them after all.

The griping about tourism in Japan is sometimes justified but this latest episode shows the control freak side of Japan. Memo to that temple - if this is all so hard for you, don't be in the business to attract tourist yen.

Autocorrect strikes again - I originally wrote 'Why the hell should they have snuck in without paying their obligations and continue to do so'.

A non issue basically. For a while now you have to provide proof of pension payments to be even considered for Japanese PR. What's the big deal?

The noise against it is obviously coming from those who were lucky and got PR when the pension non payment issue was tolerated. Why the hell should they have snuck in with paying their obligations and continue to do so? Pay up or get your PR canceled, sounds fine to me.

Interesting - had 2 upvotes but suddenly they've disappeared. Downvoting doesn't change the original up votes just the score so whoever's tampering needs to get their grown person act up.

LOL at some being threatened by posters pointing out that this foreigner dude assaulted a young woman and then a station worker and he deserves to be penalized for the severity of it. Hopefully the authorities don't believe like some here in the 'Gaijin Pass@.

I don't know why people are excusing this dude by talking about Japanese people doing the same - Wainana assaulted a young woman under 20 and then assaulted a station worker who correctly tried to intervene. The dude is way out of line.

I believe he is also not a citizen of Japan - think he's got PR. He needs to watch his behavior because the Japanese regard PR and other residency as a privilege that can be taken away much more easily than in western countries for criminal behavior. Wainana is a bully regardless of how much he was drinking - people who assault others after drinking or supposedly drinking alcohol are revealing something about their character and it isn't good.

There are harsher penalties now for people in Japan who assault station and other essential service workers and this clown should feel the force of them.

Japan is not China and it is not Hawaii. I worked in China and there's no comparison with that society nor in Hawaii where I have relatives who were born there. China is not a developed country by the same standards as Japan which developed industrially under Meiji and after WW2 becoming an economic powerhouse. It doesn't have the inequalities that China has - China's tourists and spenders are still an elite there.

Hawaii is very expensive because so much is flown in and its income distribution is different from that in Japan. Japan is a leading world economy with citizens who still manage to travel and spend a lot of money at home and abroad - despite the recent whining about prices and irrelevant comparison of Japanese with tourists who supposedly are 'rich now unlike the poor Japanese' because some foreign currencies are outperforming the yen so it's now cheaper to travel and spend in Japan.

And Japan is not Cambodia or Thailand or Vietnam with the majority of people being genuinely poor compared to foreign tourists. Memo to all the people here justifying the azzhats in Japan who are running the line that the local Japanese need discounts and the foreign tourists need to be exploited because of the poor people of Japan experiencing inflation - Australia's prices are soaring as my friends there tell me yet their hospitality industry aint charging Japanese or other tourists separate prices. As my friends said, anybody justifying this cynical rip off in Japan are wa###s.

As for people saying that this price discrimination is common everywhere, no it aint. American diners and restaurants don't have a special higher tourist/country of origin price for visitors. Neither do the western European countries in general - you pay a table charge in countries like Italy and France, sometimes a service charge along with it but I have never paid a 'tourist price' in either country. My food and drinks cost what they said on the menu/board above the counter.

If you're paying more as a tourist you're ordering it wrong or not looking around enough. Haven't paid any tourist prices for food and drinks in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Australian and NZ.

So I'm guessing Shogo Yonemitsu won't mind if when he and other Japanese go travelling they are given Japanese only higher prices at restaurants and it's all spelt out in a menu in countries like the US, Canada, Australia, NZ and those of Europe which Japanese people like to visit.

Won't be going to his restaurants anywhere and have already recommended to family and friends in the US who will be visiting later this year, to avoid restaurants run by azz-h###s like Mr Yonemitsu. I also spead the word on social media and recommend others do too.

Again dramatic headlines pulling statistics from somewhere about what experts and think tanks think will happen in Japan. Sounds like the' 1 in 5 adults will develop shingles' campaigns pushed in the west and this 'statistic' is definitely in lala land.

Dementia is different symptoms and diseases lumped under one heading. Some have a gene that predisposes them and hopefully in the near future people will be able to simply test for it and take as many preventive meaures they can like cutting down on poor lifestyle habits like too much alcohol, bad nutrition, smoking and drugs.

I've seen a few elderly J people wandering around who clearly have some form of dementia but more than that I've seen a lot more riding bicyles, walking and being involved in their local communities. A positive factor for Japan is the generations 65 and up tend to have women who never smoked and didn't drink much especially women in their mid 70s and beyond. Smoking and drinking for Japanese women generally was not a thing for many females in these these age groups as social attitudes were different when they were younger.

There is nothing stopping the J Govt at national and prefectural level funding construction of retirement homes to meet the requirements of a growing elderly population. Yes they will cost but as a social necessity the needs of the elderly including those who illnesses including dementia will become a bigger part of the economy.

And people with dementia in Japan are much safer than those in western countries who are far more likely to get assaulted and or robbed by violent strangers especially those on drugs. I'm sure somebody will come in with how dangerous it is for the Japanese elderly with their families but violence and fatalities in this case are still not normal in Japan - they are just reported now whereas not so long ago family violence etc was covered up more by the media.

I'm not sure why so called happiness surveys of countries add any reality to the whole debate going on about population numbers in Japan compared to the world.

Somebody claimed that countries with smaller populations like NZ, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland etc often 'exhibit' greater happiness' based on 'greater social cohesion', 'cultural values priortizing community and life-work balance', and 'effective governance'. But these kind of surveys are usually more PR than anything and don't reflect the non simplistic realities.

New Zealand has been having political conflict for some time between the indigenous Maori population and various national governments including leading Maori organisations challenging the legitimacy of the NZ legal and political system. Maori gangs continue to be an obvious social problem. Economically NZ isn't doing that good with an over reliance on govt spending as there aren't enough private industries providing jobs. Many NZ people seek work in Australia because of that.

The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have all been involved in divisive public and political debates for years about the impact of constant flows of 'asylum seekers' from the ME and Africa in particular, some of whom are actually drug cartel members, militia members and just plain ol criminals.

Sweden has undergone significant damage to its social cohesion by taking in so called asylum seekers who turned out to be gangs and run drugs and guns in urban areas. Sweden was once known for its proud record of being among the few countries with very low levels of sexual assaults and armed violence but letting in men whose identities were not checked properly for years has resulted in a surge of those crimes for the past decade or so.

Denmark was showing some worrying signs of these developments but has now pushed back and requires more proof of genuine asylum seeking and refugee status, insists on respect for its host culture and has beefed up ways to remove those connected with terror groups and organised crime from its territory.

Luxembourg is an incredibly elitist, wealthy country has has always picked and chosen its citizens and residents with a very high bar. It is 'happy' because it excludes the great majority of the world.

None of these countries are models for Japan - Japan's social cohesion is famous and is based on common and accepted culture and ways of doing things that its people have done for centuries successfully. Most Japanese do not and will not accept a rise in the birth rate if it's coming from single mothers or families who don't have the financial resources to support multiple children and need the much higher welfare payments of western countries yet don't plan to restrict the number of children they have - very common in third world families in the west.

Correction - the NSW Premier, Premier is the title for leaders of states, not Prime Minister, in Australia.