Mayor of Melbourne

Speaking of immigration, I was in some disbelief when my mate in Melbourne informed me that their - soon to be my - mayor had a thick Chinese accent. According to Wiki:

Mayor John Chun Sai So was born in Hong Kong, and moved to Melbourne at age 17. His mother later joined him, but he still has brothers in Hong Kong.

So has tertiary qualifications in education and science from the University of Melbourne. During his time at university, he campaigned strongly against the White Australia Policy and helped found the University's Overseas and Chinese Students Association. Afterwards, he became a high school science teacher, working at Fitzroy High School. He has been a restaurant proprietor since 1973.

So has also been criticised from a number of sectors over his time as mayor. Some see him as a poor communicator, partly due to his heavily accented English.

Only in Australia. Hilarious. As I read on, I nearly pissed myself in laughter when I discovered:

In 2002, he snubbed the Dalai Lama during his Australian visit, and it was left to Geelong mayor Barbara Abley to welcome him.

Even though So's family comes from the slightly more democratic Hong Kong SAR, those Chinese roots definitely die hard, eh?