As a new resident in Australia, I am in the dilemma how to celebrate the Australian Day. I still need to learn very much about the history of this vibrant continent, which we see today.

It is undeniable fact that the 65,000 years old, well-preserved civilisation of Aboriginal people was changed forever when the first fleet touched down Sydney shores 230 years ago.

Massacres, systematic discrimination, stolen generations of the real owner of this land is always an irreversible and daunting chapter of modern Australian history; however, the worldly progress and current vibrant Australian society are extraordinary achievements.

Australian history can be summarised by the story of Wiliam Willshire who was involved in brutal murders of Aboriginese people during 1890s in middle Australia and Francis Gillen who was a public servant and researcher during the same period and in the same region. Gillen not only investigated Willshire's crimes but also documented Aboriginal people and wrote a groundbreaking book about them.

I don't know why I am deeply interested in Aboriginal people's history, but, indeed, I find a lot of similarities between the fate of them and my Hazara people in Afghanistan, ongoing agony, discriminations, massacres, displacements and marginalisation.

Hope new generations would forget their ancestors' mistakes and forgive each other for shortcomings and move forward for a better place to live.