CHENNAI: There are not too many people who would not jump at the opportunity of winning a free flight ticket to travel abroad. Even if there is the smallest chance that it might happen, people don’t hold back. This week, a viral message gave people false hope that they could get a chance to go to Australia.
The message claimed that Australia was hiring Tamil teachers. It read. “Australia is recruiting Tamil teachers. Those who are qualified and interested may submit applications at any Australian Embassy. Please inform those who would be interested.” The message also gave an address for submission, which turned out to be the correct one as well. However, the message gave no information of the prospective employer, salary, contract or permanent, etc.
It was an ambiguous message at best, and there was no clarity on whether this was an exchange programme or an opportunity for potential Indian regional language tutors.
The staff at the Australian Embassy in Chennai was perplexed and had to spend a day answering calls from Tamil teachers eager to send their resumes. They had to explain to every caller that the message was in fact a hoax and there was no such opportunity available. To put an end to these incessant calls, the Australian Embassy put up a notice on their website stating that the message was untrue and that they were unsure of its’ source.
There was no indication to suggest that this message was authentic. Usually such announcements are made on the website or advertised in a newspaper and certainly not sent out as a WhatsApp message. However, the word ‘Australia’ of course, was enough to start a craze.