LONDON life - British life for that matter - is witnessing a quiet revolution. The Asian population is leading it. And, what is more, it's been welcomed as proof of the positive benefits of immigration!
Two reports in the past week point separately to the demise of the Asian owned corner shop and convenience store. But this is not a story of racial tension or prejudice. Where their parents worked grindingly long hours selling the pints of milk and packs of butter neglected on consumers' weekly treks to the supermarket, the next generation of British Asians is taking its place in the professional class.
A study of 129 small Asian businesses by the Policy Studies Institute, reported by social scientists at this week's British Association for the Advancement of Science conference, showed the definite trend away from the corner shop towards the professions. Meanwhile, government inspectors last week confirmed the emergence of an educational underclass" among African Caribbean youths in Britain. The review of trends in the education of ethnic minorities showed that they had not shared in the general rate of improvement, and that, in some areas, their performance had actually worsened.
However, the report also established that participation in post-16 education is higher for young people from all minority groups than for whites, regardless of gender or social background. And the participation of young Asians is particularly high, with the majority still in full time education some three years after the end of compulsory education.
Figures released last month showed nearly a quarter of 5,045 students accepted for medicine and dentistry courses were Asian. In some London teaching hospitals one in eight students is of Asian origin. According to Dr Tariq Modood of the Policy Studies Institute: "Their parents want their children to go into more prestigious professions, to have occupational status as well as pay packets ... The Asian perception is that discrimination can be overcome by gaining extra qualifications and putting in extra effort."
One in four British Asians is self employed, almost twice the proportion of their white counterparts. But the PSI study showed half of those interviewed did not want their children to carry on the trade.
My own local shopkeeper, Shed Basharat Norr, cheerfully tells me his children would not take the gift of it and that he found it nearly impossible even to recruit their occasional help as they worked their way through school. "Oh no daddy, I've too much work of my own to do", was the habitual refrain.
And the hard work and sacrifice paid off. Mr Norr arrived in Britain from Pakistan in 1962 with £4 in his pocket. He worked for a while for others, eventually saving enough to open the corner shop which has been home and livelihood for the past 25 years. With school fees to pay, it's not surprising that neither he nor Mrs Norr has had a holiday in the past six years. But in that time they have seen their daughter graduate from Oxford and take a job as a social worker in Hammersmith.
Their eldest son took an honours degree at the University of London and has just acquired a job in the City with a starting salary of £20,000. And their youngest son will do his A levels next year and plans to go to Cambridge to study physics.
Mr Norr confirms it's all hard slog. And he laughs knowingly when I accuse him of chauvinism, allowing Mrs Norr to carry most of the burden. She's up at 5 a.m. to get the newspapers in and organised, before opening up at 7 o'clock. "She does work hard," he agrees: "But I've got the brain." More laughter from them both. Then, more seriously: "It's very hard work but there's no way out. We've got to do this for the next generation."
He confirms that next generation won't be opening all hours and that we are witnessing the demise of the corner shop. When I suggest the white population might get a dose of the entrepreneurial spirit, he shakes his bead: "They're just not prepared to work hard at all. They're lazy, they have no drive." Food for thought!