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From the President
Welcome to the new-look Asian Currents!
This issue heralds the consolidation of the Asian Studies Association of Australia’s
cooperation with the International Centre of Excellence in Asia Pacific Studies
(http://iceaps.anu.edu.au ), which
is lending generous support to Asian Currents. Many
thanks to the Director, John Fitzgerald, and his colleagues, Richard Thomson
and Valerie Shavgarova, for their enthusiasm about the ebulletin. We look
forward to working with ICEAPS, a Federal Government initiative which aims
to raise the profile of Asia-Pacific studies in Australia. The Centre draws
upon the Asia-Pacific expertise of key research and teaching centres throughout
Australia and in Asia, Europe and North America, as well as several national
professional networks. ICEAPS’s goals make it an entirely compatible
partner for the ASAA, whose main aim is to promote the study of Asian languages,
societies, cultures in Australia. Together, through Asian
Currents and other initiatives, we will strive to increase Australians’
understanding of Asia and of the Asia expertise that already exists around
the country.
Analysis
AUSTRALIA’S IMAGE IN ASIA
by Dr Denise Woods, Project Officer Media-Asia Research Group, Curtin
University of Technology Denise.Woods@exchange.curtin.edu.au
Australia’s image in Asia was the topic of lively discussion
at the first conference of the Media-Asia Research Group (MARG) http://www.marg.humanities.curtin.edu.au
at Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak, Malaysia.
Prominent Indonesian political commentator and talk show
host Wimar Witoelar http://www.perspektif.net/wimar/
led the plenary session, ‘Seeing Australia Through Asian Eyes’,
which discussed how Australia was portrayed in the region. The general view
was that the media presented Australia as predominantly ‘white’
and Aboriginals as marginalised and very badly treated. This portrayal was
linked to perceptions of the ‘mainstream’ treatment of other ‘non-white’
groups in Australian society. Asian delegates who had been to Australia pointed
out they did not see much interaction between Anglo-Saxon Australians and
Aborigines, reinforcing the impressions they got from the media that there
was a social divide. Australians were seen to be arrogant, especially in dealing
with regional neighbours whom they presumed to know and understand. Many commented
that people-to-people contact did alter the impression that all Australians
are racist or arrogant and that more such contact would further strengthen
ties between Australia and the region.
The Australian contingent’s response was defensive,
especially about being labelled ‘arrogant’ or ‘racist’.
An Australian delegate of Aboriginal descent pointed out that not all Aborigines
look ‘black’, using herself as an example to indicate you cannot
base judgments on ‘white’ and ‘black’ relationships
on skin colour.
Different perspectives between Australian and Asian delegates
also emerged in terms of their approach to research. The Australians tend
to be more focussed on exploring issues of identity and how the media represents
its subjects. For example University of Queensland Professor Graeme Turner’s
keynote address discussed the representation of Muslim youth on Australian
television. He argued that the way a story is framed can influence the judgments
of viewers, showing how misleading editing of a particular youth’s comments
in a Today Tonight program gave the impression that Lebanese youth were unwilling
to assimilate. This type of media coverage made it difficult for Muslim-Australians
to feel a sense of belonging.
Asian research was more focused on a quantitative approach,
such as surveys, for example on which regional television programs people
were watching on Malaysian television. This data was used to find out what
other countries people found culturally relevant.
The scope of presentations at the conference was very broad,
all encompassing the theme of how television, radio, newspapers, magazines,
films, music and the Internet are shaping/re-shaping identities in Asia. Papers
examined subjects as diverse as the use of the Internet to treat breast cancer,
to the role of web radio in Vietnam, to new challenges to media law presented
by the convergence of new and traditional media.
Papers will be available on the website by end of March 2006:
http://MediaAndIdentity.curtin.edu.my
http://www.curtin.edu.my/CSM/index.htm
Curtin Sarawak Malaysia offers programs of research and study relevant to
regional needs. For example:
• the search for innovative applications of technology to educational
purposes and other social needs
• the cultivation of links with the wider community emphasising service,
practical relevance, social justice and ethical behaviour
• the development of students and staff as citizens of the world, emphasising
an international outlook, cultural diversity, and informed respect for indigenous
peoples
• contributing to the economic and social development of Sarawak and
the region.
AFTER THE TSUNAMI: harnessing Australian expertise for
recovery
by Bill Mackey, Communications Director, Australian Academy
of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) BillM@atse.org.au
By taking the lead in establishing a high-level Indian Ocean
governance forum similar to the one that already operates for the Asia-Pacific
region, Australia could play a key role in helping Indian Ocean-rim countries
prepare for and mitigate disasters.
This was one of seven key recommendations from a 2005 workshop,
organised by the National Academies Forum (NAF), the peak body of Australia’s
four academies: the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA); the
Australian Academy of Science (AAS); the Australian Academy of Technological
Sciences and Engineering (ATSE); and the Australian Academy of the Humanities
(AAH).
The workshop concluded that, by comparison with most other countries, Australia
is well-placed to assist in many areas of expertise, due to our local knowledge
of servicing and supporting tropical and remote community conditions, and
our historical associations with the region.
For instance, in agreeing that the region needed a strategic
plan for oceanic/earthquake monitoring in the Indian Ocean, the workshop noted
that Australia has the only established earthquake warning system operating
in the region. In addition Australia could facilitate integrated coastal zone
management and support long-term ecological research to help Indian Ocean
countries understand their environments better.
The workshop, organised in collaboration with the Department
of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and with the support of the Australian
Research Council (ARC), CSIRO, ICEAPS and others, explored how Australian
expertise in the sciences, humanities, technologies and engineering could
be most effectively brought to bear, both on the current process of recovery
and for the long term.
The workshop’s seven specific recommendations were:
1. United strategic regional disaster management:
For an effective approach to regional disaster management, Australia needs
to establish multidisciplinary teams supported by a national framework, networks
and a ‘common’ language—all underpinned by whole-of-government
support.
2. National regional database: Australia
should develop a database to support access to knowledge of both Australian
and regional capacity.
3. Regional continuity of knowledge: Australia
should make communication and education a key priority for all aspects of
disaster preparedness, recovery and rehabilitation. In particular it should
offer support for remote communities and effect evidence-based policy development.
4. High-level Indian Ocean governance: Australia
should take a leading role in the establishment of a high-level Indian Ocean
regional forum.
5. Culture of collaboration: Australian
and regional research agencies should develop stronger links and partnership
centres of excellence. This should include in-country training of professionals.
6. Strengthen Australia’s regional
knowledge/skills base: Australia must consider regional cultural imperatives
in all assistance and partnering activities. This means urgently strengthening
our regional knowledge and skills bases — particularly in languages,
history, cultural and religious studies, and political science — through
government support of appropriate education, training and career structures.
7. Risk management as aid: Australia should consider risk
management an essential component of a broader approach to aid and development
to support sustainable regional futures.
Links:
http://www.naf.org.au/tsunami/index.htm
Profile
This month we profile Professor Adrian Vickers,
Chair of Asian Studies at the University of Wollongong http://www.capstrans.edu.au/people/staff/adrian-vickers.html
and convenor of this year’s Asian Studies Association of Australia biennial
conference. http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/conferences/asaa/
Professor Vickers is a specialist in Balinese history and culture and is a
regular commentator on Australian perceptions of Asia.
Q. When did you become interested in studying Asia and why?
A. I studied Indonesian at high school and in 1973 our school
had an excursion to Java, Bali and Sumatra. I was hooked from then on and
regret that so few schools nowadays can provide the same opportunities. There
are only a handful of schools in NSW that offer Indonesian at all, and government
travel advisories have virtually put an end to all school excursions to Indonesia.
I was also able to continue learning not only Indonesian, but also regional
languages at Sydney University, again another opportunity lost to students
nowadays. My daughter, for example, would love to learn Javanese, but no-one
in Sydney teaches it anymore--it’s only the language of 100 million
people!
Q. What are your current preoccupations?
A. Organising the ASAA conference: I wake up in the early
hours of the morning stressing out about getting everybody here and getting
everything happening. In between I’m also reading up on what is being
written in the way of new history in Indonesia. This is a flow-on from my
recently published History of Modern Indonesia (Cambridge) http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521542626
. A third interest, and this isn’t just because it’s next Friday’s
lecture, is the Mughal Empire, which I find really fascinating.
Q. How do these fit into the contemporary scene?
A. The new histories coming out in Indonesia are part of
the post-Suharto ‘freedom’ that has followed the lifting of censorship.
A lot of the news is good--Indonesia is asserting its diversity, the Left
now has a voice, and there is some really good new research being done.
However the new history-writing also reflects the fact that a lot of people
in power would be quite happy to go back to the bad old days, and so the situation
has a ‘two-steps-forward-one-step-back’ feel to it.
My Mughal interest is probably an example of me getting on
the India bandwagon, but I’ve always been fascinated by India, everything
from Sivaite practices to Ravi Shastri’s batting.
Q. What are your hopes for Asian studies in Australia?
A. That we can capture the public agenda. It’s not
just the national political leadership, but opinion makers in the arts and
in most aspects of public life have a real blind spot for Asia. If people
can be convinced that Asia is interesting and important then the funding will
come back and the students will follow. But we, and here I particularly mean
Indonesianists, have been very bad at telling people why they should be interested.
We take it for granted that because we like the place, everybody else will.
Researcher of the month
For high school students in regional Victoria in the early
1990s, Asian studies featured little on the school curriculum. Jemma
Purdey's interest in Asia came via a combination of an exchange trip
to Malaysia between Years 11 and 12, and her active participation in human
rights issues with Amnesty International. The Dili Massacre in late 1991 piqued
her interest in Indonesia in particular. Jemma majored in Political Science
and Indonesian language for her BA (Hons) at the University of Melbourne and
also took a year out to travel and study in Indonesia.
It was the influence of Charles Coppel in the University of Melbourne's History
Department that led Jemma to her PhD thesis topic in early 1998. This was
an exciting time as Indonesia was potentially on the verge of great change.
Charles' research interest in the ethnic Chinese guided Jemma to focus on
the escalation of violence against this minority group.
Jemma completed her thesis in 2002 and as a Fellow at the
International Institute for Asian Studies in the Netherlands, she developed
her wider thematic interest in the study of violence in Indonesia. The following
year she accompanied her husband to Mumbai, India where she worked as a volunteer
at a school for slum children and at a women's resource and advocacy centre.
During this time her writings were focused on the NGOs where she worked, the
Indian film industry and politics. Her PhD has been recently published as
Anti-Chinese Violence in Indonesia: 1996-1998 as part of the ASAA Southeast
Asian Publication Series. http://www.nus.edu.sg/npu/9971-69-332-1.html
For the past twelve months as Writer-in-Residence at the Centre of Southeast
Asian Studies at Monash University, Jemma has been researching and writing
a biography of Herb Feith, Australia's first and greatly loved Indonesianist.
She has interviewed more than 100 of his friends, colleagues and former students
in Australia, Indonesia, East Timor and elsewhere. In early 2006 as a Harold
White Fellow at the National Library of Australia, Jemma has had privileged
access to Herb's personal archive.
http://www.herb-feith-foundation.org/biography-project.html
NB Monash University has recently advertised a new academic
post, the 'Herb Feith Chair for the Study of Indonesia'. The closing date
for applications is Friday, 31 March 2006 see http://adm.monash.edu/sss/employment/senior/
Website of the month
http://www.npcil.nic.in/aboutnpcil.asp
In the wake of President Bush’s and Prime Minister Howard’s visits
to India, which put the spotlight on India as a nuclear power, you may like
to visit the website of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL),
a wholly owned enterprise of the Government of India under the administrative
control of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). NPCIL operates fourteen
nuclear power units at six locations and is implementing construction of eight
ongoing nuclear power plants.
(This website was located using the portal http://www.samachar.com/
‘India made easy’.)
Recent article of interest
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute http://www.aspi.org.au
has just published a report by Chicago-based economist David Hale, in which
he gives his assessment of China’s economic prospects and the impact
this will have on the Asia-Pacific region. Hale argues that with China now
enjoying the fourth largest nominal GDP in the world, its rise as a great
economic power will be one of the great geo-political challenges of the 21st
century. A summary of In the balance: China's unprecedented growth and implications
for the Asia-Pacific can be found at http://www.aspi.org.au/publications.cfm?pubID=87#
Did you know?
The Australian National University ANU-ANJeL (Australian
Network for Japanese Law) team was the first non-Japanese university team
to take part in the 2005 Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition in Tokyo.
The competition covers two days of 3 ½ hours of arbitrating and another
3 ½ hours of negotiating. The judges are professional lawyers, arbitrators
and judges. All arguments and the substantial written submissions were conducted
in Japanese.
The teams’ scores are not public, but ANU helped knock
Tokyo University from its three-year reign as winners (Kyoto University won
this year) and was rumoured to have won at least one of the rounds. ANU also
won the Teamwork/Enthusiasm Trophy.
For more see http://asianstudies.anu.edu.au/weblog/index.php?/archives/34-ANU-Team-Compet
The Sumitomo Group sponsors the event. http://www.sumitomo.gr.jp/english/overview/inc4.html
THE SUSSEX LIBRARY OF ASIAN STUDIES, to be launched in 2007,
will publish original scholarly work in various disciplines (including interdisciplinary
and transnational approaches) under the rubric of Asian studies -- particularly
economics, education, religion, history, politics, gender, comparative studies
with the West and regional studies in Asia. For further information and proposal
submissions, please contact the Series Editor, Dr. Mina Roces, School of History,
The University of New South Wales, m.roces@unsw.edu.au
Diary dates
BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES - PAINTINGS BY WON SUNG, 11 February
to 29 April, Melbourne. Venerable Won Sung is a self-taught artist
and Korean monk, whose work depicts young monks at work and play. Won Sung
has shown in over 30 solo exhibitions in Korea, New York, Milan, Germany,
Tokyo and Sydney. Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery, 141 Queen Street, Melbourne.
Enquiries: (03) 9642 2388
DILMAH TEA'S FOUNDER MERRILL J FERNANDO ON BUSINESS
ETHICS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, 28 March, Melbourne. Merrill J Fernando,
speaks on founding the Dilmah tea dynasty and the motivation for the formation
of the MJF Charitable Foundation as well as why tea and cricket are inseparable
in Sri Lanka. This event is presented by The University of Melbourne's Faculty
of Economics and Commerce, with the support of Asialink. Tuesday 28 March
2006, 6.30pm to 7.30pm, Carrillo Gantner Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre,
The University of Melbourne (corner of Swanston Street and Monash Road). To
reserve a seat, please send an email to: events@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
with "Fernando" in the subject line.
THE AVIAN FLU - IMPACT, SOLUTIONS & READINESS,
12 April Melbourne. Dr. Robert Glasser, Chief Executive of CARE Australia;
Professor Graham Brown, Interim Director at Nossal Institute of Global Health
at the University of Melbourne and Dr. John Carnie, Deputy Chief Health Officer,
Department of Human Services, Public Health, Victoria who will talk about
Avian Flu the level of preparedness in Australia. This event is presented
by Asialink in conjunction with CARE Australia. Wednesday 12 April 2006, 6.30pm
to 7.45pm, Carrillo Gantner Lecture Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, The
University of Melbourne, To reserve a seat, please send an email to Asialink
Events at events@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
with "Avian Flu " in the subject line.
CRESCENT MOON, ISLAMIC ART & CIVILISATION IN
SOUTHEAST ASIA, 24 February to 28 May 2006, Canberrra. The exhibition
at the National Gallery of Australia is explores the Islamic heritage of Australia's
neighbours. It shows developments in the arts of Islamic Indonesia, Malaysia
and the Philippines, as well as the Muslim communities of Thailand, Burma,
Cambodia and Vietnam. See http://www.nga.gov.au/Home/Frameset.cfm?View=../Menus/exhibits.htm
SYMBOLS & CEREMONIES INDONESIAN TEXTILE TRADITIONS
13 April-28 May, Sydney. This exhibition presents examples of lavish
court textiles from Java, boldly designed warrior cloths from Sumba, narrative
paintings of the Ramayana epic from Bali and ship cloths from Sumatra. It
is arranged thematically into groups relating to life-cycle ceremonies, temple
rituals, and court occasions, providing insights into the cultures that produced
these magnificent textiles. Asian gallery, Ground Level, Art Gallery of NSW.
See http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
STRANGERS ON THE SHORE: A CONFERENCE ON EARLY COASTAL
CONTACTS WITH AUSTRALIA, 30-31 March Canberra. A conference about
early historical contacts with Australia and indigenous Australians, including
the Macassans, National Museum of Australia. Further details at http://www.strangersontheshore.com.au.
AUSTRALIANS AND NEW ZEALANDERS IN CHINA, 1800-1950,
14-16 April, 2006, Canberra. This conference will have a special
focus on the contribution of women to ANZ-China relations. Abstracts of approximately
300 words are invited. Contributions by ANZ citizens/residents of Chinese
ethnic origins are particularly welcome. Contact the convenor, Dr Ian Welch,
ian.welch@anu.edu.au
Sixth International Congress FOR THE STUDY OF TRADITIONAL
ASIAN MEDICINE, 27-30 April, Austin, Texas. The theme for the congress
is “Sense and Substance in Traditional Asian Medicine.” Registration
details are available on the IASTAM website at http://www.iastam.org/conferences.htm
INTERNATIONAL ASIAN ANTIQUE AND ART FAIR 2006, 27
May to 31 May 2006, Hong Kong. The fair will be held at the Hong
Kong Exhibition Centre, China Resources Building, 26 Harbour Road, Wanchai,
Hong Kong
ZEN MIND, ZEN BRUSH 15 June – 13 August, Sydney.
Japanese ink painting from the Gitter—Yelen Collection. Art Gallery
of NSW, http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
10TH ASIAN STUDIES CONFERENCE JAPAN (ASCJ), 24-25
June 2006, Tokyo. This conference will be held at International Christian
University (ICU), Tokyo, on Saturday, June 24, and Sunday June 25, 2006. See
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/%7Eascj/
16TH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE
ASIAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA (ASAA) ON “ASIA RECONSTRUCTED”,
26-29 June, 2006, University of Wollongong. The deadline for
the call for papers has been extended until Wednesday 1 March 2006. Please
email abstracts and brief profile information to Margaret Hanlon at meh43@uow.edu.au
Themes of the conference include: the critique of development; governance
and citizenship; labour and social Transformation; the clash of fundamentalisms;
national and transnational legal issues; the role of technology; new and old
Arts; Asia and world history; post-colonialism; Australia-South Asia links.
The program will be posted on the ASAA conference web site by March 2006,
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/conferences/asaa/
BORNEO IN THE NEW CENTURY, 31 July and 1 August 2006,
Kuching Sarawak. Papers are invited for the Eighth Biennial Conference
of the Borneo Research Council (BRC). These should present original research
in any field relating to Sabah, Brunei, Sarawak, Kalimantan and its surrounding
region. Abstracts, no longer than 100 words, must be submitted by email before
1 May to: Jchin@ieas.unimas.my or
James.chin@lycos.com. For more details,
see: www.borneoresearchcouncil.org
ASIA-PACIFIC MISSIONARIES: AT HOME AND ABROAD, 2nd
Biennial conference, 25-27 August 2006, Canberra. The conference
will be held at the Coombs Lecture Theatre, Australian National University,
Contact: Dr Ian Welch, ian.welch@anu.edu.au
ASIA-PACIFIC TRIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART, 1 November-1
December 2006, Brisbane. The Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary
Art (APT) will be the opening exhibition at the new Queensland Gallery of
Modern Art. APT 2006 will present the work of over 30 artists from Asia, Australia
and the Pacific. It will feature a performance and cinema program, as well
as a children’s festival. See http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/apt
THE AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
STUDIES NETWORK CONFERENCE 30 November to 2 December 2006, Dunedin.
The conference is entitled ‘Southern Perspectives on Development: Dialogue
or Division?’, is to be held at the University of Otago, Further information
is available from http://www.devnet.org.nz
or contact devnet2006@geography.otago.ac.nz
You are welcome to advertise Asia-related events in this space. Send
details to: fbeddie@ozemail.com.au.
Feedback
What would be useful for you? Human interest stories, profiles
of successful graduates of Asian studies, more news about what's on, moderated
discussions on topical issues? Send your ideas to fbeddie@ozemail.com.au
About the ASAA
The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) promotes
the study of Asian languages, societies, cultures, and politics in Australia,
supports teaching and research in Asian studies and works towards an understanding
of Asia in the community at large. It publishes the Asia Studies Review journal
and holds a biennial conference.
The ASAA believes there is an urgent need to develop a strategy to preserve,
renew and extend Australian expertise about Asia. It has called on the government
to show national leadership in the promotion of Australia’s Asia knowledge
and skills. See Maximizing Australia's Asia Knowledge Repositioning and Renewal
of a National Asset http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASAA/
asia-knowledge-book-v70.pdf
Asian Currents is published by the
Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) http://coombs.anu.edu.au/ASAA/
thanks to a grant from the International Centre of Excellence for Asia Pacific
Studies (ICEAPS) http://iceaps.anu.edu.au.
It is edited by Francesca Beddie. The editorial board consists of Robert Cribb,
ASAA President, John Fitzgerald, Director, ICEAPS, Keith Foulcher, ASAA Secretary,
Mina Roces, ASAA Publications officer, Tamara Jacka, ASAA Council member.
