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The Forum > Article Comments > 'Australia in the Asian Century': breaking the repeater circuit > Comments

'Australia in the Asian Century': breaking the repeater circuit : Comments

By Neil Thomas and Thomas Williams, published 8/2/2013

The perennial rediscovery of Asia is as much a part of Australian culture as calling your mates on Saturday morning to work out what you did the night before.

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Neil and Thomas This is a great article. The Prime Minister's claim that "we have not been here before" is laughable in light of the generations of young Australians who have gone to Asian countries to study, live and work. My generation was the first big wave to do this in the 1970s and so many followed later, with most broadening and maintaining their links to the region. Perhaps it's not too late to send the Prime Minister off to the heartland of Asia as a mature-age student. Warren Reed, Sydney.
Posted by Warren Reed, Friday, 8 February 2013 12:48:55 PM
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How, exactly, will learning an 'Asian' language benefit us in any way, as opposed to learning, say, Dutch or French? If we are to become 'Asia literate' as some sort of economic necessity then which Asian language should we learn? All of them? Do many Japanese people speak chinese? China wants our raw materials whether we speak mandarin or not and will continue to do so. Or should we just learn mandarin so when they eventually become a majority we can take orders from them more smoothly?
Posted by Cody, Friday, 8 February 2013 2:52:03 PM
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Outside the rather self-interested perspectives of Asian Studies faculties, I think it’s clear that Australia IS becoming steadily more engaged with Asia. Trade, the two-way flows of students and tourists, the presence of Asian companies here and Australian companies in Asia, investment flows, migration, sister-state relationships, cultural exchanges and a host of other data point to a steadily broadening and deepening relationship with Asia.

Perhaps it would be helpful to have more Australian students studying Asian languages or culture (I see a stronger case for culture), but really that is only part of a trend that has clearly been heading in one direction for several decades.
Posted by Rhian, Friday, 8 February 2013 3:07:59 PM
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Rhian,
Re studying "culture", to what end?
English is the language of business in the 21st century and the only "culture" students need to learn if they want to make money in Asia (and stay out of jail) is the culture of the WTO.
Years ago I was casually acquainted with a guy who did the bulk of his business in Asia, he had an album of happy snaps of his trips abroad,
every single photo was of him, his colleagues and their Japanese,Thai and Korean associates looking very drunk and disheveled sitting around in hotel rooms with their ties undone and their shoes off.
Culture is for tourists, commerce has a language, customs and etiquette of it's own.
Posted by Jay Of Melbourne, Friday, 8 February 2013 3:59:56 PM
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Jay of Melbourne

I deal a lot with businesses that operate in Asia and with Asian businesses that operate here, and cultural misunderstandings are one of the most common reasons for business ventures failing to deliver what was hoped. By “culture” I don’t just mean tea ceremonies and barbeques, but things like the different roles of governments, regulations, relationship building (which your mate sounds quite good at), ways of treating staff, how long it takes to get a licence, political systems etc. There is a whole unwritten code of “the way we do things” that is absorbed and obeyed almost unthinkingly by Australian businesses but which is utterly alien to the Chinese or Koreans, and vice versa. Commerce may have elements in common across cultures, but there is more to it than that.

Understanding what makes your client tick is a cardinal rule in business.
Posted by Rhian, Friday, 8 February 2013 4:15:06 PM
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Australia does not have to worry about becoming an asian country in our times because it'll be an arab enclave long before. We should learn the language of our nearest neighbour though.
Present laws in Australia are way too discriminatory & unforgiving for us to ever even have a hope in hell to become a workable society. Law is the one major factor in which asian countries will always have it over us. Why, because Laws which are only designed as a source of revenue instead of offering an opportunity to reform are society destroying rather than society building.
Australians need to start thinking & realising that the luck that this country has been running on is no running out. What the country needs desperately is people who think country not me,me,me. Watching australian TV I see no hope of that happening though. I'm actually relieved that I'm getting long in the tooth & won't have to endure too much more of the nonsense that this country has become.
Posted by individual, Friday, 8 February 2013 7:55:57 PM
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