The paper that follows this is one I wrote a few years back and tried for months and months to have published by academic journals. As must be obvious, it didn’t happen and I’ll be the first to say it can be improved. In the end though, I decided to not pursue that part of […]
Continue ReadingTeaching Asia to Australia: Face-to-Face and First-Hand
The one measure outlined in the White Paper, Australia in the Asian Century, that seems to have caught the public’s imagination is the access to four priority languages (Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian and Japanese) at all levels of the Australian education system. This is an important move as linguistic literacy is part of deeper and […]
Continue ReadingTeaching Asia to Australia
Most recent co-authored piece on The Conversation, republished here by Creative Commons: Teaching Asia to Australia: it’s not just about languages By Susan Leong, Queensland University of Technology and Catherine Gomes, RMIT University Ahead of the soon-to-be-released Asian Century White Paper, Foreign Minister Bob Carr has said Australia needs to “know Asia” in order to […]
Continue ReadingMy first story on Storify
Here’s one put together for an upcoming paper on China’s middle class: [View the story “China’s moral crisis” on Storify]
Continue ReadingMacquarie University’s Soft Power Advocacy and Research Group
Macquarie University has recently established a Soft Power Advocacy and Research Group (SPARC). Their aims are to: “Pursue a broad agenda of research and analysis to develop new theories and debate around models for soft power and public diplomacy. Develop affiliations and strategic partnerships with key national and international organisations spanning the public and private […]
Continue ReadingChutneyfying English – Hinglish
A current research interest due to work on Chetan Bhagat’s novels. Very interesting parallels with the debate over Singlish in Singapore, another ex-British colony of a very different scale. The younger lady there is Rita Kothari, co-author of a collection titled, Chutneyfying English: the Phenomenon of Hinglish.
Continue ReadingWorkers’ Strikes in India
According to Reuters: “Millions of Indian workers to strike on Tuesday NEW DELHI – Millions of workers of all political hues will go on strike across India on Tuesday to express their anger at soaring prices and to back demands for improved rights for employees, trade unions and political activists said. The strike, which will […]
Continue ReadingMiddle India and Corruption
Bollywood finds new muse in anti-graft protests Reuters report: “MUMBAI – A hapless bank clerk who makes an enemy of a local politician and has to bribe himself out of jail seems like an unlikely theme for Bollywood, known around the world for its dance numbers and family melodramas. Yet the industry is now […]
Continue ReadingJoseph Nye on America vis-a-vis China
A short piece from Nye, who coined the term “soft power”. According to him, “while the ‘rise of the rest’ means that America will be less dominant than it once was, this does not mean that China will necessarily replace the US as the world’s leading power.”
Continue ReadingMiddle Class in China and India
The stories and perception of Asian economies, especially China and India, is that they are primed for rampant growth. However, this growth has a sting in its tail for the people who have to live and work in these economies. The BBC offers a number of articles on the difficulties and challenges the “new middle […]
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