2009 Sydney projects
| Eben Bowditch |
Super for Life |
| Jason Carroll |
Building regional engagement between Xian-Janssen China and Janssen-Cilag Australia through leadership development |
|
Understanding Asia, a Classmate series in The Daily Telegraph |
|
| Steevie Chan |
House-building for homeless Cambodians |
| Nelson Feng Chen |
Observations of Cultural Elements in Shanghai Securities Exchange (SSE) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) |
| Fadle El-Harris | Digital Story World .com |
| Louise Freckelton |
Primary Healthcare and the General Practitioner in China and Australia |
| Dr Jane Hirst |
Reducing Perinatal Death in Remote Vietnam |
| Tim James |
ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement – Implications for Health (Watch Video) |
| Sean Kennedy |
Asian Regional Free Trade Agreements- opportunities for contractors |
| Review of the outcomes of Neon Rising – an Asialink/Australia Council choreographic development project and exploration of applicability of a similar model with the participating countries being Australia and India |
|
| Alexandra Owens |
Adik-AIYEP: Encouraging Greater Numbers of High School Students to Learn Indonesian |
| Scott-Bradley Pearce |
Asia Digital Australia (Watch Video) |
| Natali Pearson |
Money laundering / terrorism financing in the Asia/Pacific region (Watch Video) |
| Fiona Rankin |
Animal Disease Outbreak Management and Surveillance |
| Jenny Saliba |
Life Changing Experiences |
| Alison Taylor | Integrating international students into the University community and the Australian context |
| Dr June Wang |
Disciplinary Based Orientation for Asian Background Students at UNSW |
Eben Bowditch
Project: Super for Life
Australia is the world's fourth largest superannuation, pension and investment market and one of the most sophisticated asset allocators. As a significant provider of capital to the region, superannuation funds adopt responsibility for best practice sustainable investment and corporate governance. As a large investment manager and leading provider of investment solutions, BT continually assesses new markets and investment opportunities.Although capital exchange between Australia and Asia is significant it is still dwarfed by other regions, especially the US and UK. Climate conservation is a common global platform that is becoming increasingly significant for the developing Asian region that also lacks capital to develop programs. Carbon conservation investment can further link Australian investment capital to the Asian market.
This project aimed to assess the feasibility and prepare BTs entry to this space. The project continues with further analysis required as more certainty prevails following Copenhagen in December and bipartisan agreement regarding Australia's CPRS program.
Jason Carroll
Project: Building regional engagement between Xian-Janssen China and Janssen-Cilag Australia through leadership development
Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd is part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. Xian-Janssen Pharmaceuticals (XJP) is located in Beijing, China and was one of the very first multi-national pharmaceutical subsidiaries to invest heavily in manufacturing in China (1985). XJP held the esteemed #1 multi-national pharmaceutical company position across China for more than 10 years, and in the process, built an unrivalled level of trust as well as unparalleled reputation for quality medicines in the industry. The envied #1 position was lost by XJP in 2006 and the organisation has steadily fallen behind competitor multi-national corporations (MNC’s) over the last 3 years. XJP now hold the, somewhat uncomfortable, #6 position.For Janssen-Cilag Australia, the situation is somewhat opposite, changing from a very small company in the early 1990’s into the #8 position over the last 15 years. A focus on core strategy has been one reason for the success of the Australian subsidiary
This project seeks to improve the business results of XJP and return this company to a Top 3 position through a job-rotation program between Australia and China
Nicolette Casella
Project: Understanding Asia, a Classmate series in The Daily Telegraph
Educating Australians about Asia is one of the best ways to raise cultural awareness and breakdown stereotypes that exist in our society. And where better to start this process than the classroom.
This project will publish three Asia-focused features in the Classmate series of The Daily Telegraph newspaper. Classmate is a two-page colour spread published every Tuesday in the paper and circulated to NSW schools to be used as part of the curriculum. Up to 45,000 copies of Classmate are sent to schools each week and it can also be read by the newspaper's one million-plus readers daily.
Each of the three Classmates will be themed by country - Japan, China and Indonesia - and to further break it down by issue so that it remains easy for primary school students to understand. The first in the series will focus on Japanese popular culture and look at the influence of manga and animation worldwide. The second Classmate will explore how China's urbanisation has lead to its rise as the next superpower and the third will examine Indonesia as a melting pot of cultures
Steevie Chan
Project: House-building for homeless Cambodians
Tabitha Cambodia was founded in 1994 with seeding funds from the Australian and Canadian Consulates, with the aim of improving the lives of the poorest of the poor in Cambodia, in a holistic and sustainable way. Volunteer house-building is one of the programs coordinated by Tabitha to help the homeless in Cambodia.A team from Janssen-Cilag is participating in the house-building program in February 2010. The objective is to raise enough money to build up to 20 houses in rural Cambodia, and to participate “hands-on” in the construction of these houses under the direction of Khmer builders. Apart from meeting and interacting with many Cambodians through the trip and the building work, the program will give Cambodians an opportunity to teach foreigners (like us) the skills of house-building, in turn developing a deep sense of pride. When volunteers come from overseas, it helps them start believe in their own value. It is anticipated that through this project, all involved will gain a deeper understanding of the people of Cambodia – their culture, their history, their pain and their hopes.
Nelson Feng Chen
Project: Observations of Cultural Elements in Shanghai Securities Exchange (SSE) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)
Culture plays a significant role in the evolution of a stock market. Whilst there is an enormous amount of technical research conducted to identify macroeconomic determinants of stock market development and performance, there is as yet little research literature into the impact of cultural factors on stock market development.Examining China’s Shanghai Securities Exchange (SSE) and the Australia Securities Exchange (ASX), the paper attempts to provide a grasp of how culture (values, beliefs and attitudes) and forces that bring about cultural change drive the behaviour of the major stakeholders in connection with a stock market. The writer also intends to show that cultural differences do matter when it comes to risk appetite, investment behaviour and even returns of stock at local markets. Cultural differences may also bear on transparency and even efficiency of the stock market.
Fadle El-Harris
Project: Digital Story World .com
In recent years there has been a video revolution through the world wide web. With sites like youtube and vimeo emerging as leaders in the online video world , they have established opportunities for young and old alike. These opportunities can be overshadowed with clutter, making the task of locating culturally rich and expressionistic content tedious.Incorporating animation, photos, video and voiceover, digital stories from all over the world have emerged as a link between diverse cultures. However at present there is no central gallery to capture these stories. This project called digital story world.com, aims to fill the gap and encourage self-expression through this growing medium.
Digital story world will bring worlds together, and act as a gallery for mainstream and Diaspora communities, especially those coming from Asia and individuals of Asian origin.
Louise Freckelton
Project: Primary Healthcare and the General Practitioner in China and Australia
In late 2008, Vice-Minister Huang Jiefu, released the draft Health Care Reform Plan and in April 2009 these were endorsed by the Central Committee of the CCP. Part of the reform process requires the creation of primary care practitioners and the development of a primary health care system. Consequently, the ‘GP’ is a new but quickly developing concept in China.In parallel, the Australian health system too is undergoing recently announced reform. However in contrast to the situation in China, Australia has a developed concept of what a GP is and has established programs for training.
This moment of change being experienced in both countries provides a unique opportunity to exchange information on each other’s systems and to learn from each other.
Teamed with not only one of China’s leading Universities (Fudan University) but also with the Shanghai Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RACGP) (NSW), the project aims to develop a collaborative approach to information exchange, research and training in this important field of health in both Australia and China.
Dr Jane Hirst
Project: Reducing Perinatal Death in Remote Vietnam
The death of a baby before birth or during the first month of life affects over 7 million parents every year. In Vietnam the rate of newborn deaths is greater than 8 times higher than Australia.This project will establish a collaborative research relationship with the Hoc Mai Foundation and the Department of Public Health in Dien Bien Province (DBP), Vietnam. DBP is a poor province in remote Northern Vietnam, population 450 000. Hoc Mai has established a close relationship over the past 5 years with the provincial health department through provision of educational workshops. Success of this program should be measured in improved survival of mothers and babies. Currently accurate data on the number and causes of death of babies in DBP is not available.
This project hopes to strengthen the quality of data available on newborn deaths, ensuring future education and development programs are appropriate and effective.
Tim James
Project: ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement – Implications for Health
The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) is the largest FTA Australia has concluded and it will enter into force on 1 January 2010. It spans 12 economies with over 600 million people and combined GDP of $3.1 trillion. It represents a major step forward in regional trade and cooperation. Surely it promises a great deal in relation to one of the most important issues facing the people of the region; their health.Effective health policy and development is increasingly subject to regional and global dynamics, collaboration across borders and the sharing of initiative, expertise and experience. At Johnson & Johnson we believe that effective, compassionate health care systems are critical to achieving better health for people around the world. The Australia-US FTA for instance helped bring about health system changes in support of further transparency, timeliness and accountability.
A thorough analysis of AANZFTA and its related materials, discussions with government departments and industry bodies suggests, surprisingly, relatively few clear wins for better health through AANZFTA. However over time it should serve to provoke greater cooperation and collaboration in health programs. Such programs, including perhaps through the AANZFTA Implementation Work Program, are worthy of strong consideration and action in the interests of better health across the region.
Sean Kennedy
Project: Asian Regional Free Trade Agreements- opportunities for contractors
The project set out to explore opportunities to expand the export of contracting services in Asia, particularly in the engineering and resources sector, to capitalise on recently developed and proposed regional free trade agreements.The initial findings are that the potential benefits to trade liberalisation in services are not being fully realised due to the existence of numerous non-tariff barriers including local content and local partnering provisions in some countries. These complex provisions add cost and uncertainty to decision making as they can vary between countries and can operate at the national, state or local level.
The project outcome included the development of a detailed presentation to inform senior executives and a wider industry audience of opportunities and challenges for contractors from regional free trade agreements, to inform future business and strategic planning decisions.
Carin Mistry
Project: Review of the outcomes of Neon Rising – an Asialink/Australia Council choreographic development project and exploration of applicability of a similar model with the participating countries being Australia and India
Asialink, in partnership with the dance board of the Australia Council, initiated a two-year dance program Neon Rising Dance Exchange (2005/6) with Japan. Five Australian choreographers were selected to develop new collaborative relationships and projects with Japanese partners. All the choreographers developed a range of innovative multidisciplinary new works, which were presented in Japan and Australia as part of the 2006 ‘Year of Cultural Exchange’.This project will undertake a longitudinal evaluation of the Neon Rising Program in order to share information and provide a solid foundation for the development of a new project in a new territory – India, one that will learn from the successes and failures of Neon Rising.
Alexandra Owens
Project: Adik-AIYEP: Encouraging Greater Numbers of High School Students to Learn Indonesian
In 2007, less than 1% of year 12 students in Australia studied Indonesian. The aim of this project is to encourage more students to continue studying Indonesian in the last years of high school and into university.The Australia Indonesia Institute’s Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP) aims to "provide wider opportunities for the young people of Indonesia and Australia to appreciate the culture, development and the way of life of the other country".
This Asialink project extends the current AIYEP program for 18-25 year olds, to include students in Year 10/11 already studying Indonesian.
The Asialink Project is called the "Adik-AIYEP" program. “Adik” means “younger sibling” in Indonesian, and the Adik-AIYEP program would involve each Adik-AIYEP participant being matched with an “older sibling” in the AIYEP program. The thinking behind the Adik-AIYEP project is to give an even younger group of people a glimpse of the benefits (including career possibilities) – and fun and joy – that come from learning Indonesian at a higher level.
The pilot program will hopefully take place in December 2009.
Scott-Bradley Pearce
Project: Asia Digital Australia
Today all businesses use digital technology in one form or another, from doing business by email through to entirely digital offerings like retail online. However the digital media industry in Australia and in particular content creators still have a very Australia only view of the market. This projects sets out to encourage Australian digital media practitioners to engage with Asia and to consider Asian audiences. The project has established a forum with events in Sydney and in 2010 in MelbourneProject: Money laundering / terrorism financing in the Asia/Pacific region
This project sought to build new knowledge of terrorism financing operations in the Asia Pacific to provide better information for regional policy makers and law enforcement authorities. Building on AUSTRAC’s training expertise and its regional partnerships the research paper investigates current financing methods and identifies areas for future work. The project is supplemented by a presentation for delivery to domestic and international counterparts, particularly regional law enforcement and intelligence authorities.Fiona Rankin
Project: Animal Disease Outbreak Management and Surveillance
Wildlife acts as “canaries in a coalmine” in terms of early warning of emerging disease or serious environmental poisoning. Over the last thirty years, the rate at which new and threatening diseases emerge from wild animals has increased from 50% to 80%. This happens as wild animals interact with humans and domesticated animals. The outbreak of the Hendra Virus in Queensland, which passed from flying foxes to humans via horses is an example of this type of disease transmission process.Working in conjunction with key government and NGO partners Curious Works has developed a national technology platform for wild animal disease outbreak management and surveillance. BiosecHQ connects some 2,000 volunteer wildlife carers with critical government laboratories, and combines the ability to securely manage sensitive information and reports online.
This aim of this project is to harness and leverage the BiosecHQ technology, framework, and experiences through the provision of BiosecHQ to neighbouring Asian carer groups and institutions. Specifically, investigations are currently underway to initiate discussions with Jurong Bird Park in Singapore.
Jenny Saliba
Project: Life Changing Experiences
This project aimed to enhance Australia/Asia relations by developing greater awareness at the school level. Newington College is an affluent private school in NS.The project would enhance an established program operating between Newington College and the SOS Children’s Villages in Nepal; an organisation, which assists orphaned and destitute children. The program includes three features:
1. Nepal Adventure, a trek
2. A Nepalese GAP student sponsored to visit and stay at Newington for a school year; and
3. A Nepalese teacher visiting Newington to share learning techniques.
The Trek is a great way of providing the mechanism for a life-changing cultural experience but perhaps lacks a “cultural education component”. This project would try to influence the overall program to build a much deeper understanding of the cultures involved and how this program might be integrated into the overall school curriculum, providing a more rounded education for the students.
Alison Taylor
Project: Integrating international students into the University community and the Australian context
The project aims to investigate country-specific culture shock experienced by international students.When international students arrive in Australia, they are often given a lot of information on “what it means to be an Aussie”. This is a one-way process that doesn’t incorporate the impressions of the incoming international student and often relies on outdated or stereotypical concepts of what it means to be Australian.
This project will involve working with international students in country-specific groups to identify the socially and culturally surprising aspects of life in Australia.
The project aim is to develop a range of orientation tools, which assists students in making adjustments to Australia and to measure outcomes through student satisfaction surveys.
Dr June Wang
Project: Disciplinary Based Orientation for Asian Background Students at UNSW
The Australian School of Business at UNSW is a very culturally diverse school. Of its 10,000 plus students, over 30% are international students representing over 120 countries/regions and over 80 different languages. Sixty percent of ASB students speak English as a second language. Students of Asian background, who represent the majority of the ASB’s international and ESL students, experience culture-related difficulties which affect their learning outcomes and performance, particularly in business and law subjects.
This project recognises that learning style is influenced by cultural factors and is aimed at reducing misconceptions that Asian students have about business and law subjects and assisting their understanding of problem solving and critical thinking which are essential skills in their ASB study. The project will also provide ASB lecturers with a better understanding of Asian students’ learning style and help them to teach more inclusively.