Can we transform the tyranny of distance into the benefit of proximity?
HOW often have you heard
Australians who have recently returned from overseas announce, as though it
were news that should shock us, ''There was nothing in their media about
Australia!''
For some reason, inexplicable to
me, many Australians are surprised that the rest of the world is not as
fascinated with us as we are.
What is equally surprising is
that these pronouncements often come from people who are themselves unlikely to
want to learn much about the country they have just visited.
Maybe we are a bit narcissistic
and insular. We are interested in ourselves but we are not really interested in
others. Regrettably, many Australians may just have the complacency that comes
with a seriously misplaced sense of white Anglo-Saxon superiority.
This trait is particularly
worrying in terms of countries in our region. The rise of Asia means what was
once the tyranny of distance (from other Western countries) may well have
become the benefits of proximity to the growing engine-room of the Asian
economies. To take real advantage of this fortuitous geography for the benefit
of our grandchildren we need to open our hearts and minds to our region far
more effectively than we have thus far.
Liberal and Labor governments
have trimmed expenditures on teaching Asian languages. There are arguments
either side of the debate about the merits of this. One side says we have a
high number of Asian speakers, Asians have tremendous proficiency in English
and English is the international language, so we ought not panic. The other
says being monolingual just does not equip you for the modern world and stops
you learning all the other things you learn about another culture when you
learn their language.
In any event, opening our hearts
and minds to our region means so much more than learning an Asian language.
Take as an example Indonesia.
Many Australians, on hearing of Indonesia, think of Bali, their boardies and
some Bintang. It's heart-warming that Australians think, rightly, of the
Balinese as beautiful, gentle people, but it does little to inform us of the
country as a whole.
Being one of the three big
immigration countries, along with Canada and the United States, has made us
very multicultural. But do many Australians recognise that Indonesia has a
multiplicity of cultures as well?
Indonesia may be described as the
largest Muslim country in the world, but that hides the plurality of daily life
there. Look, for example, at public holidays. In addition to a number of
important Islamic days, they also celebrate Chinese New Year, especially in
Kalimantan, the turn of the Hindu Saka year, which is important for the
Balinese Hindus, and the Buddhist commemoration of the Gautama Buddha, which is
important around Borobudur. And let's not forget the Christian festivals of the
Ascension, Good Friday and, yes, Christmas Day. (Incidentally, Good Friday is a
public holiday in Australia and in Indonesia, but it is not in Italy.)
The Indonesian holidays reflect
the plurality of their community - in stark contrast to the monoculture
imagined by so many Australians.
Indonesia is the biggest of the
Association of South-East Asian Nations economies. The ASEAN secretariat is in
Indonesia. As divisions have emerged within ASEAN, the Indonesians' role will
become even more important. Their economy is growing at around 6 per cent,
which is something Wayne Swan doesn't even dare to dream of.
Our prime ministers have trouble
dealing with the states of Australia; imagine trying to run an archipelago of
thousands of islands. Yes, more reforms are needed and maybe the pace of reform
has slipped, but President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has overseen something of a
transformation since the Asian financial crisis.
On one of his official visits
here, not long before he became president, we met over a dinner with Alexander
Downer. Yudhoyono struck me as a very smart guy. He was friendly, personable
and as far as these sorts of dinners go, he was good company. If it is true
that he is now looking to some sort of global role when his presidential term
ends, I wish him well.
Michael Wesley, who until
recently was chief executive of the Lowy Institute, says research shows
Australians love to travel in Asia, but are not at all taken with learning any
more about its history or politics.
Perhaps those who travel think
they have spent enough time learning. I hope not. If most of us accept anything
other than lifelong learning, then Australia will over time end up as the poor
white trash of Asia and will be in big trouble.
If you have kids at school and
they are not learning anything about Asian culture or history, you should
challenge the school or change it.
To increase our interest in our
region, perhaps we should focus on the younger generation. Instead of giving
our kids Harry Potter books, we should be giving them books about Prince Rama
and the Monkey King.
After all, we need help them
understand that there is a great big world out there that is neither white, nor
Anglo-Saxon, nor Christian - and to whet their appetite to learn more.
The various Monkey King tales are
more important than you might think.
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