TEACHING AUSTRALIAN STUDIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN UNIVERSITIES

What images do Southeast Asian students have of Australian society, and 
how are these images changed when studying Australian history and 
culture? In answering these questions, Singapore provides a good case 
study. Australian history and literature have been taught at a tertiary 
level to Singapore students since 1994.1 They have had very good 
enrolments since then (for instance, the majority of the students 
taking the history stream choose to do Australian history). Examining 
the opinions of Singapore university students studying Australia may 
shed light on how people from Australia's neighbours in Southeast Asia 
perceive the country, and come to terms with its history and culture.

Sources of information on Australia
In Singapore, information about Australia comes from tourism, the 
media, and friends and relatives who may be residing in, or have 
studied in, or visited Australia. Singapore, like most Asian countries, 
does not cover Australia in its school curriculum. Singapore's close 
relations with its Southeast Asian neighbours in ASEAN (Association of 
South East Asian Nations) mean that these countries tend to provide the 
areas to focus on in the school curriculum. 
Information about Australia partly comes from the 30,000 Singaporeans 
who have gone to universities in Australia. Singaporeans doing their 
education at Australian universities seem to provide one of the 
strongest connections between the countries. In 1994, there were 7,739 
full fee paying students from Singapore in Australia compared to 4,000 
each in the United States and Britain. Singapore leaders who had been 
educated at Australian universities include the President Ong Teng 
Cheong and his wife, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tony Tan; Communications 
Minister Mah Bow Tan; Labour Minister, Dr Lee Boon Yang; and Trade and 
Industry Minister, Yeo Cheow Tong.2 The knowledge that Singaporeans 
obtain from their relatives living in Australia may also be 
significant. By 1993, 25,804 Singaporeans had migrated to Australia, 
and most still had family and business connections with Singapore.3 The 
majority of these migrants are well-educated professionals, many of 
whom have studied in Australia.4
Another source of information about Australia is the Singapore English 
language press, which has given events in Australia detailed coverage. 
The largest circulating newspaper in the country the Straits Times has 
since 1994 been subedited from Sydney by journalists from Singapore who 
have moved there. These journalists, along with former Singapore 
journalists, such as Florence Chong, who now works for the Australian, 
have covered stories in Australia that would go unreported in many 
other Southeast Asian newspapers. Thus events in Australia can be 
followed quite easily by reading the Singapore press. The issues that 
tend to provide the focus are, interestingly, Australia's relationship 
with Asia, immigration policies, and racism towards Asians in 
Australia. In Singapore, the influence of the Straits Times is 
considerable. A study done by market research firm Market Behaviour 
(Singapore) revealed that 73.7 percent of teenagers in Singapore read 
the Straits Times.5 
A significant proportion of news stories on Australia in the English 
language press have featured racism in Australia. In 1993, the 
Singapore newspaper, the New Paper, a popular and sensationalist 
English evening tabloid, ran a large section on the firebombing of 
Chinese restaurants in Perth. These had not been given much coverage in 
the Australian press, but the New Paper devoted considerable space to 
covering examples of racism against Perth's Asian community, many of 
whom come from Singapore.6 The Market Behaviour (Singapore) study 
revealed that 61.6 percent of teenagers in Singapore read the New 
Paper. Thus, its influence is quite significant.
However, the most common way in which many Singaporeans experience 

Australia is through tourism. Increasing affluence has meant that many 
Singaporeans have directly experienced the country through brief 
visits. In 1993, 155,512 Singaporeans out of a nation of 2.8 million 
spent their holidays in Australia. This was an increase of over 33 
percent from 1992. By 1995, 202,366 Singaporeans a year were visiting 
Australia. About 60 percent of them were repeat visitors.7 The number 
of Singaporeans visiting Australia is expected to increase to 420,000 a 
year by the year 2003. Commenting upon this trend, the Straits Times 
noted that this is the direct result of the 'phenomenal growth of most 
Asian economies' which has resulted in 'not only the emergence of a 
younger, affluent middle class but also stronger Asian currencies', 
which 'translates into value for money in terms of travel fares, 
accommodation and shopping'.8 
Singapore university students undoubtedly fall into this designation as 
members of the 'younger, affluent middle class'. University education 
in Singapore is still restricted to an elite of about 16 percent of the 
primary one cohort. The number has been expanding over the last decade, 
but it has not reached the levels of mass university education of many 
Western countries, such as Australia.9 Thus, while the knowledge of 
this elite group about Australia should be stronger than the rest of 
the community, their judgements should still reflect those of informed 
public opinion in the country. The Singapore university student 
community is therefore an ideal test sample for examining perceptions 
of Australia in Southeast Asia.

Rationale for the survey and the content of the Australian studies 
subject
The variety of information on Australia at hand to Singapore university 
students would suggest that they are reasonably knowledgeable about 
Australia, and would be able to come to informed judgements on the 
country. This prompts the question: what images are constructed from 
the information available? Answering this question is necessary before 
ascertaining whether studying Australia at a tertiary level changes 
these perceptions. In order to pursue these lines of inquiry, two 
groups of students were surveyed: one that had not done Australian 
studies, and a group that had just completed a course on Australian 
studies. In gathering the data for these surveys, the assumption is 
made that the non-Australian studies students' opinions would be 
similar to those of Australian studies students before they had done 
the subject. It is, of course, possible that this assumption may not be 
the case, but it is a reasonable assumption to make. Polling the 
students before the classes began, and then again at the end with the 
same questions would seem to be the most logical course of action, but 
then it would be too obvious to the students that the lecturer was 
looking for changes in their opinions. Consequently, that course of 
action was never taken. As can be readily seen, there are some striking 
similarities in responses of the two groups to some of the questions 
asked, especially in 'Table 3: Perceptions of Australia' and 'Table 4: 
Student Interest in Australia'. These indicate that it is correct to 
assume that the non-Australian studies group is representative of the 
opinions of those of the Australian studies group before they took the 
subject.
In late 1993, 50 university students who were studying a survey course 
in history were polled on their opinions about Australia. In early 
1995, 17 students taking Australian history were given the same 
questions (numbers were lower than usual because the rest of the 
students from that particular year of intake which this group belonged 
had already completed Australian history in early 1994). The classes 
chosen were ones in which minority groups, the Indians and Malays, had 
a strong numerical presence, so the results would not just reflect the 
opinions of the ethnic majority of Singapore, the Chinese, who comprise 
over 77 percent of the population, with the Malays constituting about 

14 percent, the Indians around 7 percent, and other races making up the 
rest.10
Some of the areas of focus in the Australian history subject included 
topics that tended to feature in the press, and in general discussions 
with students and colleagues when Australia came up in the course of 
conversation. The question of to what extent a subject should cater to 
the tastes of the students is a highly problematic one, but Manning 
Clark's experience from teaching Australian history at Harvard offers 
some guidance. He believed that it was far more intellectually 
stimulating to spend more time on topics in Australian history that the 
non-Australian audience found interesting rather pursue topics that 
bored them.11 Issues raised by newspaper reports on Australia tended to 
complement the topics studied. These news stories on Australia analysed 
the native land title legislation and the Mabo High Court judgement, 
examined Australia's relations with Asia, and looked at Australia's 
British colonial background, when the possibility of an Australian 
republic was being raised. Still, the university subject on Australian 
history was similar to those conducted in Australia. The students 
taking Australian history in Singapore as part of their Bachelor of 
Arts were interested to hear universal themes being played out in 
Australia. These included crime and punishment in the convict era, the 
impact of geography on the people of the country, the themes of racial 
domination and oppression in European-Aboriginal relations, the racism 
found in the White Australia Policy, and the rise of its opposite, the 
multicultural society of the present.

Singapore students' perceptions of Australia
 There were three broad areas surveyed: how students position Australia 
in the world, their perceptions of the people of Australia, and student 
interest in Australia. 
The first area that these students were asked questions on sheds light 
on how the people of Southeast Asia (a region which is obviously 
adjacent to Australia) may mentally position Australia. The Singapore 
students were asked to answer either 'yes' or 'no' to two questions 
about how they saw Australia - 'Is Australia part of the region that 
Singapore is in?', and then the next question was 'Do you consider 
Australia as part of Asia?'. The results are compiled in 'Table 1: Is 
Australia Part of Asia, and is Australia a Part of the Region Singapore 
is in?'. From 1992 to 1996, these were questions that surfaced in the 
Singapore press, as Paul Keating, the Prime Minister, sought to enmesh 
Australia into the region. Demonstrating their awareness of this issue, 
students from both groups commented on their questionnaires that 
Australia was trying to become part of the Asia, and was 'making 
progress' in that direction. Significantly, of the non-Australian 
studies group, 48 percent felt that Australia was either a part of Asia 
or in the same region that Singapore was in. This rose in the 
Australian studies group to 65 percent.
These two questions were asked on geographic location because it is 
possible that Australia can be perceived as not being part of Asia, yet 
still be perceived to be part of the region that Singaporeans see 
themselves as being in. Among the non-Australian studies students, this 
view was significant - 18 percent. However, with the Australian studies 
students, it was not as prevalent - at 12 percent. These students 
appear to have had changed their minds, and now agreed with the notion 
that Australia is both a part of Asia and a part of the region that 
Singapore is in. Thus it seems that some of the Australian studies 
students who perhaps before the course would have baulked at describing 
Australia as a part of Asia, yet conceded that Australia was part of 
the region that Singapore is in, were willing to rethink this 
assumption. Students who thought that Australia is both a part of Asia 
and a part of the region that Singapore is in doubled from 20 percent 
to 41 percent. The most significant shift that explains this doubling 

is the dramatic drop in the number of students who believed that 
Australia is not a part of Asia and not a part of the region that 
Singapore is in. This fell dramatically from 48 percent to 35 percent.  

If the question 'do you consider Australia as part of Asia?' is taken 
by itself, then 64 percent of the non-Australian studies students did 
not consider Australia as part of Asia. In the Australian studies 
students, this figure had dropped to 53 percent. The question may be 
construed by the students to mean 'is Australia culturally a part of 
Asia?', so in the table presented there was an additional question on 
whether Australia was part of Singapore's region. These two questions 
taken together give a more accurate picture of how Australia is 
mentally positioned rather than just asking whether Australia is a part 
of Asia, with all the cultural implications that go with saying 'yes'. 
Interestingly, a Saulwick poll of Australians conducted in 1993 
revealed that two thirds of Australians themselves did not see their 
country as a part of Asia. The Straits Times expressed its displeasure 
at this result when it commented that the poll showed 'Australians are 
what they have always been suspected to be: insular in reflex and 
spirit in spite of their society's cosmopolitan mix'.12 The results of 
the opinion polling on Singapore university students confound this 
common criticism in the Singapore press and reveal a similar picture if 
the loaded question about Australia being a part of Asia is asked 
without other questions to indicate what the respondents mean. Among 
the Singapore students, it would seem that answering 'yes' to this 
question alone usually means to the majority, but obviously not all, 
affirming that Australia is not just economically, geographically, and 
politically connected to the region, but also culturally linked. 
Therefore, most students did not agree that Australia was a part of 
Asia. 
However, when adding the responses to this question with those to an 
additional question asking whether Australia and Singapore are in the 
same region, it can be seen that they do see Australia as part of the 
region; but they definitely do not see Australia as culturally Asian. 
This is clear from the students' responses to an another question on 
the questionnaire which was meant to clarify how they mentally picture 
Australia in relation to the rest of the world. The results are 
summarised in 'Table 2: Is Australia Culturally East or West?'. The 
obvious conclusion to draw is that the Singapore students see Australia 
as culturally a Western country, but one that is in an Asian region. 
This perception is strongly reinforced by their experiences in studying 
Australia's history.
The shifts in opinion that are shown on Tables 2 and 3 can be put down 
to the students' reactions to the content of the Australian history 
subject, which did cover the history of Australia's relations with 
Asia. The subject traced immigration to Australia by Asians from the 
Gold Rushes of the 1850s through to their exclusion during the White 
Australia Policy, and then to the non-discriminatory immigration policy 
since 1973. It then covered the multicultural society of the present. 
The entry of Vietnamese refugees and other Asian migrants in recent 
times featured in the course. Also covered were Australia's foreign 
relations with Southeast Asia, including the fall of Singapore to the 
Japanese, Australia's involvement in the Malayan Emergency, its role in 
the Confrontation with Indonesia, and its part in the Vietnam War. A 
comment scribbled on the back of one questionnaires indicates what has 
occurred in perceptions of Australia among some students. It stated 
that 'before the course', the student felt that Australia was 'very 
much an isolated area'. 
Perhaps, it can be hypothesised from these changes in perceptions that 
more knowledge about the history and culture of Australia counters the 
impression that it is an isolated part of the world. By learning about 
Australia, the students also appreciate that the Australian experience 

has universal themes, yet is unique. They also learn of Australia's 
various links with world history, Asian history, and historical 
connections with the countries of the region that Singaporeans see 
themselves as living in. The significant proportion of students 
accepting Australia as part of Asia and/or the region that Singapore is 
in gives proof to a point made by Associate Professor Kirpal Singh, of 
Nanyang Technological University, who has taught Australian literature 
in Singapore since the 1970s. At the conference 'Outside Images of 
Australia' held in Perth in July 1992, he said that he felt that 
'Australia is in Southeast Asia. It has been there for years and it 
looks as if it is going to stay there for many more'.13 
The data from 'Table 3: Perceptions of Australia' illustrates mostly 
minor changes in the views of the students doing Australian studies. By 
and large, these are not major shifts in opinion, as depicted in the 
tables dealing with how Singapore students mentally position Australia. 
The reactions of both groups are almost the same to the question, 
'Would you describe Australia as a nation composed of people of 
different races and cultures?'. The replies to this question tend to 
suggest that Singapore university students do have an accurate picture 
of Australia as a multicultural country. This accurate description 
reinforces the credibility of the responses to the subsequent 
questions, which were placed on the survey sheet in the order presented 
on the table. 
Another question that was put on the questionnaire to test whether the 
students were making informed judgements on a subject that they had a 
reasonable knowledge of was, 'who is the prime minister of Australia?'. 
An astounding 46 percent of the students who had not studied Australia 
at university were able to write Paul Keating's name in the blank space 
provided (it was not a multiple choice question). All but a few 
students were able to spell his name correctly. This is strong 
testimony indeed to the success of Keating's push for Australia's 
engagement with the Asian region! Interestingly, 4 percent named Bob 
Hawke as prime minister. On the questionnaire, there was yet another 
question which could be used to check the validity of the replies from 
the students. The similar responses of both groups to the question, 'If 
you lived in Australia do you think you would experience either racial 
discrimination or prejudice?' adds greater empirical strength to the 
results of the survey. The answers reflect a study, done in the late 
1980s, of Singaporeans intending to migrate to Australia, which 
revealed that over 90 percent of them believed that they would 
experience discrimination.14
The responses from the question from 'Table 3: Perceptions of 
Australia' that changed the most after the students had completed the 
subject on Australian history were those responses to the question that 
dealt with racism towards Aborigines. The increase from 80 percent to 
94 percent saying 'yes' to the question on whether there is racial 
discrimination and harassment against Aborigines can be attributed to 
the Australian history subject dealing with the history of European and 
Aboriginal relations. The 80 percent figure among the non-Australian 
studies class perhaps does indicate Singapore university students 
familiarity with Australia. One student in this group actually wrote 
that he or she would like to learn more about the Aborigines of 
Australia. 
However, when it came to the questions on discrimination against Asians 
there was little change. This indicates that Singapore students' 
knowledge of Australia is acquired through reading the newspapers and 
hearing stories from friends who have resided in Australia of the 
isolated incidents of discrimination and harassment of Asians in 
Australia. The personal contact with Singaporeans who have lived in 
Australia seems also to be important in forming perceptions. Over one 
fifth of the non-Australian studies class when asked to nominate the 
Australian they knew most about nominated a friend, or relative who was 

an Australian citizen, or an Australian working in Singapore who they 
were acquainted with. These individuals were invariably Singaporeans or 
Malaysians who had become citizens of Australia. This personal contact 
would give greater credence to the judgements of the students.
The degree of congruency in responses to the question, 'Do you think 
there is racial discrimination and harassment of people from Asian 
countries in Australia?' illustrates that it is correct to assume that 
the views of the non-Australian studies group do reasonably represent 
the views of the students before they do the course in Australian 
studies. There is very little change in the responses. However, 
answering 'yes' to the question 'Are Australians in general racist?' 
seems to be a generalisation that could easily follow from answering 
'yes' to the questions above it, yet many students preferred not to 
make this generalisation. In the non-Australian studies group, several 
students actually mentioned Australians they knew who they felt could 
not be labelled as racist. The Australian studies group appeared to be 
the least willing to make it. Perhaps, they were influenced by the 
wealth of published works written by a new generation of historians, 
who have been willing to look critically at race relations in 
Australia's past and not pretend that racism in Australia was 
peripheral, or did not happen, but to expose it as a core theme in the 
nation's history.
 Student reactions to such frank national self-analysis tend to be 
favourable. Their responses resemble the reaction some Asians have had 
when faced with the rigorous self-criticism of the new histories of 
Australia, which was described by Professor Wang Gungwu, of Hong Kong 
University, at the 1992 'Outside Images of Australia' conference. He 
remarked that Australian history as it is written today seems a 
stimulating 'eye opener', to Asian students because many 'Asian peoples 
are not accustomed to such open-ended scrutiny of their own past, 
especially in the new nations which are themselves engaged in 
nation-building today'.15 In such circumstances, students may be 
reluctant to make the judgement that Australians in general can be 
described as racist if today Australians are willing to look critically 
at their own past and acknowledge that it was coloured by racism 
towards Aborigines and non-whites. Singapore student interest in these 
areas meant that in their course work they overwhelmingly chose to work 
on Aboriginal-European relations and the White Australia Policy over 
more well-worn topics, such as the convicts. Another factor that 
perhaps contributed to unwillingness of most students studying 
Australian history to make this generalisation was their favourable 
reaction towards the part of the subject that dealt with Australia 
moving away from the days of White Australia and embracing a 
multicultural identity. A number of students made comments on their 
questionnaires affirming with confidence that this process was 
happening now.
The question on whether the Australian government discriminates against 
Asian migrants had the most surprising result. The Singapore students 
today, unlike older generations, are too young to remember the White 
Australia Policy that discriminated against non-white migrants until it 
was completely abolished in 1973. When students were informed that such 
a policy had existed, their impressions towards it seem to have changed 
their views of Australia's immigration policy as it exists today. These 
impressions seemed to have remained with a significant proportion of 
them, despite it being made clear that the policy had been done away 
with. This can explain the increase in the number of students who 
believed that there is government discrimination against Asian migrants 
coming to Australia today. The results confirm the view of Sean 
Brawley, an Australian immigration historian, which he expressed at the 
'Outside Images of Australia' conference in 1992. He argued that any 
awareness of the White Australia Policy among people of Asian countries 
taints whatever images that they have of Australia.16 Indeed, to some 

Asian students, it can seem quite startling. One student, after 
studying Australian history, wrote on his or her questionnaire that it 
was 'shocking to hear that Australians had been so racist against the 
Chinese'.
The bleak impressions that can be drawn from student responses to the 
questions in 'Table 3: Perceptions of Australia' belie the students' 
attitude in class when presented with material on Australia. Singapore 
students react differently than Australian students do to the material 
presented in the subject. The racist cartoons of the Chinese that 
appeared in such nationalist magazines like the Bulletin and Boomerang 
in the late nineteenth century are always a source of great amusement 
when they appear. There are two well-known cartoons that produce the 
most laughter. The first is the 'Mongolian Octopus' from the Bulletin 
of 1886, which depicts the head of a Chinese man with tentacles that 
are the source of immorality of white women, opium, disease, cheap 
labour denying a white family man and his child a home, and corruption 
in society. The second is the 'Wake Australia! Wake!' cartoon from the 
Boomerang of 11 February 1888, which shows a Chinese man as a villain 
with a knife between his teeth entering the bedroom window of the 
virginal maiden, 'Australia', who is asleep. The classes are 
predominantly Chinese, reflecting the population of Singapore. Some 
members of the class had been told by students who have done the 
subject the previous year that these cartoons will come up, and they 
awaited with interest the section of the subject that they illustrate, 
knowing that these cartoons will appear and be a source of humour. 
Australian students tend to feel embarrassment and unease when 
presented with similar material. Singapore university students studying 
Australia tend to be much more relaxed about such material.
Student perceptions on racism in Australia are not strong enough to 
detract from their overall positive image of the country. Looking at 
'Table: 4 Student Interest in Australia', first of all, it is clear 
that there is a remarkable degree of congruency between the responses 
of the two groups. The second impression is that an overwhelmingly 
number of students had favourable images of living in Australia, and a 
keen interest in the country. Over two thirds of the students believed 
that they would enjoy living in Australia, while over 70 percent said 
that they would consider studying or working in the country. Students 
perceived the most enjoyable things about Australia as its natural 
beauty, wide open spaces, unique flora and fauna, and relaxed 
lifestyle.
Student interest in Australia was very high. Over 80 percent of both 
groups stated that they were interested in Australia and would be 
interested in learning more about the country. The conclusion that can 
be drawn from examining Tables 3 and 4 is that Singapore university 
students are aware of the incidents of racial discrimination in 
Australia (these are chronicled in the press and come up in the course 
of conversation with some Singaporeans who have visited Australia or 
who have friends and relatives who have visited Australia). However, 
they feel that the possibility of racial discrimination is not 
sufficient enough to deter them from either working or studying in 
Australia, and enjoying living there. Their approach is perhaps summed 
up by one non-Australian studies student's comment on his or her survey 
form. The student wrote, next to the question on whether there was 
racial discrimination and harassment of people from Asian countries in 
Australia, that 'there will always be, its how much and to what 
extent'. 
Impressions of Australia held by the Singapore university students 
surveyed indicate that they have a good knowledge of the country and 
its society. The students are able to construct reasonably accurate 
images of the Australia from reliable sources of information about the 
country, and make informed judgements about it. The surveys of the 
students' opinions tend to suggest that the people of the countries 

which are Australia's nearest neighbours pay a great deal more 
attention to what goes on in Australia, and are more interested in the 
country, than is commonly assumed by Australians. The Singapore 
student's reactions to learning more about Australia can be summed up 
in the words of one Australian studies student. He or she commented on 
his or her questionnaire that studying Australia 'is very beneficial as 
it informs us of the history and mentality of the Australian people', 
and that 'for Australia to be part of Asia, its important that both 
sides begin to understand each other's history, culture, etc'.

1Some Australian literature was taught as a component of Commonwealth 
literature subjects during the 1970s and 1980s at the National 
University of Singapore. However, it was not until Nanyang 
Technological University was established in the early 1990s that 
Australian literature (albeit with several New Zealand writers included 
as well in a subject called Contemporary Writing from Australasia) and 
Australian history (which had never before been taught in Singapore) 
were made into distinct subjects to be taken by themselves. See Amanda 
Lohery, Australian Studies Overseas, (Canberra: Australian Government 
Publishing Service, 1988), p.77.
2Brett Martin, Australia in Singapore, (Singapore: Australian High 
Commission, 1995), pp.40-41.
3'Malaysians, S'poreans in Australia all for republic',  Straits Times, 
16 October 1993, p.18; and see 'S'poreans "among highest achievers" in 
Australia', Straits Times, 10 August 1994, p.10.
4See Selakumaran Ramachandran and Ponniah Arudsothy, 'A Socio-Economic 
Profile of Malaysian Immigrants in Australia', in James E. Coughlan, 
(ed.), The Diverse Asians: A Profile of Six Asian Communities in 
Australia, (Brisbane: Centre for the Study of Australia-Asia Relations, 
Griffith University, 1992), pp.33-54.
5'Which newspapers teens read', Straits Times, 31 October 1996, p.20.
6'Racists Down Under', New Paper, 14 August 1993, pp.25-34
7Rav Dhaliwal, 'Holiday-makers undeterred by race row in Australia', 
Straits Times, 7 November 1996, p.2.
8See 'Asian Trek Down Under', Straits Times, 5 August 1994, p.9; and 
'Huge increase in S'pore investment Down Under', Straits Times, 17 
February 1995, p.11.
9'More going up the educational ladder', Straits Times, 29 September 
1993, p.19.
10Singapore 1995, (Singapore: Ministry of Information and the Arts, 
1995) p.31.
11See Lohery, Australian Studies Overseas, pp.212-213.
12Chua Huck Cheng, 'Australian are missing substance for the 
symbolism', Straits Times, 22 October 1993, p.34.
13Kirpal Singh, 'Australia in Southeast Asia: Eliminating Stereotypes', 
in Don Grant and Graham Seal, (eds.), Australia in the World: 
Perceptions and Possibilities, Papers from Outside Images of Australia 
Conference, Perth, 1992, (Perth: Black Swan Press, 1994), p.280.
14Gerard Sullivan and S. Gunasekaran, Motivations of Migrants From 
Singapore to Australia,  Field Report Series No.28 Social Issues in 
Southeast Asia, (Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1994), 
p.25.
15Wang Gungwu, 'The Australia Asians Might Not See', in Grant and Seal, 
(eds.), Australia in the World, p.235.
16Sean Brawley, '"An Iron Curtain Canberra Style": Asian Perceptions of 
the White Australia Policy' in Grant and Seal, (eds.), Australia in the 
World, pp.255-262.
9