Griffith Asia Pacific
Newsletter of the Griffith Asia Pacific Council
Volume 3, No 3 August 2000 ISSN 1441-3612
Sangkuriang, a legend from West Java:
an Artist’s Book by Arthur Boyd and Indra Deigan
“Sankuriang” is a folk legend from the Bandung region of West Java about the creation of
the inverted boat-shaped mountain, Tangkuban Perahu.
In This Issue
In 1993, Arthur Boyd, one of Australia’s most important modern artists and Australian of
the Year in 1995, combined with Indra Deigan, an Indonesian Australian artist, to produce
an Artists’ Book on the Sangkuriang legend. Arthur Boyd created ten collagraph plates;
Indra Deigan then designed woodcuts printed from plywood blocks in response to his images.
Editorial
Queensland College of Art collaborates
with Vietnamese artists
Workshop on coups d’état in the
Pacific
Griffith Asian Studies graduate’s
experiences in East Timor
Micro-Electronic Engineering student
in Japan
Profile of an Asian Studies Graduate
Public Lectures by:
➣ Professor Brij Lal
➣ Wimar Witoelar
Griffith delegation visits Zhongshan
University
Asia Pacific activities of Griffith staff
Recent Asia Pacific visitors
At a function sponsored jointly by the State Library of Queensland, the Australia-Indonesia
Business Council (Qld Branch), and the Griffith Asia Pacific Council, guests were given an
opportunity to view the book (purchased in 1995 by the State Library) and Boyd’s luminous, vibrant images, and learn of the processes leading to the work’s production.
An exhibition of all this material will be held at the State Library of Queensland from late
September to mid-November 2000.
Arthur Boyd’s collagraph print “Falling over a precipice” from the book Sangkuriang: a legend
from West Java by Indra Deigan and Arthur Boyd (Canberra: Graphic Investigation Workshop,
1993). Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust.
Editorial: Asia Pacific research agendas
Industrial Relations
Workshop
Amidst the plethora of conferences that fill the
months of June and July, those focussed on the Asia
Pacific were well represented. Amongst them were
the PACIBER meeting at the Gold Coast, the biennial Asian Studies Association Conference in
Melbourne, and a more recent international workshop on industrial relations in East Asia. Over the
coming months, the Griffith Asia Pacific Council
will sponsor conferences and workshops on institutional developments in East Asia in the wake of
Professor Robert Elson
the 1997 meltdown, on women and ageing in East
and West, on telecommunications regulation in Asia, on problems of stability and development in the South Pacific, on Japanese political economy, and on Islam and its contemporary manifestations.
A two-day international workshop on industrial relations in East Asia was held on
July 21-22 at Griffith University and the
University of Queensland. The workshop,
which was co-sponsored by the Griffith Asia
Pacific Council and the Asian Business
History Centre at The University of
Queensland, brought together over 30
scholars from Australia, Hong Kong and
the United States. Papers were presented
on both contemporary and historical issues in East Asian industrial relations.
Among the important issues discussed at
the workshop were gender and the impact
of globalisation and technological change
on systems of industrial relations. Selected
papers from the workshop will appear in
either a special issue of the Australian
Journal of Politics and History or an edited book.
This range of interests testifies to the breadth and maturity of Australian research on the
Asia Pacific. No longer is it the case that the Asia Pacific research agenda is the domain of
area specialists in Arts faculties. Increasingly, the Asia Pacific has captured the interests of
a broad array of specialists in a widening array of disciplines, both across the fields of the
humanities and social sciences and further into areas of specialised applied learning such
as environmental sciences and tropical health. The very complexity of the region commands this breadth of approach and expertise, as well as the deployment of new theoretical
perspectives which seek to capture and explain new trends in new ways.
The more we know, the more elusive and fascinating the region becomes.
Robert Elson, Director, Griffith Asia Pacific Council
PACIBER Meeting, Gold Coast, July 2000
The annual meeting of PACIBER (The Pacific Asian Consortium for International Business
Education and Research) was hosted by the School of International Business (IBS) on the
Gold Coast in July 2000. IBS and the Graduate School of Management (GSM) joined
PACIBER in June 1997. Griffith was the first Australian university to be admitted to PACIBER,
an elite network of 27 universities in 12 countries committed to excellence in international
business education, which counts amongst its members Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), Columbia University (New York, USA), Korea University, National Sun Yat-sen University (Taiwan ROC), Seoul National University, the University of British Columbia
(Canada), the University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada), the University of Colorado at Denver (USA), the University of Indonesia, and the University of Michigan (USA).
The universities involved in PACIBER have developed the PACIBER Diploma, entitled A
Diploma in Asia Pacific Business. To be eligible to receive this diploma, an enrolled
business postgraduate student must be willing to take one semester’s study abroad at a
member institution, participate in a 6-10 week employment internship abroad and be competent in an Asian language. Students would then graduate with a postgraduate coursework
business degree, for example, a Master of International Business (a new degree being introduced by IB and the GSM in 2001), or a Master of Business Administration, as well as the
PACIBER Diploma.
Bill Shepherd (Head, School of International Business, and Oceania Representative
on the PACIBER Management Committee)
Asia Pacific Visitors to
Griffith University since
May 2000
v Associate Professor Mohd Yusof Kasim
and Associate Professor Ariffin Bin
Samsuri, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia - 22 May 2000
v Delegation from Chiang Mai University, Thailand - 24 May 2000
vStudy Tour group of MBA and Management students from National Taiwan University - 20-25 June 2000
vDr Siti Oetarini Sri Widodo, Head, Center for Development and Research in
Higher Education, The University of
Indonesia - 26 June 2000
vDelegation from the Queensland-China
Business Forum Education Sector 29 June 2000
vMr Chris Hawley, Head, Centre for International Developments, AUT, New
Zealand - 10 July 2000
vBenny Gosly, The Jakarta Initiative and
Efendi H. Manurung, Indonesian
Board of Arbitration - 25 July 2000
vDr Moo Ki Bai, President, University of
Ulsan, Korea - 27 July 2000
Events hosted by the Griffith Asia Pacific Council:
Public Lecture by Professor Brij Lal
The months-long coup and hostage
drama in Fiji was a dramatic manifestation of a certain kind of nationalist response to rapid social and economic
change. To enhance public awareness of
the background and course of the Fiji crisis, the Griffith Asia Pacific Council invited Professor Brij Lal, Professor of Pacific History and Director of the Centre for
the Contemporary Pacific at the Australian National University, and a member
of the Constitution Review Commission
whose report formed the basis of Fiji’s Professor Brij Lal at Griffith University
1997 Constitution, to present a public lecture on the crisis.
Professor Lal’s lecture, entitled “‘Chiefs and Thieves and Other People Besides’: The Making
of George Speight’s Coup”, was given to a large audience at Griffith’s Nathan campus on 15
June. He argued that while the 1987 coup “was carried out on behalf of, and blessed by, the
Fijian establishment, Speight’s coup was a coup against the Fijian establishment”. The
crisis, as it unfolded, “became more about intra-Fijian rivalries than about race”.
The coup and hostage crisis has “left in its wake an impressive list of casualties”, and done
enormous damage to Fiji’s social cohesion, system of governance, economy and international reputation. “The forces of social and economic change”, Professor Lal concluded,
“cannot be arrested by the barrel of the gun. The ultimate, inescapable truth is that Fiji is
an island, but an island in the physical sense alone”.
The full text of Professor Lal’s address may be found at
http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/gapc/frameset5.html
The Griffith Asia Pacific Council also hosted the launch of Professor Brij Lal’s new book
Chalo Jahaji: on a journey through indenture in Fiji at Griffith University on 22 July.
Lecture by Wimar Witoelar
Wimar Witoelar is a busy man, hosting and producing witty and
highly popular chat shows for television and radio in Indonesia,
publishing books and magazines, writing numerous columns for
papers and magazines, and in constant demand for addresses and
interviews. He is also Indonesia’s best known political commentator, whose political dexterity and quick wit allowed him to survive
and sometimes even thrive in the authoritarian bleakness of
Pak Wimar with
Suharto’s declining years.
Professor Elson
Delivering a public lecture on 7 July 2000 at a function co-sponsored by the State Library of
Queensland, the Australia-Indonesia Business Council (Qld Branch), and the Griffith Asia
Pacific Council, Wimar delighted his audience with his candid, wickedly humorous insights into Indonesia’s current political traumas. Notwithstanding his country’s current
traumas, he remains optimistic that Indonesia’s search for a viable democratic format will
eventually be successful.
All GAPC Lectures available at
www.gu.edu.au/centre/gapc
- click ‘Activities’ from the menu
Workshop on coups
d’état in the Pacific
The Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and
Governance and the Griffith Asia Pacific
Council held a workshop on deterring and
defeating coups d’état in the Pacific on
15 June at the Nathan Campus. The workshop was well attended by policy-makers
from the Departments of Foreign Affairs
and Trade and Defence and by academic
staff from Griffith University, the University of Queensland, and Queensland University of Technology.
One of the Key Centre’s major projects is a
collaborative research project with the
Australian Defence Force and the Australian Federal Police on ‘Preserving and
Restoring the Rule of Law in the Asia Pacific’. One of the themes of this project is
‘deterring and defeating coups d’état in
the Asia Pacific’.
The workshop has particular relevance in
view of the ongoing upheavals in the Pacific, in particular Fiji and the Solomon
Islands. Professor Charles Sampford, Director of the Key Centre, analysed the ethical and legal implications of the actions
taken by those involved in the latest Fijian
coup and suggested ways in which Australia and other countries could assist in
supporting democratic governments.
Professor Brij Lal of the Research School
of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University gave a lecture on
the evening of the workshop, placing the
Fijian crisis in its historical and political
context (see above left). Participants contributed useful ideas on how coups can be
detected and prevented and how appropriate responses can be developed after the
event.
Lao tourism go back to
school
Brian Gleeson, Adjunct Lecturer to the
School of Tourism and Hotel Management, addressed a four-day seminar in
Vientiane in April 2000 for directors and
managers of Lao tourism companies. The
aim of the seminar was to develop the Laotian tourism sector.
Representatives from 18 tour companies
and 33 directors and managers of Lao tourist businesses attended the seminar. Brian
lectured on techniques for the management and operation of tourism. Those attending received certificates from Trade
and Tourism Deputy Minister Chueng
Sayavong, who is also National Tourism
Authority Chairman.
“Tourism is a significant national income
source, and tourism development is relatively new in Laos, but is very important,
affecting every aspect of Lao life”, said Lao
National Tourism Authority Deputy Director Phaythalong Douangsavahn. He
added that “The development of Lao tourism follows government policy. Therefore
tourism companies in Lao should improve
the quality of service to attract more tourists”.
The Lao National Tourism Authority
thanked the Australian Expert Service
Overseas Program (AESOP) and Brian
Gleeson for providing his expertise.
Griffith Asia Pacific
Griffith Asia Pacific is the newsletter of the
Griffith Asia Pacific Council
Griffith University Qld 4111
Australia
Website: http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/gapc
If you would like your Asia Pacific-related activities to
be featured in this newsletter, please contact:
Professor Robert Elson
Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (61 7) 3875 5143
Fax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (61 7) 3875 3731
Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
OR
Mrs Honor Lawler
Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (61 7) 3875 3730
Fax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (61 7) 3875 3731
Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Participants in the Lao tourism seminar with their certificates received from the Trade
& Tourism Deputy Minister, Chueng Sayavong
Griffith Asian Studies Graduate Profile
I graduated from Griffith in 1982 having studied from 1978-1980 full time, but a car
accident (and the transport difficulties that posed) meant that I failed one of my Chinese
language units and had to undertake another subject.
In 1981 I commenced work with National Australia Bank as a graduate management
trainee and pushed through a crash course on the banking industry, so that I could become an accountant level staff within one year during 1981.
When the bank indicated that they were about to send me to western Queensland (and I
had a girlfriend in Brisbane, now my wife) I jumped ship and commenced work for the
Australian Government. I worked initially as a staff clerk in Commonwealth Education
and then the Australian Customs Service (1983), before being promoted to a position as an
industrial officer for the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Industrial Relations. In 1983/84 I undertook a post graduate Tony Mitchener in Bangkok
degree in industrial relations and in 1984 I transferred to Canberra and worked in the industrial
relations area for the government until 1989. In
1990 I transferred to what was then DEET and
commenced work in the industry and vocation
training policy area. In 1992 I was seconded as
the industrial advisor to the Carmichael Task Force
for the Australian Vocational Training System. In
1993 I was seconded to the Federal Minister’s office as the Minister’s vocational education and
training advisor.
For most of this time, I was an officer in the Australian Defence Force Reserves and retired after 20 years service as a Major in 1998. For a
good part of my service I was either a staff officer on the 2nd Division Headquarters or a
management and tactics instructor at the Reserve Command and Staff College in Sydney.
I came to Thailand as the Counsellor (Education and Training) in October 1998 and will
be here until the end of 2001.
Tony Mitchener
Counsellor (Education and Training) Bangkok
Micro-Electronic Engineering student studies and researches in Japan
Edward Middleton, fourth year student in
Micro-Electronic Engineering, returned in
April from a year of intensive research and
study in Japan. He had spent the previous
12 months at the University of ElectroCommunications in Tokyo studying the
‘transport properties of chrial carbon
nanotubes’. Carbon nanotubes are wire
like structures that resemble a sheet of
graphite rolled into a tube. Many researchers believe they hold the key to massive ad-
vances in transistor technology. Experimentally it has been suggested that they
have the potential to reduce the size of
existing transistors by 1000 times, and
increased operating speeds up to 10 THz,
which is in the order of a million times
the speed of current computers.
ernment through an AIEJ scholarship. His
program in Japan was organized by the
University of Electro-Communications International Student Center as part of their
“Japanese University Studies in Science
Edward’s stay in Japan was supported by
Griffith University and his research in Japan was sponsored by the Japanese Gov(Continued next column)
Griffith Asian Studies graduate in East Timor
Rebecca Reynolds is a Griffith Asian Studies graduate with first class honours. She
works with AusAID in Canberra, and has recently been recruited to the United Nations
in East Timor. Here is her story of her first week working in East Timor in late March
2000:
It seems like an absolute lifetime since I got here a week ago. Lots of running around
navigating the UN bureaucracy and getting the hang of things. I have been assigned to the
Oecussi District which, according to folklore, is the worst place to go. On the negative side,
it is an enclave within Indonesia and is pretty destroyed. Not too many houses have roofs
and there’s no electricity at this stage, although it should be hooked up in two weeks. On
the positive side, though, the country is absolutely magnificent (lush mountains leading
down to beautiful beaches), there is no threat of dengue and the UN guy running the show
is reputed to be one of the best to work for. I have just spent four days there and found it to
be fantastic. I am staying in a small hotel across from the beach. I go to sleep listening to
the ocean and wake up for a quick snorkel before work. The local restaurant delivers hot
bread for breakfast and fresh fish for dinner.
The work is pretty full on. I have spent the last couple of days working with the District
Administrator doing lots of really interesting stuff: getting schools and clinics up and running, talking with local businesses about boosting the economy, etc. On Tuesday we had a
visit from a group of Portuguese public servants, planning a trip for their Prime Minister
and Gusmao in April. My actual role will be UNTAET’s contact point in the sub-district,
which will involve setting up an office then basically representing the local people’s needs
to the United Nations. It is going to be pretty challenging, as apparently I will have to deal
with everything: from stolen cows to education to reconstruction. I am going to be stationed out in the mountains near the border with Indonesia. I went up there on Tuesday.
The trip involved an hour and a half of four wheel driving through mountains and rivers.
Don’t worry, I wasn’t doing the driving! It’s pretty isolated but fortunately I will only have
to be there four days a week and will spend the rest of my time at Oecussi headquarters or in
Dili.
The East Timorese are absolutely fantastic, always stopping to say “hello missus” in the
street. As much as I can I stop for a chat but I need to work on my Tetun and Bahasa.
I should sign off now because the UN email centre only consists of two computers and
already people are lining up and sighing behind me.
Rebecca Reynolds
Edward Middleton under the cherry
blossoms in Japan
and Technology” (JUSST). The program
offers the opportunity for students to study
Japanese language, and science and technology related subjects, and to engage in
important individual research. Edward
was particularly grateful to Prof. David
Thiel for his advice and support in integrating overseas studies into his bachelor
of Micro-Electronics Engineering.
To complement classes, the JUSST program allows students with specific interests to engage in individual research in the
post-graduate division of the university.
Thanks to Assoc. Prof. Saito, a leading researcher in the area of carbon nanotubes,
Edward had the opportunity to make a presentation at the ‘Fullerene Research Association’ international symposium held at
Okazaki and to meet a number of prominent researchers, including Prof. Sumio
Iijima, credited with the first experimental discovery of carbon nanotubes in 1990.
“It was a challenge to be the only undergraduate presenter”, Edward remarked.
Edward found his experiences in Japan
extremely valuable and strongly encourages other students to consider studying
in Japan.
Seminar: ‘Midlife East
and West’
Griffith Delegation visits
Zhongshan University
How do women in the cities of Asia - in
Beijing, Taipei, Delhi - experience midlife?
Do they have the same symptoms, experiences and cures as women in Brisbane,
Melbourne or the Gold Coast? Are women
in the West turning to soy beans and meditation to ease their midlife passage while
women in Asia are turning to hormone replacement therapy?
A delegation of Griffith staff led by Professor
Max Standage, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Health,
Science, Gold Coast Campus), visited
Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, China,
from 3-7 April. Other members of the delegation were Associate Professor Frank Clarke, Professor Roger Kitching, Professor Rodney Topor,
Dr Ljubo Vlacic and Professor Roger Willis.
A seminar at Griffith University’s Gold
Coast campus will explore these questions.
The project is the product of an international collaboration which brings together
researchers on Australia, Taiwan, mainland China and India to challenge the
dualistic opposition between a medicalised
Western menopause and a naturalised
Asian or Eastern menopause.
The ‘Midlife East and West’ Seminar
will be held on Friday 1 September from
3.00 pm - 6.00 pm in Room: (Education)
ED G 3.18, Griffith University Gold Coast
Campus, Parklands Drive, off Olsen Avenue. Please see map at:
http://www.gu.edu.au/maps/
home.html
Cost: waged $25 (includes afternoon tea),
unwaged $10 (includes afternoon tea)
For further information contact:
Maureen Todhunter (tel: 07-3875-5131
[email protected])
or Chilla Bulbeck
([email protected] )
The symposium is supported by the Australian Key Centre for Cultural and
Media Policy and the Griffith Asia Pacific Council, Griffith University and the
Australian Research Council.
Griffith delegation with Zhongshan colleagues inspecting the new Zhuhai City
campus of Zhongshan University.
Griffith University and Zhongshan University have a long-standing relationship based on
an agreement for the exchange of students and staff which dates back to 1983. The visit by
the Griffith delegation marks an important new phase in the relationship through the establishment of an enhanced collaboration in science and technology, and follows a visit in
September 1999 by a delegation of senior staff from Zhongshan University led by Professor
Xu Yuantong, Vice-President for Scientific Research.
The purpose of the visit was for Griffith scientists and technologists to view research facilities
at Zhongshan University and to engage in discussions with Zhongshan colleagues on collaborative research activities. It was agreed that the following areas provided good prospects
for establishing joint research collaborations: aquaculture, biodiversity studies, fruit fly research, genomics/bio-informatics, condensed matter physics, and image processing. It was
further agreed that in order to encourage collaborative research, a series of short exchange
visits should be undertaken by key staff from both Universities to meet with their counterparts to explore and plan joint research projects. Already, Dr Joe Lee from the School of
Environmental and Applied Sciences has undertaken a research visit to Zhongshan University to develop a collaborative project in aquaculture research.
One day was spent visiting Zhongshan University’s new campus under construction at Zhuhai
City, the special economic zone adjacent to Macao and located about 200km from
Guangzhou. This spectacular new campus will take all of Zhongshan’s first year intake of
approximately 3,500 students as from September 2000. After completing first and second
year studies, the students will transfer to the Guangzhou campus to finish their studies. The
Zhuhai campus is designed to accommodate 20,000 students eventually.
The visit highlighted the opportunities for collaboration between Griffith University and
Zhongshan University in a number of rapidly advancing areas of science and technology.
Queensland Rail/Griffith University Postgraduate Scholarship 2000
The Queensland Rail/Griffith University Postgraduate Scholarship 2000 was won by Mr
Visit Phunnarungsi, a full-time lecturer in the School of Management at Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand. The scholarship, worth approximately A$55,000, consists of
free tuition in a Masters Degree in Banking and Finance program, offered by the School of
Accounting, Banking and Finance, Griffith University. Queensland Rail provided a grant of
$A37,500 for living expenses and travel costs and will also offer employment at Queensland
Rail during vacation breaks to Mr Phunnarungsi. The Scholarship was formally presented
at the Australian Ambassador’s Residence in Bangkok in June 2000 (shown left: from left,
Mr Michael Goode, General Manager of Employee Relations, QR, Professor Allan Hodgson,
Head, School of Accounting, Banking and Finance, GU, and Mr Visit Phunnarungsi).
Queensland College of Art collaborates with Vietnamese artists
The Queensland College of Art, Griffith University (QCA) collaborated with Vietnamese
artists in two recent exhibitions.
Crosscurrents was an artist-initiated cross-cultural
collaboration between
four Australian and six
Vietnamese artists. Over
16 months the two groups
of artists worked in their
own countries, corresponding with each other,
sharing their thoughts,
emotions and their art.
The title refers to points of At the ‘Visual Bridge’ exhibition: (Left to right) Robyn Peacockmeeting and interweaving Smith - First Year Co-ordinator, QCA, Boi Tran - DongNai College
and avoids notions of of Decorative Arts, Richard Blundell - Convenor of Design, QCA
“East-West” so prone to simplistic categorisation.
The recent debate in Australia concerning Asian immigration highlighted problems of
racial intolerance, and prompted the Australian artists to include an educational component, addressing the project aims with audio-visuals and workshops.
The exhibition was held in May and June 2000 at the QCA and the artists were Kim Townsend,
Michael Baartz, Pat Van Ingen, and Bonney Bombach from Australia, and Le Hong Thai,
Eric Leroux, Le Tuan Ahn, Truong Tan, Vu Dan Tan and Mai Chi Thanh from Vietnam.
The Visual Bridge exhibition displayed work by graphic design students from the
Queensland College of Art and DongNai College of Decorative Arts in Bien Hoa, Vietnam.
Host Families Required
for Indonesian Exchange
Program
The Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange
Program is organised each year by the Australia-Indonesia Institute Secretariat. The
AIYEP began in 1981 and was established
in the interests of providing wider opportunities for the young people of Indonesia
and Australia to appreciate the culture, development and way of life of the other country.
Griffith is assisting in managing the program this year in Brisbane. If you are interested in being a host family for a young
Indonesian on the Program in October
2000, please contact Linda Reeves, phone
61 7 3875 6859, fax 61 7 38755980, email
[email protected]
Griffith Asia Pacific
Council Members
Professor Wang Gungwu (Chair)
Director, East Asian Institute
National University of Singapore
Mr Bill Dunn
Honorary Consul-General,
Royal Thai Consulate, Brisbane
Professor Robert Elson
Director, Griffith Asia Pacific Council
Mr Norman Fussell
The exhibition was the culmination of recent teaching exchange activities, when design
lecturers from the QCA taught aspects of graphic design, from a Western perspective, to
DongNai graphic design students. Similar assignments were then given to Australian students at QCA. The visual interaction of the exhibition work was a cultural bridge between
the two groups of students, and a positive start to further involvement and friendship between the two colleges.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to the four winners of the School of International Business Scholarships.
The Scholarships are awarded on merit
to first year students enrolled in an International Business degree. The recent
winners were Rochelle Eades, Tasnim Islam, Jessica Leete and Sharika Yuen.
Sharika Yuen and Jessica Leete are pictured with the Head of the School of International Business, Associate Professor
Bill Shepherd.
Reverend Professor James Haire
Head, School of Theology
Hon. David Hamill MLA
Treasurer of Queensland
Professor Yew-Chaye Loo
Head, School of Engineering
Professor Colin Mackerras
School of Modern Asian Studies
Professor Marilyn McMeniman
Dean, Faculty of Education
Associate Professor Beverley Sparks
Dean, International
Ms Susan Tesch
Special Projects Advisor
Department of State Development
Government of Queensland
Mrs Honor Lawler
Secretary, Griffith Asia Pacific Council
Griffith Student and Staff Activities in the Asia Pacific
Teaching awards
D
r Paul Treffner of the School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science recently spent two weeks in June lecturing and
conducting research in the Department of
Psychology, Chinese University of Hong
Kong, at the invitation of Prof. T. C. Chan.
Dr Treffner was invited by Prof. Chan to help
him design and conduct experiments investigating human bimanual coordination
and other issues related to attention and
perception during goal-directed activity. He
also gave a presentation at the Hong Kong
Polytechnic University’s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences.
C
ongratulations to Professor Colin
Mackerras, formerly Head of the
School of Asian and International Studies, for winning the Individual Teacher
Award, and to Mr Kenneth Bennett,
School of International Business, for winning the Beginning Teacher Award, in
the Griffith Awards for Excellence in Teaching for 2000.
Sir Weary Dunlop Asia
Fellowship
Dr Paul Treffner in Hong Kong
G
riffith University retains its number one position in Queensland in international
student entrolments, with a total of 3,534 as at 31 March 2000. This is an increase of
9.2% compared to a Queensland increase of 10.3% and a national increase of 6.0%. Congratulations to Griffith International.
News from the School of Accounting and Finance
A
ssociate Lecturer Madhu Veeraraghavan from the School of Accounting and Finance
attended the Advanced Doctoral Students’ Symposium, sponsored by the European Financial Management Association and held on 28 June in Athens, Greece. Madhu’s PhD
thesis entitled “A Multifactor Model Explanation to the Anomalies in the Cross-Section of
Expected Stock Returns: Evidence from Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan”, was submitted
in October of last year. Only 20 PhD proposals were accepted worldwide for this symposium
and Madhu’s thesis was one of them.
S
enior Lecturer Dr Mike Dempsey from the School of Accounting and Finance attended the Twelfth Annual Pacific Asia Capital Markets/Financial Management Association Conference, in conjunction with the Eighth Australasian Institute of Banking and
Finance (AIBF) Conference in Melbourne, 6-8 July, 2000.
M
artin Hovey, Lecturer in Finance from the School of Accounting and Finance recently attended the Greater China Conference held in Missouri, USA, focussed on the
“Challenges and Opportunities in the Twenty-first Century for the Greater Chinese Economy.”
Martin presented a paper entitled “The Development of Non-Bank Financial Institutions in
China.”
P
rofessor Ferdinand Gul, Director of the Accounting and Corporate Law Research Centre
at City University Hong Kong, visited the School of Accounting and Finance last month.
He presented a paper with Marion Hutchinson from Deakin University, entitled “Investment Opportunities and Debt Structure: Some Evidence on the Role of Board Monitoring
and Director Equity Ownership”.
P
rofessor Tony Naughton, Head of the School of Accounting and Finance,
presented a paper (co-authored with Martin Hovey and Larry Li from the School) “Firm
Valuation and Corporate Governance in China” at the 7th Asia Pacific Finance Association
Conference in Shanghai on 24-26 July.
I
n 1994 Sophie McIntyre , from the
Queensland College of Art, was one of
the first recipients of the Sir Weary Dunlop
Asia Fellowship, administered by Asialink
at the University of Melbourne. This award
provided financial assistant for Sophie to
carry out research in Taiwan for her PhD
thesis which focuses on contemporary art
from Taiwan. During a three-year period
in Taiwan, she interviewed artists, art collectors, curators, and critics.
Sophie was
awarded
scholarships from
the Taiwan
Ministry of
Education
to study Sophie McIntyre
Mandarin,
and from the Australian Foundation for
Culture and National Endowment of the
Arts in Taiwan to carry out research for an
exhibition of contemporary art from Taiwan. The exhibition, entitled Face to
Face: Contemporary Art from Taiwan,
has been touring Australia for the past year,
and is currently showing at the Monash
University Gallery in Melbourne.
C
ongratulations to Reverend Professor James Haire , Head of the School
of Theology, and a member of the Griffith
Asia Pacific Council, on his election as
Head of the Uniting Church in Australia.