The Australian-Asian Connection: from Alfred Deakin to John Howard
Introduction: Contextualizing Australia in Asia Several commentators have seized upon Aus tralia's recent entry to the inner sanctum of East Asian Summit as a turning point in Australia's relationship with its regional neighbours. This goes to the heart of what I have termed the 'Austral ian-Asian Connection', or as others have called it, Asian Engagement or Enmeshment. We indeed have come a long way since the historian John La Nauze dismissed Australia's proximity to Asia as something for the future. As we ponder the significance of joining the East Asian Summit, many questions come to mind: does this signify a radical change in Australia's view of itself? Is this the answer or a clue to the critical question of whether Australia sees itself as an Asian nation' with a firm link to an Asian regional hegemony, or that Australia now embraces more firmly a duality i.e., as an Asian nation as well as a European nation'. If, indeed there has been a change in how we comprehend the Australian-Asian connection, what underlies this sudden embrace of an Asian future' by none other than John Howard who in the past was forthright in his criticism of the regional policies in the Hawke and Keating era? This becomes a perplexing query, particularly when one recalls that Foreign Minister Downer has stated that Australia had no wish to be part of a new regional ism such as that portrayed by Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia and others. Downer went on to describe this as a form of'cultural regionalism' which Australia rejects. By contrast he identified a 'Practical Regional ism' as the model to which Australia was committed. The difference between these forms of regionalism was that one is built on 'commonalities of history, of mutual cultural identity', and the other strictly on the mutual benefits of cooperation in the pursuit of common objectives. In this context, does Australia's not just willingness, but even eagerness, to be a member of the East Asian
Australia in East Asia and the Asia‐pacific: Beyond the looking glass
In the "Eyes on ASEAN" photographic exhibition brought to Australia recently by Marina Mahathir, there is one particular picture that haunts my memory. It is of a Chinese opera singer making up her face, looking directly into a hand-held mirror. What she sees would be her own reflection starkly defined; heavily painted features; white against purple-pink against black. What the viewer sees is the back of the mirror, on which Leonardo's Mona Lisa is reproduced the features quiet; refined; bathed in golds and browns, and muted greens.
Occupational Therapy Graduate Education: The Scientist-Practitioner Model
The development of a scientific based practice is essential if occupational therapists are to defend their practice against scepticism and budget cuts. In order to equip the profession with the skills necessary to develop a scientific basis for practice, it is generally considered that graduate programs in occupational therapy should be initiated. This paper argues that to be most effective a specific kind of graduate program is required — one based on the scientist-practitioner model. This model provides for the dual education of professionals as clinicians and researchers. In occupational therapy the undergraduate curricula already provide excellent education in clinical interventions. Thus, it is the role of the graduate curricula to provide education in methods of scientific inquiry and their application to clinical practice. The composition of such a curriculum is described.