Keywords: Asian Australian
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MEDIA
- Tseen Khoo
- 06 February 2018
2 Comments
Does watching this ridiculously premised film full of obnoxious characters, complete with smatterings of Singlish, make me feel culturally represented? Yes. There are threads of cultural recognition in the Southeast Asian locations and the Chinese customs that resonate, as well as the cultural mobility of various characters.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Erin Cook
- 29 November 2017
5 Comments
The bones of the foreign policy white paper, released last week by Julie Bishop, have been picked over by the country's leading international relations thinkers and the consensus is clear - the timing is right and we must act now. But we need a leader who is willing to put the work in.
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AUSTRALIA
- Tseen Khoo
- 28 November 2017
6 Comments
It's easy to ridicule Hanson and her party. After all, they are our resident shambolic political show with a line of defecting MPs, racist stunts and statements, and staff arrests. What is not so easy to dismiss is the fact that PHON candidates were steadily clocking 20-30 per cent support in their seats at the Queensland election.
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AUSTRALIA
- Irfan Yusuf
- 17 November 2017
17 Comments
During the month of Muharram, the No message was being handed out at mosques and spoken from the pulpits. Yet many Muslims voted Yes not because we wanted to reinvent the Islamic idea of marriage, but because the scriptures teach that we should stand up for justice even if it goes against our families and ourselves.
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AUSTRALIA
- Tseen Khoo
- 02 November 2017
9 Comments
The bill ramps up the difficulty of becoming an Australian citizen, and one element depends on 'proof' of Australian values or integration that is open to contestation. Aside from the many critiques around definitions of Australian identities or values, does being able to say you're a good Australian mean you are a good Australian?
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PODCAST
'Throughout this process I don't know how many times I've broken down crying, together with my partner.' ChatterSquare catches up with Benjamin Oh - co-chair of Equal Voices, a national LGBTI-affirming ecumenical organisation - as the marriage law postal survey in Australia closes.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Erin Cook
- 19 October 2017
8 Comments
Australia's incoherent urge to 'lead' in the Asia Pacific while refusing to meaningfully reflect on the responsibilities this would require has left us floundering in the face of what the United Nations has called the 'ethnic cleansing' of Myanmar's minority Rohingya population.
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AUSTRALIA
- Tseen Khoo and Jen Kwok
- 02 October 2017
5 Comments
Our national population is more diverse than ever, particularly when it comes to those of Asian Australian heritage. Just how diverse is something we need to examine more closely if we are to develop a more inclusive, welcoming society.
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RELIGION
- Yen-Rong Wong
- 12 September 2017
5 Comments
A little over a year ago, Lionel Shriver delivered the opening address at the Brisbane Writers Festival, deriding political correctness and defending the practice of cultural appropriation by white writers. This year's festival didn't attract real controversy, but the memory of last year still lingered, and it's clear that parts of that mentality live on.
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MEDIA
- Tseen Khoo
- 05 September 2017
5 Comments
There's storming the barricades, and there's storming the pixels. Critical race activism in the 21st century can take on fascinating forms. A great recent example of this is the destruction of Confederate monuments in the United States, and the debates and actions surrounding these events. They generated larger conversations about culture wars and re-ignited the cycle of argument around historical authenticity, heroism and - dare anyone say it these days? - truth.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Tseen Khoo
- 08 August 2017
6 Comments
The Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) starts on Friday 25 August. It’s a good time to consider what such a festival says about our local cultures, as well as being a perfect time to think about how you relate to that culture.
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AUSTRALIA
The short answer is 'no'. There is no single Asian Australian culture, just as there is no single 'Australian culture'. As well as an unfortunate tendency to flatten differences, trying to talk about particular groups can serve a broader political and cultural project. I run a research network focused on Asian Australian Studies. The topics we cover strive to give depth and detail to otherwise stereotyped, shallow representations of Asians and Asian Australians that surround us.
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