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fiona hou

Multiculturalism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • The term multiculturalism generally refers to the acceptance of various cultural divisions for the sake of diversity that applies to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the scale of an organization such as a school, business, neighborhood, city or nation.
  • Australia The response to multiculturalism in Australia has been extremely varied, with a recent wave of criticism against it in the past decade. An anti-immigration party, the One Nation Party, was formed by Pauline Hanson in the late 1990s. The party enjoyed significant electoral success for a while, most notably in its home state of Queensland, but is now electorally marginalized. One Nation called for the abolition of multiculturalism on the grounds that it represented "a threat to the very basis of the Australian culture, identity and shared values", arguing that there was "no reason why migrant cultures should be maintained at the expense of our shared, national culture."[83] A Federal Government proposal in 2006 to introduce a compulsory citizenship test, which would assess English skills and knowledge of Australian values, sparked renewed debate over the future of multiculturalism in Australia. Andrew Robb, then Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, told a conference in November 2006 that some Australians worried the term "multicultural" had been transformed by interest groups into a philosophy that put "allegiances to original culture ahead of national loyalty, a philosophy which fosters separate development, a federation of ethnic cultures, not one community". He added: "A community of separate cultures fosters a rights mentality, rather than a responsibilities mentality. It is divisive. It works against quick and effective integration."[84] The Australian citizenship test commenced in October 2007 for all new citizens between the ages of 18 and 60.[85] In January 2007 the Howard Government removed the word "multicultural" from the name of t
  • The response to multiculturalism in Australia has been extremely varied, with a recent wave of criticism against it in the past decade. An anti-immigration party, the One Nation Party , was formed by Pauline Hanson in the late 1990s. The party enjoyed significant electoral success for a while, most notably in its home state of Queensland , but is now electorally marginalized. One Nation called for the abolition of multiculturalism on the grounds that it represented "a threat to the very basis of the Australian culture, identity and shared values", arguing that there was "no reason why migrant cultures should be maintained at the expense of our shared, national culture." [83] A Federal Government proposal in 2006 to introduce a compulsory citizenship test, which would assess English skills and knowledge of Australian values, sparked renewed debate over the future of multiculturalism in Australia. Andrew Robb , then Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, told a conference in November 2006 that some Australians worried the term "multicultural" had been transformed by interest groups into a philosophy that put "allegiances to original culture ahead of national loyalty, a philosophy which fosters separate development, a federation of ethnic cultures, not one community". He added: "A community of separate cultures fosters a rights mentality, rather than a responsibilities mentality. It is divisive. It works against quick and effective integration." [84] The Australian citizenship test commenced in October 2007 for all new citizens between the ages of 18 and 60. [85] In January 2007 the Howard Government removed the word "multicultural" from the name of t he Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, changing its name to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
sayaka uchida

How To Avoid Getting Kidnapped In China - Forbes.com - 0 views

  • There are a lot more similarities than differences between the U.S. and China. But some of the differences are substantial.
  • Americans confronted with business disputes expect to turn to lawyers and courts. That isn't done nearly as often in China. Companies, especially smaller private ones, turn instead to relationships. If they don't have relationships to turn to, they sometimes fall back on threats and physical fighting. But you see many more paper tigers than real ones.
  • Use relationships rather than legalese whenever possible to solve problems.
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  • Many Americans have heard of guanxi, but it's often translated wrongly to mean relationships with powerful people
  • Guanxi means something very different from the American concept of connections.
  • It means being in a social circle where you can let your guard down a little, because there is deep trust, perhaps from generations of coexistence, living in the same neighborhoods or even with interwoven family relations.
  • Long-term perspective is very important in China. A defaulting borrower should avoid saying he won't pay and instead pay a little right away and explain that he is hurting but will make good in the future. You cannot rely on bankruptcy to absolve debts.
  • ou need to know that relying on the law to avoid making payments to Chinese businesses doesn't usually work
  • To be successful long term, your company must have strong contracts and good legal advice, but it also needs to understand the importance of relationships, and nurture those as well.
katherine ong

The Dominance of Rich, White Men Is Eroding -- It's Time to Truly Fight for Diversity |... - 0 views

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    We need both women and men, and folks from a range of ethnic and class backgrounds, informing the creation of business "not as usual."
Christoph Zed

BBC NEWS | Business | Emerging economies 'get new role' - 0 views

  • The G20 group of leading and emerging economies will take on a new role as a permanent body co-ordinating the world economy
  • more power to emerging economies, rather than to the developed powerhouses of the G8 group.
  • Senior EU officials later announced a deal to shift the balance of voting in the International Monetary Fund to benefit growing economies like China.
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  • police fired rubber bullets at protesters
  • The G20 is going to be the new body counsel that will be the coordinating body for international economic cooperation
  • financial regulatory reform was the most important agenda item for summit, but that addressing global economic imbalances was also a priority
  • US proposal calls on economies such as China, Brazil and India to boost domestic consumption
  • US and Europe would encourage more saving
  • That's not a sustainable financial situation for the US and that's why we're in the process of adjusting
Christoph Zed

Big Brother Is Watching Your Blackberry: How Wired Gadgets Encroach on Privacy - SPIEGE... - 0 views

  • And so, to the surprise of buyers, Amazon erased the two books -- which had been paid for and delivered -- from the electronic reader.
  • In the age of networked digital devices, it seems that values such as the sanctity of the private sphere, the protection of our private property and the inviolability of our correspondence no longer count for very much
  • All of these devices can be remotely modified at any time through software updates. So you could say that an iPhone doesn't really belong to you -- at least not in quite the same way that your refrigerator or bicycle does.
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  • Hence Apple -- like Amazon -- reserves the right to remotely meddle with your iPhone at any time and without the consent of the user, in order to delete objectionable applications. All with the best of intentions, of course
  • A shift to tethered applicances also entails a sea change in the regulability of the Internet" (author's emphasis). The "dangers of excess" will no longer come from viruses or hackers anymore, "but from the much more predictable interventions by regulators
  • We will need to get used to the fact that these "curious technological hybrids" will never fully belong to us -- even if we have paid a lot of money for them.
glen donnar

The TV Watch - Ultimate Media Moment - Michael Jackson's Memorial Service - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • most everybody around the world stopped what they were doing — on television, on the Internet and on the street — to look and listen.
  • as the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, showed in 1997, communal sorrow is moving, public frenzy is alarming, but the two together make for irresistible television.
  • Brian Williams of NBC, who sat on a special platform outside the Staples Center, told his colleague Lester Holt that the public had a way of deciding for itself what matters, “despite, at some times, the news media’s better wishes.” He added ruefully, “And this is an event because it is.”
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  • Most anchors tried to define Mr. Jackson’s place in pop culture and American history. His popularity is universal, but his death was commandeered to mark a milestone in African-American history. Nancy Giles, an actress and CBS News commentator, said on MSNBC that he was “a trailblazer in the same way President Obama is.”
  • That homage, as much as the music, was the measure of the event’s success: for at least one day, the Jackson camp managed to take command of the coverage, setting the agenda for the news media as well as the mourners.
Rika Ninomiya

Beyond them and us - 0 views

  • how do we foster a sense of community for international students in the short time they are here? And in turn, how do we bridge the often unintentional divide that underpins their experiences?
  • High-density housing is deliberately geared towards the international student market, at the expense of a broader mix. Orientation programs for international students and local students often run at different times. International students pay the full cost for transport, while domestic students get half-price concessions. And at some institutions, separate queues and counters even exist.
  • With their proximity to Melbourne and RMIT, they give students few opportunities to venture out of their comfort zone, explore the rest of the city, and perhaps build new connections. Some have few communal spaces - not exactly conducive to interacting with life beyond the campus zone.
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  • "We need to understand different cultures and perspectives as part of how we do business and relate," says Mr Campbell. "So there's actually a public good in all of this."
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    Interesting article discussing how international students experience or not experience Melbourne fully during their stay here in Melbourne.
Christoph Zed

Celebrities, recession fuel interest in etiquette | Lifestyle | Reuters - 0 views

  • Misbehaving celebrities and the recession have pushed more people to improve their etiquette in a bid to gain an edge over job rivals
  • he art of living with style, class and grace
  • For too long this 'stupid girl' behavior has been burning the daily headlines and I really think there's a lot of people out there who wanted to see a return to our feminine values,
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  • tand up and take back our dignity and our values and our self respect," said Christy. "It's great that we have seen this resurgence in etiquette and manners and self respect
  • studies has shown that "85 percent of the reason a person gets a job, keeps a job and moves up is related to their people skills.
  • Manners are the great equalizer and if you have manners you can walk into any business or social situation
Lucy Rechnitzer

BBC NEWS | Technology | Tech giants unite against Google - 0 views

  • Tech giants unite against Google By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley Not everyone in the coalition wants the deal blocked, some want revisions Three technology heavyweights are joining a coalition to fight Google's attempt to create what could be the world's largest virtual library.Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo will sign up to the Open Book Alliance being spearheaded by the Internet Archive. They oppose a legal settlement that could make Google the main source for many online works. "Google is trying to monopolise the library system," the Internet Archive's founder Brewster Kahle told BBC News.
  • Critics have claimed the settlement will transform the future of the book industry and of public access to the cultural heritage of mankind embodied in books. The Internet Archive scans around 1000 books a day at 10 cents a page "The techniques we have built up since the enlightenment of having open access, public support for libraries, lots of different organisational structures, lots of distributed ownership of books that can be exchanged, resold and repackaged in different ways - all of that is being thrown out in this particular approach," warned Mr Kahle. The non-profit Internet Archive has long been a vocal opponent of this agreement. It is also in the business of scanning books and has digitised over half a million of them to date. All are available free. As the 4 September deadline approaches, the number of groups and organisations voicing their opposition is growing. But with three of the world's best-known technology companies joining the chorus, the Open Book Alliance can expect to make headlines the world over.
  • In its defence, Google has argued that the deal brings great benefits to authors and will make millions of out-of-print books widely available online and in libraries. In a statement, the company said: "The Google Books settlement is injecting more competition into the digital books space, so it's understandable why our competitors might fight hard to prevent more competition."
Nadeem Uddin

Aussie PM is a serial killer: US TV host - Yahoo!7 News - 0 views

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    Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been labelled a serial killer on US TV.
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    I can't believe that viewers would agree or even accept comments of a supposed news anchor who poses topless for mens magazines! Has she even looked into the reasoning behind the culling of feral animals that are harming natural Australian habitat or is she to busy thinking about cute stuffed toys and her image to bother?
xinning ji

China still interested in Asia-Pacific plan | The Australian - 0 views

  • China understood the proposal was a multilateral issue that would be considered separately from the present difficulties besetting the Sino-Australian relationship .
    • xinning ji
       
      I think what the decision China made is rational and considerable. this is because when the emergence of globalization, China begun to face up to criticizes from foreign countries, like human rights, democrcy, one party domination... finally, national issues quickly became international business. among these criticizes, some are honest but some are fake. With these pressures, nevertheless, China has changed even if it is slowly. During these days we can explore the tension on the relationship between China and Australia due to several issues. however, this article makes me happy to see the growth of China. the reason is that China learned to how to communicate to the world. although China would like to participate into the multilateral issue, it does not mean its compromise on other issues. As Chiese ambassador stated that a multilateral issue and the present difficulties are two different things. in other words, China still insists its own right on national sovereignty. what I trying to say is that every country has an obligation to build up a peaceful and mutual respect and understanding world. we can hold our own right, we respect each other, and we live together in one world.
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    Rudd's proposal of an Asia Pacific Community akin to the European Union is a ridiculous idea. There already exists several organisations in the region (ASEAN, APEC, ASEAN + 3, etc.) which serve to achieve exactly which Rudd proposes an Asia Pacific Community will achieve. Not only is Rudd participating in "megaphone diplomacy" which will likely undermine Australia's relationship with many Asian countries but next to no thought has gone into how this organisation will operate or even what countries will be included.
Rika Ninomiya

QANTAS eyes Malaysia | The Australian - 0 views

  • QANTAS may pursue Malaysia Airlines following the demise of the Australian carrier's $8 billion merger plans with British Airways.
  • Qantas had wanted majority ownership in the deal, reflecting its bigger market value, but BA was not prepared to become a junior partner.
  • faced a number of significant hurdles
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  • Malaysia Airlines, run by savvy ex-petroleum industry executive Idris Jala, appeared the most likely partnership option in Asia
  • merger with Singapore Airlines, often touted as a good match, was unlikely because of questions of control and potential competition issues
  • He believed another possibility often raised, Cathay Pacific, was also unlikely, as were Thai Airways, Garuda, Philippine Airlines and the Chinese carriers.
  • However, he did not rule out a possible partnership with another European carrier or Japan Airlines in the longer term.
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    The article talks about Qantas's pursue of Malaysian Airline and other foreign airlines to merge with them. By merging with other major airline, Qantas is hoping to operate in more places which would help increase their market share in the world.
fiona hou

Fury over attacks to greet Brumby - 0 views

  • A TRIP to India next week to promote Melbourne as a safe city has turned into a monumental challenge for John Brumby after another racist attack that has attracted fresh headlines and anti-Australian fury across India.
  • Two Indian men and another two of Indian origin say they were racially taunted and told to ''go back to your country'' before being kicked and punched by attackers who were part of a large birthday celebration at Legends Entertainment Centre. The Indian Government increased pressure on Australia last night over the ''recurring attacks'' on its citizens. It called on authorities to ''take all necessary steps towards the safety and security of Indians''. Indian consular officials in Melbourne were also ordered to investigate.
  • One of the victims, Sukhdip Singh, 26, had been in Australia just one month. A relative said he had suffered head and facial injuries and wanted to return to India immediately. His uncle, Mukhtiar Singh, 45, also a victim, said Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard's recent assurance to India's Foreign Minister that Australia was safe for Indian students rang hollow. ''I used to say the same thing … now I would say Melbourne is worse than a Third-World country, violence-wise,'' Mr Singh told The Age. Recalling Saturday's incident, he said his nephew was taunted with verbal abuse and racial slurs in the bar before they were later set upon in the car park by about 20 people. ''I have lived here for 22 years,'' Mr Singh said. ''I've got my own business here, my own house, my kids have grown up here. Why should I go back? We all come from somewhere.''
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  • headline on the front page of the Asian Age said: ''Oz mob of 70 attacks 3 Indians'', while The Times of India ran a timeline of attacks under the heading ''No end to hate?''. Mr Brumby said such incidents would make his mission to India all the more difficult. ''Some of the events of the last few months have damaged our brand and the Australian brand in India,'' he said. He said the Government was committed to fixing the problem, and raised the possibility of giving police more resources to deal with it.
  • Education for foreign students is Australia's third-biggest export earner, bringing in more than $16 billion a year.
Nadeem Uddin

Singapore Girl, Asia's Barbie, to get new look? - Business travel- msnbc.com - 0 views

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    With reference to our discussion on the Singapore Girl topic.
Lucy Rechnitzer

'Nigel the Crazy Noonga' Website Shut Down | Racism Outrage - 0 views

  • Crazy Noonga' website sparks racism outrage FRAN RIMROD September 24, 2009 A website set up by a Perth student about a fictional Aboriginal character has been shut down and is being investigated by police amid racism claims. The website, which Radio 6PR reports was created by a 19-year-old Curtin University student, features audio excerpts  of a character called "Nigel the crazy Noonga", who prank calls businesses and fast-food outlets with a fake Aboriginal accent. The portrayal of negative Aboriginal stereotypes has sparked outrage from the Aboriginal community. Craig Somerville, lecturer at the Curtin University Centre for Aboriginal Studies, told 6PR he believed the material on the website had crossed the line between humour and racism.
  • The Facebook "Just for fun" group set up for "Nigel the crazy Noonga" has 317 members and describes "Nigel" as "your friendly neighbourhood Noonga". It also pokes fun at the character's fictional solvent abuse, describing it as his own personal "dreamtime". Sergeant Greg Lambert said police were aware of the website and were investigating.
Rika Ninomiya

China eyes Asian and Western media funds | The Australian - 1 views

  • CHINA Investment Corporation, the $US200billion ($243bn) state-run sovereign wealth fund, is planning to invest in several Western and Asian media funds.
  • The investments could give the Chinese government a direct stake in a rich variety of media content -- from South Korean television dramas and Japanese game shows to Hollywood blockbusters and globally franchised animation series.
Blaze Yau

Microsoft apologises for changing race in photo - 0 views

  • Microsoft Corporation is apologising for altering a photo on its website to change the race of one of the people shown in the picture
  • on the website of Microsoft's Polish business unit, the black man's head has been replaced with that of a white man
  • Poland's ethnic homogeneity may have played a role in changing the photo
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    Microsoft changed race in photo for no reason.
xinning ji

American Thinker Blog: South Korean drama hits America - 0 views

  • South Korea's television soap operas are finding big audiences overseas, including here in the Bay Area, as well as other major American cities with large Asian populations.
  • South Korean studios invested heavily in state—of—the—art production facilities, embodying the latest digital technology. Today, many Japanese films are shot in Korea, to take advantage of lower costs and better facilities there. And studio tours for tourists have become a big business.
Tammy Nguyen

Vegemite and new name | Kraft and vegemite | Julian Lee - 1 views

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    Now I had my first Vegemite just last week at a friends.. Mmmm Yummy. I probably am glad I didnt try the new Vegemite though.. Cos a lot of my friends didnt like it.
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    Why would you want to change such an iconic name? Isn't it part of the Australian psyche, featured even in popular music?
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    Could it be a subtle marketing gimmick? Just a thought.
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    it's a marketing strategy no doubt about it. perhaps they would like to reconfigure their brand?
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