Jeff Wiggle Montage

Happy B'Day Jeff!
Looks like someone's obsessed with Jeff!?!?)

Asian duo's satire wins fans on YouTube

WATCH out Chris Lilley - two Melbourne "Asian dudes" are turning heads globally with their politically incorrect satire.

Preston Market shopkeeper Simon Ly and his filmmaking friend Carl Zhang have become a YouTube sensation after creating the 2asiandudes comedy channel on May 12.

As they amass fans, the irreverent 25-year-olds are also attracting attention from the comedy world with their brand of "rad FOB humour" (radical, fresh-off-the-boat).

They send up racial stereotypes and cultural clashes, such as the "ignorant white guy" who thinks he can buy bootleg DVDs at Ly's dad's shop, in a similar vein to Lilley's Angry Boys.

Within a week and a half of uploading their first videos they were invited by YouTube to join its partnership program and profit from ads.

The videos are inspired by stories on Ly's Facebook page of his frustrating and zany dealings with multicultural customers.

The channel has already hit 11,000 views.

"The videos are basically word for word from my experiences," Ly said.

"It can be a very touchy subject but I think because we are both Asian we can get away with it."



He said they had been approached by artist manager Michael Lynch, of Smartartists, whose clients include Eddie Perfect, Tim Minchin and Tripod.

"We had a meeting and he said to keep what we are doing and keep it true and raw, and try and get something in the Melbourne Film Festival," he said.

Producer/director Zhang, a Chinese-born filmmaker who runs two film production businesses in Asia, said they were astounded by the response so far.

"It usually takes about three months to get offered a partnership on YouTube," he said. "We are not poking fun at Asian people or Indian people directly, more the cultural clashes that occur with people trying to understand one another in multicultural Australia."

The former Northcote High students film mainly at Centreway Electrical.

Zhang said 13-18-year-olds were the biggest fans.

Source Herald Sun

Check out their Youtube Channel for more vids

Sarin Witchayakul a top rookie aerobatic pilot

Not AA, but just had to post.

FORMER air hostess Sarin Witchayakul always wanted to ditch the cabin for the cockpit.

Strapped into the tiny cockpit of a stunt plane, she feathers the controls and pulls the agile aircraft out of its face-first dive - thundering towards earth at 350km/h and obviously confident behind the controls.

The Pitts Special sweeps skywards to perform a perfect loop - one of many hair-raising manoeuvres the 31-year-old has mastered on her way to becoming one of Australia's top rookie aerobatic pilots.

"I felt like I couldn't control my life as an air hostess," she said. "If the plane was going to crash I wanted to be in control, not sitting in the back of the plane." Three years on and Ms Witchayakul has been recognised as the nation's best female graduate aerobatic pilot, taking out first place in her category at the recent national aerobatics championships at Parkes.

Her trainer Phil Unicomb likened pure aerobatic flying to dressage or figure skating because of the precision required to execute the loops, rolls, spins and stall-turns.

Ms Witchayakul said the fancy flying is a long way from her former life serving drinks to Bangkok Airways passengers on flights across Asia.

"Seeing the world upside down, seeing it differently from other people - I just love it."

Ms Witchayakul plans to return to her home country Thailand later this year to pursue a career in commercial aviation.

Source The Daily Telegraph

Study Hard Anthem (Asian Australian parody of Party Rock Anthem)

by GZEEProductions

"STUDYING HARD?!?!
Hopefully this video will inspire everyone during STUVAC/SWOTVAC to soldier on and keep on cramming! Had lots of fun and lost a lot of sleep making this video, my best one yet! Hope you guys enjoy it =]

Shoutout to Ray for filming and Pat for teaching us the shuffle routine =D He's a mad teacher!
Also, thanks to Will for doing the rap! (Ray and Pat dubbed over for him)

All credits are due to LMFAO for Party Rock Anthem! We just made a parody of this awesome song!

Here's the free mp3 to help you get through your exams!
http://www.mediafire.com/?88n82is2ehe169v
"

(Thanks A C)

Asian Australian Battle of the Bands 2011 - Perth

Just putting this up for a friend. Got a band or like to perform solo?

"$700 OF COLD HARD CASH TO BE WON!!!!

Applications for the Battle of the Bands 2011 (“BOB”) are now OPEN! We are looking for talented solo artists, duos and bands to perform at the Charles Hotel on Sunday 7th August 2011! BOB is designed to promote and encourage musicians and bands within the Chinese community but entry is open to all.

On the night we will be giving away a Judges’ Prize ($400) and a Peoples’ Prize ($300)!!!"

Click here to register your interest.

Listen to this dumb c*nt

A LOCAL news anchor who made international headlines with a racist description of a Chinese man has apologised "unreservedly" for his remarks.

On Paul Murray's Sky News show last night, news anchor John Mangos reported on a Chinese lottery winner who wore a mask to remain anonymous while collecting his prize.

After the story, he said: "I don't know why he bothered. I mean, I can tell you now — he's Chinese.

"He's got straight black hair and he's got squinty eyes and yellow skin."

Murray was left speechless for a brief moment before replying: "That would be a very rough description."

Mangos today apologised "unreservedly" for the comment.

"On the Paul Murray program last night I made some off-the-cuff remarks about a Chinese lottery winner," he told news.com.au.

"The remarks were meant to be light-hearted and under the pressure of live TV my words were poorly chosen. In hindsight I can see they could offend and I apologise unreservedly for what I said.

"I am an Australian of overseas background myself and I am sorry for causing offence to anyone."

Footage of the "racist banter" was earlier today picked up by influential US media gossip blog Gawker.

Watch the footage at Gawker

"I for one would love to hear what Penny Wong, the no-nonsense Asian-Australian Labor senator who was meowed at in parliament, has to say about it," Gawker said.

"Her nuclear death stare could certainly be put to good use on this drongo."

Source News.com.au

Australian Story - Dr Charlie Teo

This has already been broadcast and can be viewed on iView for the next month or so.

Introduced by Steve Waugh

This week's program is about Sydney neurosurgeon Charlie Teo.

Teo is an enigma in his own profession, loved by patients but unpopular with some in the medical establishment.

He is credited with prolonging the lives of many people with tumours that were considered inoperable.

Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh says Charlie Teo saved his wife's life...

This program revisits the Teo phenomenon and brings his story up to date.

Click here to go to Australian Story's site.
Mind of His Own  - Transcript

Gossip Nation by Mike Kang

"Gossip Nation, a feature length film about African immigration in Blacktown and its communal challenges launches its public premiere on June 11th at Bankstown HOYTS cinema

Made by Korean-Australian director Mike Kang and producer Daniel Okoduwa, Gossip Nation is a 110 minute comedy / drama featuring local talents from the Blacktown community in Sydney, Australia.

The film explores current problems and attitudes towards immigration from both the majority and minority communities existing in Blacktown delivered with humor, emotion and fairness.

The story originated when producer Daniel Okoduwa, a local business owner and immigrant from Nigeria met with Mike Kang, a young Sydney filmmaker to reveal the problems and challenges within the African community.



“I believe Gossip Nation really represents what is possible in Australia today – that people of all cultures can come together and share their unique stories and points of view of our growing nation. And in the process we can work together to create something that can be shared, enjoyed and thought about. For me, this is what multiculturalism must be about.” Mike Kang added.

The film features a unique stylistic blend of both Nollywood (Nigeria) and conventional filmmaking, even featuring two Nollywood mega stars Mona Lisa Chinde and Ejike Asiegbu in guest appearance.

“We were so grateful to have Mona Lisa and Ejike fly into Sydney to act in the movie to show their support and friendship to Australia. Gossip Nation is really the first of its kind to blend both worlds of Australia and Nigeria”. Producer Daniel Okoduwa spoke.

Gossip Nation will premiere at Bankstown HOYTS, Cinema 6 on Saturday June 11th, 8:30pm. After party to be held. To book as an invited guest to the event, please contact either Scrim Entertainment on 9676 3407 or director Mike Kang on 0405 108 419"

for more information email: mailmikekang@gmail.com

You tell 'im, Penny

Penny reacts when a member of the opposition 'meows' at her.

Boombox Australia Tour

KevJumba, Jayesslee, D-Pryde, Andrew G, Nigahiga, Maribelle Anes and ???

Still undecided over the hottest Jayesslee twin, Sonia or Janice... One of life's hardest questions to answer.

Dumplings - Short Film

Dumplings from Chris Chan on Vimeo.

Starring Christopher Chan, Clara Pagone and Daniel Wu.
Written by Peter Lam with Christopher Chan.
Directed and Edited by Wye Keen Wong.

From MPK Studios and A.B.C. (Amateurs Being Cool)

Kiwi teen golfer Lydia Ko is hot property

Teenage golfer Lydia Ko could be about to join Tiger Woods, Michelle Wie and New Zealand's own Danny Lee.

Management giant IMG, who also represent Roger Federer and Justin Timberlake, has confirmed to Sunday News they are tracking the supremely talented Aucklander – the world No 1 women's amateur.

David Rollo, vice-president of IMG's golf division, says while formal talks cannot begin until Ko relinquishes her amateur status, the 14-year-old is "definitely on the radar".

"I've had emails on her from our guys who look after our female athletes and LPGA players in the United States," Rollo said.

"She's very young right now but obviously someone who has got a very, very bright future in front of her.

"I've not met Lydia, or her family, yet. But her results speak for themselves.

"The rules are clear in terms of amateur golfers and professional representation, we need to be respectful of that just as we are with any recruitment.

"But the process would be similar to other instances – you build a relationship with an athlete and when the time comes to turn professional, hopefully you're well placed to secure their services."

Earlier this year, aged 13, Ko became the first female to hold both the New Zealand and Australian amateur champion titles.

Professional 2011 events have further reinforced her talent, finishing fourth in February's New Zealand Open and runner-up, by a single stroke, in the previous month's New South Wales Open – where victory would have seen her become the youngest winner of a women's professional tournament.

She is the youngest player to make the cut in a Ladies European Tour event – a feat achieved when she was 12.

This week Ko flies to the UK to compete in the British Amateur Championship before a crucial American trip in July, where she will attempt to qualify for the US Amateur Championship.

Ko's amateur status has stopped her from banking more than $50,000 in earnings this year but New Zealand Golf are looking after her. Chief executive Dean Murphy says she is vital to the development of the sport and is one of 47 amateur's benefitting from NZG trusts.

"Lydia has really shown Kiwis can get out there and be the best in the world," Murphy said.

"The top trust accounts we have wouldn't be over $20,000 but they're there to help with travel and accommodation expenses for overseas tournaments. Tournaments they otherwise might not be able to attend."

Source Stuff

Lawrence Leung's Unbelievable - Trailer (ABC1)

Lawrence Leung's trailer for his new show on ABC1.

(Thanks Emily)

Early footage of Chris Pang's dad teaching Wing Chun

Just found some newly uploaded vids of Chris Pang's dad, Barry, teaching Wing Chun at Monash Uni.  This was filmed in 1982 and the first thing I thought of was Barry's M-U-L-L-E-T.  Lol, very impressive.  Barry has been teaching Kung Fu for over thirty years now.

To see Chris reenacting a scene from a Jackie Chan movie click here.

Jayesslee Touring with David Choi

Jayesslee will be joining David Choi on the Australian-leg of his tour. They are doing shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney during July. More info at Monsoon Productions.

Law degree to transform lives

Educating influence ... the inspirational Ngoc Tram Nguyen.

A university is offering a scholarship to help students from poor backgrounds, writes Yuko Narushima.

A Cabramatta street kid who believed in the transformative power of education is the inspiration for a new law scholarship at the University of NSW.

Australians who have never met Ngoc Tram Nguyen may already be familiar with her words. Her forthright assessment of how young Vietnamese people in the suburb were judged opened a highly acclaimed 2003 film.

''They think we are low-lifes capable of nothing. They think we are finished people,'' Nguyen said.

The Finished People, directed by Koah Do, attributed the quote to a 19-year-old street kid. But Nguyen became much more. At the time of her sudden death at the age of 24, she was a mother, a UNSW research assistant and a friend to the academics now starting a scholarship in her name. The scholarship will pay for a socially disadvantaged person from south-western Sydney to study law.

A professor at the university's Kirby Institute, Lisa Maher, first met Nguyen in 1995 as part of her field research in south-western Sydney.

''She was exceptionally bright, very street savvy but, at the same time, vulnerable,'' Maher says. ''She was 'street frequenting', I guess is the best way to describe it, when people move in and out of home and spend a lot of time on the streets.''

The heroin epidemic of the late 1990s touched young people across the suburb. Teenagers were often caught between the old world of their parents' Vietnam and the new social attitudes of Australia, Maher says. They were socially dislocated while refugee parents worked long hours to establish their families in Australia.

It was Nguyen who steered the academic's health study on heroin use in a new direction, explaining why young people were hesitant to open up about their experiences.

''There were much more pressing priorities than catching blood-borne infections like hepatitis C or HIV,'' Maher says. ''People were just trying to stay alive, trying to keep the police off their backs and trying to avoid being arrested.''

She recruited Nguyen and began studying the relationship between young people with Asian backgrounds and police in Cabramatta.

Wendy Swift, from UNSW's national drug and alcohol research centre, and UNSW law dean David Dixon co-authored the paper.

The purpose of the Ngoc Tram Nguyen Scholarship is to tap in to the potential of people such as Nguyen, and will be awarded for the first time next year.

''She didn't have a lot of formal schooling but she was one of those people who have intellectual ability just blooming out of her,'' Dixon says.

''You could tell that if she was just given the opportunity to develop that, she could do anything that she wanted to do.''

Nguyen was set on becoming a lawyer. She was enrolled in a foundation course at the university and was blunt about her ambition.

''I'd like to get a degree so that what I have to say will be heard and listened to by important people who can't say that I haven't been there and done that or that I'm not educated,'' she said.

''My main aim is to help my friends and my community, maybe not straightaway but some day. At least now I can see that day.''

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Kiwi Asian Wins Masterchef NZ

MasterChef winner Nadia Lim says she cannot wait to get stuck into her new life as a celebrity chef after keeping quiet about her win for six months.

Eight hundred and fifty thousand people tuned in to see Lim topple rival Jax Hamilton on TV ONE last night.

Now she is a household name and planning for a busy future.

"I'm going part time at my dietician job at the Diabetes Foundation," the 25-year old told ONE News.

"I'm doing some work with the Heart Foundation, the Nutrition Foundation and I really want to get stuck into doing the cookbook so I'm looking forward to lots of time in the kitchen."

Lim has been busy already with a string of photshoots and interviews. Last year's MasterChef winner, Brett MacGregor said she should get used to it.

"I think she should be prepared not to spend too much time at home," he said.

Poker face

Lim says she developed a "really good poker face" when the show ended so as not to reveal she was the winner.

"I just went back to normal life," Nadia told TV ONE's Breakfast.

She said despite being pushed by people, she would never have revealed she was the one.

"I would get quite a lot of questions in the beginning but once people realised they couldn't get anything out of me, they stopped asking."

That pressure was nothing compared to the palpable tension in the final, when Nadia said that despite having a six point lead over 45-year-old mum Jax Hamilton going into the " macaroon challenge" she still didn't think she had definitely won.

"I thought I could easily lose this... Jax is a really good cook and it was a dessert tower. I'm not good at towers as we saw in one of the other other episodes."

For a few seconds at the finish Nadia still wasn't 100% sure because they both had "really good towers" - but Jax's hopes were dashed in the "dessert disaster" as her tower began to disintegrate.

"It was disappointing to see that... I can't put myself in Jax's shoes," said Nadia.

It was the first occasion in which Jax became tearful, something Nadia was renowned for throughout the competition.

But Nadia told Corin Dann on Breakfast that wasn't the real her.

"The tears were really annoying," the 25-year-old said. "I just couldn't help it. My friends have said they have seen me cry more times on the show than they have since they've known me. And it's like watching a different person."

She said the tears may have come from the intense pressure over the weeks. When the cameras stopped rolling each day, the contestants couldn't just go home and take a break.

"It was three months away from friends and family and not being able to see them," Nadia said. "The big thing was we weren't allowed out of the house, not a foot outside the door. We couldn't even go for a short walk."

Jax agreed. She told Good Morning today that she wasn't "normally a crier".

"It all came to a head at the end. How could there not be tears? It's partly about it being the end of the show as well. The tears just came," she said.

Jax said she had a hard time keeping the secret of her final loss from her friends and felt quite emotional about it.

"My friends were really gutted, they thought I had it in the bag and it was hard to look them in the face and know that I hadn't," she admitted.

Low expectations

The Aucklander admits she didn't even expect to get through the first round of interviews and took the contest "challenge by challenge".

She said she was really happy to get into the top 12 and once she got to the top six she started thinking, "I really could do this and I'm going to go for it".

Lim said she liked all the invention tests but wasn't a fan of the pressure tests where they had to follow a recipe and had a strict timeframe.

"At home I'm more of a cook where you put in a little bit of this, taste a little bit of that...

"I like freestyle cooking. I follow recipes sometimes but I prefer to have lots of ingredients on the table and look at the colours and the types of food there and make something from that."

Nadia, a nutritionist, believes that cooking by colour makes a difference nutritionally. "If there's more colours there's going to be more vitamins and minerals in it too."

The new MasterChef is still revelling in the judges' praise of her pork belly, with Simon Gault saying it was the best thing he had ever eaten in MasterChef history.

"I couldn't believe it," she said.

And Nadia is full of praise for the judges, Gault, Josh Emett and Ray McVinnie, whom she describes as good guys.

"Simon said at one point 'I feel like I am everyone's dad. The three of them are so genuine. They really cared and were very supportive and encouraging."

She says her plans now are firmly focused on the food industry.

"I've kind of known that since I was young that my career could only involve food, my biggest passion."

Nadia will be writing a series of recipes for the Heart Foundation on their website.

"I realise how much of an impact what and how we eat has on our health, including our heart health," Nadia said. "Problems such as diabetes and cardio vascular disease are growing when so much of it could be prevented, which is sad."

She said her work with the Heart Foundation allows her to break stereotypes and show how 'fine food' can also have a healthy twist.

Nadia's first recipe for the Heart Foundation, Miso Glazed Salmon with Rainbow Noodles, is on their site while all the MasterChef show's recipes are here.

Nadia won a cookbook deal, cash and a new car - a black Skoda that she got the keys to on Breakfast this morning.

If you missed the epic two hour Grand Final, watch it here.

Source: TVNZ

Sixty Minutes - Top of the Class

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8248785

"May 15, 2011: It's no secret. At our most prestigious schools and universities, the names at the top of the honour rolls are now all Asian. And the reason is just as obvious; they study far more than their western classmates. But what has now been revealed, in a best-selling book by a Chinese mum, is how that achievement is often driven by the extreme expectations of demanding mothers."

View segment and transcript here: Sixty Minutes

Siow in UK Men's Health Magazine

Here are some shots that Siow did for UK Men's Health magazine.  The mag will be out in June, only in the UK though.

View the rest of the pics at Siow's fanpage.

Frontiers of pop: Being a rock star in Sydney ain't easy

LOL @ the crowd at 6:50

HE won the inaugural Sydneyvision Song Contest with his layered, well-structured, clean sound and now Dyan Tai is using social media to reach new audiences.

Tai moved to Sydney in 2007 after being crowned King of Cool in a Malaysian talent contest and has since opened a show for Jessica Mauboy and performed live on Sydney commercial radio.

He released his first EP with a three-piece band in April.

“For other people to be aware of my music, especially my homies in Malaysia, I am releasing the EP on YouTube,” Tai said.

Tai trained in classical piano and violin from an early age and later gained a science honours degree in cell biology.

“I got so sick of classical music. Then I started singing. My music is Prince-esque, MJ (Michael Jackson), gospel R and B, occasional belting.

“Its harder being an Asian Australian in the industry, but people remember me for who I am. It makes me work harder. There’s only one guy with 7-inch hair and a sparkly keytar.”

The keytar, which features to great effect in his award-winning song Why Sydney, is a dangerous thing.

The mirrors cut Tai’s fingers when he plays.

But of course, rejection hurts more.

“People used to say no one will book you and that really hurts. It just made me work harder.”

Source

Dyan Tai on Facebook.
Dyan Tai's Webby

Boombox Tour - Checkout the local supporting acts!

So the Boombox Tour is coming up very soon featuring Yanks KevJumba, Nigahiga, D-Pryde and also local acts JayessLee and Maribelle Anes.  In addition to these acts the tour will also feature local peeps who won the online youtube competition in their respective cities.  There are far too many to list so check 'em out for your self here!

Cheltzie Lee through to 2nd stage at worlds

Australian winter Olympian Cheltzie Lee progressed to the second stage of the women's competition after a sizzling first round performance at the figure skating world championships in Moscow.

The 18-year-old from Sydney successfully landed a difficult triple toe loop jump combination to finish 18th in the short program which was won by South Korea's Yuna Kim with Miko Ando from Japan second and Russia's Ksenia Makarova third.

Lee skated a program choreographed by England's 1980 gold medallist Robin Cousins to clinch a position in the top 24 that propelled her into the final round of competition on Saturday.

Lee, who divides her training between Sydney and Colorado Springs in the US, finished 20th at the Winter Olympics last year.

She followed that with a 17th place at the 2010 World Championships in Torino, Italy, and came 10th in the Four Continents in Taipei, Taiwan in February.

Current world champion Mao Asada proved disappointing after coming seventh in the short program.


Source: The West

Masterchef Australia 2011 Asian Australians

Man I'm so over Masterchef now. From runner up in 2009 to winner in 2010, it's been quite a good run on white Australian television. It's also provided us with some very recognisable AA faces and household names like Poh Ling Yeoh, Adam Liaw and Alvin Quah. We seem to be well represented this year as well, here are the Asian Australians in the Top 50 of Masterchef 2011.

Billy Law, 34, NSW

Craig Pedrola, 42, NSW

Dai Do, 29, SA

Gemma Seeto, 26, QLD

Brother-in-law charged with murdering Lin family in North Epping

Source

The Lin family

POLICE have charged a family member with the high profile brutal killing of the Lin family in Epping in 2009. 
 
Robert Xie, 47, the brother-in-law of Min Lin was arrested at his home in North Epping just after 9am.

Detectives with Strike Force Norburn took Xie to Parramatta Police Station and charged with five counts of murder.
Robert Xie chose not to appear in Parramatta Local Court when the charges were mentioned. He did not make an application for bail and it was formally refused by the magistrate.
The charges were adjourned to Central Local Court on July 1.
Yun Li "Lilly'' Lin, 43, her newsagent husband Min Lin, 45, their sons, and the boys' aunt, Lilly's sister Irene, were bludgeoned to death as they lay in their beds.

The investigations were launched following the discovery of the bodies inside their home on Boundary Rd at North Epping on the morning of Saturday 18 July 2009.

Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Peter Cotter said today: "This was a tragic incident and one of the largest single homicides in NSW history. 

"The investigators have never given up, and today is testimony to their dedication, and the culmination of 2 years of intense investigation.''

Police this afternoon described Xie's arrest as a "very significant day'' for the Lin family and investigators, saying they now had ``sufficient evidence'' following a two year investigation that crossed international borders.

Homicide squad commander Detective Superintendent Peter Cotter said police would allege that Xie acted alone, bludgeoning the five family members to death with a still-unidentified weapon on July 18, 2009.

"When the opportunity presented itself, the accused took it,'' Mr Cotter said.

"Not long after he entered the house, five people lay dead.''

Police also allege that other people/ family members  may have been woken by the sounds of their parents being killed, possibly interacting with their uncle before he allegedly attacked them.

Mr Cotter said there was some evidence that two family members might have woken and there might have been some interaction between them and the accused.

Police allege the case is based on circumstantial evidence,  and forensic evidence from the hundreds of exhibits that had been examined.

Investigators had been focusing on Xie for "the best part of two years'', with an extensive five day search of his North Epping home last year and extensive surveillance.
Mr Cotter said another member of the Lin family,  was "surprised'' by the arrest

Xie's wife Kathy Lin is not expected to be charged in relation to the murders.  The highly-secretive NSW Crime Commission was also involved in the investigation.

Xie and his wife, Kathy, took over the running of the Lin's newsagency after the murders.  It was the couple who discovered the bodies.

Xie, who was born in Ghuanzhou, China, ran a buffet-style Chinese restaurant in Melbourne which he opened in December 2001.

In 2004, he was knocked back by the Migration Review Tribunal when he applied to bring over three chefs from China so he upgrade to an upmarket restaurant.

He has said that as a result, his restaurant folded, when he then moved to Sydney where he was unemployed before taking over the Lin family's newsagency.

Robert Xie and wife at a press conference in 2009

Asian Australian Online Survey

Got a couple of minutes to spare?  Michael is an AA doing an Honours thesis looking at Asian-Australians and how we perceive ourselves, our identities, stereotypes, other Australian groups, society, interracial relations, etc. He needs some Asian-Australian participants to do an online survey.

If you are interested, you can access the questionnaire via the link below:
http://uqpsych.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cNNE83uo4cHiDeQ

Storm in a tea cup - Kiki numberplates

Kiki ... RTA wanted it removed as being offensive to Tagalog people, from the Phillipines. Source: The Daily Telegraph

 A NSW woman says she is being relentlessly pursued by state road authorities because her personalized number plate means "vagina" in another language, news.com.au reported Wednesday. 
 
The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) says the number plate bearing the name - "Kiki" - is the same word used for vagina in the Filipino language, Tagalog, and wanted them removed.

Kristen Perry, a lawyer from Newcastle, said she was informed of her "offensive" nickname after first receiving her personalized plates five years ago as a gift from her husband, the Newcastle Herald reports.

"At first I thought it was a joke, but then I realized it was actually quite serious and that my number plates would be taken off me if I didn't respond appropriately," Perry told ABC.

"Quite frankly it's a bit of a funny thing, but at the same time quite a bit scary that we've got people that can just report a number plate that seems quite inoffensive to 99 percent of us out there, but one percent have an issue with it."

The RTA has said it received a complaint from a Tagalog speaker who found the number plate offensive. The Tagalog people is an ethnic group in the Philippines, making up 28.1 per cent of the Filipino population.
Perry said that Kiki has been her nickname since childhood.

''I rang my father last night and said, 'Do you know you have been calling me vagina all my life?'''
This afternoon the RTA relented.

"The RTA has a responsibility to investigate complaints about personalised plate content, but we recognise that in doing this we must take a common sense approach,’’ a spokeswoman said today.

"‘We recognise in this case a common sense approach was not adopted and Ms Perry will retain the content of her plates."

 Source

Coast bandit given 'wok for'

 KITTY Chung knew her husband's chicken chow mein packed a punch but she never thought it would see a would-be robber wok away empty-handed.

About 8.20pm on Friday she and her husband, Chi On, were getting ready to close their business, Thea-Mae Chinese Restaurant, at Gaven Heights shopping complex.

The last thing they expected was an armed robber wielding a 30cm carving knife to walk through the door.

However the Chungs, who have owned the restaurant for six years, were not going to let the "skinny, weedy thief" get away with their takings.

He learnt the hard way woks are not just good for cooking.

"We had our last order put in about 8.15pm and my husband was out the back cooking it," Mrs Chung said.

"A man came through the front door and his face was covered with a black handkerchief, which I thought was strange, and then he just pulled out this big knife and I started to scream."

As the robber attempted to steal the till, pocket-sized Mr Chung came up from behind with a wok full of scorching chicken chow mein and his ladle.

He poured the contents of the wok on to the bandit's back. The armed man, now in agony, struggled from behind the counter as Mr Chung continued to wallop him with the wok, the force causing him to drop the knife.

It was quickly picked up by Mrs Chung who, with her husband, chased the man down Universal Drive.

Source

Poh in running to win Logie - Go the Poh!

Here are the Asian Australian nominees

MOST POPULAR NEW FEMALE TALENT
- Poh Ling Yeow (Poh's Kitchen, ABC1)

MOST OUTSTANDING LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
- Luke Nguyen's Vietnam (SBS) 

Go the Poh!

Source 

Chinese Australians in the Anzac Parade

I'm skeptical about the purpose of SBS Mandarin, but must say the first story in this weeks edition is a welcome change. More of this thanks!

Click here Videos : -Mandarin-News-Australia-27-04-11 : SBS Chinese - My Home 我的家

RSL war tribute honours Chinese

AS a boy Jesse Chee dreamed of becoming a soldier and serving his country.  So as soon as he was old enough he applied for the army reserve unit in PNG which was under Australian command.

His application drew the attention of a local journalist who wanted to write a story about an Australian of Asian descent joining the defence force.

The story was never written and Mr Chee never heard whether he had been accepted into the army.
Confused, he asked the journalist who said the top brass in Canberra had told him to shelve the story.
Mr Chee later learned that his application had been rejected while the Australian parliament discussed overturning the White Australia Policy.

Now, more than 40 years later, the Government continues to redress past wrongs. This month Prime Minister Julia Gillard attended the official unveiling of a Chinese war memorial at Sunnybank RSL.

The memorial is one of only three in Australia and is the first time any Australian RSL has dedicated a war memorial to Australian service personnel of Chinese descent.

Mr Chee, who eventually was allowed to join the army, said it meant ``a heck of a lot’’ to receive due recognition for his service.  ``Finally Australia has acknowledged our service as equals,’’ he said.

Ms Gillard said the Anzac spirit embraced people of all backgrounds.

Sunnybank RSL president Robert Lippiatt said the recognition was well over-due but the RSL was committed to strengthening ties with the Chinese community.  He said towards that goal, the RSL had coincided the memorial’s opening with the launch of a bursary to help struggling students achieve their potential.

Source

Read the PM's Speech at the opening here

"But look through the names on the roll of honour and there are Australians of Chinese heritage. Jewish heritage. Indigenous heritage. Lebanese and Afghan heritage. And so many others.

In fact, two of our very greatest soldiers in the First World War were Billy Sing and Caleb Shang.

Just as one of the most daring and resourceful soldiers of the Second World War was Jack Wong Sue.

And beyond those enlisted, there were many more refused enrolment because of their background, and they served in other capacities here at home such as civil defence or simply offered the silent service of uncomplaining loyalty deep in their hearts, putting aside any sense of dismay or offence.".

Chinese ANZACs Site

Still working on Chinese ANZACs and I think it'll be a while before there's enough information on the site to make me satisfied. Someone uploaded a picture of Caleb Shang onto Wikipedia which is awesome because I was having trouble finding a clear picture of him. Caleb was the most highly decorated Chinese Australian of WW1.  Feel free to visit Chinese ANZACs and offer some feedback.

Lest We Forget.

Emmanuel from Justice Crew makes it to Cleo's Top 50 Bachelor list

Click here to view his profile

Justice Crew's New Song - Dance With Me

Only viewable in Australia.

MasterChef Australia 2011 (Season 3) Promo

That's Khanh Trieu at the 19 second mark

Shaun Tan on SBS News

Tan wins biggest kids' literature prize

FOLLOWING his recent Oscar success Australian illustrator and author Shaun Tan has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in Sweden - the world's largest children's literature award.

The award, which amounts to $764,600, was announced in Stockholm today.

Melbourne-based Tan has illustrated more than 20 books, including The Rabbits (1998), The Lost Thing (2000), The Red Tree (2001), The Arrival (2006) and Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008).

His award citation read: "Shaun Tan has reinvented the picture book by creating visually spectacular pictorial narratives with a constant human presence."

In February Tan won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for his 15-minute film The Lost Thing.

SourceFOLLOWING his recent Oscar success Australian illustrator and author Shaun Tan has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in Sweden - the world's largest children's literature award.

The award, which amounts to $764,600, was announced in Stockholm today.

Melbourne-based Tan has illustrated more than 20 books, including The Rabbits (1998), The Lost Thing (2000), The Red Tree (2001), The Arrival (2006) and Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008).

His award citation read: "Shaun Tan has reinvented the picture book by creating visually spectacular pictorial narratives with a constant human presence."

In February Tan won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for his 15-minute film The Lost Thing.

Source

Teen jailed over Asian couple's bashing

A Hobart teenager who bragged on Facebook about bashing an Asian man will spend 11 months in jail.

James Ernest Davey, 18, and five of his friends attacked a Korean man and his wife as they withdrew money from an ATM in the Hobart mall in December.

The Supreme Court in Hobart heard the teenagers yelled racist remarks at the couple a short time before the attack.

The tourists had only been in Tasmania for a few hours.

Justice Alan Blow said the Korean couple have every reason to think they were victims of a racist attack and not just an ordinary robbery.

The court heard the teenagers also bashed another man unconscious in Franklin Square earlier in the evening.

Davey was sentenced to 16 months in prison for both assaults, with five months suspended.

Source

Soften the Fuck Up Campaign

Online campaigner Ehon Chan urges men to 'soften the f--- up' to raise mental health awareness




AN ONLINE campaign urging men to face up to mental health issues turns one of the great phrases of Australian bloke culture on its head, telling guys to "soften the f--- up".

Digital branding professional Ehon Chan coined the slogan as part of a campaign he hopes will resonate and raise awareness with a younger audience.

“A big part of this campaign is challenging the ‘real man’ stereotype,” Mr Chan said.

“We think being a real man is about being tough enough to acknowledge something isn't right and strong enough to seek help.”

He said he initially had concerns about the name and had opted for the less confronting “Soften up mate” before being talked out of it by a friend.

“There are connotations that go with ‘Soften the f--- up’ which are quite different to those that go with ‘Soften up mate’,” he said.

“The message is not getting through to men that it’s OK to ask for help, this issue does affect them, something has to be done to challenge that mentality.”

More Australians are killed each year by suicide than by road accidents. In 2008, 2191 people took their own lives, while the road toll was below 1450.

The toll is the highest killer of Australian youth. The World Health Organisation says “[suicide] rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries”.

Four out of five youth suicides are men.

The figures also fail to include the tens of thousands more who attempt to take their own lives each year (estimated by the WHO to be as many as 20 times that of successful suicides) or the hundreds of thousands of people living with mental health issues, often without being aware of the issue or asking for support.

While there are campaigns such as Movember that address men’s mental health and health issues Mr Chan says his is the first to try to “address the male stereotypes about asking for help directly”.

It’s an ambitious task but Mr Chan says he would be happy if his campaign simply raised awareness and started people talking about the issue.

John Wallin from the Men’s Shed group, who create “men’s sheds” – communities for men to get together – says some men are still reluctant to talk about mental health issues.

“There is the old men’s culture of having a stiff upper lip, soldiering on, men don’t cry and that sort of thing,” Mr Wallin said.

“Men’s Shed is not a health organisation but we are receiving an increasing number of calls from people who are seeking help with these issues, who are saying the resources are overloaded, that’s a very bad thing.

“The public needs to be aware of these issues and aware you can talk about them.”

Mr Wallin said a large part of the problem surrounding mental health issues is the difficulty in defining and tacking problems.

“It’s not an area where you can easily help people,” he said.

“Family don’t have the expertise and a lot of the time I don’t think guys will willingly put their hands up about this.”

For crisis support, call or visit Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Source“There are connotations that go with ‘Soften the f--- up’ which are quite different to those that go with ‘Soften up mate’,” he said.

“The message is not getting through to men that it’s OK to ask for help, this issue does affect them, something has to be done to challenge that mentality.”

More Australians are killed each year by suicide than by road accidents. In 2008, 2191 people took their own lives, while the road toll was below 1450.

The toll is the highest killer of Australian youth. The World Health Organisation says “[suicide] rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries”.

Four out of five youth suicides are men.

The figures also fail to include the tens of thousands more who attempt to take their own lives each year (estimated by the WHO to be as many as 20 times that of successful suicides) or the hundreds of thousands of people living with mental health issues, often without being aware of the issue or asking for support.

While there are campaigns such as Movember that address men’s mental health and health issues Mr Chan says his is the first to try to “address the male stereotypes about asking for help directly”.

It’s an ambitious task but Mr Chan says he would be happy if his campaign simply raised awareness and started people talking about the issue.

John Wallin from the Men’s Shed group, who create “men’s sheds” – communities for men to get together – says some men are still reluctant to talk about mental health issues.

“There is the old men’s culture of having a stiff upper lip, soldiering on, men don’t cry and that sort of thing,” Mr Wallin said.

“Men’s Shed is not a health organisation but we are receiving an increasing number of calls from people who are seeking help with these issues, who are saying the resources are overloaded, that’s a very bad thing.

“The public needs to be aware of these issues and aware you can talk about them.”

Mr Wallin said a large part of the problem surrounding mental health issues is the difficulty in defining and tacking problems.

“It’s not an area where you can easily help people,” he said.

“Family don’t have the expertise and a lot of the time I don’t think guys will willingly put their hands up about this.”

For crisis support, call or visit Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Source

James Wan (director of Saw) on his new film Insidious

Check it out at Channel APA

New Video from Siow - Feelin' on Me

Feelin' On Me gets offically released on 25th of April

First Australian 3DS Commercial

Maths Whiz

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/03/25/3174215.htm

Changing times

A new trend has appeared in the lead up to the New South Wales election - the swelling number of Asian-born voters now poised to vote Liberal for the first time.

View the report here

Adam Liaw talks about his new book Two Asian Kitchens

deadside interview with Andy Minh Trieu

Man stomped on sandwich-stalking ibis

A STUDENT who was being stalked for his sandwich wrestled an ibis to the ground and stomped on it until the bird was so badly injured it had to be put down, a court has been told.

Andrew Quay Wee Meng, 25, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today to one count of animal cruelty on March 1.

The court was told Quay Wee Meng had been eating a sandwich in Brisbane's South Bank Parklands when the bird "snuck up from behind" and jumped onto his table.

Quay Wee Meng threw his food down, wrestled the bird to the ground and stomped on it five times.

The court was told the bird's wing was shattered and a blow to its neck caused it such difficulty in breathing that it had to be put down.

Quay Wee Meng's lawyer, Sue Ganasan, told the court the Singapore-born law student lashed out at the ibis because he was once attacked by a large crow and had been frightened of Australian birds ever since.
However, she said, he accepted his response was excessive and he was remorseful.

Magistrate John Costello said onlookers would have been "appalled" by the attack, but said Quay Wee Meng's youth, guilty plea and lack of criminal history meant he would not receive a jail sentence.

He also agreed not to record a conviction after being told it would adversely affect Quay Wee Meng's chances of employment.

Mr Costello ordered Quay Wee Meng to perform of 120 hours community service, and that he do so with the RSPCA wherever possible.

Source

Asian Australian Cultural Association

This is the second Asian Australian club (as opposed to fobby Asian) formed at a uni this year.

Anh Do wins Indie Book of the Year Award

Comedian Anh Do's memoir The Happiest Refugee has won the Indie Book of the Year Award for 2011.

The announcement was made at the annual conference of Australia's independent booksellers at Coolum, in southeast Queensland, on Monday night.

Do, whose debut work was published in September last year, says he was overcome with emotion when his name was announced.

"When I found out I'd won book of the year, the first person I called was my mum, who was so happy she cried on the phone. I did a bit too to be honest."

The award is made to the independent booksellers' favourite Australian book from the past 12 months.

"The Happiest Refugee was chosen by an overwhelming number of independent booksellers as their book of the year," says Leading Edge Books general manager and awards organiser Simon Milne.

"Last year was an important year for non-fiction, and this is the first time a non-fiction book has won this award. Anh Do's story of his family's struggle to reach Australia, and the life they have created since then touched booksellers and readers alike."

The Happiest Refugee was also awarded Best Non-Fiction book, while other winners were Chris Womersley for Bereft (Best Fiction); Jon Bauer for Rocks in the Belly (Best Debut Fiction) and Jeannie Baker for Mirror (Best Children's Book).

Source

Old Skool Luv - Israel

Wow, this is going back a couple of years

B+ Again - mychonny

Cheong Kit Au formally recognised as fastest texter ahead of world championships

TEXTING pays. Srsly.

Melbourne teen Cheong Kit Au is on his way to New York after being formally recognised by Guinness World Records as the fastest texter on the planet.

After winning $10,000 and the chance to compete in the LG World Cup in New York in late January, the 16-year-old whipped through a 264-character text in 1min 17.03sec, smashing the previous world record by a stunning 43 seconds for typing on a qwerty-style keypad.

He picked up another $3000 bonus for that effort.

The talented student from Melbourne High is also at home texting blindfolded, backwards and holding the phone upside down.

But there's no need for training, given Cheong sends up to 200 text messages a day.

Even during his chat with the Herald Sun, the SMS speedster was in constant contact with mates - including one just metres away.

"It's just like a big conversation, sort of Twitter on steroids," he said.

The slightly built teen with nimble fingers doesn't seem to care if it's an iPhone, Nokia, LG or any of the other smart phones, given his intricate knowledge of their inner workings.

The Herald Sun challenged Cheong to a race to type the famous soliloquy from Hamlet.

But by the time it took them a minute to (almost) bash out "To be, or not to be: that is the question", Cheong had already sped through several stanzas, including corrections.

Source

Three Women

Three inspirational women talk about their lives in SBS Insight

http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/index/id/351#watchonline

Shaun Tan wins the Oscar!

How to make your own plushhat

Man sacked for doing too much work

PING HAN was a successful small business owner - he ran an insulation business, a travel agency, an interpreting service, a migration agency and also managed several rental properties.

The problem was he did it all while working at his "proper job" - as a RailCorp clerk.

Mr Han was sacked after 14 years working for RailCorp when his bosses found out the extent of his moonlighting. He lost an appeal this month to the Transport Appeals Board for using his employer's time and resources to run his stable of small businesses.

Documents stated a RailCorp investigation found he breached its code of conduct by not declaring his secondary employment and used his email and other work resources for personal affairs.

Mr Han pleaded guilty to breaching RailCorp's code of conduct, which says employees have to declare any secondary employment. But he claimed the sacking was extreme and he did not understand the policy "completely or correctly" because it had changed in 2007.
"I tried to declare secondary employment in 2007 but as the form had changed I did not understand if, or how, I was meant to declare it from 2007 onwards," Mr Han said in a statement tendered to the tribunal.

The tribunal heard evidence that while Mr Han was "not derelict" in his duties to RailCorp but he was "more frequently engaged in his personal documents" than work-related activity.

Commissioner Peter Connor said that it was logical for RailCorp to conclude that Mr Han was spending time on work not related to RailCorp.

Mr Connor said it was likely one of Mr Han's colleagues may have complained as it may have been perceived he was "not pulling his weight".

The tribunal heard that Mr Han was counselled by RailCorp for similar behaviour, which was interfering with his work in 2005.

Mr Han told investigators he was the only bread winner in his family and the loss of his job would put his family under considerable hardship, the tribunal heard.

In dismissing the appeal Mr Connor said Mr Han displayed initiative but the evidence presented that his initiative seemed to be directed at his personal interests rather than his work with RailCorp.

Source

Leonardo Nam *Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Red Carpet

I can't embed so here's the direct link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZvrER2Cthw

I am home - Short Doco by Jason Chan

Jason has started a media company in Singapore called BananaMana

Enjoyed watching this.

Ethnicity and Identity

Ethnicity and Identity from Jason Chen on Vimeo.

The Asian Australian is at 27:40

Shaun Tan takes his Lost Thing to LA

NINE years of painstaking work was rewarded when Melbourne illustrator and director Shaun Tan scored his first Oscar nomination.

Tan's film, The Lost Thing, has been nominated for best animated short film, bringing the first-time movie-maker a sense of relief and elation.

Brunswick-based Tan, who wrote the book the film was based on, said there were times when he felt he would never get the movie finished.

"Sometimes it feels totally ridiculous when you are spending entire days focused on the shape of a nose or the colour of a cloud in the background," he said.

"You start wondering why you are doing this. But we all love the film, and always believed in it. It was just a really long project."

Work on the film, which was made by a core team of just four people, started in Melbourne in 2001 with several rough versions of the film discarded.

"It is weird because over that amount of time the technology changes and by the time I finished on the film I went from being a real novice director to now feeling like I have done a 10-year film course."

Tan said he was looking forward to going to the Oscars on February 27.

Riches, trade and sense defied White Australia

Old Belmore (Paddy's) Markets. Opened in 1869 and named the Belmore Markets after the then Governor of the colony. Chinese gardeners brought cartloads of vegetables to this market daily. The buildings were demolished in 1910. DATE c 1909. Picture: Courtesy City of Sydney Archives Source: The Daily Telegraph

THE year of the rabbit is nearly upon us and Sydney begins its Chinese New Year celebrations tonight, with a launch at Belmore Park, near Central station.

Despite some periods of anti-Chinese feeling, Sydney has mostly embraced its residents of that origin. Among them was the merchant Way Kee. Born in Canton (Guangzhou) in 1824, the son of a merchant, he came to Australia about 1853. Working at first for other merchants, he soon made a name for himself in the Chinese community -- appointed in 1857 as treasurer of the Koon Yee Tong, an organisation that returned the remains of dead people to their homeland. By 1871 he had established his own business in The Rocks and in 1876 he leased a stretch of Lower George St, demolishing the buildings and erecting three new shops and residences including his Sydney home.

Two of the shops were rented out and sometimes housed gambling operations, but at a royal commision into gambling Way Kee denied knowing anything about the practice. Having only a smattering of English, he said, through an interpreter, that "I never go out. I always sit inside my shop." He explained that the Koon Yee Tong was not a front for vice. Way Kee had often campaigned against the vices of lower-class Chinese in Sydney, particularly gambling and opium smoking.

From his shop he controlled an importing empire that included several regional shops in NSW and Queensland, a market garden in Lane Cove and business interests overseas. When he died of a heart attack in 1892, 3000 people attended his funeral. Starting with a Christian service, it then became a funeral procession, with brass bands and waving banners, that wound through Sydney for two hours. The procession ended at Smith's Wharf where an elaborate ceremony was conducted as Way Kee's remains were put aboard the Tsinan, bound for more funereal ceremonies in China.

The ceremony was organised by Quong Tart, who ran a luxurious city tea room.

By then another Canton-born man was founding his empire. Kwok (or George) Bew was born in China in 1868, the son of a farmer. After his father died he left for Sydney in 1883.

His English must have been good because he was a door-to-door salesman in Grafton before becoming a produce merchant in Sydney. He founded Wing Sang & Co, a fruit shop that sold produce grown by Chinese farmers in northern NSW, traded through the old Belmore Markets in what is today Belmore Park -- a centre for modern Chinese New Year Ceremonies. Wing Sang & Co grew to be a major player in the wholesale banana market.

Converting to Christianity, in 1896 Bew married Darling Young, daughter of a Chinese-born merchant based in Bourke. With merchants including Mark Joe, Ma Ying Piu and Choy Hing, Bew established Wing On & Co, which had operations in China and around the Pacific. In 1904 Bew became vice-president of the Chinese Merchants Defence Association, which fought the "White Australia" policy and sentiment.

He also became an avid supporter of Chinese republican revolutionary Sun Yat Sen, becoming president of the Sydney branch of the Chinese Nationalist League (Kuomintang) in 1916. In 1917 Sun invited him to return to China. In 1918 he opened Shanghai's Wing On shopping emporium, which would grow to become China's largest department store. It stood across the road from the Sincere Department Store, established by another Chinese-Australian merchant, Ma Ying-piew. Bew and Ma Ying-piew brought to China what they learned from emporia such as Anthony Hordern & Sons.

While expanding into other areas of business, Bew was also noted for his charitable and philanthropic work and in the 1920s he was appointed the director of the Central Mint of China. He died in 1932, survived by his wife and eight of his 10 children.

Source

Unconventional neurosurgeon a hero to patients

DR CHARLES TEO is unlikely to settle into the establishment just because he is a Member of the Order of Australia.

The Sydney neurosurgeon was operating in France last week with a broken rib from skiing. At home he is grounded after losing his driver's licence while drag-racing another motorbike rider.

''I would hate to be thought of as a saint,'' said Teo, 53, who does not fit the mould of his conservative profession but is internationally renowned for his clinical and teaching skills.
Advertisement: Story continues below

''This is an absolutely great honour, '' he said, ''but I don't want it to be interpreted that I can now sit on my laurels.

''I would like to dedicate it to the people I haven't been able to save - the poor people, and there are hundreds every year, who die from brain cancer and the people who are left with the burden of their deaths.''

Teo - Charlie, even to his patients - is a pioneer of minimally invasive techniques that reduce trauma, and operates on many ''inoperable'' brain tumours. Born and educated in Sydney, he spent a decade in the US and on his return set up the Centre for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery at Prince of Wales Private Hospital.

Father to four girls with his wife, Genevieve, he spends much of the year teaching and operating around the world. He is the founder of the Cure for Life Foundation, which supports research into causes and treatments for brain cancer.

Teo's outspoken confidence has brought criticism from some peers, who complain that he gives ''false hope'' to those with terminal cancer. Yet he is a hero to thousands of patients.

''The thing I am most proud of is,'' he said, ''is that I have not accepted neurosurgical dogma. Through tenacity and an overwhelming desire to improve the lives of my patients I've pushed the envelope.''

The ''strides'' forward in his often heartbreaking field include a survival time for patients diagnosed with brain cancer that has improved from one year to two since 2003.

Teo gives credit to the team of doctors, nurses and assistants ''who make me look good'' and to his critics. ''I had to take the high road because it was the only thing that would save me.''

While grateful for his award, he is almost as excited about a lunch next month with the members of Abba, whose music often accompanies his surgery.

Susan Wyndham is the author of Life in His Hands, a book about Charles Teo.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/unconventional-neurosurgeon-a-hero-to-patients-20110125-1a4bm.html#ixzz1K4HZyLM1

Bullies - by Youcake Productions feat. Maria Tran

澳洲华人在澳洲媒体的形象

I don't actually understand cantonese but if you do, please let me know what they're saying, in the comments section.

Chinese in Australian Politics politicians forum

Chinese in Australian Politics politicians forum Sydney 8 Sept 2010 from Andrew Jakubowicz on Vimeo.

Asian models change face of fashion

Jessica Gomes

 A NEW group of Asian models from Japan, Taiwan, China and South Korea are redefining the face of international fashion.

They are not yet household names, but they are sharing international runways and starring in lucrative advertising campaigns alongside the world's highest-paid beauties.

Chinese model Liu Wen is the most successful of the group. From Beijing, Wen's trajectory started on the pages of the Chinese editions of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. In 2008 she made her first appearance in Paris on the catwalk for Jean Paul Gaultier and Chanel. Recently, Estee Lauder signed her as a new face and she is the 10th-highest-paid model in the world.
Advertisement: Story continues below

The Taiwanese actor-turned-model Godfrey Tsao is the latest to join this crop of mainly female models. Taller than most of his countrymen at 1.85 metres, Tsao has become the first Asian male to star in a menswear advertising campaign for the French fashion house Louis Vuitton.

Stephen Lee from New York's NEXT Model Management, which represents the Chinese model Shu Pei Qin, who is the world-wide face of Maybelline cosmetics, believes this is not a fleeting trend.

''There's been a very significant rise and demand towards the Asian look in the last five years, specifically from the Chinese market with its burgeoning economy and accessibility to a huge population. I do believe it's now an established market that will only grow as high-end products become even more accessible to the Asian population,'' Lee said.

In Australia, the Eurasian models Rachel Rutt and Jessica Gomes are redefining the sun-kissed blue-eyed blonde stereotype. Rutt is of Singaporean and British heritage and grew up in Japan before moving to Australia in 2005. The Sydney-based model has featured in campaigns for Sportsgirl, Saba, General Pants and on the pages of Marie Claire, Grazia and in Vogue Italia. Gomes was born in Perth of Singaporean and Portuguese heritage. Now based in New York, she has worked with DKNY and was the face of the Sean Combs Unforgivable fragrance.

Kathy Ward from Sydney's Chic Management, which represents Rutt and Gomes, does not like to label the pair. She puts their success down to the fact that they stand out in the crowd. ''They are both definitely in demand. Jessica has a busy schedule internationally and a huge following in South Korea and Rachel has the look of the moment. She's in high-demand for mainstream fashion media, advertising at Australian Fashion Week.''

Asian models have found success in the past - the 1980s model Tina Chow being one of the most famous - but ethnic diversity has long been a fraught topic within the fashion industry. The face of fashion is a homogeneous one, with those blessed with long thin white limbs dominating the pages of international fashion magazines. Beauties from eastern Europe, America and Britain are traditionally the highest paid models in the world. The top five female models today hail from Poland, Denmark, Netherlands, Russia and Australia (Melbourne's Abbey-Lee Kershaw). The debate, however, has mainly focused on the representation of black models. Naomi Campbell is an outspoken campaigner on the issue and in 2009 caused controversy when she told Glamour magazine that the fashion industry was racist. ''You know, the American president may be black, but as a black woman, I am still an exception in this business. I always have to work harder to be treated equally,'' Campbell said.

A Lanvin designer, Alber Elbaz, recently said he did not see colour when he was casting his catwalk crew. ''I use blonde, brunette, redhead, black and Asian models - I never do it to be politically correct.''

Elbaz may be speaking the truth or pulling expensive wool over our eyes. Not one luxury fashion house could deny that its bread is now buttered in Asia.

The bag Tsao is modelling, right, is called the Elvis but it is not only nostalgic Americans whom Louis Vuitton is hoping to draw into the store.

Both Louis Vuitton and Gucci have grown exponentially in China during the past five years. Gucci opened its first store inside the Peninsula Hotel in 1997 and now there are over 25 boutiques in 16 cities. Louis Vuitton first set up shop at the Peninsula Hotel in 1992 and now operates over 20 boutiques across China.

According to a TNS Retail Forward study Strategic Focus: China's Retail Landscape by 2015 China is expected to have passed the US and equalled Japan as the world's biggest market for luxury goods.''Everybody in the fashion/beauty industry recognises the importance of global markets, and currently China, Taiwan and South Korea are at the forefront,'' the make-up artist Dick Page told American Vogue last year in a story dedicated to Asian beauties.

Source