Just some random thoughts espoused during Asian comparative law course some years ago...

1. ALEX’S MODEL PART 1
My model makes one inherent assumption: that our aspiring Asia literate lawyer is an
Australian (he/she does not need to be your stereotypical footy and cricket watching
mate, or shazza for that matter if the stereotype even exists since we’re so diverse
especially in metropolitan areas nowadays!) resident who has limited knowledge or
exposure to the Asian region and cultures.
Firstly, it is crucial for this person to come to the table with an open mind. It is always
easier to subscribe to familiarity, instead of being able to appreciate and understand
something completely and utterly foreign. As elaborated upon further in the model, Asia
is full of surprises owing to its immense diversity, ranging from the fascinating to the
downright macabre. Therefore, remaining objective and critical far from one’s comfort
zone will demand patience as well as an accepting and respectful attitude. Without this
mindset, it may prove difficult to overcome the initial culture shock and barriers to a
steep learning curve necessary to engage with Asia will be remain to break down.
The gist of my model is essentially similar to that of Alexandra Rose. However, I would
like to emphasize the importance of appreciating culture when learning any language, be
it Asian or otherwise. Personally, I feel that it is impossible to divorce language from its
culture. It is only through a deep understanding of culture (and this will take up much
time and effort to ‘immerse’ oneself in another’s culture) would one successfully master
its language. This is because it is culture that provides background context required to
pave the way for more effective communication. This is especially important for the
Asian literate lawyer since legal issues are often complex, intertwined with local
phenomena and couched in traditions. Mere direct word-to-word translation would be
grossly inadequate in these circumstances.

2. ALEX’S MODEL PART 2
RATIONALE FOR BECOMING ASIA LITERATE
Asia is becoming a force to be reckoned with in economic terms and this is evidenced by
the recent Shanghai stock market hiccup that sent shock waves and panic throughout the
globe – such is China’s (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the Asian Region) influence in
this day and age. As such, it is important to seize the opportunity to, in crude terms, ‘cash
in’ on Asia’s rapid economic growth at present which is still forecasted to rise in the near
future.
Australia has much to offer to developing Asian countries and even more to benefit to
reap from them. For instance, Australia is blessed with natural resources such as coal and
uranium that can be harnessed to feed our power hungry Asian neighbours as they
industrialize, although the ethical and environmental merits of such a scheme must be
questioned. On the flip side, we also have tremendous human resources in various
specialist areas to export to the Asian region as they grapple with, for example,
environmental issues caused by the use of our coal! Although other advanced Western
nations will emerge as Australia’s leading competitors, we have a significant edge due to
our close geographical proximity to Asia, as well as a local population in which large
minority groups have ethnic and cultural ties to Asia. These migrants can help to
facilitate and enhance the quality of our interactions with Asian nation-states.
Since we have identified the economic importance – and there are others, such as mutual
cooperation for increased security and political stability within the region – of Asia, how
do lawyers come into the picture? Asia literate lawyers are important because they act as
the conduit or gateway, in a sense, to understanding Asian law. The primary role of these
lawyers will be to ‘decipher’ Asian legal culture and incorporate or fuse or modify settled
common law principles in an attempt to find some common ground or provide a sense of
legal security to clients on both sides of a transaction. Other functions of Asian literate
lawyers may be to provide insight and commentary into Asian legal practices and legal
systems such that foreign investors are better informed as they engage with the region. In
any case, it can be seen that being Asia literate, as well as being a good black letter
lawyer, is a skill that Australian lawyers should aspire to develop.

3. ALEX’S MODEL PART 3
LITERACY
Applying Bigg’s taxonomy of knowledge, true mastery of a certain subject matter will
only come with functioning knowledge. Therefore, functioning knowledge of Asian law
can be acquired by ‘walking around in the shoes of Asians’ as explained by Leon Wolff.
Alternatively, one could follow Vervoon’s methodology for generating knowledge, i.e.
‘bridge-building’ and ‘constructing rafts’. The articles by Wolff and Vervoon
demonstrate that there is no stead fast rule to developing Asian cultural literacy and that it
can be developed using various methods. However, I feel that Australian lawyers in
particular should guard against complacency and imperialist attitudes because from my
experience in Malaysia, many expatriates have a tendency to cluster together in ‘elite’
communities without seizing the opportunity to make the most of their time in the region
by at least attempting to integrate with the locals. To this end, I also recall reading about
an American in Jakarta shortly after the bombing of JW Marriot Jakarta who felt very
safe, and rightly so, despite the high alert for terrorist activity because he spoke the
language and mingled freely with its people which led to him assimilating over time.
PERCEPTIONS OF ASIA
From the readings, I am inclined to agree more with authors who have observed that
Westerners have a tendency to homogenize and dominate Asia instead of those
perpetuating relativistic views. Taking Asian women for example, I strongly believe that
the way in which the media (largely controlled by the West) portrays Asian women as
subservient, mystical, petite creatures is tailored to the way in Western men homogenize
and dominate Asian women. I would coin this as the ‘Geisha effect’, following the film
‘Memoirs of Geisha’ where the leading actress had exotic oriental features, piercing blue
eyes and a svelte personality. Other recent Hollywood films – note: ‘Crouching Tiger &
Hidden Dragon, Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill have also played to this stereotype. In truth,
Asian women are just as diverse as their Western counterparts. As Roches and Edwards
points out, Asia has had its fair share of female head of states or political icons, such as
Megawati Sukarnoputeri, Gloria Arroyo, Aung San Suu Kyi and Imelda Marcos. This
obviously stands in stark contrast with the widely held erroneous perception that Asian
women are domestic, obedient and subservient to male fantasies whatever they may be.
Domination of culture may have been brought upon by the latent superiority Westerners
feel. These are the after effects of colonialism when Westerners were in an advantageous

4. position of power as imperial masters. Due to the colonial history between East and West,
one cannot solely blame Westerners of today for homogenizing and dominating Asian
culture. It takes two hands to clap and many Asians exacerbate the problem by frowning
upon their own. I have been treated very rudely in some Chinese restaurants around
Kingsford but suddenly given top quality, friendly service when I bring along an Anglo
Australian friend. The same applies in my home country Malaysia where airport staff are
much friendlier to white foreigners than say, tourists of Asian appearance. Perhaps this is
a sweeping generalization (or perhaps white Australians tip more ??), but unless a more
relativistic and objective perspective view of Asia is taken, Asia lawyers will find it
difficult to distinguish themselves from the general populace by being unaware of their
latent superiority and accompanying superior treatment by Asians. This will in turn make
them less effective in interpreting Asia or bridging the divide between East and West.
Representations
Alternative Dispute Resolution
As Asia’s influence grows in the global market, the West is starting to familiarize itself
with certain key characteristics of Asian style legal sytems – i.e. the importance of ‘guan-
xi’ (from China). Guan Xi literally means ‘connections’ but generally is used to describe
the relations between two or parties to a transaction. It is important in many Asian
cultures to develop Guan Xi (or a similar guan xi equivalent for non Chinese nations) as a
prerequisite before conducting business. As such, the West now appreciates that given
this context, it is sensible that alternative dispute resolution methods will be preferred to
litigation and should be used as the primary method for solving legal disputes.
Asian Common Law Nations
While at first glance, Asian common law nations such as Singapore and Malaysia, and to
a lesser extent India, have a judicial system that looks and smells like our own, an
experienced Asian literate lawyer will be astute enough to point out the differences.
Although these nations have constitutions which infer freedom of rights, Jayasuriya has
demonstrated in the readings that economic progress can occur while political reforms are
left behind. Furthermore, the incorporation of Asian values such as communitarian
attitudes mean that individual rights and freedoms may not always be safeguarded, as ex-
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim found out to his ultimate detriment.
Therefore, Asian literate lawyers should exercise caution even when engaging with Asian

5. countries with legal systems very similar to Australia. Issues such as an incomplete
separation of powers or a non-independent judiciary should spring to mind.
Context
By appreciating the extracts above, as well as the effects of colonization and
globalization, Asian literate lawyers should be better placed and will stand in good stead
to view both Asian and Western legal systems critically. This in itself is no easy feat and
will take much time and sustained effort to engage with a region as vast and diverse as
Asia. I am a staunch believer that it is much easier to learn something you are interested
in. Perhaps a useful hint would be to immerse yourself in the culture to the point that it
actually grows on you and you find yourself attracted to it. This may well translate into a
steeper learning curve and then you will be well on your way to becoming an Asian
specialist lawyer!