A round of drinks speaks all languages in Asia literacy debate

In the first two weeks of his prime ministership, Tony Abbott announced bold policy changes designed to leave his imprimatur on government.

With deep staffing and funding cuts expected to follow, AusAID is to be merged with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, while a slew of smaller federal government bodies, including the Climate Commission and the national preventative health agency, are on the chopping block.

Regrettably, some policy priorities are stubbornly bipartisan.

Following in Labor’s footsteps, the Coalition is committed to improving Australia’s Asia literacy by increasing the number of school students studying Asian languages and enticing more university students to go on exchange in Asia with a $100 million ‘reverse Colombo plan.’

Both sides of politics clearly need an Asia literacy reality check.

Not only is teaching more students Asian languages not needed for Australia to succeed in Asia, but understanding Asian cultures is much easier than our elites admit.

Forget about India’s kaleidoscopic linguistic diversity, the tonal complexities of Thai, or the nuances of Taoist spirituality. The Asian Century has a simple common language: a shared drink.

In China, cultural divides are bridged, personal differences are washed away, and contentious business deals are merrily agreed to over long nights drinking baijiu, the local brew of choice.

Mercifully, a pungent white liquor with an alcoholic content often higher than 50% is not always necessary to find common ground. In South Korea, it might be the softer soju—usually a comparatively weak 20% alcohol—that seals the deal, and in India, conversation might flow for hours propelled by nothing stronger than milky chai.

The particularities might change, but the principle remains the same. It only takes conversation lubricated with a few drinks to bring people together and build mutual understanding.

Lest one assume that this is wishful thinking of the ‘Let’s-all-hold-hands-and-sing-Kumbaya’ variety, it mirrors the hard-headed message from Australia’s business elite in Asia.

Delivering the Lowy Institute’s China Changing Lecture in Beijing last month, Andrew Michelmore, chief executive of MMG (formerly Minmetals Resources), said that fostering partnerships in Asia is often as straightforward as sharing a drink and discarding preconceptions.

In front of an audience of some of the key business, academic and diplomatic players in Sino-Australian relations, Michelmore suggested that Australian political leaders place too much emphasis on learning languages and overcomplicate cultural literacy.

Although speaking Asian languages is a useful social, business and diplomatic tool, it cannot substitute for the sensitivity and open mindedness needed to build relationships and manage inevitable differences of perspective.

An Australian who speaks Thai might command attention and respect in Bangkok, but an off-hand irreverent joke about the country’s royal family may well squander any goodwill.

More importantly though, speaking Asian languages is not a prerequisite for the cultural intelligence that opens doors in Tokyo, Jakarta and New Delhi.

What really counts when it comes to breaking through barriers across Asia is not linguistic precision, but the cultural awareness that naturally evolves out of an appetite for new ideas and a fascination with different ways of life.

Learning an apt chengyu—a Chinese proverb—for every occasion or developing an appreciation of the liberal teachings of India’s Emperor Asoka and his grand Bollywood incarnation may prove beneficial. But acquiring cultural literacy is really a much more down to earth affair: It is a matter of asking questions and embracing diverse customs.

This means that the natural inquisitiveness and adventurousness of the average Australian will stand us in good stead.

A job in New York, a university exchange in Continental Europe, and bar hopping across the United Kingdom used to be de rigueur for young and ambitious Australians. But many of our best and brightest are now looking elsewhere as Australians pour into Asia to work, study and play in greater numbers every year.

Without prompting from mandarins like Ken Henry, the head of the Gillard government’s Australia in the Asian Century White Paper taskforce, the next generation of leaders is up-skilling multicultural Australia’s existing stock of sophisticated Asia literacy and establishing our nation as a major player in an ascendant Asia.

Asia literacy is therefore not something that Australia needs to consciously cultivate with language classes for reluctant 13 year olds and government-funded exchange programs.

Instead, sharing baijiu, soju and chai with our northern neighbours is naturally embedding Asia literacy in our collective cultural DNA. And that is something to which we can all raise our glasses.