“Better Knowledge Of Asia Needed”

Press, Volume C, Issue 29680, 25 November 1961, Page 10

“Better Knowledge Of Asia Needed”

The most important thing a delegation of three university students learned during a six-week tour of Asian countries was how little they knew of the feelings and way of thinking of Asian students and people and conditions in which they lived, said the president of the University of Canterbury Students’ Association (Mr A. D. Hooper) last evening. “We realised how much we had to learn. We learned of

our great ignorance of Asian people, and their ignorance of New Zealanders. I think we must get to know these people and they must know us. Our future may be dependent on them; and then- future is bound up with ours,” Mr Hooper said. He returned yesterday from a visit to Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. In Manila he attended a regional co-operation seminar of the International Students’ Conference. The secretary of the New Zealand Universities’ Students’ Association (Mr I. I A Buckingham) and a past (president of Massey Agricul- | tural College Mr C. M. Palmer, also attended the seminar. Mr Hooper was in the Philippines for four weeks Forty delegates from 15 countries attended the seminar. The delegates were from South and East Asia and from Israel, The staff at the seminar included persons from Germany, Denmark, the Congo and Panama. Recommendations Recommendations agreed on at the seminar included increased co-operation in student travel, exchange studentships, better co-operation in the student press and also in student welfare. These recommendations will go before the’ conference of the International Union of Students’ Associations, to be held in Canada or India next June. “The Asian countries, such as the Philippines, Malaya and Singapore, are newly independent They are awakening, are most politically conscious and very vigorous. They are just starting to learn to grow up, and we should learn from them and with them for we are not

long grown-up ourselves, nationally and comparatively speaking,” Mr Hooper said. “Very little is known about New Zealand, not only amongst Asian students but also amongst the general public. I studied Asia as my final subject for a geography degree, but one must go to the Asian countries to learn how little one really knows about the people. “In one sense, the lack of knowledge of the New Zealander of Asian countries is rather an advantage. We start from scratch as we have had practically no dealings with the Asian races and are not handicapped by prejudices the Asians hold against some countries who have had dealings with them in the past.” Many New Zealanders were doing great work in Asia, Mr Hooper said. In the Philippines, Mr L. L Brunetti, a Colombo Plan technical advisory officer, was doing remarkably fine work and had beeti made a visiting associate professor at the University of the Philippines. “Asia presents a great chai lenge to young New Zealanders. There are plenty of jobs for qualified persons In most of the professions in Malaya, Thailand and the Philippines. You do come across antagonism because you are European, but New Zealanders seem to get more closely to the people and live more as they do, and are consequently soon very well liked,” Mr Hooper said.