Who are Nancy and Jenny?

Tutor　　Nancy and Jenny are presenting the first of our profiles on Asia today. You looked at
　　　　 Singapore and Malaysia, didn’t you?
Nancy　　Yes, and we found lots of similarities between the two countries.
Tutor　　Did you follow the outline that I gave you?
Jenny　　Yes, we did. Um, first of all the total land area of Singapore is 630 square
　　　　 kilometres, whilst Malaysia’s was 329,758 square kilometres. Obviously Malaysia
　　　　 is a much larger nation with a bigger population-almost 24 million. It is bigger
　　　　 than Australia’s population, in fact-we have 19,700,000. Urn, Singapore has just
　　　　 over 3 million.
Tutor　　Did you look at their population mix?
Nancy　　The population of both Malaysia and Singapore are multi-racial-they each have a
　　　　 mixture of Malays, Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups as well, who all live
　　　　 quite harmoniously together. The breakdown of the population is different though.
　　　　 In Malaysia, the Malays or Bumiputeras as they are called, outnumber the Chinese
　　　　 and the Indians. They make up about 65% of the population. In Singapore, three
　　　　 quarters of the population is Chinese with only a few hundred thousand Malays and
　　　　 Indians. English is widely used in Malaysia as well as in Singapore.
Jenny　　Yes, they all study compulsory English at school and adults use English a lot in their
　　　　 daily lives. For many years, Singaporeans have been sending their children abroad
　　　　 to study in English-speaking countries. And in recent years, Malaysians are also
　　　　 studying overseas and getting overseas work experience.
Tutor　　Australia has had a fairly stable relationship with Singapore over the years-can
　　　　 you briefly talk about that?
Nancy　　Umm, yes. Singapore and Australia have always maintained a friendly and warm
　　　　 relationship. As Jen said, many students come to Australia to study here and often
　　　　 they stay here to work. Similarly, lots of Australians live and work in Singapore.
　　　　 Singapore was one of the first Asian countries to really take advantage of its
　　　　 geographical location and the technological advances that were made at the end of
　　　　 last century. It has a strong economy.
Jenny　　Singapore and Australia signed an expanded trade accord in February which covers
　　　　 all sorts of subjects from education through to customs procedures at the airports!
　　　　 It’s accepted that this accord will really strengthen ties between the two countries.
Nancy　　So, trade between Singapore and Australia is continuing to grow but we’re not one
　　　　 of Singapore’s top three trading partners. They’re the US, Japan and Malaysia.
Jenny　　Yes, and interestingly but not surprisingly I guess, Malaysia’s top three trading
　　　　 partners are the US, Japan and Singapore.
Tutor　　Yes, Singapore and Malaysia are neighbours so you would expect that. What did
　　　　 you discover about the relationship between Malaysia and Australia?
Jenny　　Well, um, it hasn’t been as stable as Singapore and Australia’s friendship.
　　　　 Malaysians and Australians get along well on a personal level-there have been
　　　　 an increasing number of tourists travelling between the two countries. So, it isn’t
　　　　 just the students who are coming here. Historically, Australia and Malaysia and for
　　　　 that matter Singapore as well, have a lot in common-you know, with the British
　　　　 Colonialists. Malaysia, now, doesn’t want to blindly follow western ideas, which is
　　　　 fair enough.
Tutor　　Yes-this is something that we’ll talk about later in the semester-Australia’s
　　　　 international relations in the region.
Jenny　　There do seem to be misunderstandings and disagreements between Malaysia and
　　　　 Australia, but diplomats say that these are exaggerated by the media.
Tutor　　Yes, we all know the power that the media has. Was there anything else?
Nancy　　Well, um, yes-what I found was that Singaporeans are generally regarded as
　　　　 well-educated, well-travelled, knowledgeable. They enjoy a quality of life that is
　　　　 envied in other countries-especially in other Asian countries. The Singaporean
　　　　 government is spending a lot of money on education and technology.
Tutor　　Is this going to continue-did you look at the government’s agenda for the future?
Nancy　　They are developing a knowledge-based economy. Unlike other South-East Asian
　　　　 countries, Singapore hasn’t been dependent on the production and export of
　　　　 commodities. They intend to be IT-driven with a highly skilled economy.
Tutor　　I see and how did this differ in Malaysia?
Jenny　　Well, the Malaysians are very enterprising people. They’re well-educated and highly
　　　　 skilled too. Like the Singaporeans, they’ve got a strong work ethic. We both felt that
　　　　 of the two countries, Malaysians were much more Asian in their way of thinking,
　　　　 although they seem to mix Eastern and Western traditions easily. This could be one
　　　　 of the reasons that tourism is doing so well in Malaysia. The economy once relied
　　　　 almost solely on the export of raw materials, but that’s changed a lot. All the experts
　　　　 say that Malaysia has a huge future.
Tutor　　You obviously enjoy your research. I’m sure you’ll enjoy learning more about the
　　　　 region as we continue on with the other overviews.