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Media Release

December 18, 2006

Graduating and going global

Tomorrow almost 500 students from the University of South Australia will don their mortarboards and academic robes for the December graduation ceremony. A diverse mix of scholars, from undergraduates to PhDs, all have at least one thing in common - they are international students.

And for every one of them tomorrow is a special celebration of achievement. Studying for a degree is challenging enough, but doing so in a foreign country presents many additional hurdles – living thousands of kilometres from home, making new friends and networks or even making ends meet.

Four hundred and eighty parchments will be awarded - among them 209 Masters, eight PhDs and nine Professional Doctorates.

UniSA Executive Director and Vice President: International and Development, Dr Anna Ciccarelli, says the December international graduation ceremony is always a very rewarding occasion for UniSA.

“It is like a special view of the world – people from many countries and many backgrounds come together to celebrate education and achievement,” Dr Ciccarelli says.

“I think at these sorts of occasions you realise education should never be underestimated. It has an impact not only on the individual, in helping them to achieve more but in a much broader sense, on the wider communities they engage with.

“That impact can’t be understated - in some countries, one qualified engineer can better the lives of a whole village, by designing a safer road or bridge. A university degree has the potential to make positive changes on such a global scale.

“In every graduating class there are inspiring stories of students who have endured great hardship to get to university and complete their studies. Today is the culmination of their dedication and aspiration and our commitment to supporting them in their studies – it is a day to be proud.”

A highlight of this year’s graduation will be the naming of former Malaysian alumni association president Yeong Chee Meng (B. E., M. App. Sc.) as a Fellow of the University of South Australia.

One of Malaysia’s most high profile engineers, Yeong graduated from UniSA with a Master of Applied Science in Project Management in 1994, and has since held leadership positions in many of Malaysia’s high-profile engineering projects including the KL airport project, and as managing director of dam construction company Sarawak Hidro. Today he is the Senior General Manager at the Non-Revenue Water (NRW) division at major water company Syabas.

Yeong’s contribution as a proactive graduate of the University by leading and supporting the development of its alumni in Malaysia has been invaluable. Committed to bilateral relations between Australia and Malaysia, he is now an executive member of the Malaysian Australian Alumni Council (MAAC), a national organisation run by Malaysian alumni associations of Australian universities.

Once an international student himself, Yeong says scholarly pursuit in a foreign country is a major achievement - one which is almost as valuable as a degree itself.

The graduation speech at this ceremony will be delivered by prominent Adelaide-based QC, Brian Hayes.

Brian Hayes QC is a legal policy, environmental and human rights lawyer and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of South Australia.

He is National Chairman and State Chapter Chairman of the Australia India Business Council.

With more than 35 years of experience as a principal in major reviews of environmental, heritage and land use planning, he has a thorough knowledge of all aspects of judicial strengthening and capacity building and judicial training in legal and legislative systems in Australia and overseas.

Sought after as a consultant to Australian and International Governments on the drafting of legislation and the establishment of Courts, he has carried out a number of AusAid and World Bank-funded projects. He has also provided expert advice to organisations in India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Russia.

He has been an active advocate of the relationship between human rights and environmental and social justice and was a keynote participant from Australia at the inaugural conference of Asia Pacific Human Rights Lawyers in Tokyo in 1985. In 1999 he was a founding member of the Law Society’s Human Rights Committee. He is also co-founder and Secretary of Carry for Kids Inc, a not-for-profit organisation helping orphanages in the Asia Pacific region.

In 1991 Mr Hayes established the consultancy of IELC – Australia, a network of legal specialists from Australia, the USA, Europe and the UK and India.

The special International Student graduation ceremony will be held at the Festival Theatre on Wednesday December 20 at 2 pm.

 

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