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About a year into his career, Jacob Sheung-Kay Choi saw the “first person” who looked like him in the military.
“The gentleman, who was of a much higher rank, came to brief us in my first year at the Royal Military College,” said Major Choi, an Australian Army officer whose parents are from Vietnam and Hong Kong.
“Up until that point, I had not seen anyone who looked like me still serving in uniform.”
According to the 2019 defense census, 6 per cent of permanent members of the Australian Defense Force (ADF) spoke a language other than English.
The most common non-English languages were Hindi, Indonesian, French, German and Spanish, although all of them were spoken by less than 1 percent of members, the report showed.
And according to this year’s Australian Public Service employee census, 3 per cent of ADF public service members have South and Central Asian cultural backgrounds, and 7 per cent have Southeast Asian cultural backgrounds.
Major Choi said despite concerns about not finding peers with similar cultural backgrounds, he was inspired to join the military in 2010 because of the achievements of former Asian Australian soldiers.
“We cannot be those we cannot see,” he said.
“It was very important to me to follow in the footsteps of other Asian Australians who had already served in uniform.”
“There aren’t many of them, but they are woven into our history from World War I onwards.”
According to the national archives, More than 200 Australians of Chinese descent enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War.
However, many more Asian Australians were excluded due to discriminatory regulations, such as the Defense Act 1909 which prohibited those “not substantially of European origin or descent” from joining the armed forces.
Many circumvented the restrictions using tactics such as changing their names to English.
Major Choi said there had been “many cultural changes” within the ADF in recent years to create a “more diverse and inclusive culture”.
Diversity helps engagement with Asia
Major Choi said Asian Australians brought “cultural and linguistic skill sets” to the military that were important to achieving Australia’s goal of increasing engagement and influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Over the last 20 years we moved away from operations in Central Asia and the Middle East towards the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
“Geopolitical change meant that people quickly discovered that we were not very literate in Asia, even though Australia has been geographically next to it for its entire history.”
Earlier this year, the federal government said Defense focus would shift to northern Australia and the seas, as part of a growing shift towards the Indo-Pacific.
Rahman Yaacob, a researcher at the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Program, said increasing diversity with people who understand “cultural nuances” was a “critical” way to increase engagement with Asia.
“Before you want to involve the other party, you need to know their way of thinking, their strategy, their culture and their history,” he said.
“For example, in the case of the Indonesians, when they said ‘yes’, it does not mean that they agree with their positions.
“In a negotiation situation, understanding this will help avoid misunderstandings.”
Dr Rahman Yaacob said a culturally diverse ADF can help achieve more effective engagement with Asia. (Supplied: Rahman Yaacob)
Dr Yaacob said a homogeneous defense workforce could lead to “echo chambers”.
“We need alternative points of view because we are dealing with many different parties globally.”
Mick Ryan, a strategist and retired army major general, said the ADF has a system that allows officers to study degrees related to Asian culture and language to help members better understand Australia’s neighbors.
“I was a beneficiary of this in the 1990s, earning a degree in Asian Studies and spending a year at a language school studying Bahasa Indonesia,” he said.
“That served us well until the 9/11 wars began, which distracted senior leaders from their responsibilities in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.
“I think that distraction lasted more than a decade. And ever since then we’ve been racing to catch up on rebuilding good relations with our closest neighbors.”
Impact of geopolitical tension
Geopolitical tension between Australia and a potential recruit’s home country can “play a role” in the decision to join the military, especially in the case of China, Major Choi said.
He said Australian Chinese soldiers were occasionally faced with questions such as: “How Australian are you?”
“The military does not tolerate that,” said Major Choi.
Major General Ryan said the military had undergone a “real revolution” to reduce racism over the past three or four decades.
Mick Ryan said the ADF has undergone a “real revolution” in reducing racism in recent decades.(Supplied: Mick Ryan)
“Military leadership is much more attuned to both explicit and subtle signals that these kinds of things are happening.
“I think Defense probably has better practices for identifying and removing those who engage in racist behavior compared to the broader community,” he said.
A Defense spokesperson said the organization actively supports its personnel based on their skills, abilities and contributions, regardless of their faith, cultural background, gender, ethnicity, age or sexual orientation.
Although geopolitical tensions between Australia and China “won’t go away”, Chinese Australians should not be afraid to join the military, Major General Ryan has said.
“If you are a Chinese Australian, an Australian citizen and you are willing to swear allegiance to our country, there is no reason why you can’t join the military.”
Jacob Choi said the military is not a place that places great emphasis on race. (ABC News)
Major Choi said the military was not a place that “placed great emphasis on race.”
“It’s a great place to remember that when you serve your country, it doesn’t matter what color your skin is… you will work as a team to overcome challenges.
“At the end of the day, the paint on the cams is still green.”
Major Choi said members did not have to “lose their heritage and give up their ethnicity” to join the defense forces.
“Instead of telling people I’m half Chinese, half Vietnamese, half Australian, I’d just tell them I’m 100 per cent Chinese, 100 per cent Vietnamese, 100 per cent Australian.”
Recognize that the military is more than just war
“Family and social pressure” were other reasons that kept Asian Australians away from a career in defence, Major Choi said.
“A lot of Asian families don’t really see the military as a great career,” he said.
“My mother came from Vietnam in 1975, she left Vietnam (to escape the war).
“She didn’t want me to join something that would cause more chaos or danger.
“For many of my friends, their parents left the country so that their children would not have to enlist in that army through mandatory military service.”
Maj. Gen. Ryan said that while the military’s “core function” was to wage war, it was also important to recognize that the military exists with a “defensive strategy.”
“Australia is not looking for fights. Our army is there to defend our people and our friends,” he said.
“I think this is a very powerful component of the argument for people from all different ethnic backgrounds to join the Australian military.”
Major Choi said a military career also often gave Asian Australians the opportunity to help their home countries, with personnel deployed on operations in places such as South Korea, the Pacific and Asia.
“We have seen Malaysian Australians return to Malaysia and Filipino Australians return to the Philippines.
“Being able to represent the country that has given you so much… (in) your mother’s or father’s country of birth, is just a fantastic way to reconcile your heritage as well.”
Why Asian Australians are a crucial part of Australia’s defense forces