I believe mentoring is important because many people have helped me grow as a professional, and I would now like to give back. Brainstorming, discussing things, reflecting on experiences etc help enrich our lives and allow us to do good work. A mentor-mentee engagement, when it works, is mutually beneficial and rewarding experience.

I was one of the earliest full fee-paying overseas students at UNSW in early 1990s. In the first couple of years at UNSW I couldn’t speak or write well in English. Those years were hard. Even after many years of life in Australia and an international career I still feel self-conscious about my English at times. Having said that, I have come to realise that the world around me can get used to my accent and what matters more is that I have a different perspective as a migrant, and that’s useful for informing my work in health research. I am also able to exercise a different style of leadership to others I work with. Harnessing diversity is key to success. My strength is perseverance, self-reflection, ability to communicate with influence and achieve big goals through teamwork. Strong collective is much better than individual stars.

My ANU Researcher Profile

My LinkedIn Profile

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