Destiny Will Out: The Experiences of a Multicultural Malayan in White Australia

Destiny Will Out (1997), a memoir, introduces White Australia, as observed (from the late 1940s) by a young coloured student from British Malaya. Observing all, and analysing each facet of observed Australian life neutrally, he offers (in a clear narrative form) an interesting scenario of a somewhat anxious white enclave set in coloured seas, with worrying foreign cultures nearby. Woven into this fabric is a multi-threaded pattern of taxpayer-funded programs to assist immigrants (mainly non-English speaking) to settle into their new home successfully.

As an economist, and also qualified in psychology, and as one conditioned by a communitarian society, the author introduces a cross-cultural perspective in his writings. While adapting to a nation whose ethos is one of individualism, his keen interest in human welfare is yet tinged with a concern for taxpayers' interests.