DR JOHN SAMUEL YU        

AC, MB BS (Syd), Hon MD (Syd), Hon DLitt (UWS) DCH (RCP&S), FRACP, FRACMA 

Dr Yu was Chief Executive of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children (Now the New Children's Hospital, Westmead) in Sydney from 1978 to 1997 and before that time Head of Medicine at the hospital.  

In 1999 he was elected Chancellor of the University of New South Wales with effect from 1 January 2000, and was a Deputy Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney from 1997 to 1999.

He is the inaugural Chair of the Specialist Advisory Committee of the NSW Commission for Children and Young People.  He joined the Australia-China Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1996 and was appointed Chair of the Council in 2000.

Dr Yu is a graduate in Medicine of the University of Sydney and holds honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney.

He has served on the Council of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, was a member of the Executive of the Paediatric Research Society and was Honorary Treasurer of the Australian Paediatric Association.  He served on the National Council of the Australian Healthcare Association and received the Association's Sidney Sax Medal in 1996.  He is Patron of: the Australian Association of Paediatric Teaching Centres, the Australian Association for the Welfare of Child Health, Childsafe, and the Seasons of Growth Program of the Sisters of St Joseph.  He was formerly a member of the Regional Board of St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust and the Myer Grace Bros Community Fund.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and is an Honorary Associate of the Powerhouse Museum and from 1992 to 1996 served on the Museum’s Board of Trustees.  He is Chairman of VisAsia, an organisation promoting interaction and exchange in the visual arts of Asia.  He has served on the National Boards of Musica Viva and the Starlight Foundation and on the Committee of the Penrith Regional Gallery.

He was appointed to the National Australia Day Council in 1996.

He has published extensively on Paediatrics, Management Issues and the Decorative Arts.

Dr Yu was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 and was named Australian of the Year in 1996.  He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2001.

Interview with Dr John Yu

In The Children's Hospital at Westmead you achieved through your
leadership a vision for a better health future for children which was
delivered with high quality health care in an environment where the young patient's well being and healing were of paramount importance. Do you see yourself as a Leader? What style of leadership did you rely on to achieve your vision?

I think only others can judge whether one is a leader in the true sense of that word. If I had a style, I guess it started with a clear understanding by me of what I thought was important for sick children and their families and some idea of how to go about achieving those goals. After that, it was matter of identifying people who shared those goals to be part of the team. Very little can be achieved alone.


Why do you see education as being the only possible approach to the
inequities and inequalities that surround us? Although most of the populous of the Western world undertake primary and secondary education, inequalities and inequities still exist, for example, in relation to minority and indigenous groups and in the disparate conditions that prevail for men and women in the workplace and in politics.

Inequalities will always exist and this reflects the fact that we are all different with different strengths and weaknesses. All that we can reasonably hope for is that everyone be given the same chances, that is equity. Equity for children starts with adequate food and shelter but later performance is greatly influenced by being loved and feeling wanted. These last two experiences provides that resilience and self confidence that allows one to 'take on the world' 
For the disadvantaged in Australia, education provides one socially acceptable and constructive way out of the ghetto of poverty.


Are you satisfied with the level of engagement of our government in the
Asia Region? How would you like to see our relationship with Asia developing and why should this be an issue of significance?

No, I believe that a greater recognition of Asia is vital for our future prosperity and security. Australia is a relatively small country with limited financial resources. Our targeting of our near neighbours 
should look at how we can help them to achieve better and fairer lives. To me this is most effectively done by helping them with our skills and technologies focusing on what they need and not necessarily only on what will bring the greatest economic return to Australia. I would do this by concentrating on helping in education by training their trainers, by having education based interchanges- in both directions, by cultural exchanges , by helping them cope with their environmental challenges, assisting with public health programs and discretely promoting their own examination of their human rights approach.

If we and our neighbours understand each other and the cultural drivers in our behaviour, them we will have greater political tolerance especially at times that we disagree.


You have said that, "What makes me most proud of Australia and of being
Australian is the fact that the provision of health care has depended on
clinical need and that education has been determined by capability and the wish to learn. The ability to pay was a secondary concern. I fear that this is now threatened by a different value system based almost entirely on cost, without the balancing considerations of national gain and the rights of ordinary Australians."
Can you explain your view that the current provision of medical assistance
is threatened by a value system based almost entirely on cost? To what do
you attribute this development? Do you think that we should be turning back the tide or are you proposing that one can go forward and balance the drive for economic rationalism whilst still maintaining the provision of health care on humanitarian, ethical and non-commercial gains?

Modern medicine and technology costs money and we all make great demands when we think that we or our families might benefit. That is very understandable but someone has to pay. Private health insurance means that those who can afford it can 'jump the queue' in both elective and semi-urgent procedure. I believe that true equality only exists in life threatening circumstances.
I do not question the right of commercial enterprises to make a reasonable profit but I do question the aggressive marketing of some drug companies to convince doctors to prescribe new drugs when very often cheaper older drugs work just as well.
I think the trend for companies to buy and control group practices, pathology services, imaging services will inevitably mean that only profitable services will be readily available. We have yet to hear of an Ethic Code of Conduct that for profit organisations are prepared to subscribe to.

How do you rate Australia's level of scientific research on a global
scale and do you think the current levels of funding are adequate to attract
and encourage the growth and global competitiveness of our scientific
community?

I am very confident that our scientists and technicians are as good as anywhere in the world. What we lack is adequate opportunities for them and adequate technical hardware available.
We have in the past been very deficient in the way we have commercially developed the advances achieved in our laboratories to provide a return to the bodies and governments who fund the research.

What are your perceptions about health care for indigenous Australians?
What changes would you like to see in this area?

Death and morbidity rates in our aboriginal people speak for themselves. These are shameful. But this is not just a matter of money alone. It also needs a sense of ownership by the people whom we are trying to help. 
We need to ask them what they want and how they would like that help to be delivered.

What are your views of the conditions for women and other minority groups
in the medical field? Do you think that a glass ceiling exists for women
and minority groups? What changes would you like to see in this area?

In my experience, there is no impediment to minority groups succeeding in the health care professions. The problems largely lie in their family and social environment which may impede their entry to University and their study while at university. Any glass ceiling for women relates to the time it takes to qualify especially as a specialist. Most women then have reached a mature age when child bearing, should that be their wish, becomes a matter of some immediacy. Job sharing would be ideal but then you need at least two to share!


You have commented that in Australia a "loss of communal caring is seen
in the lack of humanity and the heartless, xenophobic extremes used to
exclude those seeking to escape the oppressive regimes and the hopelessness of Afghanistan and Iraq. Contrary to popular opinion, Australia's past assessments of Afghani asylum seekers have found 80 to 85 percent of them to be genuine in their claims for refugee status. This matters to me because as a 2-year-older I was a war refugee with my mother and sister in the last months of 1937, when the Japanese invaded China and raped Nanking. I sailed through Sydney heads on the day Nanking fell. I hope I have repaid Australia for the humanity it showed me, as it has shown to so many others over the years. My mother's father had come to the goldfields of Ballarat in 1867, and after being ordained as a Presbyterian minister came to Sydney. My uncle was the first Chinese graduate in Medicine from Sydney University, where a class mate was Earl Page - who later became Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and the founder of the Country Party. When the ship I arrived in landed, Sir Earl Page carried me ashore in his arms, unchallenged and undocumented by Customs and Immigration. I guess I might even have been technically an illegal entrant. I tell this story to ask what will "queue jumpers" or "illegal" really mean when today's history is written in the future, distant from the emotion and political distortions of the present?"

Why do you think that there continues to be in some quarters of Australian society, acceptance of the Howard Government's attitudes and policies towards refugees? How do you reconcile the growing display of national and international dissent against the detention of asylum seekers and the government's persistence to adhere to its policies and stand by its actions?

I believe political parties are playing politics to engender support from those who find comfort in a homogeneous society. 
I am concerned especially when I see former migrants and refugees turn their backs on those who face identical or similar situations they themselves faced earlier. Time are tough, they just don't want to share the good things they enjoy. I am not sure that they are the Australians of my ideal world.

What motivated you to become a Doctor and why did you specialise in
Paediatrics?

I did medicine because my family wanted me to do it but I am lucky in that were I to choose myself today, I would do it again all over again.
Paediatrics? You don't need to be very smart to realise that children are much nicer people than adults. It is fun and it is satisfying to be able to help them.

What have been some of the high and low lights of your career?

The highs have related to seeing kids get better and seeing that wonderful new Children's Hospital at Westmead. 
The lows related to the continuity of man's inhumanity to other humans.

You have a profound interest and love for South East Asian decorative
arts, an area which you have extensively written and lectured on. How did
this interest emerge? Is it an area in your life that is separate from your
medical work or do you feel that they are intertwined in some way?

Everyone needs an interest into which one can escape. Asian art is one of those interests. It also gives me something to value in my Chinese heritage that complements my profound love and loyalty to Australia

What are your aspirations for the future?

To complete my current tasks successfully and then to pass them onto the next generation. That would be more than enough reward for me.