Acknowledgements
The completion of my dissertation and doctoral degree would not have been possible
without the help and support of many people. Thanks goes first to my supervior,
Professor Kosmas Smyrnios for his understanding, steady support, friendly
encouragement, and sage advice throughout the course of this dissertation. His
intellect, passion, and humor have made this a very smooth path, and a thoroughly
enjoyable one. Kos has not only been a supervisor, but also a friend, a role model,
and an inspiration, and for that I will be ever grateful. Thanks must be offered to
Associate Professor Booi Kam for his practical and valuable advice while I was
analyzing the data. Special and sincere thanks to Dr. Alan Montague for his support
and encouragement on my completion seminar.
Thanks to my friends, particularly, Teresa Tam, Kenith Leung and his students for the
support in data collection. I also truly appreciate my friends at RMIT University. We
shared information, discussed problems we encountered, and encouraged each other.
Finally, and most importantly, my love and gratitude goes out to my family, especially
my dearest dad, William Chu, my sisters, Rita, Sally, my brothers, Ken and Joseph.
In many ways these people had faith I could finish, when finishing seemed
impossible. I could not have done it without their sacrifice, support, patience, and
encouragement.
