Whether the Taiwanese studying at the University of Queensland choose to work in Australia or Taiwan depends in large part on their major. Student David Liu (second from right) has chosen to double major in applied finance and accounting to better his future job prospects. (Jimmy Lin)

First-generation immigrants are typically seeking to foster their children's success by bringing them to nations that offer a better educational environment.

Are these children, the subjects of such high hopes, better adapted and more integrated into their new homes than their parents when they finally come of age? Does growing up bicultural and bilingual provide them with greater opportunities, or create more difficult challenges?

The Queensland Taiwanese Center is alive with activity on a Saturday afternoon, reverberating with good cheer. The crowd has come to hear Stanley Hsu, a young second-generation entrepreneur invited to speak by the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, share his entrepreneurial experience with young would-be entrepreneurs.

The 31-year-old Hsu is a licensed physical therapist who has opened a large mall-based clinic employing 10 therapists. He also owns a shop that rents vendors small cubes of space in which to display their wares.

Hsu has a great nose for business. He stumbled across the "cube shop" concept on the streets of Taipei while visiting his parents last year and thought it would be a good fit for Australia where rents and labor are expensive, and barriers to entry into the entrepreneurial arena are high. "People can go into business for themselves for just A$30-some a week," he says. "In Australia, that's a dream come true."

But Hsu's ambitions reach far beyond making money. In fact, he hopes to go into politics. A member of the Labor Party for many years, he is currently serving as its Brisbane secretary general, actively networking, and awaiting the opportunity to throw his hat into the ring.