SEADS in Cambodia

SEAL Spicy Food Night

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 05:20:17 -0500

Thank you for coming out for this event! It was a huge success, all thanks to you! We hope you enjoyed the taste of Southeast Asia and will continue supporting the events. All proceeds went to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

ECAASU Early-bird Registration

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 05:14:14 -0500

ECAASU Early-bird Registration:

Please remember to register for this conference if you are interested in learning about Asian-American issues and have lots of fun while doing so! Our very own Senior Advisor, Tina is co-directing this conference. Our own Aca

demic Chair Beatrice is on the fundraising committee. Please come out and support!

Register for the 2013 East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) Conference, which will be held February 22-24 on our very own Columbia campus! Don’t miss out on the amazing lineup of keynote speakers, workshops, and performances (like Far East Movement!). If CU students are not volunteering or hosting (application link below), they must also register for the conference at http://ecaasu2013.org/. Non-registrants will be unable to attend any programming. Currently the conference is still featuring early bird pricing, but ticket prices will increase soon so get yours now!

Volunteer application: https://docs.google.com/a/ecaasu.org/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG9aekgyclpoQ0NHVFlNWEt5ei11Qnc6MQ#gid=0

Indonesia's Corruption Level Still High

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 05:10:36 -0500

Indonesia's Corruption Level Still High:

Despite its efforts to reduce corruption, Indonesia still failed to fare well in Transparency International’s international index of public sector corruption. Indonesia was rated at 32 on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), which put it on par with countries such as the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, and Madagascar. The organization’s local chapter advised the government to follow through on investigations on high-scale corruption cases and to stop efforts to weaken the country’s anticorruption body.

Click on this link to check out how other countries fared in the corruption rating:

http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/

SEADS in Cambodia is happy to co-sposnor the below...

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:15:00 -0500

SEADS in Cambodia is happy to co-sposnor the below event

https://www.facebook.com/events/518220158190119/?fref=ts

Hosted by Columbia’s Asian American Alliance, Pi Delta Psi Fraternity, and Taiwanese American Students Association

In light of recent elections, which witnessed Asian Americans winning elected offices of the local, state and national levels, we invite you to a panel discussion to promote civic engagement and facilitate dialogue on the role of Asian Americans in politics.

Join us December 5th 7-8:30PM in Lerner Hall Satow Room!

———————————————————-

►Featured Panelists◄

Peter Koo (New York City Council Member)

Honorable Justice Doris Ling-Cohan (NY Supreme Court Justice)

Raymond Smith (Political Science Professor, Columbia and NYU)

Dr. Abdulrahman el-Sayed (Rhodes Scholar, social epidemiologist, and commentator for The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and Huffington Post)

Wayne Ho (Executive Director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Family (CACF)

=============

Follow the conversation by searching #apiaprez

Follow SEADS in Cambodia @SEADSColumbia

South East Asia: The US-China "Checker Board"

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 09:09:37 -0500

South East Asia: The US-China "Checker Board":

South East Asia is rarely the first region that comes to mind when one thinks of the influential powers in world politics. However, as history has shown during the Colonial Era, the Second World War, and the Cold War, South East Asia is indeed a region of great significance in the world. Today, both China and the United States are vying to increase their influence in the region, and this has had significant impacts on the countries in South East Asia. Check out this article to see how South East Asia is beginning to be the “Checker Board” between the United States and China, and what this means for the region and the two great powers.

Obama Makes First Presidential Visit to Myanmar

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:23:47 -0500

Obama Makes First Presidential Visit to Myanmar:

President Barack Obama made his first-ever presidential trip to Myanmar, during which he encouraged the country to embrace American-style democracy. In conjunction with the visit, the Burmese government agreed to release more political prisoners and sign onto the nuclear non-proliferation standards that the US promotes. Despite significant developments in the fight for human rights and democracy since President Thein Sein assumed power last year, Myanmar continues to face issues of armed conflict in ethnic areas and issues with changes in its constitution. While these issues are making some people uncertain of the long-term effects of the current changes, the developments in Myanmar are making the country increasingly attractive to investors abroad, and major US firms such as Visa and Coca-Cola have ventured back into the country.

Laos Dilemma: Economy or Environment?

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:49:09 -0500

Laos Dilemma: Economy or Environment?:

Laos is forging ahead with its controversial plans to build the Xayaburi dam in the Mekong River. This is part of the country’s plan to triple hydroelectric production to 9,000 Megawatts by 2020. Laos, one of the world’s least developed countries, has very limited natural resources and hopes to improve its economy through hydroelectric power development. However, neighboring countries and environmentalists are worried about the environmental consequences of this project. The Mekong River is the world’s largest inland fishery and many agriculture-based communities depend on the nutrient-rich silt from the river. The construction of this dam could potentially endanger the ecology as well as the fishing and agriculture industries that depend on it.

Hong Kong Students and Scholars Society presents Asian Desserts...

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 23:01:00 -0500

Hong Kong Students and Scholars Society presents Asian Desserts Showdown.

SEADS had a lot of fun participating in this very sweet food event. We made delicious fried bananas for the event!

The recipe:

Bananas
Eggroll Wrappers
Oil
Honey

Cut the banana in to three pieces. Roll them up with one eggroll roll. Deep fry until golden brown :) Simple, cheap and delicious!

Thanks for coming out SEADlingS! Our film screening was a huge...

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 23:00:00 -0500

Thanks for coming out SEADlingS! Our film screening was a huge hit. We would like to thank our wonderful co-sponsors once again for joining us.

First Thai-American Elected to Congress

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:00:00 -0500

First Thai-American Elected to Congress:

While Indonesians celebrate the re-election of Barack Obama to the US presidency, Thais celebrate the election of the first Thai-American woman to Congress. Tammy Duckworth, the Democratic nominee for Illinois’ 8^th congressional district, was elected from the Chicago suburbs. Duckworth grew up in Singapore and also spent time in Indonesia as her father moved around Southeast Asia for jobs. Following the US elections, Thai government officials and business leaders expressed their hope that the US-Thailand relationship will remain strong and continue to benefit Asia and global trade. Business leaders hope that the US will increase its trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

Bloodshed: Property Rights in Cambodia

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 14:08:48 -0400

Bloodshed: Property Rights in Cambodia:

Cambodia’s decades-long land tenure issue is finally coming to light following the death of a 14-year old girl, Heng Chantha, caused by Cambodian security forces in Broma. According to the Cambodian government, the villagers of Broma had banded together to secede from Cambodia, resulting in a confrontation between the villagers and the security forces. However, rights groups claim that the secessionist plot was made up by the government to justify the death of the girl during the forced eviction.

This incident highlights the issue of land ownership in Cambodia. Decades ago, the Khmer Rouge abolished private property rights, and even though these rights were reestablished in the early 1990s, many Cambodians today still do not hold land ownership of the land that they had lived on for decades. This becomes an issue when in order to speed up development, the government sells off land to agribusinesses for large-scale farming, causing the local subsistence farmers to be forcefully evicted. In response to the criticism from the West, the Cambodian government issued a statement accusing Western countries of hypocrisy and asking them to look at their own development history.

Film Screening: Trade of Innocents

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:52:28 -0400

Hey guys!

Check out the final flyer for the film screening! Thank you once again Liga Filipina, CU Bangla, Columbia Child Rights and Columbia University Students for Human Rights for co-sponsoring us! If you have an organization that is interested in co-sponsoring, monetarily or non-monetarily, please contact ssh2138@columbia.edu. Thank you!

For more information on Liga, visit:https://www.facebook.com/CULigaFilipina

For more information on CU Bangla, visit:http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bangla/Site/Welcome.html

For more information on Columbia Child Rights, visit:https://lionlink.columbia.edu/organization/columbiachildrights

For more information on CUSHR, visit:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Columbia-University-Students-for-Human-Rights-CUSHR/190039151030865?fref=ts

Thank you SEADlingS for coming out to Night Market! We sold out...

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 10:52:00 -0400

Thank you SEADlingS for coming out to Night Market!

We sold out in under 2 hours!

We hope to see you soon at our next event, film screening of “Trade of Innocents.” More information is coming out soon!

Quick recipe on the beef and chicken sticks.

tumeric powder
salt
fish sauce
oyster sauce
scallions
garlic
ginger (chicken only)

As you can see, a lot of love went into these meat sticks! Hope you enjoy playing around with the recipe!

***If you want to make it really Cambodian, add lemongrass and take away the oyster sauce. I

Indonesia's Labor Woes

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:06:00 -0400

Indonesia's Labor Woes:

Indonesia begins to face skilled labor shortages as it continues striving towards becoming the world’s sixth largest economy by 2045. Unless the government and companies begin to invest more in human resources, Indonesia will not be able to sustain the supply of local skilled workers needed to achieve this goal. Some employers are reluctant to invest in human resources due to the poaching of their employees and Indonesia’s strict labor laws, which provide little incentive for investment in workforce development. If this trend continues, Indonesia may end up falling into the same “middle-income trap” faced by its neighbors such as Thailand and Malaysia.

Hunger in the Philippines

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:59:34 -0400

Hunger in the Philippines:

Hunger incidence in every Southeast Asian country except the Philippines has decreased in the past ten years. Despite the Philippine economy showing positive growth in the first half of 2012, the hunger incidence, unemployment, and underemployment of the country increased in that same period. This is cause for concern because it results in an unproductive workforce. The government should shift its focus from business process outsourcing and real estate to agriculture and manufacturing. According to the UN Food and Agricultural report, agriculture is important because the extreme poor depend on it, therefore this will help to reduce joblessness and malnutrition problems.

SEAL Internship Panel

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:05:52 -0400

Documentary: Bonsai People

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:28:44 -0400

Debt Relief for Myanmar

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:25:43 -0400

Debt Relief for Myanmar:

Myanmar’s debt issues will be addressed this Thursday when Japanese and Myanmar finance ministers meet with senior officials from the IMF, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Group of Seven advanced economies. According to the IMF, in 2010 Myanmar’s outstanding debt totalled $5.4 billion. Through this meeting, Japan is hoping to broker a deal to help Myanmar cover about one-fifth of these overdue payments. In line with Myanmar’s preparations for opening up its economy, countries like the US and the UK are slowly easing sanctions, while Japan is taking a leading role by forgiving debts and aggressively trying to put Myanmar on the agenda at the annual meetings of the IMF.

Taste of the Philippines

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:18:51 -0400

Come join Liga Filipina for its first big event of the fall—Taste of the Philippines!

Enjoy:
-an ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT FILIPINO BUFFET
-LIVE MUSIC from The Morningsiders and Jeffers Win
-a RAFFLE DRAW FOR EVERY CHILDREN’S BOOK YOU DONATE*

Buy tickets ($7) now at Columbia TIC or on their website: http://www.cuarts.com/calendar/tickets

Eat, relax, and support child literacy in the Philippines!

*Books to be donated to Bagong Kulturang Pinoy - New York (BKPNY), a charity that “helps local communities in the Philippines establish their own libraries and provide a convenient place for children to borrow and return books.”

Hi SEADlingS! The weeks are just flying by, which mean only two...

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:06:01 -0400

Hi SEADlingS!

The weeks are just flying by, which mean only two weeks left to buy your tickets for the 13th Annual Friends of Friends New York Fundraising Event: www.fwab.org/tickets.

Join us for a night of Cambodian festivities including delicious Cambodian food, traditional dances and shopping in the marketplace (psst, the holidays are just around the corner!)