This Monday, I ushered Hannah Sherwindt and Ian D'Elia's capstone project entitled: The Future of Southeast Asia: Exploring Issues of Religion, Politics, and Territories. Coordinating with president of the LA World Affairs Council, Terry McCarthy, Hannah and Ian brought five distinguished guests to Poly to participate in two panels on the conditions of democracy and conflict in Southeast Asia. The first panel was composed of an American international businessmen, Thomas Malayil, Indonesian consulate member, Endang Wirawan, and Thai consulate general, Tanee Sangrat. The three spoke about the relations between members of ASEAN and the state of democracy in Southeast Asia. Malayil gave some very interesting insight into the elections in Indonesia because, as a businessman instead of a politician, he was able to speak more freely about these topics. I thought he was very effect by applying a very practical and matter-of-fact angle to the topics, but he sometimes did not know enough information to form an evidence-based opinion. The second panel, featuring author and Poly parent Reza Aslan and UCLA professor Dr. George Dutton, discussed the Rohingya conflict. The two speakers were extremely strong individually, but what truly made them special was their ability to build off of each other. Many of my peers commented after the panel that they should write a book together -- their chemistry was THAT good. I think that both Mr. Aslan and Dr. Dutton gave extremely good insight into the very surface of the complexities of the conflict, and I especially appreciate how they explained the historical significance of the conflict as well as the current state of the Rohingya civilians in Myanmar. All in all, both panels were very informative and I learned a lot about the complexities faced in a different region of the world. Terrific job, Hannah and Ian!
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