Welcome to our Freshmen REPS!

news update

Oct 23, 2008

Suu Kyi marks 13 years of house arrest

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States is calling on Myanmar's military leaders to immediately release democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who marks a total of 13 years under house arrest on Friday.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement Thursday that Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi has "remained a steady beacon of hope and inspiration to those seeking a peaceful, democratic" Myanmar.

International human rights groups say the Myanmar military junta now holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, compared with nearly 1,200 in June 2007.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/23/us.myanmar.ap/index.html

Oct 22, 2008

Ousted Thai PM Thaksin guilty of corruption

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- A Thai court has found deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra guilty of corruption, and sentenced him in absentia to two years imprisonment.

Thaksin Shinawatra lives in self-imposed exile in London.

The case stemmed from a Bangkok land deal while Thaksin was in office. He was convicted of violating a law that bans ministers or their wives from conducting business with government agencies.

Thaksin, who now lives in the United Kingdom, is unlikely to serve any jail time. He fled from Thailand in August just as he was to appear in court.

In the land deal, Thaksin's wife, Pojama, is accused of using her husband's political influence to buy undeveloped land from a government agency for about a third of its estimated value. Watch more about the verdict »

The case is one of several corruption cases against Thaksin and his family that are winding their way through the legal system.

The billionaire is accused of abusing the country's system of checks and balances and bending government policy to benefit his family's business.

Thaksin has consistently denied that he or his family was involved in any wrongdoing.

Don't Miss

• Thai opposition leaders surrender to police
• Thailand issues arrest warrant for Thaksin

In August, Thaksin and his wife skipped a court appearance and fled to the United Kingdom rather than testify in the real-estate case. He said he did so because he did not think he would get a fair trial in Thailand.

Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon, once owned the English Premier League Manchester City Football Club but sold his stake this year.

His party won two landslide victories before he was deposed in a bloodless military coup in September 2006 after massive anti-government street protests.

He returned to Thailand after his allies in the People Power Party won nearly half the seats in the lower house in December's parliamentary elections and formed the ruling coalition.

In recent weeks, the country has seen daily demonstrations from anti-government protesters who want PPP leaders purged from the Cabinet. They have laid siege to the Government House -- the seat of the Thai government -- since August 26.

The protesters -- led by the People's Alliance for Democracy -- contend that the PPP is trying to amend the constitution so Thaksin does not have to face charges.

In September, Thailand's Constitutional Court stripped then-Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of his position, ruling that he had violated the constitution by appearing as a paid guest on a television cooking show.

The PPP responded by picking Thaksin's brother-in-law as Samak's replacement -- further inflaming the protesters.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/21/thailand.thaksin/index.html

Mon oct 20, 2008

6.0-magnitude quake hits Indonesia

(CNN) -- A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The 6.0-magnitude quake hit at 12:54 p.m. local time (0454 GMT) in the Gulf of Tomini, according to the U.S. monitoring agency.

The epicenter was off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, about 90 miles (144 km) northeast of the town of Palu, the monitoring agency said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries

Taste of Thailand Photos!

HI SEASA!

Thank you so much everyone for coming out to Dok Bua this Saturday.

We hope you got some yummies in your tummies this afternoon.

Thank you!

These are the photos of you guys having fun!

whoot whoot~

FRESHMEN REP!

SIGN UP BY FRIDAY @ 5:00!

SEASA study break NEWTON!!!

Get a chance to win a FREE seat on Taste of Thailand!

also... study break comes with boba - Happy seasa meal goodie bags - and funn games!

Come join us!

Taste of Thailand!

Don't forget to RSVP for Taste of Thailand this Saturday afternoon!

It'll be a 5 course meal of fantastic top line Thai food!

We'll all be leaving BC together on Saturday afternoon!

RSVP @ seasaeboard0809@gmail.com 

Filipino American History Month: Melissa Reyes

In Spirit of Filipino American History Month we're going to highlight Melissa Reyes, a Filipino-American, Runner up for the show "Pussycat Dolls Present:The Search For the Next Doll"

Special Thanks to PSBC who made it possible for Melissa to come out to Boston College to perform for us. 

SEASA STUDY BREAK!

COME TO SEASA STUDY BREAK!

FITZPATRICK STUDY LOUNGE @ 8-11!

guitar hero - bubble tea - special surprises will be provided!

bring ur friends and join the fun!

Food for Thought: An unstated hierarchy amongst Asians?

So SEASA Eboard has been doing some homework on ... the unstated hierarchy amongst Asians...and we thought WE SHOULD DO AN EVENT ON IT (:D that you definitely should come out to..so stay posted!)


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As a quick search, I just googled up and found a thread on it in a forum. And this is what i found:

"There seems to be an unstated Asian hierarchy amongst nationalities. For example, this is especially evident with Chinese people's reverence with Japanese culture, and a inferiority complex to boot. Likewise Chinese people's snobbish view of all other southeast asian peoples. But it seems to permeate across asian nationalities.

What's going on here? Why is there this pecking order and what caused it? Was it the war? Confusciounism? Racism? Discuss." -- misubi from http://www.giantrobot.com/forums/showthread.php3?threadid=434


Some interesting responses to Misubi's posts:

• "- people who were early migrators to the US, the UK, Australia are often thought of as "superior" because they had money to get there. I would say migration from the 50s - late 70s (think Joy Luck Club)."
  
  
• "I could draw a little hierachy from a HK person's perspective but it would probably offend - it's not my opinion but my mother can be mostly snobbish at times. But I dont' think the hierachy is caused by racism, but rather culture and socio-economic circumstances"

Of course, these are only opinions and were found on a forum so we definitely need to keep researching with an open mind!


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Challenge your mind:

So is there an unstated perceived Asian hierarchy??? And if so, how can we get rid of this perception?!

news update: Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Triangle Focuses on Tourism

Sept 23 Asia Pulse - Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have agreed on the need to develop tourism as a spearhead in boosting economic growth and reducing poverty in the three countries development triangle.

The agreement, which also included the creation of favourable conditions for the triangular region that comprises 10 border provinces of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, was reached at the third meeting addressing trade, investment and tourism promotion in the Development Triangle, held in Champassak, Laos, on September 22.

Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc joined Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Soulivong Daravong and Cambodian Secretary General of the Development Council Soun Sitthy in chairing the meeting, which brought together both state officials and businesspeople of the 10 localities in the Development Triangle.

Minister Phuc described the three countries policy to develop their shared triangle as a right decision that has contributed largely to promoting each country's socio-economic growth and reinforcing friendship between the three nations.

Following the second meeting of its kind in February this year, the three countries have taken their own initiatives to spur the development of the triangle. In the meantime, mechanisms and policies to facilitate the cross-border flow of people and commodities, investment and trade in the area are being discussed, Minister Phuc added.

At this meeting, the participants focused on assessing what has been done since the two previous meetings and discussed ways to solve difficulties that arise in the process of implementing the reached agreements.

The governments of the three countries have high hopes for the effects of promoting the development of the region, which has been highly evaluated for its great potential in the areas of hydro-power industry, mining, industrial crop growing and processing and tourism, to improve the living conditions of local people, the majority of whom belong to ethnic minorities.

for more details, check out http://asia.news.yahoo.com/080923/4/3pfcp.html