Southeast Asia’s Experiment with Non-Partisan Parliamentary Chambers
Date: Tuesday 29 May 2012
Time: 1.00 – 2.00 pm
Venue: Room S2 (2nd Floor), Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road
About the speaker: Dr Roland Rich served in the Australian Foreign Office for 23 years, including posts as Legal Adviser, Assistant Secretary for International Organisations, and Ambassador to Laos. He has also served in Paris, Rangoon and Manila. Dr Rich joined the Australian National University in 1998 as Foundation Director of the Centre for Democratic Institutions. He has also taught at the Australian Defence University and was a Research Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington D.C.
Dr Rich has contributed to the scholarly literature on democracy and democracy promotion. In 2004, together with Edward Newman, he edited a publication entitled The UN Role in Promoting Democracy, published by United Nations University Press, which examines the areas of comparative advantage the UN has in this field. In 2007, Pacific Asia in Quest of Democracy was published by Lynne Rienner; it surveys the current state of democratic consolidation among the countries along Asia’s Pacific Rim. His most recent book, Parties and Parliaments in Southeast Asia – Non-Partisan Chambers in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, is due for publication by Routledge in the summer of 2012.
Speaker event March 2012
March 1, 2012
Our next speaker event will be:
Enemies of the People:
The Killing Fields of Cambodia Re-examined
by Rob Lemkin
Date: Thursday, 8 March 2012
Venue: Mill Lane Lecture Room 1, 8 Mill Lane, Cambridge
Time: 5:30 – 6:45 pm
The Khmer Rouge regime, headed by Pol Pot, slaughtered nearly two million
people in the late 1970s. Yet the reasons behind the Killing Fields of
Cambodia remained largely unexplained.
Thet Sambath, a Cambodian investigative journalist has spent a decade of his life gaining the trust of the men and women who perpetrated the massacres. From the foot soldiers who slit throats to Pol Pot’s right-hand man, Sambath records shocking testimony never before seen or heard.
The result was the documentary ‘Enemies of the People’ (http://enemiesofthepeoplemovie.com/). Robert Redford described it as ‘a brave and profoundly important work’. In the current Khmer Rouge Genocide trials which began in November 2011, the documentary was cited by the International Prosecutor in his opening statement.
Rob Lemkin, Sambath’s fellow director, will present the story, show clips from this groundbreaking film and talk about the challenges faced in making the documentary.
About the speaker
ROB LEMKIN is the founder and director of Old Street Films. He has produced and directed over 50 documentaries for BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Sky, The History Channel (US) and Arts & Entertainment. He has won numerous awards in Britain and abroad.
Michaelmas 2011 event
November 17, 2011
The CUSEAF Committee is pleased to invite you to our first talk of the academic year:
“Southeast Asia – Is the Long Term Benign or Scary?” by Professor Anthony Reid
Date: Friday, 25 November 2011
Time: 5:30-6:30pm
Venue: Bowett Room, Queens’ College
Professor Reid will revisit his positive depiction of pre-colonial Southeast Asia and ponders the longer-term future for human and natural disasters.
The appallingly destructive earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011, like that in Aceh and around the Indian Ocean in 2004, forcibly reminds us how dependent we are on the normal beneficence of our planet. Evidence suggests that the 20th century was politically horrendous but environmentally benign, while the 21st century so far looks like the reverse.
This talk will look at longer term Southeast Asian history in the light of our rapidly improving knowledge of how the planet works. How did natural calamities affect Southeast Asian civilisation in the past and what does the future hold for the region?
About the Speaker
Professor Anthony Reid is the author of the acclaimed two-volume ‘Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680’. He completed his PhD in Cambridge and is one of the most well-known Southeast Asia historians, based at the Australian National University. He was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2002, made a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2008, and given the AAS’s Distinguished Contribution to Asian Studies Award for 2010. His 9 authored and 20 edited books have been translated into various Asian languages.
Societies’ Fair!
September 20, 2011
Come visit our table at the Fresher’s Fair in Kelsey Kerridge!
Seminar Talk: Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union (EU)
February 27, 2011
Lent Final Event
“Indonesia and the European Union post-Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) 2009”
Speaker: Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union (EU), Arif Havas Oegrosono
Seminar Talk and Q&A Session (open to all)
Date: 7 March 2011, Monday
Time: 5.30 – 6.30 pm
Venue: Elton-Bowring Room, Clare College (Memorial Court)
Biography:
ARIF HAVAS OEGROSENO is the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and the European Union (EU). Pak Arif is a graduate of the Diponegoro University in Semarang and the Harvard Law School. A career diplomat who has served the Republic of Indonesia for almost 25 years, he has been posted at the Republic’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, and also reopened the Indonesian Embassy in Lisbon after a closure of 24 years. Before assuming his current post, he was Director-General for Legal and International Treaty Affairs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Pak Arif has also led Indonesia through numerous multilateral negotiations at the United Nations and has written extensively for both the local and international media.
Dinner with Speaker (very limited places available)
Time: 7.30 pm (seating at 7.15pm)
Venue: St John’s College Formal Hall
Cost: £10
Note: Dinner with the speaker is a unique opportunity to continue discussing issues with the speaker over dinner and to meet other students interested in Southeast Asia. There are very limited places available, so if you wish to join the dinner, please RSVP before 4 March, Friday, by emailing Kang Tchou, CUSEAF Secretary, at wkt23@cam.ac.uk. Additional details will be provided once we confirm your place at the dinner.
Committee Positions OPEN
February 16, 2011
Call for Committee Positions
Read the rest of this entry »
Lent Keynote Speaker: HM British Ambassador to Burma
February 10, 2011
Lent Keynote Lecture (followed by Q&A Session)
Burma at the Crossroads: Democracy or Continued Dictatorship?
Burma (Myanmar) is at a crossroads. Despite the recent release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the holding of the first multiparty elections there in 20 years, the military remains very much in control of the country. The Human Rights Watch has claimed that the “rights of freedom of expression, association, assembly, and media remained severely curtailed” while Freedom House has given the country its lowest rating of 7 for both Political Rights and Civil Liberties. It is with these grim facts in mind that CUSEAF has invited the Ambassador to speak today, to update us on the situation in Burma, and to discuss what could possibly lie ahead for this beautiful, but troubled country.
Speaker: Andrew Heyn, British Ambassador to Burma
Andrew Heyn is the British Ambassador to Burma. He took up his post in Rangoon in July 2009. Mr. Heyn has previously served as the Private Secretary to Minister for Europe and Financial services, Department of Trade and Industry and Second Secretary of the FCO.
Date: February 22nd, Tuesday
Time: 5.30 – 6.30 pm
Venue: Latimer Room, Clare College (Old Court)
Formal Dinner with Speaker (limited number of places)
Venue: Clare College Formal Hall (Old Court)
Time: 7.30 pm
Cost: 10 GBP (payable by cash or cheque)
Note: The formal is a unique opportunity to continue discussing issues with the speaker over dinner and to meet other students interested in Southeast Asia. There are limited places available for the formal, so book your place as soon as possible before Feb 17, Thursday, by emailing Kang Tchou, CUSEAF Secretary, at wkt23@cam.ac.uk.
To view the event poster, click here: Andrew Heyn Poster.
Indonesia in the Asian Century: Opportunities and Challenges
January 14, 2011
Indonesia in the Asian Century: Opportunities and Challenges
Lent Term Seminar Session
Date: January 24th , Monday
Time: 5.30 – 6.30 pm
Venue: Glover Room, Gillespie Centre, Clare College (Memorial Court)
Biography: Karim Raslan is a prominent writer and consultant based in Indonesia and Malaysia. He has authored four books, including Ceritalah: Malaysia in Transition and Ceritalah 2:Journeys Through Southeast Asia, and his weekly columns have been syndicated in major newspapers in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Karim currently chairs the World Economic Forum’s Regional Agenda Council on Southeast Asia and he also serves on the International Council of the Asia Society. He is a regular commentator on Asian Affairs for both regional and international media.
Formal Dinner with Speaker (limited number of places)
Venue: Clare College Formal Hall (Old Court)
Time: 7.30 pm
Cost: 10 GBP (payable by cash or cheque)
Note: The formal is a unique opportunity to continue discussing issues with the speaker over dinner and to meet other students interested in Southeast Asia. There are limited places available for the formal, so book your place as soon as possible before 20 Jan, Thursday, by emailing Kang Tchou, CUSEAF Secretary, at wkt23@cam.ac.uk.
To view the event poster, click here: Karim Raslan Poster
The Future of Southeast Asian Politics – Event Update
November 15, 2010
CUSEAF wishes to thank our guest speaker, Nik Nazmi, and all those who attended the ‘The Future of Southeast Asian Politics’ seminar talk and Q&A session at Clare College. The formal dinner with the speaker at St Catharine’s College also proved to be extremely popular. A few pictures from the event are included below.
Aung San Suu Kyi Released
November 15, 2010
Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was released on Nov 13, 2010, after almost 15 years of being detained under house arrest.
Associated Press video of Aung San Suu Kyi’s release: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL_NVjPyER8&feature=fvst
Other links:
The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/world/asia/15myanmar.html?ref=asia
Commentary by Gordon Brown in The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/14/aung-san-suu-kyi-release
