"The Future of Southeast Asia" Event Reflection

I arrived in Garland Lobby at around 5:50 on March 19th in need of something to get my mind off of a Francis Wass Day spent fine-tuning the technical aspects of my Junior Speech. I wasn't sure what to expect from the event, as "the future of Southeast Asia" seemed like a pretty broad topic, but I was anticipating some discussion of recent conflicts in the South China Sea and the Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar. The massive spread of Vietnamese banh mi and spring rolls was a welcome surprise when I arrived, and my friends and I stuffed ourselves as we eagerly waited for the event to begin.

At around 6:30, we all filed into the Garland auditorium and took our seats, as an impressive panel composed of the Consuls General of Thailand and Indonesia and an accomplished Indonesian-American businessman took their places on the stage. Although all three panelists were knowledgable and articulate, I began to get the sense, as the event went on, that two out of three of them worked for some pretty exacting employers (the nations of Indonesia and Thailand) who required them to toe a narrow party line when discussing such issues as the state of democracy in their respective countries and commercial relationships with China and the United States. Although the businessman, Thomas Malayil, initially came off as a bit of an arrogant, corporate type, it became clear that he was the only real straight shooter of the group. In one particularly memorable instance, after Malaysian Consul General Endang Wirawan touted the fairness and security of Indonesian elections and said she couldn't call who would win be elected in 2019, Mr. Malayil said with a chuckle that because he didn't have a government to represent, he could say with certainty that the incumbent would win. The atmosphere on the stage became inexplicably tense as the event progressed, with the two consuls sort of digging in their heels and Mr. Malayil always trying to get a word in edgewise, but the strangest moment of the night definitely came when Thai Consul Tanee Sangrat decided to would turn the panel into an impromptu game show, awarding goodie bags from the Thai consulate to those who could correctly answer multiple-choice trivia questions . After guessing that the King of Thailand had ruled for 70 years before his death in 2016, I became the proud owner of a Thai Town t-shirt and decided the brief diversion was forgivable.

After an intermission, we re-entered the auditorium for the second panel on religion in Southeast Asia, which featured bestselling author and public personality Reza Azlan and UCLA professor George Dutton speaking mainly about the Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar and the changing face of Islam in Indonesia. Both speakers were extremely knowledgable on both topics and complemented each other well in a sort of tag-team give and take. Mr. Dutton would usually begin by answering the question with some well-explained historical background, and then Mr. Azlan would jump in with a more topical perspective and a bit of humor. I came into the talk knowing almost nothing about the Rohingya Genocide and nothing at all about the nature of Islam in Indonesia, but found that by the end of the panel I had a pretty good understanding of both.

Overall, I really enjoyed the "Future of Southeast Asia" event, even the unexpected idiosyncrasies of the first panel, but I do wish there had been  more discussion of the South China Sea conflict from representatives of countries like the Philippines that were directly involved. I thought the second panel was extremely informative and well-run, and I look forward to more GIP events like it in the future!

Global Scholars Application Essay

Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by geography, history, and international relations. As a third grader, I would go on walks with my father, who is arguably a bigger history buff than me, and just ask him to regale me with the story of a country; as much as he knew, from as far back as he could remember. As we climbed the hills in Debs Park or followed the Arroyo through Northeast Los Angeles, he would tell me about the Moors’ last stand in Granada or Gandhi’s role in the partition of India, and I would just listen, not understanding everything he said, but knowing I wanted to know more. So when he finished telling me about Gandhi, I would ask him something like, “What’s Hinduism?” which would start another lecture about Shiva and Ganesha that could last us all the way home.

Since the days of “History Walks,” my interest in geopolitics has only grown. As a 5th, grader, I memorized the capital of every country in the world, and, starting with Ms. Ward’s 6th grade Ancient History class, I grew to love history in an academic context as a middle schooler coming into high school. In addition, I became curious about the conflicts I saw on TV and heard my parents groaning about in the dining room. Why were we fighting in Iraq in the first place? What was stopping us from just leaving Afghanistan if that seemed to be what everybody in America wanted? And how did Israel and my own developing identity as a Jewish person fit into all this?

Although I had maintained a profound, if detached interest in global affairs for many years, my entire perspective changed just over a year and a half ago with the 2016 election and subsequent presidency of Donald Trump. I came of age under Obama, who projected an undeniable air of poise and equanimity, and as I became aware of world issues, it always seemed to me that the US was a moral force on the global stage, or at least attempting to promote values I agreed with. Since Trump, all that has changed. My eroding trust in the US government, especially the establishment politicians of my own Democratic Party, has motivated me to become more politically active myself, keeping up on the news every day, promoting discourse within my community, and attempting to involve myself in real issues through internships in immigration law and municipal politics. I want to bring my lifelong passion for history and international relations and my newfound motivation to participate in service initiatives and the political process to the Global Scholars programs, which sounds like an incredible opportunity to explore world issues and develop myself as a global citizen. As a socialist-leaning progressive, I also think I could bring a unique perspective to next year’s global scholars class by taking a critical lens to many of the neoliberal practices that developed countries use to distribute foreign aid.

I am hoping the Global Initiatives Program can expand and deepen my global perspectives by promoting my interest in social justice locally and connecting me with like-minded students around the world. Whenever I have participated in service projects, from my Outdoor Opportunities program with the Dragon Kim Foundation last year to the volunteer opportunities and civic-related presented to me by the Los Angeles Service Academy this year, I have always felt extremely rewarded but been left wondering how I could do more. The GIP program seems like the perfect answer to that question, connecting my global interests in history and geopolitics with my desire to be more involved in my community and find opportunities to practice my language skills. The other thing I hope to experience by being a Global Scholar is a connection with individuals living in different cultures, speaking different languages, and participating in different societies. This year, Oskari Hakanen, a Finnish AFS student, has become one of my closest friends, and beyond our shared interests in music and fashion, we have had some really deep conversations comparing cultural mindsets in Finland and America. Talking to and becoming friends with someone who has grown up in a near-socialist country has provided me with firsthand perspectives I really could not have been exposed to any other way and helped me realize just how much fulfillment I could from getting to know people with completely different outlooks on life. I am very excited about hosting international students next year, and, if I become a global scholar,helping to develop myself as a global citizen through local and international service projects.