Center for Southeast Asian Studies Southeast Asia on Campus (P

The University of Michigan Fall 2009

Inside this Issue: Program News (p. 1) From Singapore to Michigan (pp. 4-5) Undergraduate Summers in SE Asia (pp. 6-7) Amnuay Viravan, An Appreciation (p. 12)

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Southeast Asia on Campus (p. 13)

Cebu City, 2006. Photo by Ryan Hoover From CSEAS Director Prof. Linda Lim

I am pleased to be back as Center Director after my sabbat- Beyond our traditional disciplinary ical in Southeast Asia, to which I will be returning for more strengths in the humanities and social research in the Winter. Allen Hicken, who has done a won- sciences, new initiatives with Southeast derful job steering the Center through another very active Asian institutions are likely to focus on and productive year, will continue as Associate Director. multi-disciplinary collaborations in en- We are pleased that Deirdre de la Cruz and Carla Sinopoli vironmental sustainability (including urbanization), public are rotating on to our Executive Committee, joining Gavin health, social research, and finance. These will engage a Shatkin, Nancy Florida, Susan Go, Allen and myself. broader range of professional school faculty and students in research and study in the region, adding to our existing Our faculty strength continues to grow, with Dean Yang undergraduate study-abroad programs. awarded tenure in Economics and the Ford School of Public Policy, joining Allen Hicken, Sarita See and Gavin Our main challenge remains attracting undergraduates Shatkin who were tenured last year. All four are Philippines to learn our languages, given increasing pre-professional specialists, with Allen and Gavin also working on Thailand, curricular pressures, competition from larger and more and Dean on Indonesia. We welcome four new tenure- “strategic” languages, and news-making political unrest in track faculty, John Ciorciari in the Ford School of Public the region. Conse- Policy (ASEAN and quently, we continue Cambodia), Deirde “I invite you to save the weekend of October 22-24, to prioritize under- de la Cruz in His- graduate language tory and Asian 2010 for our Southeast Asia Reunion Weekend in scholarships, to Languages and Ann Arbor, celebrating fifty years of the Center. which we hope you Cultures (Philip- will contribute. We pines), Meilu Ho are especially grate- in the School of ful to the Royal Thai Music, Theater and Dance (India and Malaysia), and Victor Embassy for a third year’s contribution to our Thai Studies Román Mendoza in the Departments of English and Wom- Endowment, and to the faculty, alumni and corporations en’s Studies (Philippines), who bring our total of active who have added to it, especially Dr. Amnuay Viravan for faculty in the Center to 40. We are happy to have with us his generous major donation (see p. 12). With your support for the year Fulbright FLTA’s Miranda Ticoalu (Indonesian/ and participation, we will keep Southeast Asian language Javanese) and Pong-ampai Kongcharoen (Thai). and area studies thriving at Michigan! The University administration continues to take a strong Looking forward, I invite you to save the weekend of Octo- interest in our region, with Provost Teresa Sullivan leading ber 22-24, 2010 for our first-ever Southeast Asia Reunion a high-level delegation to Singapore in May to meet with Weekend in Ann Arbor. We will be celebrating fifty years alumni and explore institutional collaborations (see p. 5). of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, particularly the This followed on a visit to Bangkok in June 2008, and pre- legacy of my esteemed faculty colleagues who helped ceded the visit to Indonesia by Allen Hicken and Charley make Michigan one of the best places to study Southeast Sullivan in July, as part of a U.S. Higher Education Lead- Asia in the world over the past half-century. Please join us ers’ Mission (see p. 1). Allen and Charley met with alumni back in Ann Arbor to see old friends and hear about South- in Jakarta, as I did in Kuala Lumpur, and both groups are east Asian Studies at Michigan, both where we’ve come working to establish formal Alumni Association chapters from, and where we’re heading next. such as already exist in Thailand and Singapore.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies 1080 S. University, Ste. 3603 Regents of the University Julia Donovan Darlow, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106 Laurence B. Deitch, Bingham Farms 734.764.0352 (Phone) Olivia P. Maynard, Goodrich 734.936.0996 (Fax) Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms www.ii.umich.edu/cseas Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor Andrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe Park S. Martin Taylor, Grosse Pointe Farms Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio) The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The University of Michigan is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, sex*, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or Vietnam-era veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director for Institutional Equity and Title IX/Section 504 Coordinator, Office of Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-763-0235, TTY 734-647-1388. For other Univer- sity of Michigan information call 734-764-1817. 1 Program News CSEAS Participates in U.S. Educational Delegation to Indonesia

From July 26 – 31, 2009, CSEAS Associate Director Allen on Indo- Hicken and Program Officer Charley Sullivan joined a nesia, and group of presidents, provosts, vice presidents, deans, and to expand senior area studies program directors representing 33 opportunities U.S. colleges and universities on a high-level delegation for under- to Indonesia. The delegation explored opportunities for graduates to expanding education programs under the U.S.-Indonesia study in the Official Bilateral Partnership being planned by the Obama country. and Yudhoyono adminstrations. While in The delegation’s visit was coordinated with the help of the Jakarta, Allen office of the Indonesian Director General of Higher Educa- and Charley Allen Hicken and Dr. Taufik Hanafi tion, and was strongly supported by U.S. Ambassador met U-M alumni at a dinner hosted by Manggi Habir Cameron Hume and his staff. The delegation met with (MBA, 1979) and Rizal Matondang (BA, 1995; MBA, 2001) Minister of Education Dr. Bambang Subidyo, and held a at Pak Manggi’s house. Alumni at the event spanned 45 public forum on the future of U.S.-Indonesian educational years of time at Michigan, and represented a variety of partnerships. But the heart of this visit was a series of schools, from LSA and Business to Engineering and Public discussions with representatives of over 100 public and pri- Health. Professor Emeritus of Business Gunter Dufey also vate universities during visits to institutions around Jakarta attended. Allen and Charley also had the opportunity to and in Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Solo. meet with Dr. Taufik Hanafi, (PhD, Urban Planning, 2001), Director for Education and Religious Affairs at the National These visits afforded Allen and Charley the opportunity to Development Planning Agency. highlight the University of Michigan’s strong associations with Indonesia and Indonesian studies, and also to look The visit was an exceptional opportunity for CSEAS to both for new future partnerships. In particular, CSEAS is hoping look back at the University’s rich history with Indonesia, to strengthen connections to centers of Islamic studies, a and to contemplate new and exciting paths for our future major focus for many of our students and faculty working together.

Fall 2009: An Indonesia-rich Semester Dédé Oetomo, founder and trustee of Center on ”Militia Violence, Madrasas, ate students interested in Southeast GAYa NUSANTARA, and one of Indone- and Democratization in Indonesia” on Asia and members of PERMIAS, the sia’s foremost gay rights pioneers and October 2, when he was in town for an Indonesian Students Association. activists, visited campus as Martin Lu- AAS Board meeting. Bob is the editor ther King – César Chávez – Rosa Parks of Muslims and Modernity: Culture and As this newsletter goes to press, there Visiting Professor from September 22 Society Since 1800. New Cambridge His- are three more major Indonesia-cen- – 24. During his visit, Pak Dédé gave tory of Islam, Vol. 6, forthcoming from tered events in the fall schedule. Ba- a public lecture on the LGBTIQ Move- Cambridge University Press. linese musician Dewa Ketut Alit Ad- ment in Indonesia, taught a section nyana of Gamelan Çudamani in Ubud, of our introductory graduate seminar James Castle, (BA, 1968), the founder will lead a workshop and performance in Southeast Asian Studies, met with of CastleAsia, a business consultancy of kecak on November 1 as part of the Indonesian language students in their based in Jakarta, visited the University University’s Arts on Earth program classes to discuss language politics in on October 7. Jim’s life-long engage- on “Body Music”; Ohio State Univer- Indonesia, and met informally with ment with Southeast Asia began at sity political scientist William Liddle graduate students and with under- U-M, when he took courses on Poli- will give a Friday-at-Noon lecture on graduate GLBT students to discuss tics and Geography of the region in “Explaining the 2009 Parliamentary gay rights, Islam and other issues in his senior year. Jim guest-lectured in and Presidential Votes in Indonesia,” Indonesia. Linda Lim’s graduate-level Business on November 13; and Nan Achnas’ in Asia class (“Foreign Investment in 2007 film “The Photograph,” will be Robert Hefner, (PhD, Anthropology, Indonesia”) and Allen Hicken’s under- shown on December 8 as a part of the 1982), Professor of Anthropology at graduate Governments and Politics Global Lens 2009 series, sponsored Boston University and current Presi- in Southeast Asia course (“Indonesia by the Center for International and dent of the Association of Asian Stud- After Suharto: An Assessment”), and Comparative Studies, and the Global ies, gave a Friday-at-Noon talk at the met with graduate and undergradu- Film Initiative. 2 Faculty News

Christi-Anne Castro (Musicology) has a comparative perspective on min- Steven Ratner (Law) spent the 2008- a book manuscript under review on ing conflicts based on his research in 09 academic year working in the Legal music and nationalism in the Philip- Melanesia. [email protected] Division of the International Com- pines during the twentieth century. mittee of the Red Cross in Geneva. She also has an invited article entitled Sharon Maccini (Public Policy) and Steve has also been named the Bruno “Subjectivity and Hybridity in the coauthor Dean Yang (see below) pub- Simma Collegiate Professor of Law. Age of Interactive Internet Media: lished their paper, “Under the Weath- [email protected] The Musical Performances of Charice er: Health, Schooling and Economic Pempengco and Arnel Pineda” under Consequences of Early-Life Rainfall,” in Frederick Wherry (Sociology) has review at a journal of the University of the American Economic Review (June finished his book on The Philadelphia the Philippines. [email protected] 2009). The paper examines the effects Barrio: Arts, Culture, and Neighborhood of weather conditions around the Transformation, which is under review Kathy Ford (Public Health) spent time of birth on health, schooling and at the University of Chicago Press. He January-July 2009 as a Visiting Profes- socioeconomic outcomes later in life will return to work on Thailand with sor at the Institute for Population and for Indonesian adults. They find that Dr. Leuchai Chulasai from the Depart- Social Research at Mahidol University women born in years with higher rain- ment of Economics at Chiang Mai in Bangkok, collaborating with their fall relative to the norm in the locality University in the spring of 2010, on a faculty on research projects related to of birth are taller, report better health, book project tentatively titled Culti- AIDS, migration and aging. She also complete more schooling and live in vating Symbolic Capital in Thailand: taught longitudinal data analysis to households with more assets. There is Handicrafts, Furniture, and Home Décor a group of Southeast Asian doctoral no significant similar relationship for Exports in the New Global Economy. students enrolled in Mahidol’s PhD men. [email protected] Fred is also finishing The Culture of program in demography. Her publi- Markets for the cultural sociology se- cations with Mahidol faculty include Thuy’Anh Nguyen (Asian Languages ries at Polity Press, and received a pub- “Migration and Household Assets in and Cultures) led a group of fourteen lication subvention from the American Kanchanaburi, Thailand,” Asia Pacific U-M students travelling through Viet Sociological Association’s Fund for Migration Review, 2009 (with Aree Nam with David Smith from the Histo- the Advancement of the Disciplines Jampaklay and Aphichat Chamratrithi- ry Department, as part of the Univer- for his co-edited volume (with Nina rong); “First sexual experience and cur- sity’s Global Intercultural Experience Bandelj, University of California, Irvine) rent sexual behavior among older Thai for Undergraduates (GIEU) program, The Cultural Wealth of Nations, which men and women,” Sexual Health, 2009, spending the major part of the one- has been invited for formal review at (with Aphichat Chamratrithirong); month trip in May doing community Stanford University Press. Fred gave “Post Reproductive Sexuality,” Sexual- work in the central town of Dong a talk at Northern Illinois University’s ity Across the Ages, 2008, Institute for Ha. Thuy’Anh presented a paper on Center for Southeast Asian Studies’ Population and Social Research, Mahi- teaching Vietnamese language with Colloquium Series in April 2009, and dol University (in Thai, with Aphichat technology at COTSEAL conference another talk on Thailand at Michigan Chamratrithirong); Kathy also received in Madison, Wisconsin, and attended State University in June 2009 for a a joint grant to study “HIV Testing and the CARLA Summer Institute in July group of Michigan high school teach- Sexual Behavior among Older adults” 2009 on Developing Materials for Less ers looking to incorporate materials from the Michigan Center for the Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) on Southeast Asia into their curricula. Demography of Aging (NIH/NIA) in and Developing Assessments for the [email protected] 2008-2009. [email protected] Second Language Classroom. [email protected] Dean Yang (Economics, Public Policy) Stuart Kirsch (Anthropology) gave was granted tenure and promotion to two presentations at conferences Susan Walton (Residential College) Associate Professor at the Ford School on indigenous peoples and mining, spent six weeks researching tol pava of Public Policy. He is currently run- sponsored by the United Nations Per- koothu, a rare form of shadow puppet ning randomized field experiments in manent Forum on Indigenous Issues theater, in Kerala India in the spring of the Philippines and elsewhere aimed in Manila, Philippines, in March, 2009. 2009, focusing on the musical ele- at improving the economic develop- Through an ESRC-SSRC Collaborative ments in this tradition. She also gave ment impacts of international migra- Visiting Fellowship, he is collaborat- papers on the history of Javanese tion and remittances. ing with the program on Territory, gamelan music, and participated in [email protected] Conflicts and Development in the gamelan performances at Sydney Andes at the University of Manchester University and at Victoria University in (http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/re- Wellington New Zealand. search/andes/), where he will provide [email protected] 3 Focus: New Faculty

John D. Ciorciari (Public Policy) is a new assistant professor at the Ford School. His interests include public international law, the theory and practice of international relations, and international finance. His current research projects examine foreign policy strategies, human rights, and the reform of international economic institutions in Asia. John was a 2008-09 National Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a 2007-08 Shorenstein Fellow at Stanford’s Asia-Pacific Re- search Center. From 2004-07, he served as a policy official in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of International Affairs. He has also been an attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and London and a visiting fellow at the In- L-R: Deidre de la Cruz, John Ciorciari, and Meilu Ho stitute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore. Since 1999, he has been a legal advisor to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which promotes Victor Mendoza (English, Women’s historical memory and justice for the atrocities of the Pol Pot regime. With Studies) joins the faculty as an assis- Anne Heindel, John edited On Trial: The Khmer Rouge Accountability Process tant professor of English and Wom- (Phnom Penh: Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2009), which reviews en’s Studies. His teaching and schol- the first three years of operations at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, and discusses arship focus on twentieth-century the potential of the trials to deliver justice and contribute to reconciliation in U.S., Asian Pacific Islander American, Cambodia. [email protected] and ethnic American literary and cultural production. His book manu- Deirdre de la Cruz (Asian Languages and Cultures and History) joins the De- script, Fantasy Islands: Illicit Desire and partments of History and Asian Languages and Cultures as assistant professor Philippine-US Imperial Relations, tracks after three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Michigan Society of Fellows. the mutually constitutive formations She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2006. Her current book of race, gender, and sexuality in the project is a historical and ethnographic examination of several apparitions twentieth-century U.S., as inflected of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines from the mid nineteenth century to the by its colonial and neocolonial oc- present, especially as they articulate with projects and practices of colonial cupation of the Philippines. A literary, and post-colonial modernity. In addition to Philippine history and ethnog- historical and cultural studies analysis raphy, her research interests include theories of religion, colonialism and of disparate fin de siècle works, the conversion, visual culture, histories and theories of the mass media. book parses out U.S. cultural fantasies [email protected] around the insurrectos (originally, an- ti-colonial, Philippine insurgents) that Meilu Ho (Musicology) joins the School of Music, Theater and Dance as an the Philippine-American War (1899 to assistant professor. A native of Malaysia, Meilu received her PhD and MA in its official end in 1902) engendered. Ethnomusicology and Music from the University of California, Los Angeles, [email protected] and her BA in History from Stanford University. She previously taught at the University of California, San Diego, and Universiti Sains Malaysia, and was a visiting fellow at the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, the University of Iowa. Her area interests span West Asia to Southeast Asia, with a research focus on the Indian subcontinent. She is currently embarking upon a study of the ghazal as a trans-Indian Oceanic genre. Meilu’s articles and reviews appear in Dehejia, H. (ed.), A Celebration of Love: The Romantic Nayika in the Indian Tradition, The World of Music, Asian Music, and the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. Publications on the Malay court ensemble (nobat) and an ontology of musical experience are forthcoming in Ethnomusicology and a guest series of The World of Music. [email protected] Victor Mendoza 4 From Singapore to Michigan The Chen Family of Singapore Six family members, three generations – all Maize and Blue A 1963 publication from the United States Information Ser- first Singaporean to study at Michigan (see companion vice (USIS) in Singapore, entitled Careers: Preparing for them article). at American Colleges and Universities, highlighted Structural Engineer Chen Ping Fang or P.F. Chen, who obtained his Chris does not recall any other Singaporean undergradu- B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan in ates at Michigan in his day—a contrast with the recent past 1938, and his M.S.E. in 1939. Born in 1912 to a contractor when 50 or more entering freshmen has been the norm in Seremban, P.F. was educated locally, then went to China for many years. He and Shirley socialized mainly with boys to study at “Peking’s Tsing Hua University”. Eighty percent from Hong Kong who “played more than they studied”, en- of Tsing Hua’s graduates went abroad for further training joyed football and hockey games, and attended a monthly then, and P.F.’s two years there would be credited towards a dinner party for Chinese students in the basement of a U.S. bachelor’s degree. church near East Quad. Students from Taiwan were older and more serious, he says, often on government scholar- He chose U-M because “Michigan was one of the best ships. Chris lived at a fraternity on Baldwin, and enjoyed known (American colleges) in China. Some of my profes- visits to the Pretzel Bell and Brown Jug, in between study- sors were Michigan grads, and the largest number of ing at the UGLI. American alumni in China were from Michigan. So I went. And since I have sent two of my sons to Michigan, this After some years working in the U.S., Chris and Shirley re- proves my admiration for that institution.” turned to Singapore in 1971, where today Chris is active in the Rotary Club and other community work, including as a P.F. worked for a volunteer for grassroots organizations. Their relationship to British company Michigan has continued, as they sent three children to do in Singapore, then their undergraduate studies in Ann Arbor, where all three in 1950 formed excelled academically. his own engineering company, Their daughter Deborah Weng-Chin Chen, obtained her Sino-Malayan Michigan B.Sc. in chemistry with highest honors in 1989. Engineers, with She went on to do a Ph.D. at Stanford and a postdoc at two partners. His Cambridge University, after which she worked for phar- sons Yee-Ching maceutical companies in the U.S. before returning to (Chris) Chen and Singapore to work in research at GSK. Michael Weng-Hing Choon-Ching Chen graduated summa cum laude in engineering from (Tom) Chen both Michigan in 1991, before completing a Masters degree in graduated from biomedical science at Johns Hopkins, followed by an MBA Michigan in 1965, at Wharton. He is a consultant for the Boston Consulting with bachelor’s Group in Singapore, and has two sons. Theodore (Teddy) degrees from LSA Wong-Cheong Chen graduated magna cum laude from and Engineering Michigan in 1995, then obtained his PhD in Chemical Engi- Michigan Law Quad 1965. L-R: Tom, P.F., respectively. P.F. neering from Cambridge University, followed by a postdoc Mrs. Chen (Wong Poh Lian), Chris and his wife, Wong at University College London. He lives in the U.K. Poh Lian, attended their sons’ graduation. Tom later obtained his MBA from Wharton. A third son, Vincent, studied industrial engineering at Cornell.

In Ann Arbor, Chris met his future wife, Shirley, who was from Hong Kong. Shirley’s brother, Robert obtained his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan in 1964, then continued for his M.S.E. Shirley had graduated in liberal arts from Marygrove College in Detroit, and was working in the University’s accounting department. Chris and Shirley met at a summer camp of the Midwest Chinese Students’ As- sociation in 1965, and married in 1967 at St. Mary’s Church in Ann Arbor. Shirley was Catholic, but Chris’ family was Methodist and he was educated at the (Methodist) Anglo- Chinese School in Singapore, where one of his teachers was Earnest Lau, whose mother Yong Soong May was the Michigan Stadium 1995 L-R: Deborah, Teddy, Shirley, Michael, Chris at Teddy’s graduation From Singapore to Michigan 5 The first Singaporean at Michigan

Yong (Lau) Soong May (b. Kuala before attending Garrett seminary at Kampong Ka- Lumpur, Malaya 1901 d. Singapore Northwestern University, from which pur, where he 1998) was, to our best knowledge, the he graduated in 1927. He was then preached in first student from British Malaya (now, admitted to the Rock River annual English and Malaysia and Singapore) to attend conference and worked in the U.S. for Malay until the University of Michigan. A student a short time. After their marriage, E.S. his retire- at Methodist Girls’ School in Kuala and Soong May returned to Singa- ment. Lumpur, she converted to Christianity pore, where E.S. became pastor for when American missionary Stanley the English-language congregation Soong May, Jones visited in 1917-1918. Her father, at Geylang Methodist Church, and who also tin-miner Yong Ngee Chai, was from Soong May was appointed headmis- spoke many China, and Soong May wanted to be- tress of the Geylang Methodist Girls’ Chinese come a doctor in China. She first went School. The couple had two sons— dialects Lau Soong May to the University of Southern Califor- Earnest (b. 1929), an educator, and and Malay, nia, but as it did not then have a medi- Philip (b.1930), a lawyer. actively assisted her husband in his cal school, she moved after a couple ministry, mainly in women’s affairs, of years to the University of Michigan. During the Japanese occupation of including promoting education for At U-M, however, she switched to Singapore (1942-45), the Lau fam- daughters, family planning, and studying the arts, graduating with her ily had to move out of the Geylang mediating in family disputes. She was B.A. in 1927. parsonage, but Rev. Lau continued also active in the Women’s Society for to minister to his parishioners and Christian Service. She was, according Soong May met Edward S. (E.S.) Lau served as headmaster of the A.C.S. pri- to her son Earnest Lau (an Oberlin in the U.S., and they married in Ann mary school. After the war, when the and Oxford graduate who went on to Arbor on May 1, 1928. E.S., born in Ma- Laus were back at the Geylang church, a distinguished career in educational dura in Indonesia, had been educated Soong May helped with administra- administration), “something of a local at the Methodist Church’s Anglo- tion of the A.C.S. afternoon school. In pioneer in women’s rights in this part Chinese School (A.C.S.) in Singapore, 1952, Rev. Lau became pastor of the of the world.” and at Illinois Wesleyan University, Straits Chinese Methodist church at

Michigan in Singapore Today A University of Michigan delegation led by Provost Teresa National Development and the Urban Redevelopment Sullivan visited Singapore from May 20-22, 2009. Other mem- Authority, for presentations and discussions focused bers of the delegation were: Ross School of Business Dean on Singapore’s city planning and sustainability policies Robert Dolan, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban and initiatives. Meetings were held with many of the Planning nearly two dozen U-M alumni on the faculties of NUS, Dean Monica Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Man- Ponce de agement University. Leon, Graham Environmental The highlight of the delegation’s visit was an evening Sustainabil- alumni event held in elegant space at the NUS Muse- ity Institute um, and attended by nearly 200 U-M alumni (of the 780 Director Don resident in Singapore, who include many expatriates). Scavia, Center The event began with a cocktail reception and piano for Southeast music by Pei-Ming Lee (PhD, Music, 2002), Assistant Asian Stud- Professor at the NUS Conservatory, and harpsichord U-M Provost Teresa Sullivan with Tan Eng Chye, ies Director pieces by Lim Jia (BA, Music, 2006). There followed a Provost of NUS, signing an undergraduate Linda Lim, panel discussion on “The Global Financial Crisis, U.S. exchange agreement. U-M Alumni Higher Education and Business, and Singapore”, featur- Association ing presentations by Provost Sullivan, Dean Dolan and President Steve Grafton and Vice-President Jo Rumsey, As- Prof. Lim, and a lively Q&A session. A light buffet dinner sociate Vice-President for Development Jefferson Porter, Ross followed, with remarks and a raffle moderated by Steve Alumni Relations Director John Copeland, and U-M alumni Grafton and Ng Choon Peng, (MBA, 2004), President of volunteers Richard Rogel and Latricia Turner. the U-M Alumni Association of Singapore.

The visit centered around meetings at the National University The event was generously sponsored by Prof. Emeritus of Singapore hosted by NUS Provost Tan Eng Chye and Vice- Gunter Dufey, now resident in Singapore, who was President Lily Kong. The faculty held discussions with their unable to be present in person, and by the U-M Alumni counterpart NUS Deans and senior faculty, exploring possible Association and Office of Development. James Cheng institutional collaborations in research, faculty and student (MBA, 1988) hosted a luncheon for the delegation and exchanges. Dean Dolan also addressed a workshop of Asia- a number of alumni from different cohorts and schools, Pacific business school deans held at NUS, while Dean Ponce during which ideas were shared on how to connect de Leon and Professors Scavia and Lim visited the Ministry of alumni more closely with the University and each other. 6 Undergraduate Summer in Indonesia by Nina Battacharya My toes pressed through the thick rolls of the smaller things, like black mud, making a squelching sound playing with our home- as I sank my legs knee-deep into the rice stay family’s children, or paddy. The mud was pleasant and cool, a learning Balinese danc- surprising relief from Bali’s midday heat. ing, which affected us Clumsily, I waded through the paddy to the most. Each person the farmer to watch him expertly plant welcomed us into their small bunches of fledgling rice stalks lives with utmost hos- into the gelatinous mud. Tentatively, the pitality and shaped our other students and I began to plant rice, education. It was a kind poorly mimicking the quick, straight of cultural immersion lines the farmer created. For the next two most students don’t hours, members of the GIEU Indonesia get just by attending team rolled up their sleeves and planted classes every day. Our rice in central Bali. daily reflections com- pounded our discover- This is only one of my many memories ies – we saw Indonesia’s of Indonesia, the country I visited with flaws, but Indonesia the Global Intercultural Experience for also showed us how to U-M students planting rice in fields belonging to Mangku Gina (far right,) a Hindu priest in the village of Pengosekan, near Ubud, in Bali Undergraduates (GIEU). GIEU, a U-M appreciate life. program, emphasizes a non-traditional approach to studying abroad through It’s difficult to capture cultural interactions. The program’s in mere words the once told the Global Intercultural Experi- thirteen field sites each host three to four impact of this program. Perhaps it is a ence for Undergraduates was a “window week internships. Traveling through cen- little easier to describe the results – not of opportunity.” And that could not have tral Java and Bali allowed our group to only did studying in Indonesia reaffirm been any truer. explore the growing Indonesian organic my desire to work internationally, it also movement, the disconnect between prompted me to register for First-Year The Indonesia GIEU blog, with posts Indonesian NGOs and the government, Indonesian, one of the many language from the entire trip, can be read at http:// and the intricacies of the healthcare sys- programs the university has to offer. I gieuindonesia2009.blogspot.com tem, and to report on them through new know I want to return to Indonesia in the media, or blogging. future to continue my language study. Nina Bhattacharya is a sophomore in the On campus, I am able to look at new situ- College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Through a series of interviews with differ- ations with a broader, global perspective. ent officials and organizations, we were I have become a better person able to paint a picture of this fledgling for studying in Indonesia. democracy still struggling to modernize without compromising a rich lineage of Our whole group felt the same culture. These interviews only shaped a way. As a team, we drew on facet of our learning experience; it was our past experiences and used them to assimilate our new ones, to absorb the temples, ceremo- nies, and traditions we saw. The more we learned, the more we were able to question and analyze in our blog posts. Blogging prompted us to reflect on our challenges and strengths and Stephen Behan learning to weave palm fronds from Ida Bagus made the entire study Made Widnyana, called Gus De, the coordinator of our GIEU abroad experience program in Bali. Students talking with women harvesting rice. more fruitful. I was Photos by Augustini 7 Undergraduate Summer in Viet Nam

By Jessie Schrettner Thanks to the Global Intercultural Experience for Undergradu- learned about the hardships that are encountered by children ates program, 14 U-M students, most of whom had never met with disabilities as well as the staggering number of children before, went on a month’s journey to Viet Nam, a place most who do not receive an education in this region. of us had never thought we would be able to visit in our near futures. At Kids First Village we spent our time doing various tasks ranging from physical work to quilting and basket weaving, The GIEU program, a 3-4 week internship program, had 13 and we also painted three murals. Two of them, the logos field sites in the summer of 2009, each with an objective and for Kids First Village as well as the program Child Vision, were a goal to accomplish. Ours was to understand Viet Nam’s painted on the dormitory wall. We designed the third our- growing economic power as well selves, and it depicts the various activi- as see the ramifications of a war ties we participated in while in Viet Nam. in which our own country was The focus is on two hands that make up involved. To say some of us were the foundation of the mural and at the nervous was an understatement. bottom it reads “We Are One” in both We were going to a place that Vietnamese and English. most of us had only seen in mov- ies about war. But we also knew This was a trip of a lifetime. We expe- decades had passed, and trav- rienced things that many of us never eled to Viet Nam with curiosity imagined we could or would. We at- and open minds. tempted to learn Vietnamese, met college students who showed us the ins Although we had had a number and outs of Hanoi, took overnight trains, of pre-departure meetings to experienced home stays, hiked through learn about Viet Nam, our arrival rice paddies, went on boat trips in the in Hanoi was still full of surprises. Mekong Delta, explored a cave, visited The sights, sounds, and smells multiple Viet Nam War sites, memorials , were different, but in a wonder- and museums, tried so many new foods, ful way. As we drove into the and met remarkable people along the city on the bus, our eyes were Back (from left to right): Jamie Klein, Jessie Schrettner, way. riveted out the windows; there Michael Kolton, Alex Nguyen, Sophia Mannisto, Adam was always something new to Heilala; Center : Sandra Forlemu, Kari Szakal, Cynthia I no longer think of war when Viet Nam see, and I for one did not want to Yoon, Alexandra Banks, Marlee Cook-Parrott, is mentioned. Viet Nam is a country miss a thing. Michelle Seager. Front: ThuyAnh Nguyen, Mindy Salinaz, of rich culture, beautiful scenery, and Lindy Zhang, David Smith welcoming people. In the end, it can be One of the reasons we loved our difficult to put into words exactly what particular trip so much was be- we saw, how we felt, and how wonderful cause we were lucky enough to travel throughout the country this trip was for all of us. Hopefully many other U-M under- beginning in the north and working our way south to the graduates will have the opportunity to travel to Southeast Mekong Delta. One of the key stops during our travels was Asia and find out firsthand how incredible it is. the town of Dong Ha near the 17th parallel. This is where we spent nearly two weeks doing volunteer work at the educa- Jessie Schrettner is a senior Psychology major from Romeo, tional and vocational training school “Kids First Village”, which Michigan. Her Facebook status earlier this summer read “Viet is managed by Viet Nam War veteran John Ward. There we Nam: the best trip of my life!”

Undergraduate Summer Internships and Fellowships David Watnick’s account of his intern- This summer, four students spent time in sales and customer service for 3M Corpo- ship at the U.S. Consulate General in Ho SE Asia on internships connected to the ration in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Chi Minh City is on page 9. Center or the International Institute. Through the Law School’s Cambodian Finally Jane Shim (Political Science major Through a program of the Center for Law Project, funded in part by the Inter- from Ypsilanti, MI), studied first-year Thai International Business Education (CIBE), national Institute, and run by Prof. Nick at SEASSI in Madison, WI, on fellowship. Tyler Frank (History major from Grand Rine, Eric Couillard (Asian Studies major Rapids, MI), and Benjamin Woll (Politi- from Plymouth, MI), worked with Tiny We are always looking for more op- cal Science and History major from Glen Toones, an organization using hip-hop to portunities for undergradautes in the Rock, NJ), spent two months interning in reach Phonm Penh’s street kids. region, and welcome your thoughts. 8 Student News

Antonette Fulbright-Hays for Papua New Guinea expects to pick up a Graduate Certificate Adiova (PhD, (which she will use from February – in Southeast Asian Studies along with his Musicology) December 2010), and a NOAA [National doctorate. [email protected] conducted Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- dissertation tion] Nancy Foster Scholarship, a pres- Joshua Monthei (MA, SE Asian Studies research in tigious grant for marine conservation and Urban Planning) spent this summer Bicol in the work. [email protected] in Bangkok, Thailand researching his joint Philippines this summer Hillary Brass (PhD, Anthropology) through a writes: “I went to Indonesia for about grant from one month on a Rackham Gradu- the Center ate Student Research Grant to make for World Antonette Adiova in the moun- contacts and find a sponsor for my Performance tains of Bicol. research. Then I went to SEASSI (South- Studies. She east Asian Studies Summer Institute) is examining forms of music, dance and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison related festivals in the Bicol region, to ana- to study Javanese, funded by a Summer lyze what makes the Bicol region distinc- FLAS, where I was also nominated for the tive from other regions in the Philippines. Usha Mahajani Award for excellence in A university student fills out a survey on Bangkok Antonette will continue her research with graduate student language learning at mass transit, for research by Joshua Monthei. a Rackham Humanities Research Candi- SEASSI. I will be doing fieldwork next year dacy award. [email protected] and am applying for grants for that this thesis to be completed in the Southeast year.” [email protected] Asian Studies and Urban Planning depart- Catherine Benson (PhD, Natural Resourc- ments. He investigated the mass transit es) writes “My dissertation will investigate Jennifer Epley (PhD, Political Science) system in Bangkok and surveyed transit how international institutions, both attended the Indonesia Council Open riders, looking for insights into social corporations and non-government orga- Conference in Sydney in July 2009 and the inequities inherent to transportation in nizations (NGOs), design marine conserva- annual American Political Science Associa- a huge Southeast Asian capital. Josh re- tion interventions and the role of these tion meeting held in Toronto in Septem- ceived an International Institute Individual initiatives in transforming individuals and ber. She has been awarded a Rackham Fellowship summer travel grant and an institutions. By combining institutional Dissertation Fellowship for Winter 2010 to individual MA award from the Center ethnography in multiple locations and write up her research on political par- for Southeast Asian Studies, and writes, place-based rural ethnographic work in ticipation and religion in Indonesia. This “without these awards the trip would Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Cambodia, fall, she is teaching Political Science 140: have been impossible!” He is applying for I seek to understand the pressures and Introduction to Comparative Politics and several grants for the coming year, includ- processes that lead corporations and is on the job market ing a Fulbright to continue his NGOs to craft new marine conservation for positions as an as- research in Thailand. efforts; how actors in these institutions sistant professor. [email protected] govern themselves in ways that enable or [email protected] constrain broader social interactions; and Bretton Dimick, (MA, SE how marine conservation interventions in Marco Garrido (PhD, Asian Studies; PhD, Musicol- PNG interact with landowner interests in Sociology) is in Manila ogy) married Alyssa Worsham, engaging with corporate and NGO actors.” for a year, carry- who graduated from U-M Law Catherine has put together an impressive ing out dissertation School and took a job at Baker list of awards to support her research in fieldwork funded by a and McKenzie’s office in Hanoi, both Cambodia and Papua New Guinea: Fulbright-Hays fellow- where Bretton is carrying out A SEASSI Summer FLAS for Beginning ship. His topic is “Civil dissertation research on a Khmer, a Fulbright IEE for Cambodia, and ‘Uncivil’ Society: classical musical performance which she declined to take a Boren Fel- Symbolic Boundaries style in northern Viet Nam on a lowship for Cambodia (which she will and Civic Exclusion in Marco Garrido enjoying his Fulbright fellowship. use from August – December 2009), a Metro Manila.” Marco time in Manila. [email protected] 9

Nasy Pfanner (MA, Education) tells us “I spent most of the summer in western Austria, where my husband is from. Dur- ing the summer I studied for the GRE; I am in the process of applying for PhD programs all over the country, including at Michigan. With good karma I hope to be a doctoral student in Fall 2010. I also flew to New York twice to participate in workshops with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. They are training me to be an Oral Proficiency Tester in the Lao language.” Nasy has since completed her certification process. [email protected] (L-R): Hao Jie, Emily Seimer, Steve Beers, our new MA cohort. Rebecca Townsend (MA, SE Asian Stud- ies) attended the Thai language program New SEAS MA Students at SEASSI with a summer FLAS. This The Center welcomes three new MA students to our program this fall. They are: year, she is working on her MA thesis on women in Thai soap operas, and will be Steve Beers is originally from Kent, Ohio and received his B.A. in Political Science from applying to PhD programs. John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. As an undergraduate, Steve was active in [email protected] campus social justice organizations, spending time volunteering with the Catholic Worker Community and participating in successful campaigns to affiliate John Carroll

University with the Workers’ Rights Consortium and to bring fair trade products to cam- Nathaniel Tuohy (MA, SE Asian Studies) pus cafes. Steve got his first hands-on experience in Southeast Asia after graduation, studied Javanese at SEASSI on a FLAS spending a year as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Central Java, Indonesia. fellowship at UW-Madison this past sum- Upon returning to the U.S., he has been working as an intern in the United Auto Work- mer. He was one of three students in the ers International Union Research Department in Detroit, MI. As a Southeast Asian Stud- Javanese program and the only ‘interme- ies MA student, Steve will continue his study of Indonesian and his research will focus diate’ student thanks to the availability of on the formation of trade unions and worker organizations in post-Suharto Indonesia. Javanese language at U-M. He will be ap- [email protected] plying for PhD programs in Asian Studies and Anthropology in the coming year, and Hao Jie graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) in July with a major is assisting CSEAS Program Officer Charley in Southeast Asian Language and Culture and a concentration in Laotian language and culture. He is a native speaker of Chinese with skills in Lao and Thai. He taught Chinese Sullivan with an outreach project, creating to the staff of the Lao PDR Embassy in Beijing and escorted a delegation from Laos to materials on Dutch colonialism in Indone- the 11th International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Junior Champi- sia for Michigan high school faculty teach- onships. Hao, as he likes to be called, worked as a research assistant for Professor Yang ing World History. [email protected] Baoyun at the School of International Studies in Peking University and went on to be a visiting scholar at the National University of Laos. While in Laos he landed an internship in the administrative office of Sanjiang Chinese Shopping Mall. Hao is particularly interested in political systems and public policies of Laos and Thailand and also in economic issues in the greater Mekong subregion. [email protected]

Emily Siemer grew up in Ohio, but has been living in the St. Louis area. For the past ten years, she has worked at the local CBS and PBS affiliates as a television engineer. It was Eva, her 7 year-old daughter, that inspired Emily to begin her bachelor’s degree in 2004. She graduated summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2008, with a double major in Political Science and Philosophy. Although the war in Viet Nam was a presence throughout her childhood as the daughter of an Army Captain stationed there in the 1960’s, it was not until Emily returned to Southeast Asia with her father that modern Viet Nam captured her research interest. Her primary focus is political theory in Southeast Asia, particularly the intersection of nationalism and capitalism in Viet Nam, organic government transformations, and the dissonant ideologies that Rebecca Townsend, (third from the right, in pink,) and undergird the modern state. Emily will begin Vietnamese language study in the fall, U-M undergraduate Jane Shim (left, in white) at the and hopes to return to Viet Nam frequently for research. SEASSI Culture Night, in Madison WI. 10 Student News

New Doctoral Students Recent MA Graduates in Southeast Asian Studies The Center conferred three MA degrees in Southeast Asian Studies James Atkinson is starting the PhD Program in Political in the August 2009 commencement. Science in the fall of 2009. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Stuart Gross, who received Chapel Hill with a BA in Political Science his JD degree from U-M in and Religious Studies in 2001, and with an May 2004, completed course- MBA from Ohio State University in 2005. work for his MA in Southeast James has had a variety of work experiences Asian Studies, and received including 2 years in sales with Pfizer phar- the degree this past August. maceuticals in Ohio, 1 year teaching English Stuart’s MA essay, entitled in Thailand, and 2 years working with an “Malaysia’s Opposition to an international NGO in El Salvador, Pakistan Agreement on Transparency and Cambodia. He speaks Thai and Spanish in Government Procurement” and is engaged to be married in December. was completed in 2004. It [email protected] Judith Becker, Sony Bolton and James Atkinson in seminar. examined Malaysian government procurement law and Jason Coráñez Bolton, “although I go by policies and their relation- ‘J’ or ‘Sony’ generally,” has joined the PhD program in American Jessica Craft completed her ship to stalled efforts in the Culture in Asian and Pacific Islander and Latino Studies. Born MA essay entitled “Malaysia’s WTO to negotiate an agree- in Olongapo City, Philippines, he immigrated with his fam- Educational System: Lan- ment covering government ily to the United States when he was very young. He is from guage and Identity.” During procurement. The project the Chicagoland area and received his BA and MA degrees in her time at Michigan, Jessica resulted in a co-authored Spanish Language and Literature at Marquette University in spent the summer of 2007 article in the European Journal Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His doctoral work will focus on the His- studying Malay language at of International Law, a peer- panic literature of the Philippines during the 19th century and the Universiti Kebangsaan reviewed Oxford University the epistemology of colonialism in early colonial Philippines, Malaysia, and six months in publication. The New Zealand mainly looking at the process of Spanish Christianization. Sony Malaysia in 2008 continuing and Australian governments writes, “I hope to continue my studies of manifest hispanicity in her language study and doing used the thesis and Stuart’s modern Philippine and Filipino-American literature and culture field research for her thesis. related advice in trade nego- (particularly as they interact with non-normative sexualities), [email protected] tiations with the Malaysian and will use my FLAS fellowship for Filipino/Tagalog to explore government in 2004 and more “indigenous” literature and culture of the Philippines.” Thipasone (Tutu) Phimvi- 2005. After graduating from Sony is also the recipient of a Rackham Merit Fellowship, and engkham, recently com- Law School, Stuart studied participated in the Rackham Graduate Student Summer Insti- pleted her MA essay entitled for the New York Bar, worked tute for Rackham Merit Fellows. [email protected] “Xieng Mieng: An Examina- with a law firm in New York tion of an Early Lao Folk hero.” City, and wrote a piece on the Bradley Cardozo is a new doctoral student in Anthropol- Tutu lives in the Washington, Indonesian Supreme Court ogy. He writes, “I am from San Jose, California; my parents are DC area, and was recently for the American Journal of from Kamarines Norte in the Bikol region of the Philippines. hired by the Foreign Service Comparative Law. In May I received my BA in Anthropology and Asian Studies from Institute of the Department 2006, he left New York to take Cornell University. I was able to study abroad for a year at of State to teach Lao on a a position as a judicial law the University of the Philippines - Diliman, and after graduat- one-year contract. In addition, clerk with a federal district ing from Cornell in 2007, I spent three months at the De La she runs her own company, court judge in San Francisco. Salle University campuses of Cavite and Manila as part of the Gokhokho Publishing (GKK) Since August 2007, after tak- Advanced Filipino Abroad Program. I then spent nine months whose website can be found ing the California Bar, he has in Bandung, Indonesia at Universitas Padjadjaran through the at www.gokhokho.com. Tutu been working for the law firm Darmasiswa Scholarship Program, studying the Indonesian na- writes, “I have four products of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy. tional language and cultures. I will be joining the Anthropology coming down the pike and He represents a number of Department for my PhD, focusing on Southeast Asian Studies, will be on the market in 2010. California cities, counties particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. I am interested in I worked for Radio Free Asia and transit agencies in cases socio-political movements of minority groups in Southeast as a Lao broadcaster and pro- related to the current financial Asia, including those of both ethnolinguistic minorities and duction engineer for 7 years crisis, which, he writes, “keeps LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) populations.” before starting GKK.” me very busy.” [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 11 Students in the Field

Getting Buzzed in Ho Chi Minh City by David Watnick practicing diplomacy over 40 hours a week. In the summer of 2008, I had the good fortune of participating In both work and leisure, in the rewarding, educational, and entertaining Southeast Asian the buzz of Ho Chi Minh Summer Seminar in Indonesia. I was so enamored with my ex- City — a raging bastion of perience that, immediately upon arriving home, I began looking street-level capitalism — for avenues to return to Southeast Asia. I applied for a summer was impossible to ignore. internship with the Department of State, designating Viet Nam It was a buzz that, in the as my first choice, and was ecstatic to hear in December that I matter of days, turned from David Watnick on the Mekong had been selected to work at the U.S. Consulate General in Ho intimidating to intoxicating. Chi Minh City. In my acceptance letter, my superiors specifically Walking the streets of the noted my experience in Indonesia, as well as my work with the city dodging motorbikes, I couldn’t help but feel I was witnessing Center for Southeast Asian Studies, as primary reasons I was a critical moment in Viet Nam’s development. In 12 weeks there, I chosen from among a massive field of candidates. saw changes that would happen over the course of years in most cities. Peering out of my apartment window on my last day in the Living and working in Ho Chi Minh City was, simply, the greatest city, I counted 18 high-rise-construction cranes in my immediate practical application of education I could fathom. I was equally line of sight. enthralled with interviewing factory union leaders during the workweek and with seeking out off-the-beaten-path restaurants Never before have I had such an exciting job or educational ex- on my weekends. I had the opportunity to travel all over the perience. After two wildly successful summers in Southeast Asia, provinces surrounding Ho Chi Minh City to participate in meet- my resolve to return to the region after graduation could not be ings with prominent political and business figures, and in the stronger. I know I have much more to learn, but I’m confident process I strengthened my understanding of both Vietnamese that my experiences will take me far. culture and the practical issues which face Vietnamese citizens on a daily basis. It was the perfect combination: I was on perma- David Watnick is a senior from Birmingham, MI. He is in the first nent vacation, but I was also learning about Southeast Asia and class of undergraduate majors in the Ford School of Public Policy.

Focus: Thai Collections at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library

The University of Michigan pre-1946 Thai imprints. The to make the collection more But more important than Graduate Library’s materials Gedney collection relates to integrated and representative sheer numbers is the sense from Thailand are a jewel, all phases of Thai cultural life of more subject fields. By the users experience that they are ranking not only among and history (concentrating on late 1980’s, the holdings re- being presented with some the three most senior col- the various activities of the ceived considerable attention, sense of Thailand in its print- lections in North America, kings of the Chakri dynasty) including a visit to the library ed completeness. The current but arguably also the best. including records of the by the Royal Secretary of the collection has broadened be- The growth of the collection political struggle of Thailand King, who stated that “Thai- yond the early concentration dates from the 1960’s, a time to retain political and cultural land itself did not have such on language, literature, and of the burgeoning of foreign integrity against Western and an extensive collection.” history to include economic area studies centers, when Japanese penetration. A and social conditions, politics, the holdings in both indig- grant from the National En- Over the past quarter century, and indeed every category enous and western languages dowment for the Humanities under the careful attention of that reflects how the country entered the modern era, the enabled the Southeast Asia Ms. Go and of Sujira Mee- sees itself and is viewed by result of the work of bibliogra- Division to process the mate- sanga, a singularly qualified others. The collection is also phers in cooperation with two rials in a consistent transliter- indigenous language catalog- now more accessible, as Ms. of America’s early Southeast ated format, which became ing expert, and assisted by a Meesanga was the first one Asian scholarly pioneers, the standard for all libraries series of student assistants in the country to contribute William J. Gedney in Thai to follow. The new bibliog- from Southeast Asia, the col- to a double entry cataloging language and literature, and rapher at the time, Fe Susan lection has approached forty system, enabling scholars David Wyatt in Thai history. Go, thoroughly evaluated the thousand titles, bolstered in and students to view catalog- collection, and the materials’ part through regular travel ing records in both Thai and The Thai offerings grew fragility prompted her to seek to Thailand and other South- transliterated formats, and significantly in 1984, with the support of the Southeast east Asian nations to identify to use it in conjunction with the donation of Bill Gedney’s Asia Microform Project (SEAM) and purchase important and in-country materials for the personal collection of close to preserve them. She also unique materials to augment betterment of scholars all to nine thousand volumes of acquired additional materials the holdings. over the world. 12 Amnuay Viravan, An Appreciation

mater), and of the American University the Grand Palace, meetings with top ex- By Linda Lim Alumni Association of Thailand. ecutives of Bangkok Bank, the Chulalong- korn University President and the Dean I first met Dr. Amnuay Viravan (U-M MBA Dr. Amnuay served his country with of the Chulalongkorn Business School 1954, MA Economics 1957, PhD 1959, distinction both in the public sector, in- and our many alumni on the faculty Hon. LLD 1990) in the mid-to-late-1980s. cluding as Chairman of the National Eco- there (like the Dean, all of them women, Dr. Amnuay visited Ann Arbor after my nomic and Social Development Board, a distinctive feature of the Thai busi- now-retired Business faculty colleagues Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ness landscape). We also experienced Paul McCracken, Vern Terpstra and Gunt- Finance, and Chairman of the Board of the unexpected thrill of driving down er Dufey and I connected or reconnected many state enterprises, and in the private the wrong side of the road with a police with him, in part through activities of the sector, as Chairman of Saha Union, Ex- escort vehicle ahead of us, all sirens and CSEAS Southeast Asia Business Program. ecutive Chairman of the Bangkok Bank, flashing lights, to bypass Bangkok’s traffic Chairman of the Board of several other jams. And we enjoyed a wonderful din- Dr. Amnuay, who had already served the Thai listed companies, and Vice-President ner at Amnuay and Samonsri’s elegant first of his two terms as Minister of Fi- of the Association of Thai Industries. home with members of their family. nance, was very much “the face of Michi- gan” in Thailand. His accomplish- In January 1998 Dr. Amnuay was ments were a source of pride and the keynote speaker at our an- inspiration to the many Thai U-M nual Asia Business Conference, students and alumni. As recently as giving our students the rare a few years ago, some of my Thai privilege of hearing his first- students told me that they applied person account of the collapse “only to Michigan” for graduate of the Thai baht in July 1997, the school “because of Dr. Amnuay” first event of the Asian financial even though few knew him per- crisis. Unable to bring the frac- sonally and he had retired from tious Thai parliament to agree to public life. Sriwan Tangjaitrong necessary fiscal policy changes, (now Sriwan Chan), a CSEAS MA, Dr. Amnuay resigned as Minister attributes her parents sending all of Finance two weeks before their children abroad to the U.S. the baht’s collapse, and remains for higher education, in part to the to economists one of the rare example set by Dr. Amnuay’s father. U-M delegation to Bangkok, June 2008, with U-M Alumni Associa- “good guys” in that event; post- tion of Thailand leaders, at the home of Dr. Amnuay and Khunying crisis, he was also critical of the As a fellow Southeast Asian Samonsri Viravan IMF’s excessive fiscal austerity economist studying the economic targets. development of Southeast Asia, I admired Dr. Amnuay for his recognized Dr. Amnuay was awarded our Univer- Dr. Amnuay has always been very much leading role in developing growth-induc- sity’s highest honor in 1990, an honorary the internationalist, serving on the ing export manufacturing in Thailand by doctorate for which CSEAS was pleased Asia-Pacific Advisory Councils of multi- Thai national companies like Saha Union to support the Business School’s nomina- nationals such as AT&T, Caterpillar and and Siam Cement, in sectors dominated tion. He also has honorary doctorates United Technologies, as a director of the by Western and Japanese multination- from Chulalongkorn University, the Asian Bankers’ Association, the Asia- als in neighboring countries. I and other National Institute of Development Ad- Pacific Banking Council and the ASEAN academics interviewed him for our work, ministration, and Khon Kaen University. Finance Corp., and as Vice-President of and he has always been generous to us Both Dr. Amnuay and his wife Samonsri the ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and with his time, thoughts and contacts. (U-M MBA 1957) have received many Industries. He was Thailand’s Minister of decorations from the Crown of Thailand, Foreign Affairs in 1996, and both he and A strong believer in the value of aca- including the honorific of Khunying by I are Trustees Emeriti of The Asia Society demic education, and highly respected which Samonsri is now known. in New York, whose current President, Dr. by academics himself, Dr. Amnuay has Vishakha Desai, is, like us, a U-M PhD (Art served on the governing board, advisory When in 1993 Center for International History 1984). council or visiting committee of the Business Education (CIBE) Director Brad Asian Institute of Management, INSEAD, Farnsworth and I accompanied then Dr. Amnuay is also a philanthropist, and Michigan (now Ross) Business School, Business Dean B. Joseph White on “the we at his alma mater have been fortu- Siam University and East-West Center, first visit to Thailand of a Michigan Dean,” nate beneficiaries of his generosity. In and is former President of the Accoun- Dr. Amnuay, then Deputy Prime Minister 1993 he contributed $100,000 toward tancy Alumni Association of Chulalong- (1992-94, 1995-97), arranged a wonderful the Paul McCracken endowed chair in korn University (his undergraduate alma visit for us. This included a private visit to Business Administration, in honor (con’t, next page) 13 Southeast Asia on Campus

When visitors walked into Vietnamese something real, but not real,” Tuan says, artist Tuan Tran’s exhibition, sắc sắc, “If you win today, you might lose tomor- không không, which hung in the School row. When we calm down, we can do of Art and Design’s State Street gallery, things better. This makes life enjoyable.” Work, in June and July, 2009, they were greeted by a series of scroll-like paint- Tuan’s process for creating the paintings, ings hung high on the walls of a dimly however, reflects the hard life of Viet- lit studio and the occasional sound of namese farmers planting rice. It is diffi- a Vietnamese Buddhist monk chanting cult work, he says. The farmers must care the Prajnaparamitahridaya (Heart of about the rain, but they must harvest in Perfect Wisdom) Sutra in low and gut- the hot sun, dry the rice, then husk it and tural strains. The series of paintings on polish it. “It takes many steps before you screen with oyster powder are not about can eat the rice.” Similarly, he painted his Buddhism, Tuan insists. Instead, they are figures on the screen, dried the screen intended to evoke his memories of going in the sun, washed it and added shell to the local temple (chuà) in Hanoi with powder with a metal brush, and would his grandmother when he was a boy. then subject it to “dry and water, dry and water” before producing a final piece. The images recall the many statues in the neighborhood chuà, placed high on Tuan has been in the United States for altars, semi-hidden in the dim light of four years now, much of it at the Uni- heavy curving roofs. The statues were to versity of Michigan and the School of be revered, and also deferred to – “don’t Art and Design, while his wife, Huan, look at their faces,” Tuan’s grandmother works on an MA in Chinese Studies. He would say, “respect them and we can get will be in Ann Arbor for one more year, something back.” But the statues, particu- and his emerging work is expanding on larly those of goddesses with their red the idea of portraits in the dark. “Our old lips and cheeks, their burgeoning breasts houses in Viet Nam are always dark, full and swaying hips, like Tuan’s paintings, of shadows.” His current distance from beckon the eye. Viet Nam reflects this as well. “The further away from Viet Nam I am, the better I feel The exhibition may be more about about Viet Nam; you can see what you memory than religious belief, but Tuan’s want to see in the dark.” work nonetheless explores a concept central to much of Southeast Asian Bud- dhism. The title, sắc sắc, không không, taken from the sutra playing in the space, Left: Khong Khong 34, (60”x15”) expresses the idea that all appearances water-based paint on pounded shell scrim. are empty, that life is transitory. “It is

Amnuay, con’t We are most pleased to name this fund To date, significant additional contri- of his distinguished faculty advisor. In the Amnuay-Samonsri Viravan Endow- butions to the endowment have been 2007 the Thai Embassy in the U.S. gave ment for Thai Studies at the University received from the U-M President’s CSEAS the first of three annual gifts of Michigan, reflecting their longstand- challenge match for study-abroad, Saha totalling $256,000 for a permanent Thai ing dedication to academia and the Union Corporation, Bank of Thailand, Studies endowment, in recognition of advancement of U.S.-Thai relations. Dow Chemical Corporation, Ford Motor U-M’s academic leadership, scholarly The endowment will fund scholarships Company, Amway Corporation, Wells distinction, extensive resources, and for Thai language study, study-abroad Fargo Bank, Prof. Gunter Dufey, CSEAS half-century of commitment to the study programs and internships for American alumni Jay Yoshioka (MBA/MA) and of Thailand. In June 2008 during a high- students, visits by Thai scholars to Michi- Sriwan (Tangjaitrong) Chan (MA) and level U-M delegation to Bangkok and a gan, research by Michigan faculty on and Stanley Chan (MSE), and Thailand alumni major event attended by 200 alumni (see in Thailand, and conferences, lectures Ekachai (LLM) and Nattaya (MAE) Chainu- CSEAS Fall 2008 Newsletter), Dr. Amnuay and outreach programs that will increase vati. We hope that some of you will add announced his $200,000 contribution and improve knowledge about Thailand your contributions to the nearly $600,000 to this Thai Studies endowment, which among academic, business and profes- already received, to help us reach our he has since delivered. He is working to sional communities, and the general target of $1million in commitments by obtain other gifts from Thai corporations. public, in the U.S. and globally. the end of 2009. Center for Southeast Asian Studies 1080 S. University, Ste. 3603 Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106 734.764.0352 (Phone) 734.936.0996 (Fax) www.ii.umich.edu/cseas

Entering the Temple

The entrance to Vietnamese artist Tuan Tran’s exhibit, “sắc sắc, không không” at Work, a gallery space on State Street in Ann Arbor for the School of Art and Design. Tuan’s collection of pieces exploring his memories of his visits to a neighborhood temple with his grandmother, was displayed in June and July. For more on Tuan Tran’s work, please see the inside back cover.