Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

AC Staff, Faculty Travel to India and Adelaide

Details
Category: News @ UP Asian Center

Asian Center Students Take Part in India-ASEAN Exchange Program

Katrina Navallo and Denzel Sarmiento, both Master in Asian Studies students of the Asian Center, together with 22 other Filipino student delegates, participated in the ten-day exchange program during which they traveled to Chennai, Pune, Delhi and Agra in India. Ms. Navallo headed the Philippine delegation. She and Mr. Sarmiento were joined by students from Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. 
 
Running from 17 November to 27 November 2013, the exchange program featured visits in and discussions with India's leading industries and companies such as Brakes India, Bharat Forge, Tata Motors, Sandvik Asia and Maruti Suzuki among others. They also included visits to the country's leading educational institutions like Film & TV Institute of India, Symbiosis International University and Foreign Service Institute, which hosted a forum and hi-tea with Ambassador Leela Ponappa, former Deputy National Security Advisor and Secretary of the National Security Council Secretariat. Other highlights of the visit include interaction with NGOs working with the Indian poor, such as World Vision Chennai, Cochlea Pune and Akanksha Foundation.
 
The program is an annual activity sponsored by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and Confederation of Indian Industry and works in cooperation with the Philippine National Youth Commission. 

PHOTO: Members of the Philippine Delegation with Ambassador Ponappa. Courtesy of  the India's Ministry of External Affairs' ASEAN-India Student Exchange Programme. 
 

Dr. Eduardo Tadem Delivers a Paper on Philippine Political Dynasties

Dr. Eduardo Tadem co-presented a paper, 'Political Dynasties in the Philippines: Persistent PAtterns, Perennial Problems' at a workshop, Political Dynasty in Southeast Asia. This was held from 15 to 16 November 2013 at the Flinders Asia Center, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia.

Professor Tadem and his co-author, Dr. Teresa Encarnacion Tadem of the University of the Philippines' Department of Political Science examine the general nature of Philippine political dynasties, the reasons for their continuing existence and their adverse impact on the country. This problem emanates basically from three factors: (1) the political and socio-economic foundations upon which political dynasties are built; 2) the inability to effectively implement Philippine constitutional provisions by enacting an enabling law; and 3) the weakness of potential countervailing forces that would challenge political dynasties.

PHOTO (From Left): Arnold Puyok (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak), Priyambudi Sulistiyanto, Workshop Organizer and Head, Flinders Asia Center, Dr Teresa Encarnacion Tadem, and Dr. Eduardo Tadem.

According to the organizers, the workshop 'brings together scholars from across Southeast Asia to share their research on political dynasties in the region to discuss questions including, why do political dynasties thrive in many Southeast Asian nations regardless of their political systems in place? Are modernisation and democratisation incompatible with dynastic and patrimonial politics?'

Paper presenters came from the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and local cases studies in Sabah, Central Java, and Central Kalimantan.