Students show Southeast Asian culture

Senior Alvin Tan, one of the hosts of the Southeast Asia night, asked for a volunteer from the audience.

A young boy raised his hand and rushed to the stage.

Tan asked him, “Do you know which region Vietnam is from?”

The little boy had no idea. Another member of the audience, a little girl in a purple, flowery dress answered. “It’s in Southeast Asia,”

Last Saturday was Southeast Asia Night for the IU student organizations that represent countries in that region.

Win Yee Ho, a junior, said six organizations were represented at the Southeast Asia night; the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The Southeast Asia night has grown to include all of these organizations through the years.

“This year we had Indonesia join us,” Ho said, “They used to have their own Indonesia night. This year they decided to join us, so everyone knows about Southeast Asia cultures, instead of just one country.”

Even though there are 10 Southeast Asian countries in the world, little more than half are represented. Ho said the other countries tend to lack student manpower. For instance, Myanmar has fewer than 5 students attend IU.

“They say that there are no Cambodians at IU and Laos, they don’t have any here. We have more man power so we can represent many cultures,” Ho said.

From Malaysian Batik silk scarves , to Indonesian miniature Ondel Ondel puppets, to Filipino Manny Pacquio “Pac Man” Nike Shoes, all six of the student organizations showed a piece of their country’s culture at their booths. Some wore extravagant, golden dresses, like the students from Thailand; some wore bright, neon outfits like the dancers from Indonesia.

After the mingling and visiting of the booths came to an end, everyone sat down and watched Tan and his cohost lead the show with trivia questions such as “What is the national animal in Malaysia?” or “What is the capital of Thailand?”

 The show started with a dance performance by Indonesian students. Additionally, three students participated in a mixed-martial arts demonstration and Filipino dancers performed a Tinikling dance, which involves dancers tapping and sliding bamboo sticks.

Haley Rios, a sophomore with a Mexican and Filipino background, said joining the Filipino Student Association was her first time experiencing this side of her culture.

“Growing up, I was never really involved in my Asian culture, so I was really part of FSA for that reason, just to get to know a little bit more about the culture that I didn’t grow up with,” Rios said. “Coming to Southeast Asia night you get to learn about other cultures. I have never been to the Philippines, so it gives me a taste of what it is like.”

Senior Yi-Yang Chua was the main organizer of the event. Chua also serves as the president of the Malaysian Student Association. He said the student organizations started planning for this event in December and it means a lot to them.

“Its more of a way to show off our culture because we don’t have a global presence,” Chua said, “If you ask an average person in the world they probably couldn’t tell you where Malaysia is.”