Sections

Southeast Asia Club is a student organization that focuses on educating the Brandeis community about the southeast countries of Asia. There are eleven countries in which SEAC emphasizes in its activities: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. SEAC holds biweekly meetings in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge, where the E-Board members create short presentations and discuss upcoming events, while dining on the delicious meals that the E-Board cooked up.

This year, SEAC is fundraising to send a few members over to the Philippines to help the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation rebuild villages for those who have lost their homes due to devastating weather. Because of this destruction, SEAC is hoping to raise enough money to assist this great team in reconstructing the lives of the people from a different part of the world.

During the fall semester, SEAC also holds or contributes to events such as Pan-Asian Food Night, the ICC’s involvement with the Greater Waltham Association for Retarded Citizens, and occasional guest speakers. One important event that SEAC coordinates in the fall is SEAC Week. This annual event lasts for three days just before the end of October. In this week, a special show given by Southeast Asian performers is presented (for free!) to the Brandeis community. This fun-filled week also includes Bizarre Food Night and Halo-Halloween.

There are many other SEAC events coming up this semester. On Oct. 21, SEAC co-sponsored Human Rights in Burma: Exiled Burmese Monks of the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Next week, Oct. 26, is the beginning of SEAC Week!

To start this week off, SEAC has booked a wonderful local Filipino group called Rondalla to perform in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

This event begins at 7 p.m., so be sure to come and grab a seat before you miss out on the amazing music and performances. After such a great night, SEAC Week continues on Oct. 29 with Bizarre Food Night in the ICC Swig Lounge. The name says it all: chicken feet, durian, dinuguan, silk worms, and even more. The night is filled with great tasting foods that only the brave dare to try.

Karaoke is also included to make a creepy night even more frightful! Following such a bizarre night is Halo-Halloween, which will also be held in the ICC Swig Lounge. On the night before Halloween, SEAC will create a delicious Filipino dessert that will start a party in your mouth.

This sinfully decadent dessert along with a terrorizing horror film (selected by the Japanese Student Association), will be the perfect preparation for a horror-filled Halloween night. SEAC Week not only helps set the mood for Halloween, but it gives you a chance to mingle with some old friends, chat up some cute new friends, and to learn about the different cultures of others who share in the same Brandeis community that you do. Be sure to stop by any of these events; you’re in for a real treat!