The 2019 Southeast Asia Forum (SEAF) focused on SEAC’s core research themes of urbanisation, connectivity and governance in relation to contemporary affairs in Southeast Asia. The full programme is below and you can see the full photo gallery .
PROGRAMME
08.30: Registration, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Shaw Library
09.00 Opening Segment:
ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Director Opening Welcome Speech:
Director, The London School of Economics and Political Science
Opening Remarks from Forum Chair
Professor Hyun Bang Shin
Professor of Geography and Urban Studies and Director of Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳
Opening Keynote:
H.E. Mr Pisanu Suvanajata
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United Kingdom
"Partnership and Sustainability for Thailand and ASEAN for the Future”
10.10 Urbanisation segment
Keynote (Chaired by , ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Department of International Development):
President of Singapore Management University
“Scaling Smartness, (De)Provincialising The City? The ASEAN Smart Cities Network and the predictable politics of technocratic regionalism”
Panel Discussion: Smart Cities in Southeast Asia
Panel Brief: Many countries around the world are trying to promote new, often branded as ‘smart’, cities as solutions to existing urban problems. How effective are such projects and what are their implications for urban futures?
Director of Research, Khazanah Research Institute, Kuala Lumpur
"Smart Urbanism and the common good"- Executive Director, Rujak Center for Urban Studies, Jakarta
"Citizen Urbanism and Smart City: contestation or collaboration?"
Principal Consultant (Sustainable and Resilient Cities)
AECOM
"Interpretations of smartness in tackling urban development challenges in Southeast Asia"
Panel Chair:
- Professor Hyun Bang Shin
Professor of Geography and Urban Studies and Director of Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳
12.45: Lunch Break
13.45: Connectivity segment:
Panel Discussion: The impact of the Belt & Road Initiative on infrastructure and politics in Southeast Asia
Panel Brief: We hear a lot about BRI in terms of it being a China-initiated transnational scheme, but what are the (geo-)politics of infrastructure resulting from the BRI, which spans across geographies? And what does this mean for the people of the region?
Professor emeritus of International Studies,
University of Leiden
"'The seas that bind us: ASEAN connectivity and China's BRI'"
Research Fellow at the Nanyang Centre for Public Administration, Nanyang Technological University
“Is China Buying up Southeast Asia? Investment, Infrastructure, and Development”
Head of Asia Pacific Programme,
Chatham House
Panel Chair:
- ,
SEAC Associate and Sir Patrick Gillam Chair in International and Comparative Politics
Department of Government, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳
15.35: Governance segment:
Keynote (Chaired by Prof. Hyun Bang Shin, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ SEAC):
Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) of University of the Philippines Manila and Executive Director of Philrights
“Human Rights as the Foundation of Good Governance: The Ironies of the Philippine Experience”
Panel Discussion: Electoral politics in Southeast Asia from a grassroots perspective
Panel Brief: 2019 has been an active and dramatic year for electoral politics in Southeast Asia and has rightly received a lot of attention. The grassroots perspective of these elections has however frequently been neglected. To what extent do issues surrounding race, ethnicity, gender, class, age and religion play a role in understanding electoral politics in the region? And what are the impacts, both positive and negative, of new technologies in relation to grassroots activities relating to elections?
Academy Associate,
Chatham House
"How securitisation of the internet challenges democratic gains in Southeast Asia" - ,
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Digital Media and Global Network Society,
Carleton University Canada
"Nationalism, Religion, and Media for Electoral Politics in Southeast Asia"
- Co-Founder & General Secretary,
FORSEA (Forces of Renewal for Southeast Asia)
"The Electoral Politics of 'Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Class and Faith in post-Independence Colonial States in Southeast Asia"
Panel Chair:
- ,
SEAC Associate and Associate Professor,
Department of Anthropology, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳
18.00: Post-Forum Reception in the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Senior Common Room