Asia conference invites thoughtful dialogue

Editor’s note: Michael Penn, associate editor of On Wisconsin magazine, reported on the groundbreaking Asia 2000 conference in Bangkok, Thailand. The international gathering aimed to promote closer relationships among Asian friends of UW–Madison and to increase awareness of the vision for the future of the university. See Penn’s daily reports on the Web.

Sometimes when former roommates meet after a long period apart, the gulf of time is bridged almost immediately. They pick up their friendships right where they last left them, as if they were still sharing leftover pizzas and dish duty.

This is how it has been for Conchita Poncini and Geeta Dethe, who, during the 1960s, lived together in an old house where Vilas Hall now stands. As international students, they had much in common – and much in contrast. As they learned about politics and social issues, Geeta, the product of the structured Indian society, and Poncini, a Filipina student who was already a firebrand activist, peppered the place with plenty of, shall we say, spirited discussions.

Since they left Madison, both women have built successful careers. Dethe, a journalism student, returned to India, where she became a pioneer in medical journalism and where she now owns a communications consulting firm. Poncini, who studied international relations, became active in the women’s rights cause and now heads the International Federation of University Women. Based in Geneva, she participates in United Nations work on women’s issues and was invited to the Asia 2000 conference as a speaker.

But it was an e-mail from Dethe that sealed her trip. Her old friend, whom she hadn’t seen in 20 years, got in touch to say she’d be in Bangkok for the Asia 2000 conference and maybe the two could relive old times. Relive them, indeed. Enjoying a Thai buffet by the pool, they were soon debating the proper courses of action for improving the dreadful poverty that affects so many people in the world, a disproportionate share of them women.

“We had come a few days early to see the sights,” says Dethe. “But it’s been like this every day, yakking away.”

Kim Santiago, who helped organize the conference for the Wisconsin Alumni Association, told attendees that “we can’t bring you Lake Mendota or the Union Terrace, and we certainly wouldn’t want to bring you winter. But we can bring you the opportunity for open, frank discussion.” Dethe and Poncini seemed to take the advice to heart.

As did many others. The Asia 2000 conference wasn’t a reunion so much as a revisiting of perspective. Old friends and new engaged in thoughtful dialogues, both in sessions and out, about the issues that affect our ever-shrinking world.

As Chancellor David Ward noted in his opening remarks, it only makes sense in a global economy to have a global university. To remain one of the world’s preeminent universities, UW–Madison must carry its reputation throughout the world.

It was with that motivation that Ward made his first trip to Thailand as chancellor five years ago, to launch a pilot program of intercooperation with government and university organizations there.

Many faculty, staff and students have followed since.

During the conference, university representatives met with Thai officials and alumni, touring facilities and forging ideas for working together. Professor Michael Hinden, for example, visited Thai universities to tout the Asian Partnership Initiative, which fosters cooperative programs between UW–Madison and Thai higher education. He helped finalize an agreement with the Thai Research Fund, signed at the conference, to enable Thai students to get financial help to study at UW–Madison. Tom German, a professor in the burgeoning biotechnology field, toured the National Center for Genetic Engineering in Bangkok and discussed possible joint ventures.

The UW group also recruited. About 100 Thai students, most from local universities, came to a presentation about educational opportunities at UW–Madison. Representatives from each college presented the highlights of the UW–Madison experience.

The turnout from this group testified to UW–Madison’s not-so-secret recruiting force in Thailand. Because so many Asian alumni are doctorate holders, there is quite a Wisconsin presence in Asian universities, especially in Thailand. The first student from Thailand to attend UW–Madison made the trip in 1917. Since then, more than 700 Thai residents have gone to UW–Madison, and the current number of Thai students – 165 as of the most recent semester – is the largest at any U.S. university.

Pornchai Matangkasumbut, president of Thailand’s prestigious Mahidol University, says UW alumni hold so many professorships that they have practically taken over Thai higher education. Many students who came to the recruiting session spoke of studying at Madison as being a pinnacle experience, of something that they deeply hope and aspire to do.

Likewise, there was plenty to learn on this side of the Pacific, as conference attendees found in Bangkok. With the benefit of worldly friends, attendees added new pages to their mental geography, learning to look at the world through other eyes.

Hosts arranged several forays to Bangkok’s many cultural treasures – temples and palaces built with the loving attention of a deeply devoted population. Just to walk through the streets of Bangkok – a difficult enough task without being run down by overzealous tuk-tuks or accosted by papaya-toting street vendors – wasn’t enough to understand this country.

Like so many of its neighbors, Thailand is still wobbly from the devastating Asian financial crisis. It, too, faces a rough and unpredictable election. The Thai constitution is brand new, and January’s elections will be its first test.

Richard Hecklinger, U.S. ambassador to Thailand, says relationships like UW–Madison’s ties in Thailand aren’t a matter of luxury but a necessity to ensure that economic stability and growth remain in the world’s most populous region.

“This is the time to turn those connections into action,” Hecklinger says. “It is absolutely critical now that countries like Thailand take their place as winners in the global community.”