Consulates and representatives from China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand will all gather this week for the Asian Studies Day presented by  Langara College.

The Asian Studies Program is unique in Canada. Beginning in 1983, it was the first two-year program in a Canadian community college to focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Having evolved substantially, the program is currently designed for university transfer students who seek a better understanding of the cultures of the Asia-Pacific region.

The courses and seminars that give students in-depth insight into the cultures of China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. South Asia and BC Asian societies are also surveyed in some courses. Students who take Asian Studies courses are very well prepared for transfer to Asian Studies and other social science departments in universities.The Program is popular with people who have worked or traveled in Asia, and who desire a deeper appreciation of the cultural patterns they have experienced. Many first generation Asian-Canadians and International students find the program insightful regarding their own backgrounds, and how Western social science perceives their native culture.

The greatest economic growth in the world is occurring in the Asia-Pacific. These nations are powering the new globalized economy, a situation that will not change in the foreseeable future. Knowledge of their international situations, their lifestyles and their cultural values is the key to creating and maintaining solid relationships with our Pacific neighbours.

The program will also include Asian cuisine demonstration of Indonesian, Japanese and Thai and a round table discussion on the Crisis in Burma (Myanmar). Burma is one of the world’s worst offenders of the human rights of its own people. Its citizens have suffered under a military dictatorship in different forms for the past 45 years.

Resistance to the military junta is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Recently, Buddhist monks protested in the streets of the capital and were brutally beaten by troops. Examples were aired on YouTube. The January 16 roundtable discussion will address these issues and others.