Presentation 1 Reflection (Politics)

            This week’s presentation consisted of topics related to Southeast Asian politics such as Amerasian conflicts, contemporary Vietnamese politics, and economic relationships between China and Vietnam.  I found it interesting that these three topics were brought up and presented together to the class because there was no apparent theme that connected them altogether.  Although I found the political topics interesting, I found that each concept were very different from one other and lacked greatly in cohesiveness.  This led me to be feel that the presentation was bit confusing and in a sense, incomplete.

            I found Tien’s presentation of Amerasian problems quite intriguing and very informative.  He brought to light the issues of U.S. governmental involvement with Amerasians from many different Asian countries.  I think it is important for us to acknowledge all spectrums of the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the population of Amerasians deals greatly with the war.  I think it was a smart motive to see the political views pertaining to Amerasians because it did not only affect one ethnic group but many ethnic groups.  I was able to know a glimpse of its importance through Tien’s presentation.

            I found that the topic of contemporary Vietnamese politics to be a very broad concept to cover.  This was clearly evident in the presentation as well.  The article was very dense and there was way too much to cover through such a short presentation.  Along with article being a bit difficult to take in all at once, the presenter did not make a good job of clearing it up for the class.  The explanation of the article was very vague and I am still confused about what I am supposed to take away from it. 

            I found that the concept of economic relations between Vietnam and China particularly interesting.  I thought it was a good idea to tie in economic values within politics.  This presentation allowed us to see one of the conflicting relations of different ethnicities which in this case, dealt with Vietnam and China.  It was interesting to see that China has such a strong hold on Vietnam through benefits and power. 

            For the most part, the presentations were mediocre, but very one note.  I wish there was more analysis of the topics because I felt that most of the presentation composed of background information.  I wish there was more initiation of discussion and I would have liked to see each person’s opinion about the topic they were presenting.  Also, I would of also have liked to see a more diverse presentation such as politics from a different related ethnicity other than Vietnam.  I think we got a strong hold on Vietnamese politics, but it would have been nice to know information about Cambodia or Laos. 

            Overall, I think some topics might be a little too broad and there still needs to be some fine tuning for a paper.  There needs to be more cohesiveness.  Some questions to think about are:  What are some possibly explanations for the outcome of Vietnamese politics today? How has the Amerasian population dealt with the acts?  What will happen if Vietnam did not follow through for China economically?
 - Mimi Dao