A Quirky Twist on Asian Tradition

Dressed in a hoodie and reflective sunglasses, Avinaash Subramaniam ’14 takes the stage. “Umi and Kaiyang, sittin’ in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” This skit—put on by the Harvard Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia Association (SIAMA)—went on to enact a marriage between a Chinese man and a Malaysian girl. Though their parents doubted that two such different cultures could ever produce a viable match, love won out in the end. After all, as Kaiyang Huan ’14 put it, “We both love supporting [English soccer team] Manchester United. And we both love malong food. And we both love supporting Manchester United while eating malong food!”

The performance was one of eight featured at Harvard Southeast Asia Night, which took place in the Leverett Dining Hall on April 23. While the audience enjoyed a Southeast Asian dinner featuring dishes from almost all of the represented cultures—Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Indian—student groups put on a variety of quirky performances designed both to showcase talent and to spread cultural awareness. Thuy-Dung Quan ’11, a performer in the Vietnamese dance troupe, said, “In Vietnam, at least, food is a very important part of socializing. We were going for the most authentic possible experience.”

While Coke machines still lurked beneath the paper lanterns lining the walls of the dining hall, the determination of the dancers and performers to share a part of their backgrounds created an authentic environment. Before nearly every performance, students shared videos that they had put together about their organization and the country that they represented. The Harvard Philippine Forum Dance Troupe showed a video in which a student wore a t-shirt bearing a map of the Philippines.  “I’m from—there!” said one student laughingly poking him hard in the ribs while joining other students in pointing out their hometowns. The video went on to comment on Filipino history, including over 300 years of Spanish occupation followed by nearly 50 years of U.S. occupation. The dance that followed—performed in traditional dress atop wooden benches stacked higher and higher as the performance went on—was a fusion of several of the Philippines’ cultural influences.

Before the audience was served iced Vietnamese coffee, members of the Harvard Vietnamese Association (HVA) took the stage with a skit about a young Vietnamese farm boy who wants to be a pop star instead of “majoring in lychee with a minor in rice paddies.” HVA also ended the night with a performance—in silk tunics and angular grass hats—of a more modern Vietnamese dance.

While Southeast Asia Night has been a Harvard tradition for several years, it evolves a little every time. According to one of the coordinators, Tho D. Nguyen ’13, the videos were a new addition this year. “We wanted to allow student groups to share something about their culture [on top of] the performance,” he said. Part of the goal of Southeast Asia Night is to defy the stereotype that Asian cultures are similar. “Usually, they get lumped together,” said Michael Truong ’13, adding that the night was created not just to celebrate the cultures, but also to showcase the individuality of each culture represented.

Other pieces included an acrobatic performance by the Harvard Wushu club, a performance of a Filipino folk ballad accompanied by a guitar, and a matchmaking event, in which a Cabot House sophomore was asked to choose from three potential suitors after asking them a few tough questions: “What’s your idea of good date?” and “If I were an ice cream, how would you lick me?”

Throughout the entire show, students shared their affection for their countries and one another with enthusiasm and good humor. Though many of the jokes required some knowledge of the language, the humor and joy of the participants were apparent even without the cultural context.