LI South East Asia & China (LISEAC)

Ian Hollingworth and Tek Harrington at the British Club, Bangkok

Branch area: Pakistan to Taiwan

Number of members: 152

Email: liseac@labourinternational.net

Elected officers:

Secretary: Ian Hollingworth
Chair: Nadia Woodhouse
Vice Chair: Philippa Dakin
Treasurer: Charlie Thame

Meetings:

Regular branch meetings: last Wednesday of every month
AGM 2020: Wednesday 25 March on Zoom

About Our Branch

Although our branch activity was heavily influenced by the General Election in 2019 the main impression from the past year is that of a friendly, vibrant and expanding branch with an increasing proportion of active and talented women.

The WhatsApp group we introduced at the time of the GE has been maintained and used to encourage on the ground contact in various countries of the region.

Apart from this there was a large amount of activity by LISEAC members both online and offline during the GE. This included Facebook posting and Momentum volunteering as well as pub and street leafleting and a Registration to Vote table at an annual Fair. We also arranged a public TV broadcast of the results as they came in, courtesy of a sympatheic landlord at a Bangkok British pub.

First customer Keith James at the Register to Vote table

We made and have maintained good contact with members of the Australian Labour Party at the time of the Australian Federal Elections. In return the Australian comrades helped us out with leafleting at the time of the GE.

To expand our knowledge of the region we have had guest speakers on the political situations in Malaysia and Vietnam. We also had in house speakers on the use of Zoom video conferencing and developing a social media strategy.

We had a most interesting discussion on the nature of Sex Work with a speaker from the Empower Foundation. This was sparked by a resolution on the topic to the GC. We in turn framed an additional resolution calling for an All Members Meeting on the subject. This was successful and discussions are ongoing.

More recently the branch submitted a successful motion on the Arms Trade which has been sent to the NEC.

The new branch executive meets on a regular basis and is working on developing an action plan for 2020.

Former LISEAC Chair David Russell at an annual Fair