Online only: Crowning Mr. Rice Asia

By Scott Norgaard     2/18/10 6:00pm

It might not warrant a television contract, and the winner might not receive nationwide recognition, but this weekend, a new Mr. Rice Asia will be crowned.Rice Microfinance, the Vietnamese Student Association and the South Asian Society are teaming up to host the Mr. Rice Asia pageant tomorrow night at 6 p.m. in the Brown College Commons. Admission to the show is $7 and comes with an Asian-themed dinner. The first 100 guests will receive free boba drinks. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit four microfinance institutions determined by RMF, SAS co-President and RMF Vice President Karthik Soora said.

Leaders of the three clubs, which include Soora, a Will Rice College junior, Will Rice junior Victoria Doan, Jones College junior Nicky Mehtani and Hanszen College junior Rashmi Kamath worked in collaboration to organize the event. The MCs for the event will be Will Rice junior Deanne Nguyen and Hanszen sophomore Chethan Ramprasad.

The pageant will feature 10 contestants and will be judged by the University's Representative to the Board of Trustees, Y. Ping Sun, Mathematics Professor Zhiyong Gao, History Professor and McMurtry College Resident Associate Lisa Balabanlilar, and Baker College senior David Luke, who tied with Lovett College junior David Sing for last year's title. The event will consist of multiple sections, including a talent portion, a question-and-answer session and a model walk to the contestant's choice of song. Soora said this year's talent section will showcase a wide range of talents, including break dancing, guitar playing and a sword routine.

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The 10 contestants this year were chosen from auditions this year, with invitations extended to last year's contestants to audition again. Asian heritage was not required.

Soora said due to the potential participants' scheduling conflicts, not all colleges will have a performer in the pageant.

"We tried to represent as many colleges as possible to get the most amount of money for microfinance," he said. "We had a recruitment problem initially, but I am very satisfied with the selection."

Dinner for the event will feature Vietnamese bánh m sandwiches, samosas or egg rolls. Soora anticipates a turnout of 200 students, up 30 people from last year's 170.

RMF received a Community Service Grant of $695 from the Community Involvement Center to fund the dinner. The three organizations are hoping to double that amount in ticket sales to contribute to microfinance institutions.

The event's proceeds will be donated four ways to four microfinance groups of RMF's choosing: the Hashoo Foundation, Fonkoze, Spandana India and Binh Minh, Soora said RMF intends to donate to an array of organizations representing multiple countries with a great need for economic aid.

These selected institutions span a broad range of areas within microfinance. The Hashoo Foundation aims to increase business skills for Pakistani women by teaching them how to raise honey bees. Spandana India, according to their website, is a charitable trust that support students and health services for thousands of rural Indians. Binh Minh, which means sunrise in Vietnamese, supports small farming entrepreneurs in northern Vietnam. Fonkoze is a Haitian microfinance institution, an effort that Soora said is now more timely than ever.

"Haiti was really pertinent because it was such a big issue," Soora said. "Every dollar we could raise to lessen someone's economic hardship would be a dollar well spent."

After hosting events like the Mr. Rice Asia pageant, RMF plans to expand beyond contributing to other microfinancing organizations. As part of the organization's long-term goals, RMF hopes to create its own grassroots efforts and teach financial courses in the developing world, Soora said. He said RMF has met with Hashoo Foundation's Executive Director Cristal Baylor to learn about economic hardship in other countries, and in the future, RMF wants to create its own microfinance institution. Education about basic financial concepts is one of the club's priorities, Soora said.

"I think education is a very underrated tool in the developing world," he said.

Students echoed the sentiment that microfinance lending and education are great tools to help solve problems in the developing world.

"I think microfinance is the way to go," Wiess College sophomore Danielle Axelson said. "I think it is the best because you are helping people educate themselves.

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