Speaker: Michael Anthony Ngo finished his Bachelor of Arts in History (2004) and his Master in History (2010) degree from MSU- Iligan Institute of Technology. An Assistant Professor in the Department of History of the said University and is currently writing his Dissertation for his Doctor of Philosophy in History at the University of the Philippines-Diliman in Quezon City. His research interest includes Chinese studies in the Philippines, Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and local history with a focus on Filipino-Chinese in Mindanao.

Discussants:

Jely A. Galang is Professor of History at the University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman. He serves as Deputy Director of the UP Third World Studies Center, and Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Studies Journal. He is an affiliate faculty at the UP Center for International Studies, and an affiliate researcher at the Indian Ocean World Center-McGill University. He earned his PhD Asian Studies (History) degree from Murdoch University. His teaching and research focus on Philippine history and historiography, colonialism and imperialism, and modern East Asia. His forthcoming book, Vagrants and Outcasts, to be published this year by Cornell University Press, examines the social history of Chinese laboring classes and marginalized populations in the nineteenth-century Philippines.

Cynthia Ning retired as associate director of the UHM Center for Chinese Studies in 2022. She holds a PhD in Chinese Language & Literature from the University of Michigan and is the author of three sets of Chinese language textbooks (Encounters: Chinese Language & Culture; Exploring in Chinese; Communicating in Chinese) published by Yale University Press. She is currently president of the Chinese Language Education Association of Hawaii, and recently joined the Board of Directors of Munlun School

Moderator: Song Jiang, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. 

How does a small community preserve its language and identity under pressure to assimilate? This webinar explores the little-known story of a Chinese language school founded in 1938 in Iligan City, Philippines. Through the lens of one institution, we’ll look at how education became a site for negotiating cultural preservation, political pressure, and national belonging. The talk highlights how a provincial Chinese community adapted to changing laws, social expectations, and historical tensions— without losing sight of its heritage. Join us to discuss how minority communities adapt, survive, and redefine identity—and how these stories from the margins can reshape how we think about diaspora, integration, and resilience.