ASIA-PACIFIC ESSAY CONTEST: "What should Hawaii's role be in the Asia-Pacific Century?" Contest open to middle and high school students. One entry per author must include name, address, school, phone number. 7th and 8th grade: 300-word maximum. 9th through 12th grade: 750-word maximum. Cash awards. Deadline: tomorrow. Mail to Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, 1132 Bishop St., Suite 200, Honolulu, HI, 96813. Call 533-8841. Winner to be announced Jan. 28, Tet Festival Dinner, Ala Moana Hotel.

ASIA BREAKFAST FORUM: "Challenges for a Second Clinton Term in Asia," speaker W. Robert Warne, president of the Korea Economic Institute of America. 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Plaza Club, Crown Room, 20th Floor. Cost: $9 includes breakfast. Call 521-8905 for reservations.

PACIFIC DRAMA LECTURE: "Play of Ghosts and Ghosts of Plays." Lecture and slide presentation by Murray Edmond, author and drama lecturer at the University of Auckland. Noon Thursday, University of Hawaii-Manoa, Porteus 704F. Call 956-7700.