Reviews around the SEA Region

Western concepts and practices are naturally influential. Rather, Empire consists of “a series of national and supranational organisms united under a single logic of rule.” Today, with the decline of the nation-state at the hands of global capitalism, “Empire is the sovereign power that governs the world”

...There were a lot of things that needed to be accomplished: publish books, organize my overseas research reports, write papers, organize slides etc. My motivation steadily lost its momentum at the sight of the soaring piles in my office and as a result, I continued with my busy days just as ever. But retirement loomed before me when I turned 60.

In the southern Philippines, the territory containing the influence of the MagindanaoSultanate was extensive. So expansive was this territory that the Spaniards named the entire southern island “Mindanao” in their honor (McKenna 1998, 27). Through alliances, expertise and prowess in military affairs and economic practice, the Magindanawn not only held their own against Spanish advances, but they also flourished along with many other Southeast Asian Islamic sultanates.

Southeast Asian Studies, part of the broader field of Area Studies, is an interdisciplinary field of study which focuses on the Southeast Asian region as its object of study. Among the principal subjects in scholarship and research in Southeast Asian Studies are history, economy, politics, society, culture, ethnicity, religion, language, and environment.

Whilst a wealth of literature exists about the threats posed by terrorism in Southeast Asia, few provide insights into the regional mechanisms and measures to deal with the threats and assess their adequacy and efficacy.

There are several ways of reviewing books. The standard method is to pick up a particular book and comment on its contents. The other is to review a set of selected books that share a common theme and focus one’s commentary on this. This latter method is often applied to critically analyze existing studies on a particular topic.

Both violence and religiosity are the “children” of human culture. Violence can be differentiated into various kinds based on contexts and motives. Consider carok, the violent tradition of settling conflict among the Madurese. It can end in serious injury or even death to those involved in the process, depending on the ardor and feeling with which they upheld their self-esteem and honor. Madurese commit carok when their honor and self-esteem are insulted or when they feel offended and hurt. When their feeling of being stressed develops into feeling ashamed (maloh or todus), Madurese resort to carok to settle conflict. The context is affirmed in the Madurese popular saying, “ango ’an pote tolang etembang pote matah,” literally “it is better to have white bone than white eyes” and metaphorically “Life is meaningless without self-esteem.”

Masaaki Okamoto “If you are a man, go on have as many companions as you can! Ten of them, Ha! Ha! Ha!” These were the words an old lady, well over sixty,  uttered while swinging on a rocking chair. This banter happened in a sub-district, Serang district, Banten province, Indonesia. It is not unexpected [...]

As they painstakingly tie hundreds of abaca strands on their backstrap looms, they talk about how they learned to weave from their mothers, and how a motif or design comes to them in a dream. And while they dye their abaca fibers in juices from leaves and roots, and then weave them into intricate patterns, they tell us about the olden days, when weaving was a skill any woman of stature should have, and the t’nalak a prized and treasured possession, and may be exchanged for a house or a piece of land.

Thailand was under Japanese influence in the same period & Indians living in Thailand were also under influence of the new spirit of Pan- Asianism. Thailand extended a strong support to Indian revolutionaries living in Thailand & Indian activists could also well establish their anti- colonial projects & ventures in the country.

Her memory is not short like many other people. She remembers that in the last election,following the coup government, the majority party was the People Power Party (PPP) led by Samak Sundaravej, who became prime minister. She cannot understand the events that followed. Why was the prime minister leading the party with a majority of votes booted off the Thai political stage in a short time? How could the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD)demonstrate for as long as several months without anyone daring to do anything? How come they could go to dance and sing in Government House for ages, and even hold a rowdy marriage party there? How come tear gas could make people lose an arm or leg, and then doctors came out to explain it was tear gas from China?

Despite various changes that happened after the tragic event of May 1998, including the latest revision of Citizenship Law (issued as No. 12/2006) which have given the Chinese-Indonesians social and political space to express their cultural identity, the situation is still regarded by some Chinese-Indonesians as potentially dangerous as during the New Order period. Anti-Chinese sentiment shown by Malay people of Pontianak at the beginning of 2008, before and after the issuing of the city mayor’s decree no 127 which prohibited the performance of dragon dance in the celebration of Chinese New Year, is seen as an indication of how shaky the position of the Chinese-Indonesians is

Although those in their privileged status as a permanent worker realized how the economic situations have created hardship they shared together with their brothers and sisters who are in contract and subcontract employment status, given the limited space they have, only sporadic and time-bound contributions are the best they can manage.1 To add to this tip of the iceberg, is the problems of the Burmese migrant workers which have been long ignored by the labor unions.

From this environment, witnessing the teachers and students, he learned a lot about the knowledge of music, giving him the capacity of innovating and recycling garbage to producing unique compositions of sounds. ...“In Indonesia only few experts understand this situation; autodidact artists with excellent talent such as Dodong, have been pushed out of the academic environment because they do not have a degree. ...As an autodidact musician who did not finish Sekolah Tehnik (technical junior high school), he gets to play with a world class orchestra in the show named “La Flute Enchantee” organized by UNESCO in France in 2006; this really makes him proud.

It is with sadness that we pass on news of the death of one of our contributors. Dr. Reed Wadley co-authored the feature article “Vigilantes and Gangsters in the Borderland of West Kalimantan, Indonesia” with Michael Eilenberg in 2006. Reproduced below is his obituary by the Borneo Research Council and information on the Reed Wadley Memorial Fund to aid graduate students planning research on cultural anthropology in Borneo.