No.69 SPRING 2014

Photo of elderly couple taken in Gasa, Bhutan, 2009. Source: Sakamoto Ryota

Contents
Editorial

4

Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA)
		5“Field Medicine” in Japan and Asian Communities
Matsubayashi Kozo

8

Creating a Health Checkup System for the Elderlyin the Kingdom of Bhutan
Sakamoto Ryota

12

Gérard Diffloth, Nathan Badenoch

15

Language and History in Southeast Asia:
An Interview with Gérard Diffloth

A Dialogue with Information Scientists:
An Anthropologist’s Experiment in Area Informatics
Kobayashi Satoru

20

Viewing Deep-south Thailand from a Historical Perspective
Piyada Chonlaworn

24

Appraising the Significance of the Center for Southeast AsianStudies’ (CSEAS) Library Collection for Philippine Studies
Suzuki Nobutaka

26

Publications

27

Visiting Fellows

28

Workshop Reports

293

Editorial
In 2015, ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) integration will come into effect creating a single
market leading to greater economic development
and deepen integration into the global economy.
Conditions are ripe for the construction of new networks that can engage with the exciting yet complex research agendas that will arise in the region.
Over the past couple of years, the Center forSoutheast Asian Studies (CSEAS) has been active instrengthening linkages with leading institutions
within Southeast Asia and other regions. In line withthe aim of fostering and building collaborative exchanges and communication between scholars,academics, researchers and institutions, CSEAS has
been engaged in constructing networks attuned
the needs of the region. These networks have­culminated in the establishment of a consortium inSoutheast Asia with some of the leading institutionsin the region committed to Southeast Asian Studies.
As Southeast Asia comes of age as a diverse geopolitical entity, economic integration within East Asia
will see a marked shift to how the region is studied
and ultimately represents itself. This will inevitably
lead to new and dynamic institutional frameworks
to foster academic interest in Southeast Asia. We
hope that this consortium will stimulate discussion;
train new scholars; produce new paradigms for research; and promote the sharing of resources andcommitment to networking.
In this issue we present a series of articles by professors Matsubayashi Kozo and Sakamoto Ryota,
trained field medical doctors. Both have been involved in a series of projects involving care for theelderly which are currently being implemented in
Bhutan. Matsubayashi discusses the development offield medicine and how its research approaches canhelp in unifying medicine as opposed to compartmentalizing it. Sakamoto discusses a pilot healthcheckup system that is being run with approval of
the Royal Government of Bhutan with the long-termhope of expanding care for the elderly across thecountry.
Nathan Badenoch presents a stimulating discussion with a former fellow, Gérard Diffloth, and elabo4

rates on the linguistic history of the region througha discussion on a group of small and endangered
languages spoken in northern Laos.
Kobayashi Satoru discusses the limits of interdisciplinary study through fieldwork and makes astrong case for the role of Area Informatics (AI), a
new methodology for processing fieldwork data thatcan contribute to furthering and enrichening the
production of knowledge in Southeast Asia. Basedon cutting edge research done in collaboration
with information scientists, Kobayashi shows how aquantatative mapping of Buddhists monasteries
and monks can shed light on their mobility andnetwork formation in Cambodian society.
Finally, Piyada Chonlaworn presents an overview
of the historical context for present day conflicts inthe four southernmost regions of Thailand whichhave been mired in violence and political struggles.
The Editors

Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia
(SEASIA)Over the past few decades, in tandem with ever-deepening
economic integration, increasing cross-border flows andmovements of people, goods, ideas, and technologies, a number of leading organizations, communities, and individuals in
East Asia (Northeast and Southeast Asia) have been initiating,cementing, and institutionalizing both regional and global
linkages and collaborations at the governmental and nongovernmental levels, particularly in business, academia, andthe arts.
It goes without saying that network-style academic cooperation has become de rigueur among area specialists aswell. But over the years, academic cooperation in the East Asia
region has mainly taken the form of bundles of bilateral (or at
most trilateral) exchanges and collaboration, involving great
expenditure of time, energy, and funds. There are many overlaps in the thematic focus of conferences, symposia andworkshops sponsored individually or jointly by area studies
institutions. Some of the unintended consequences of this“noodle-bowl” phenomenon include intellectual fragmentationand segmentation even within one particular topic of “areastudies” as can be experienced at some of the larger academic
meetings that are frequently held. This fragmentation andsegmentation can potentially impede the development ofsynergistic, inter- and multi-disciplinary research and ultimately

hinder comparative approaches to area studies -goals andendeavors that are held and pursued in common by all of us
scholars who are keen to promote area studies.
Since the Lehman shock economic crisis of 2008, the ongoing cuts to education budgets, especially in the humanities andsocial sciences in both Europe and the U.S., have made it difficult for those traditional institutions that have represented andfostered Southeast Asian Studies outside of the region to continue the same level of research that has sustained scholarship.
As such, in light of ongoing funding uncertainties in an era ofbiting budget cuts, it makes more sense for area studies institutions to pool researchers, networks and funds, and collaborate
together.

ASEAN and Networking within Southeast Asia
The study of Southeast Asia has been an integral part ofAsian studies, and is represented in various international academic meetings such as the Association for Asian Studies (AAS),
International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS), and European
Association for South East Asian Studies (EuroSEAS). In parallelto these meetings which have until very recently been held
outside of the region, there have also existed region-based
institutions that have provided excellent platforms for promot-

Top, from left: Caroline Sy Hau, Hayami Yoko, Eduardo Tadem, Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, Yabit bin Alas, Kono Yasuyuki, Noor Azam, Mieno Fumiharu, Jafar
Suryomenggolo ­Bottom, from left: Shimizu Hiromu, Sunait Chutintaranond, Liu Hong, Tong Chee Kiong, Micheal Feener, Park Jang Sik
5

ing Southeast Asian studies. The creation and rise of East Asianand Southeast Asian Studies departments and research institutes within the region and in its vicinity is testimony to this.
As ASEAN comes of age through the creation of a regional
community in 2015, there is now a more compelling need toestablish a region-based consortium of Southeast Asian Studies
institutions, one that can complement deepening economic,
social and cultural integration and foster both regional andglobal efforts to network. A consortium would enable scholars
who live and research within or close to the region to cometogether without the added expense of traveling outside of it.
Such a consortium, forged out of the networks already inplace within the region, can ultimately promote collaborationand exchange among Southeast Asia and other East Asia-based
institutes, organizations and scholars. More importantly, it canendeavor to connect institutions that specialize in the naturalsciences, social sciences, and humanities, which are ready toengage in the task of multi-disciplinary analyses of issues that
affect societies within the region. It can bring together specialists in earthquake science and disaster management, medical
research, urban studies, ecology, energy, resource management, epidemiology and pandemics, economic and creative
industries. In effect, it can foster communication between
scholars who have an interest in, and who work on or inSoutheast Asia, but who do not necessarily consider themselves area studies specialists.
6

Whereas in other places, Southeast Asian studies constitutes
only one sub-regional branch of “area studies” among manyother areas, and is subject to the vicissitudes of funding andinstitutional imperatives specific to the countries in which they
are based, for scholars working on Southeast Asia who arebased in East/Southeast Asia, this “area” matters in geopolitical,
economic, intellectual, institutional, social, cultural, and affective terms. The study of Southeast Asia is not peripheral andexternal to what scholars, public intellectuals, policy-makers,
and activists are doing in the region.
Building on the imperative to promote region-based Southeast Asian studies, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies(CSEAS) at Kyoto University, in partnership with nine leading
Asian and Southeast Asian Studies institutions in the region,
established a Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia
(SEASIA) on 11 October 2013, to put in place a network thatcan realize the above aims.

No.69 Spring 2014

The following institutions are the founding members of thisconsortium.
• Academia Sinica; the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn
University• The Indonesian Institute of Sciences• The ­Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies• The Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University• The Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore• The School of ­Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang
Technological University• The Taiwan Association of Southeast Asian Studies• The Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam• The Asian Center, University of the Philippines.

SEASIA will promote Southeast Asian studies by linking theleading area studies institutions in the region in a cooperative
venture to provide a multilateral forum for organizing academic meetings, seminars, workshops, and symposia. The main
activity will be to organize a biennial conference, the first ofwhich is expected to take place in Kyoto in 2015.
SEASIA will also promote research collaboration and networking, operate as a system for sharing information and offer
opportunities for education and training of young and upand-coming scholars. It will deepen connections between institutions specializing in the natural sciences, social sciences
and humanities whose scholars have an interest in, and who
work on or in Southeast Asia, but do not necessarily consider
themselves area studies specialists. Although its focus is on
promoting Southeast Asian studies, it actively welcomes andseeks to promote comparative, trans-disciplinary, global, andhistorical approaches that consider Southeast Asia in relation
to other regions and to the world. The Consortium will also
provide a platform not only for collaboration and exchange,
but for information and resource-sharing, joint publications
and the education and training of young researchers.
Although in the initial stages, this consortium within theregion will ultimately be open to all those institutions outsideof it which been committed to, and fostered study within theregion over the years. We hope that by encouraging scholars
from different regions of the world to participate in this endeavor, we can encourage a more comparative, holistic andcollaborative approach to enriching our knowledge of Southeast Asia and promote it both from within and outside.
Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA)
http://seasia-consortium.org/

Professor Sunait Chutintaranond of Chulalongkorn University is
Chairperson of the Governing Board and the Governing Board
has the following members:• Ikrar Nusa Bhakti (Indonesian Institute of Sciences)• Eduardo Tadem (University of the Philippines)• Michael Feener (National University of Singapore)• Liu Hong (Nanyang Technological University)• Tong Chee Kiong (Universiti Brunei Darussalam)• Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao (Academia Sinica)• Park Jang Sik (Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies)
The Secretariat is based in the Center for Southeast AsianStudies at Kyoto University.
• Shimizu Hiromu (Kyoto University) Secretary7

“Field Medicine” in Japan and Asian Communities
Matsubayashi Kozo
Professor CSEAS

Revolution in Life Expectancy and “Optimal Ageing”

The Post-Sphinx Era

The Japanese word Koki (古希 old and rare), celebrating 70
years of age, derives from a poem by the Chinese poet Du Fu(杜甫) who wrote the following: “A life of 70 years, rare since oldtimes.” In 8th century China, at the peak of the Tang Dynasty
when Du Fu was alive, it was rare that a person lived to thisage. Similarly, in the Japanese collection of ancient poetry
Kokinwakashu (古今和歌集), there is a phrase that translates as“read a poem to celebrate the 40th birthday.” This hints thatduring the Heian period of Japan (794–1185 AD), living to theage of 40 was considered to be an important milestone.
Going back 100 years, even in the 1910s, when geriatric
medicine first began as a discipline, average life expectancy inJapan was just over 40 years. However, since 1947, when life
expectancy passed the threshold of 50, it has increased rapidly
and now stands at 79.9 years for men and 86.4 years for women.
By the mid-20th century, modern medicine had conquereda high infant mortality rate and infectious diseases such as
tuberculosis and until the 1970s, medicine single-handedly­
pursued the goal of extending the human lifespan. Of course
there have always been elderly persons who were bedridden
or had dementia. But in general, few questioned the benefits ofextending life, perhaps because there were fewer elderly people to remind them that old age is often accompanied by infirmity. It has only been during the last half century when aging
came to be thought of as a societal issue rather than simply apersonal one, and a challenge to be tackled by science andmedicine.
In Japan, the segment of the population known as the
fourth age (i.e., 75 years or older) will double between 2005 to
2025, increasing by 10 million. This group of people will thenoutnumber those in the third age, 65 to 74 years of age. The
rapid ageing of the population, especially the increase inpopulation aged 75 years and older has highlighted the quality rather than the quantity of human longevity. Accordingly,
the primary focus of geriatric medicine has begun to shift fromprolonging life at all costs to reducing disabilities associatedwith old age and increasing the quality of life (QOL).
Today, many people live to the age of 80 in Japan. However,even with the best quality medical care, the number of people
who live to 100 years is still less than 1% of those who live to
80 years. Even with dramatic advances in medical technology,
at least in my own opinion as a geriatrician, it is supposed to
be almost impossible to survive beyond 130 years. As such due
to a limit to life expectancy in human-beings, there is a strong
need to consider “optimal aging.”“Which creature is that which in the morning goes on four
feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?” This is
the riddle of the Sphinx, which appears in Greek mythology.
Oedipus solved the riddle by answering “Man, who in childhood crawls on hands and knees, in manhood walks erect, andin old age with the aid of a cane. Therefore the correct answer
to this riddle is a man.”Without needing to return to Greek mythology, until a half
century ago, people in the world as a whole, did not seriously
consider the issue of aging. Before the 19th century, human life
expectancy was lower than 40 years in civilizations all over theworld. People assumed that most people would die by thetime they reached 50 or 60 years old. Furthermore, it was
accepted­that we would become progressively weaker, eventually require a cane, and ultimately die like a candlelightflickering out. Accordingly, societies were structured on thepremise that the population of elderly persons older than age
60 would remain fairly small. For example, in Japan, the mandatory retirement are around these ages of 55 or 60, fallingon the celebration of Kanreki (還暦 60th birthday). Japaneseemployee pension systems, and other aspects of society arepremised on an expected lifespan of approximately 60 years.
However, with a current expected lifespan of 80 to 90 years,
life does not end in the “evening of old age” as described in theriddle of the Sphinx. After the evening comes night, which isoften characterized by infirmity, disability, and dementia. Seeking ways to respond to the needs of elderly persons requiring
nursing care, preventing infirmity and need for care, and answering the question “what is optimal aging?” —these are thechallenges and the most important agenda in geriatric medicine. The increase in the elderly population, a group that is notproductive but is to be respected, will undoubtedly force us tochange our sense of values in a young society; one that has
been fundamentally materialistic, regards hard work as a virtue,
and places the highest priority on production and efficiency.
Further, there is a sense that young adults have had to handover their roles as central characters in the narrative of life, toelderly people.

8

Ecological Viewpoints in Medical Research
As the name “clinical” implies (臨床 rinsho or bedside in Japanese), the original mission of clinical medicine was to diagnose
illness and treat the patient at his or her bedside. However, as
modern medicine developed, diseases were compartmentalized according to organs and organ systems. Medical disciplines have become specialized not only according to organs,but also extending down to the level of cells and genes, which

No.69 Spring 2014

has been accompanied by dramatic medical advances. Thisadvanced medical care has revolutionized the treatment of
acute diseases and vastly increased our survival. As the result,average life expectancy in Japan has increased at a rate neverseen before in human history, and now has the longest lifespanin the world. However, the resultant super-graying of society
has produced a population of frail elderly people who requirenursing care. Geriatric medicine is charged with finding ways toassist elderly persons who have chronic diseases affecting multiple organs and are still living within their communities. The
need to provide comprehensive and holistic medical care has
been called for; however, it is not easy to provide integrated
health care within a hospital system that has been compartmentalized into specialties. Doctors working in hospitals tend
to think in terms of diseases and conditions in his/her specialty
and have little latitude to consider other issues. How is thepatient spending his/her time? What kind of social interaction
and support does the patient have from friends and family?
What does the patient eat? What are the important issues thispatient faces in daily life? What is their prajna (wisdom) regarding their purpose of life? These are not questions asked by
medical staff in hospitals. In field medicine, in which clinicianswith health care workers leave hospitals for the communities
where their patients live, the fundamental approach is an attempt to unify medicine as opposed to compartmentalizing it.

Our main findings in Kahoku (KLAS) are placed as achievements before the introduction of the Long-term Care Insurance
system (LTCI) in 2000, and those in Tosa (TLAS) are placed asachievements after LTCI. Field medicine in Kahoku (KLAS) continued for 17 years until the town ended the project becauseof a municipal merger, while the project in Tosa (TLAS) still
continues. Some Field Medicine achievements in Kochi werelisted in Table 1.

International Development of “Field Medicine” andMutual Feedback with Japan
From these two long-term studies, we obtained important
information about ageing through contacts with elderly persons
in Kochi prefecture. However, the generalizability of the findings obtained in Kochi remained unclear. Therefore, we choseto continue further evaluation beyond elderly persons livingin areas of Japan other than Kochi prefecture, and traveled tooversea-communities whose natural, cultural, and societal­environments were very different from those in Japan. This led
us to conduct studies using the CGA in the seven Asian communities in Singapore,1 South Korea,2 Vietnam,3 Laos4 (Photo 1),
Indonesia,5 Myanmar,6 Thailand,7 Himalayan highlands,8-11 (Photo2) and Bhutan,12 and allowed us to compare these findings to
those obtained in Japan. Through these field medicine-based“Field Medicine” Trials in Kahoku and Tosa, Kochi
Prefecture
We were the first in Japan to incorporate the Comprehensive
Geriatric Assessment in preventive intervention and evaluationof the medical problems of elderly people in field settings that
could not be completely resolved in the hospital. We initiatedfield medical research in 1990 in Kahoku town, Kochi prefecture, called the “Kahoku Longitudinal Ageing Study (KLAS).”At that time, Kahoku town had a population of about 6000, of
which 29% were 65 years or older, which was much higher
than the national average (12%) or the average of Kochi prefecture (16%). In 1990, this town was thought to represent
the population composition of Japan in year 2025. The second
community-based geriatric study in Kochi prefecture was introduced in Tosa town in 2004 (“Tosa Longitudinal Ageing Study(TLAS).” In 2010, Tosa town had a population of about 4500, of
which 40% and 25% were 65 years and 75 years or older, respectively. In 2010, Tosa town was thought to represent the
population of Japan in year 2050, and is representative of towns
where depopulation and aging societies are rapidly progressing.
Through an objective evaluation of mental and physicalaspects­of health and social functioning and annual followups, the projects in both these towns aimed to identify the key
factors affecting the comprehensive health of elderly persons
to prevent a decrease in functions that accompanies aging. Thislevel of extensive community research in geriatric medicine
and was the first such attempt both domestically and internationally. This project required the participation and cooperationof geriatric researchers, local government, and residents of thetowns.

Photo 1: Field medical examination for centenarian in Songkong, Laos

Photo 2: Blood pressure measurements for Tibetan highlanders
9

Table 1. Major Findings in “Field Medicine” in Kochi during 20 years from 1990 to 2010
Findings

Authors

Article Sources

Incidental brain lesions on MRI and neurobehavioral functions of elderly

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

Stroke 1992, 23: 175-180

Actual situation of ADL dependency in community-dwelling elderly in Kahoku

Shimada, K. et al.

Lancet 1993, 342: 1241-1241

Secular improvement of independence rate in basic ADL in community elderly

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

Lancet 1996, 347: 60-60

Does surge in blood pressure precede or follow stroke?

Osaki, Y. et al.

Lancet 1996, 347: 472-473

Effects of exercise on neurobehavioral functions in the elderly aged 75 and older

Okumiya, K. et al.

JAGS 1996, 44: 569-572

Serum cholesterol levels and cogniton assessed by p300 in the elderly

Wada, T. et al.

JAGS 1997, 45: 122-123

Cognitive and functional status of the Japanese oldest old

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

JAGS 1997, 45: 385-386

Home blood pressure controls in Japanese hypertensive population

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

Lancet 1997, 350: 472-473

Older adults’ views for Diseases

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

Lancet 1997, 350: 144-144

J-curve relation between blood pressure and decline in cognitive function

Okumiya, K. et al.

JAGS 1997, 45: 1032-1033

Postural hypotension and postural hypertension in the elderly

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

Stroke 1997, 28: 2169-73

Quality of life of old people living in the community

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

Lancet 1997, 350: 1521-1522

Lower serum chlesterol levels and decline of cognitive functions in the elderly

Wada, T. et al.

JAGS 1997, 45: 1411-1412

ADL independence and medical cost

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

JAGS 1998, 46: 1484-1485

Timed Up & Go test predicts falling of the elderly

Okumiya, K. et al.

JAGS 1998, 46: 928-929

Risk factors of ADL dependecy

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

Lancet 1999, 353: 1445-1445

Timed Up & Go test and manual dexterity predict ADL dependency

Okumiya, K. et al.

JAGS 1999, 47: 497-498

U-curve association between systolic blood pressure and mortality

Okumiya, K. et al.

JAGS 1999, 47: 1415-1421

Hypertension in Japanese old-old

Ho, H. K.

Lancet 2002, 359: 804-804

Depression screening of the Japanese community-dwelling elderly

Wada, T. et al.

JAGS 2003, 51: 1328-1329

Depression and ADL in the elderly

Ishine, M. et al.

GGI 2003, 3: 262-264

Depression is associated with ADL and QOL in the elderly

Wada, T. et al.

AGG 2003, 39: 13-23

Usefulness of cognitive rehabilitation for elderly with MCI

Okumiya, K. et al.

GGI 2005, 5: 267-775

Older adult’s view of “successful ageing”

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

JAGS 2006, 54: 184-186

Close association between hearing disturbance and ADL, QOL in the elderly

Ishine, M. et al.

JAGS 2007, 55: 316-317

Trends in diabetes in a rural town in Japan

Fujisswa, M. et al.

Lancet 2007, 369: 1257-1257

Effects of long-term exercise on prevention of falls in community-dwelling elderly

Fujisswa, M. et al.

GGI 2007, 7: 357-362

Prevalence of hypertension and its awareness, treatment and satisfactory control

Ishine, M. et al.

JAGS 2008, 56: 374-375

Lifestyle change improves glucose intolerance in communty-dwelling elderly

Okumiya, K. et al.

JAGS 2008, 56: 767-769

Falling in the elderly and age, ADL, depression in the community

Wada, T. et al.

JAGS 2008, 56: 1570-1571

Subjective sleep disturbance and ADL, QOL and depression

Ishine, M. et al.

JAGS 2008, 56: 1571-1572

Chewing difficulty and ADL, QOL and depression

Kimura, Y. et al.

GGI 2009, 9: 102-104

Difference between participants and non-participants in geriatric examination

Ishimoto, Y. et al.

JAGS 2009, 57: 360-362

Food diversity and ADL, QOL and depression in the community-dwelling elderly

Kimura, Y. et al.

JAGS 2009, 57: 922-924

Age and sex siginificantly influence fall risk in community-dwelling elderly

Ishimoto, Y. et al.

JAGS 2009, 57: 930-932

Effect of glucose tolerance on central and brachial pressure in the elderly

Yamamoto, N. et al.

JAGS 2009, 57: 1120-1122

Hobbies and health in the community-dwelling elderly

Hirosaki, M. et al.

JAGS 2009, 57: 1132-1133

Changing attitudes of elderly Japanese towards diseases

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

JAGS 2009, 57: 1732-1733

21-item Fall Risk Index predicts falls in community-dwelling Japanese elderly

Wada, T. et al.

JAGS 2009, 57: 2369-2371

Self-rated health and comprehensive geriatric functions in the community elderly

Hirosaki, M. et al.

JAGS 2010, 58: 207-209

Insomnia increases insulin resistance and insulin secretion in the elderly

Yamamoto, N. et al.

JAGS 2010, 58: 791-793

Community-based CGA and CGI lowered medical expenses for the elderly

Matsubayashi, K. et al.

JAGS 2010, 58: 791-793

Community-based CGA and Long-Term Care Insurance in Japan

Fukutomi, E. et al.

Lancet 2013,381, 116-116

JAGS: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
GGI: Geriatrics and Gerontology International
AGG: Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
10No.69 Spring 2014

Acknowledgements
I cordially thank all the elderly people for the participationin our community-based geriatric examinations in Japan andAsian communities. These field medical works and findings
were partly supported by various JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific
Research between 1991 to 2013.

References1

Photo 3: Professors Matsubayashi Kozo (CSEAS) and Matsuzawa Tetsuro­(Primate
Research Institute, Kyoto University) with Jigme Singye Wngchuk, former Kingof Bhutan (4th Dragon King), 19 October, 2010

comparative area studies, we have recognized that the developed world became rich before it became old. However, developing countries are becoming old before they become rich.

“Optimal Ageing” and Spirituality
Medical care for the elderly has aspects qualitatively different
from medical care in general. While general medical care isstandard and universal in nature, medical care for the elderly is
personal and richly diverse. Whereas general medical care treats
life as the supreme end, medical care for the elderly values ADL
and QOL as well as life. While general medical care requires ahigh degree of specialization, medical care for the elderly demands interdisciplinary teamwork. Whereas the main site ofgeneral medical care is the hospital, important sites for medicalcare for the elderly are the home and community. In that sense,
general medicine is clinical, while in nursing care one might
say that the aspect of fieldwork must be emphasized. Our­impression from conducting not only longitudinal research inJapan, but also investigations of the conditions of elderly people in various Asian countries, was that it is not simply thequalitative level of modern medical care, but also the naturalenvironment and cultural background that influences Activities
of Daily Living (ADL) and Quality of Life (QOL) of communitydwelling elderly. We feel that it will be possible to enjoy a broad
vision of the 21st century’s global elderly society once we fullycomprehend the elderly in terms of both the universality anddiversity apparent in the phenomenon of human aging.
The factors that define optimal ageing include good healthand economic and societal participation. Self-awareness and aspiritual life are also likely to be important. From the practice offield medicine in various Asian communities, we have learned
much about how important it is for the elderly to be aware of
the meaning of life and to have a purpose in their later years.
Elderly persons living a satisfying, purposeful life followed by apeaceful death—this is the ideal. However, it poses a challenge
as to whether we are able to create a society in which this canbe achieved.

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Activities of Daily Living, Quality of Life and Metabolic
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Okumiya, Kiyohito et al. 2009. Comprehensive Geriatric­Assessment of Elderly Highlanders in Qinghai, China II:
The Association of Polycythemia with Lifestyle-related­Diseases among the Three Ethnics. Geriatrics & Gerontology
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Sakamoto, Ryota et al. 2009. Comprehensive GeriatricAs­sessment of Elderly Highlanders in Qinghai, China III:
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Kimura, Yumi et al. 2009. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessmentof Elderly Highlanders in Qinghai, China IV: Com­parison ofFood Diversity and its Relation to Health of Han and Tibetan
elderly. Geriatrics & Gerontology International, 9(4): 359-365.
12
Sakamoto, Ryota et al. 2011. Subjective Quality of Life in Older
Community-dwelling Adults in the Kingdom of Bhutan andJapan. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(11):2157-2159.
11

Creating a Health Checkup System for the Elderlyin the Kingdom of Bhutan
Sakamoto Ryota
Visiting Associate Professor CSEAS (Hakubi Project)A

ccording to United Nations, at a global level, 5 per cent of
the population was at least 65 years of age in 1950 (UN,2009). By 2009, this proportion had increased to just under
8% (UN ibid). Yet, by 2050, 16% of the world population is
projected to be 65 years or over (UN ibid). At present, caring
for burgeoning elderly populations is one of the biggest issues
being­addressed by the international community. According to
the Royal Government of Bhutan (RoGB), the number of theaged 65 years or over was 29,745 in 2005 and the number will
double by 2030.1 Many adults who survive into late life sufferfrom high rates of chronic illness and it has been reported that
80% have at least one and 50% have at least two chronic conditions.2 Given the high prevalence and impact of chronic
health problems among the elderly, effective and efficient
care to address these problems is becoming increasingly
important so as to maximize both the quantity and quality oflife for the elderly.
Concerned by this situation that affects all of the world’s
populations­, in May 2009, we started to discuss about ways tocare for the elderly in Bhutan with the Ministry of Health (MoH),
RoGB, and introduce a health checkup system in the country
through a pilot project named “Community Based Medical Carefor The Elderly” approved by the Royal Government of Bhutan.3
In October 2010, this resulted in the introduction of a healthcheckup for the elderly in Khaling, Trashigang Dzongkhag
offering us an important opportunity to grasp those problems
that the elderly in Bhutan face, and help us consider how toprevent future diseases, disabilities, and avoidable deaths.

The model we employed was Choju Kenshin (長寿健診 Health
Checkup for The Elderly) which was first started and employedin Kochi prefecture by Toshio Ozawa, Kozo Matsubayashi andKiyohito Okumiya. In 1990, they initiated a project entitled
Kahoku­Longitudinal Aging Study (KLAS) in Kahoku town, Kochi
prefecture. Community intervention using their field medical
approach contributed not only to improving ADL independence but also suppression of increasing medical care expenses (Matsubayashi et al. 2012). In 1968, James Maxwell Glover
Wilson and Gunnar Jungner elaborated the 10 principles ofscreening for diseases (Table 1) Wilson and Junger 1968).
What these conceived principles show is that the items inhealth checkups must depend and relate to the specific situations of respective communities. In this sense, we have to follow both global evidence and local needs. In Bhutan, throughdiscussion with local people we came to focus on mainly 13 items
which we call “5 Ds, I HAVE FUN” for short (See Table 2).
To integrate any project that relates to primary health care,
medical staff and villagers understanding is necessary. The
Chief Program Officer, Trashigang District Health Officer, and I
introduced­this project to medical staff in Basic Health Units(BHUs), hospitals, then to village heads, village health workers,
and principals in schools. While carrying out this project, wehave explained the program to villagers and at the same time,
asked them for their opinions. BHU staff asked village leaders toarrange volunteers who would help the checkups. While volunteers were arranged, we would explain about the project andconducted a 2 day training program for them. Afterwards,

Table 1. Principles of Early Disease Detection, elaborated by Wilson JMG
and Jungner G in 1968

Table 2. Focused Items in Community Based Medical Care for the Elderlyin Bhutan (5Ds, I HAVE FUN)

1

The condition sought should be an important health problem.

1

Disability

2

There should be an accepted treatment for patients with recognizeddiseases.

2

Dementia

3

Depression

3

Facilities for diagnosis and treatment should be available.

4

Diabetes

4

There should be a recognizable latent or early symptomatic stage.

5

Dental problem

5

There should be a suitable test or examination.

6

Isolation

6

The test should be acceptable to the population.

7

Hypertension

7

The natural history of the condition, including development from latent
to declared disease, should be adequately understood.

8

Addiction

8

There should be an agreed policy on whom to treat as patients.

9

Visual Problems

The cost of case-finding (including diagnosis and treatment ofpatientsdiagnosed) should be economically balanced in relation to possible
expenditure on medical care as a whole.

10

Ear Problems

9

11

Falls

Case-finding should be a continuing process and not a “onceand for all”
project.

12

Urinary Incontinence

10

13

Nutrition

12

No.69 Spring 2014

Map of Bhutan

Measuring weight and blood pressure for villagers in Khaling, Bhutan

Health checkup for the elderly in Khaling, Bhutan

Elderly cared for by a grandchild in Khaling, Bhutan

this facilitated volunteers in carrying out health checkups forthe elderly with the support of BHU staff. These checkups
were conducted in the houses of elderly who had difficulties incoming to BHU or Outreach Clinics (ORCs).
In total we checked 192 people aged 65 years or over including home visits for 34 people. This meant that we covered
almost­all the elderly people living in Khaling Gewog covered
by Khaling BHU. The mean age for the elderly was 73.8 years
among females and 73.0 years among males with the oldest
person a lady aged 96 years. Age was determined by a selfenumeration verified with the animal symbols of his/ her birthyear. The prevalence of hypertension, obesity, and diabetes
were over 71.9%, 6.3%, and 5.7% respectively and what was
clear in our field was that impairments to basic activities fordaily living increased with aging especially for those over theage of 80 years. Among 30 people who had difficulties in basic
activities for daily living, 3 people were suspected to have theafter effects of a stroke. 12% of participants had severe hypertension and their systolic blood pressure and diastolic bloodpressure were significantly related to their body mass index.
The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 10.8% among the peo-

ple who were overweight, and 16.7% among those who had
obesity. We also visited the homes of the elderly people who
had not come to the medical camps and conducted medical
checkups. Among those who had not come to the medical
camp, 41.2% had difficulties in basic activities for daily living.
Quality of Life (QOL) is assessed by using a 100 mm visual analogue scale (lowest QOL on the left end and highest at theright) showed 47.5 for health, 92.0 for family relationships, 83.0
for friendships, 70.0 for economic status and 74.5 for subjective
happiness (Sakamoto et al. 2011).
Our main goal is “better health for all” which is the ultimate
goal of primary health care. To fulfill this, we include not only
people who come to BHUs or ORCs, but also those who do notcome to medical facilities. This is because some elderly people
cannot come to BHUs or ORCs, even if they want to. For thesepeople, there is a possibility that they may have severe diseases
which require care with special attention. Although there
are issues of manpower, medical staff should visit the houses ofthe elderly if and when needed. While in Bhutan, we did notjust wait for patients in the hospital, but actively went to villages where we measured weight and blood pressure. While13

References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2003. Public Healthand Aging: Trends in Aging United States and Worldwide.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 52: 101-106.
Matsubayashi, Kozo and Okumiya, Kiyohito. 2012. Field Medicine:a New Paradigm of Geriatric Medicine. Geriatric Gerontology
International, 12: 5-15.
Office of the Census Commissioner, Royal Government of Bhutan.
2005. Results of Population & Housing Census of Bhutan.
Sakamoto, Ryota et al. 2011. Subjective quality of life in older
community-dwelling adults in the Kingdom of Bhutan andJapan. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59: 21572159.

doing so, we explained the importance of weight and bloodpressure for protection from stroke and heart attack for as theold adage says, “prevention is better than cure.”
The World Health Organization announced that the leading
global risks for mortality in the world are high blood pressure(responsible for 13% of deaths globally), tobacco use (9%), highblood glu­cose (6%), physical inactivity (6%), and overweight
and obesity (5%). These risks are responsible for raising thechance of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes,and various cancers and they affect countries across all income
groups: high, middle and low. Eight risk factors (alcohol use,
tobacco­use, high blood pressure, high body mass index, highcholes­terol, high blood glucose, low fruit and vegetable intake,and physical inactivity) account for 61% of cardiovasculardeaths. Reducing expo­sure to these eight risk factors would
increase­global life expectancy by almost 5 years (WHO 2009).
As such, identifying geriatric conditions by performing healthcheckups can help clinicians manage these conditions andprevent or delay their complications. On the basis of these
health checkups, we have tried to promote health of the elderly
through comprehensive activities. They should be cared for incollaboration with family, neighbors, village heads, BHUs, hospitals, schools, and so on. While there, we gave a lecture aboutobesity, hypertension, and diabetes for students of a lower
secondary­school in cooperation with school teachers.
Between November 7–9, 2011, the first Biennial HealthConference­was held in Mongar, Bhutan. MoH, RoGB andadopted­a series of recommendations. These acknowledged
the impact of pilot project on elderly care which was instituted
at Khaling BHU, and recommended to explore the possibilityof gradually rolling over the project in the country. It was also
recommended to integrate elderly care into the primary healthcare system during the 11th Five Year Plan. In cooperation with
MoH, we are now trying to expand the areas from Khaling to
the whole country. Our next aim is to accumulate evidence tosupport communities through action. We ultimately hope that
this elderly program will trigger and help to maintain thebonds and harmony within communities.
14

United Nations. 2009. World Population Ageing. New York: United
Nations.
World Health Organization. 2009. Global Health Risks: Mortality
and Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risks.
Geneva: WHO Press.
Wilson, James Maxwell Glover and Jungner, Gunnar. 1968.
Principles and Practice of Screening for Disease. WHO
Chronicle. Geneva: World Health Organization, 22: 473.
Public Health Papers 34.

Notes
1

Office of the Census Commissioner, Royal Government of
Bhutan. Results of Population & Housing Census of Bhutan
2005.

2

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public healthand aging: trends in aging-United States and worldwide.
MMWR 2003, 52: 101-106.

3

Project no. GNHC/PMCD-MoH/GEN/ 2010-11/2732

Language and History in Southeast Asia:
An Interview with Gérard Diffloth

Gérard Diffloth

Former Visiting Research Fellow CSEAS

Interview by Nathan Badenoch
Visiting Associate Professor (Hakubi Project)

Professor Gérard Diffloth is a leading figure in Southeast Asian linguistics, specializing in the languages of the Austroasiatic family
that includes Khmer, Vietnamese and many other languages spoken not only in the countries of Southeast Asia, but also northeast
India, Southern China and the Nicobar Islands. His main work has been concerned with elaborating the linguistic history of theregion. He and Nathan Badenoch are working on a group of small and endangered languages spoken in northern Laos. This interview
arises out of an exchange on this project and other work related to it during Prof Diffloth’s recent stay as a Visiting Scholar at CSEAS.

15

Badenoch: First, I know that you have been here at the Center
for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) once before. When wasthat and what were you doing then?
Diffloth: I was at CSEAS in 1976–1977. The Center was muchsmaller then, yet it was already a very important place forSoutheast Asian studies. At that time I was working with
­Yasuyuki Mitani (三谷恭之), who was finishing his dissertationon the Lawa language of Northern Thailand, so we were able
to discuss common interests. Professor Ishii Yoneo (石井米雄
1929–2010) was also here at the time and he was the first­person to teach me Thai.
Badenoch: You were already well into your career as a linguistby then, but you had initially studied mathematics and journalism. How did you end up as a specialist of Southeast Asianlinguistics?
Diffloth: That is a very long story. But I should say that it was
really by chance, or actually luck, that I moved on to Southeast
Asian, and especially Austroasiatic linguistics. Along the way
there was mathematics at the University of Paris and journalism
at the Higher School of Journalism of Lille, also in France. At
that school, I started studying Russian, and this was an eyeopener. The Russian language in itself is very interesting, andthe textbooks used for teaching Russian were quite sophisticated in linguistic terms. That is when I understood that there
was such a thing as the scientific study of language, and mybackground in mathematics became useful then.
Badenoch: I recall in his book The Road will Open (Michi wa
Hirakeru­) how Professor Ishii described making several attempts
at learning Russian. He did not make anything of it because
he did not find inspiration in that language. Clearly you had
a different experience. Nonetheless, you moved from Russian
to languages further east. How did that happen?
Diffloth: Gradually, via Persian and then Tamil — I wrote mydissertation on a variety of Tamil called Irula — and from Tamilto the mountains of Malaysia. And from there to the rest of theAustroasiatic family across the whole of Mainland Southeast
Asia. But in a more personal way, by interacting with speakers
of languages such as Khasi, Semai, Mon, Kuay, Khmer andothers, I found that the Austroasiatic family was unique inmany ways, and historically very rich.
Badenoch: Of course linguistics is a very broad field, but I feelthat there are many misconceptions or misunderstandings
about what linguists do. There are two misconceptions. Firstly,that linguists are general polyglots; and secondly, that linguistics is impenetrably technical, inaccessible to non-specialists,and unfortunately, not relevant for other fields of research.
Diffloth: You are right in saying that linguistics is often misunderstood. It’s a great pity, because when you think about it, andthis is something I first learned in journalism school, language
is with us everywhere all the time, from the moment we wake16

up until when we fall asleep, and often in our dreams as well.
The language we speak is like the air we breathe, obvious andyet invisible. And Linguistics has developed scientific concepts
and tools that are powerful and specifically designed for thisvery human activity, language.
Badenoch: As you made the transition into linguistics, what
people were influential on your thinking?
Diffloth: It really goes back to early years, even to pre-schooltimes. Thinking about it, I find that some teachers, even in thoseearly days, had a great influence. Primary school teachers havea very important job to do. Young children have a brain, ofcourse, just like adults. An inspiring teacher, a casual remark, aconvincing example, can create a spark that may keep on shining for many years.
Badenoch: Children’s attitudes towards language are set at avery young age. Unfortunately this is often in a negative way, as
we can see in the way English and other languages are taught
around the world. Were you surrounded by people speaking
other languages when you were young?
Diffloth: Not that much; but at the age of four, in the countryside during the war, I very well remember being astonished athearing some old farming ladies speaking, not my standard
French, but a variety of Berrichon. Later on in school, Latin was
vigorously taught early on, and then Greek. English was taught
as a secondary language. My father also loved to travel and we
often visited countries where everybody spoke German. So
there was a mixture of the classics and the spoken languagesof Europe.
Badenoch: One of the things that has underpinned yourlinguistic career has been fieldwork. What do you think the­experience of doing intensive fieldwork can teach us about
language?
Diffloth: Very quickly you realize that language is not an object, but an activity. Unfortunately, in societies where literacy iswell implanted, most people think, — because they are taught
this in school —, that language is basically writing, the sort ofblack stuff you can see on paper as text. But written text is notlanguage, and we have been made to forget that this writing is
actually derived from language, not the other way around.
One of the first things you witness in doing fieldwork is that
language is something people do, not something people
make. There are still societies today where the idea of putting
down language on paper appears quite senseless, even objectionable.
Badenoch: When doing fieldwork have you felt any tension
between Western academic science, which is strongly basedin written culture, and the language that people are speaking?
Diffloth: Yes, but when you do fieldwork for a long time, you
begin to see things the way they do. To give an example, atNo.69 Spring 2014

some point in studying the Mon-Khmer languages of Malaysia,
I was going through a certain type of words — Expressives,
somewhat similar to the Gisego (擬声語) found in Japanese —with a native speaker of Semai. At some point he said to me:“Actually, these words which you call Expressives, they are notreally words at all. Up until now, we have been discussing
nouns, verbs, and so on, and that is all very fine, but thesethings are different: we do not speak them, we actually shootthem.” I struggled to understand what he could possibly meanby that; and it has taken me some years to draw the linguistic
conclusions from his strange remark.
Badenoch: A German linguist named Rudi Keller has described language as being an agreement between speakers.
This agreement is what determines meaning, changes in soundand word use over time (Keller 1994). Perhaps there is a certain
type of ‘agreement’ that we work towards with the people
whose language­we are studying in the field?
Diffloth: Absolutely. When we are notating the languages wehear, using whatever notation system, these notations are notlanguage. They are simply the permanent record of an agreement between you, the linguist, and the speaker: we havecome to an agreement, viva voce, that this is the way it sounds,
and then the linguist makes a note of that agreement. This
notion has direct consequences when it comes to recording
dying languages, a major concern in linguistics today. Actually,
the term “recording” is ambiguous. In its superficial sense, it­implies that we take along some high-tech equipment, makehundreds of hours of excellent “recordings” and then go home
to study them, or store them for the future. But unless you havebeen constantly interacting, on a word-by-word basis, with thevery person who spoke, who told the stories, who sang thesongs, such recordings are practically worthless. Recordings,
in the deeper sense of the term, are witnesses of detailed
and elaborate agreements.
Badenoch: Speaking of language loss, Southeast Asia is
known as an area of great linguistic diversity, but the rate at
which languages are disappearing is very high. Of course thisreflects a global trend, but in Southeast Asia why are languages
disappearing so quickly?
Diffloth: The figures are staggering — in 50 years, half ofthe languages spoken in the world today may well have disappeared forever. If you compare that situation with the current
threat of extinction of plant and animal species worldwide, theongoing rate of language elimination is much more dramatic;
and yet, it is not making many headlines. In 1988, the United
Nations celebrated a “year of the languages”; Kofi Anan’s
recommendation­was to “protect and promote” endangered
languages­. Since then, there have been a few projects aimed
at promotion; but when it comes to protection, I don’t seethat much has been done, at least in Mainland Southeast Asia.
The main reasons appear quite simple: having many languages
and dialects makes the work of administrators difficult andcostly; also, a certain model of the nation — the monolingual

nation — seems dominant, forming a considerable obstacle.
Following that model, the national languages are being well
protected and forcefully promoted.
Badenoch: You mentioned the double-pronged approach of
promoting and protecting. Protection implies that there is athreat, but I don’t believe that people have yet recognized thatthe threats have been identified.
Diffloth: I agree. Even the words we use in discussing the
problem: this language is ‘dying’ or ‘moribund,’ or ‘comatose,’ allof these medical metaphors, imply that like living organisms,
languages must have a birth and a death. These metaphors aretotally misleading and confuse the debate. The fundamental
dynamics of language, of any language, consists in projecting
itself indefinitely into the future, linking one generation to thenext. In that context, the elimination of a language is always
the result of multiple conscious decisions taken at many levels.
The reasons why people decide to speak one language oranother, either in public, or to their friends, or in their own
house, and most importantly to their own children, are publicly
complex, and mostly intimate.
Badenoch: We are constantly faced with the enormousquestion, what is lost when a language disappears?
Diffloth: I recently gave a talk at CSEAS where I said that theloss of a language is like the sinking of a cathedral. The idea
was that languages transport very complex and not always
obvious­ideas, and ways of perceiving practically every aspect
17

of life. In addition to what people openly say — the narrativesof culture, traditions and ways of life — the languages themselves contain rich information that is not overtly stated but
only implied and yet well understood by all. This is the resultof hundreds, thousands of years of experience and observations, of success and tragedy.
Badenoch: The experience of humanity?
Diffloth: Yes, this is History with a capital H, and different
languages­are the result of different histories. In this sense,
when a language disappears, it is as if a cathedral collapsed ora library was burnt to the ground.
Badenoch: You have often said that language is history. Can
you elaborate a little more on what insights can be obtained
from this language perspective on history?
Diffloth: When we get involved in historical linguistics, the results very often end up being rather different from the histories
produced from the analysis of concrete historical documents.
For one thing, traditional history usually has to do with power
structures, governance, armies and battles, things of that kind;historical linguistics can do this as well, but also gets into theminutiae of life: the history of dress, of hunting, of family arrangements. Another difference is that in historical linguistics
we are compelled to look at minority languages because they
are useful, and historically every bit as legitimate as the major,
the usually written national languages. Quite often, the histories of people without writing are simply absent from the more
traditional narratives. Sometimes, what we find with the useof historical linguistics squarely contradicts what is said in thehistory books.
Badenoch: Oral history has become more and more a part ofsocial science, but you are talking about a different kind oforality­. Not only the stories, but the languages themselves.
Diffloth: Exactly. Oral history and village history, based onliving­peoples’ memories, are without any doubt interestingand important. But the history that we can produce by using
historical linguistic methods is of a different kind. Very often we
can reach very much further back in time, often discovering
events that have left no conscious traces in living memories,
or may even have been carefully and completely erased. The
reason is that people are not aware of linguistic change. Withhistorical linguistics we are exploring a kind of pre-conscious
domain of history.
Badenoch: One type of finding we often talk about falls into
the category of food history. The vocabulary of hunting, gathering, and processing different foods is incredibly rich in theAustroasiatic languages.
Diffloth: Every word, each with its own meanings, has a history that we can explore; for example the history of food collection and preparation, the history of culinary tastes. This is18

something we can often do quite well, given sufficient data. It
will soon be possible, for example, to trace the history of whenand how rice became a staple food, and what the position anduses of rice may have been before that. This subject has now
become a major topic in archeological research.
Badenoch: And I would say this is a prime example of theheritage that is lost when a language ceases to be spoken. The
situation is quite bleak, but what do you think should be done?
Diffloth: The question should be “What can we do in the time
available to us?” It is urgent. I have seen projects aiming at
language re-vitalization, and I wish them the best of luck. But
in many places, there is no time left for this type of work. So
we are faced with the necessity of doing salvage linguistics.
The boat is sinking and we need to save whatever we can. For
some of us, this means recording vocabulary. For others itmeans recording syntax, stories, songs; everything is valuable.
Badenoch: In my research I study how language use changes
in situations where many different ethnic groups are living
together­in rapidly growing villages in rural Laos. I see thenegative influence that education policy has on minority
languages­. Do you think that education is an area that canhelp improve the situation?
Diffloth: The main problem is that a great number of thelanguages­that will disappear are not, and have never been
written. This means that an enlightened education system thatwould allow the use of different languages in the development
and delivery of the official curriculum is simply outside thescope of the problem at hand. If a language is no longer
spoken­, that means it has already disappeared, it is essentially
too late.

No.69 Spring 2014

Badenoch: Hence the need for salvage linguistics right? In
the countries of Southeast Asia, linguistics is a relatively new
field of study. Since much of our work at the Center is donein collaborative arrangements with local institutions, I wonder
what you think of the prospects for raising the profile of linguistics in local academic research.
Diffloth: Linguists is indeed a new field, although an interestin language is quite old. Until very recently it was mostly expressed in the framework of philology, the study of texts andinscriptions, in Cambodia for example. But linguistics is a very
different enterprise. And you are right in saying that linguistics
remains a minor subject of study in Southeast Asia, with meager financing and hardly any job prospects . It will take time.
Badenoch: And this difficulty is certainly not limited to
Cambodia­.
Diffloth: No, in fact it may be even more difficult in someother countries. One problem is that the collection of primary
linguistic data has sometimes become entangled and confusedwith religious and ethnic-identity issues.
Badenoch: Fieldwork in local languages is at the core of Area
Studies at Kyoto University. However, it is my impression thatthe study of language itself had a somewhat higher profile at
the Center when you were here the first time.
Diffloth: I’m not sure; I wouldn’t say that the position of language has fallen all that much. The Center has always placedhigh emphasis on learning and using local languages, and thisis one of the strong parts of the program at the Center. There
are several dimensions to this. First of all, if we are going to do
any kind of fieldwork, this cannot be done in a short period oftime. A long-term, in situ commitment is required. Another sideof this issue is what we mean by ‘local’ language. Fieldwork
may range from work with officials conducted in the national
language, all the way to situations in which the national language is not the language of everyday communication. At
this end of the spectrum, we are dealing with languages thatare very often not taught anywhere, and in many cases may
not have ever been studied. This wide array of possibilities must
be kept in mind when we discuss the principle of working in
local languages.
Badenoch: So even if one is not a linguist, there is a chancethat a researcher might be the first person to work in a minority
language.

trained as a linguist, but given the commitment to fieldwork,
it seems reasonable that some linguistic training be part ofthe basic skill-set assumed of a field worker.
Diffloth: This is useful for the researcher, and it is also very important from the perspective of the community where researchis being conducted. Because what language you speak, andhow you speak it, will give the other persons a certain image of
who you are. In the case of a minority language, when you
reach a level where you begin to sound like a normal speaker,
you suddenly become a fuller human being in their eyes, maybe a member of the household — as opposed to someone
who is using only the national language, or is content with being roughly and minimally understood. A speaker of Semai, oneof the Mon-Khmer languages in Malaysia, once said to me “It is
funny, when I speak Malay and when I speak Semai, the truth is
not the same.” A different truth! It’s not simply that we use
different words or talk about different topics; what is true in
one language may not be true in another.
Badenoch: Finally, having explored these truths through manydifferent languages over the past four decades, how would you
describe the ‘project’ of your career in Austroasiatic linguistics?
Diffloth: The general idea has long been to compare languages
and reconstruct the previous state of affairs many centuries
ago, and as far back in time as the method permits to go.
Sometimes, this may require paying close attention to somevery fine details of vowels, of tones, and of consonants. This is
why linguistics is sometimes seen as a dry and technical subject. But working in this way also provides a guarantee that wecan produce testable hypotheses, not just gratuitous fantasies.
Such precision is costly in time and labor, and this is true in any
field of science. For me, the methods and the tools are fascinating all by themselves; but there is also the much larger
goal of understanding meaning, and changes in meaning, andhow these changes reflect the history of human experience ina part of the world that is as little known as it is genuinely
welcoming.

References
Ishii Yoneo 石井米雄. 2003. Michi ha Hirakeru: Tai Kenkyu no
50 Nen.「道は、ひらける――タイ研究の50年」[The Road will
Open]. Tokyo: Mekong Publishing.
Keller, Rudi. 1994. On Linguistic Change: The Invisible Hand in
Language. New York: Routledge.

Diffloth: Yes, and this brings us back to our original discussion;
language is everywhere at all times of day and night. Studying
linguistics and its principles makes you aware of the multiple
dimensions of language, such as phonetics, intonation, syntax,
social interaction, semantics and more. These are relevant everywhere, in all aspects of research and well beyond linguistics.
Badenoch: I wouldn’t suggest that everyone should be
19

A Dialogue with Information Scientists:
An Anthropologist’s Experiment in Area Informatics
Kobayashi Satoru
Associate Professor CSEAS

A Challenge for Area Studies
Interdisciplinary study and extensive fieldwork have bothbeen essential components of area studies at CSEAS since thecenter’s founding in 1963. From the beginning, CSEAS has
carried­out collaborative research projects with members fromdiverse backgrounds in the natural sciences, social sciences,and humanities. In this environment, even natural scientists areused to spending long periods of time in the field conducting
fieldwork to the same degree that anthropologists did. Fieldwork (field survey, ethnographic analysis) is thought of as animperative and differentiates the CSEAS specialist from those
whose study of Southeast Asian societies rely on available
processed­ data.
However, even if both interdisciplinary study and extensive
fieldwork remain paramount in our area studies, the conditions
within which we undertake them have drastically changed inrecent decades. What lies behind these changes is, in effect, atechnological restructuring of our human lives. Nowadays,
fieldworkers conduct research in Southeast Asian countries
using­various electronic tools that did not previously exist,
such as the digital camera and mobile GPS systems. Yet, notonly our research tools, but also those societies that are thesubjects of our research, have substantially changed in recent
years. Significantly, the use of electricity has now become very
common in Southeast Asian lowland villages, and even highland peoples can now gain access through solar batteries soldin local markets. This expansion of the power grid shows theunparalleled degree in which both infrastructure and communication technologies have developed. Even though researchers at CSEAS have studied Southeast Asian societies for nearly
50 years, the landscape has undergone a radical transformation.
Area Informatics has its genesis in area studies and technological change. Prof. Shibayama Mamoru, Center for Integrated
Area Studies (CIAS), and his colleagues working in the field of
information technology at CSEAS and other institutions, playeda key role in the birth of this new methodological approach.
Shibayama has called for new research methodologies that incorporate methods of analysis and visualization from information science to process large amounts of data to search for regularities and patterns (See Shibayama 2012). Doing so can help
us to discover and explain what has not been previously notedor accounted for in area studies.
But to what degree can ‘Area Informatics’ contribute to areastudies? Information science makes it possible to gather,­organize, integrate and share regional information. It also introduces innovations to data processing and accumulation of­information. The introduction of new methods such as spatial
area informatics like GIS for verifying previously argued hypothesis can deepen and extend empirical studies of societies.
20

While data mining can contribute to discovering new knowledge, as Shibayama argues, we are still left with a question: is
this merely a tool or is it a definable research “area” that can
provide new ways to understand regions and their societies?
An experimental ‘Area Informatics’ that can fruitfully engage inarea studies is essential to solve this question.

Dialogue with Information Scientists
I have been studying the culture and society of Cambodia
and neighboring countries since the end of the 1990s. In 2008,
I had a chance to work with information scientists on a research
project titled “Mapping Theravada Buddhist Monasteries/
Hermitages in Time and Space: A Cross Regional Study ofPractice, Mobility and Network in Mainland Southeast Asia”(headed by Prof. Hayashi Yukio, CIAS, Kyoto University: 2008–2010). The project aimed to map the dynamic formation of
Theravada Buddhist cultures in Mainland Southeast Asia andinvolved collaboration between area studies researchers (anthropologists and historians who speak vernacular languages
and have long research experience in the area) and information
scientists. The majority of the lowland population in Mainland
Southeast Asia are Theravada Buddhists. The religion is basedon the sacred Pali canon and its adherents share the samereligious notions such as the ideology of merit, and hold eventsand rituals that have resemblances across Southeast Asia.
However, everyday Buddhist practices embedded in people’s
daily lives are notably different. The point here is that a comparative study of the diversity of Buddhist cultures in each locality
has the potential to deepen our understanding of the complex
cultural dynamics that played a crucial role in the formation ofMainland Southeast Asia.
Both area studies researchers and information scientists haveexchanged frank opinions on the possibilities and challenges of‘Area Informatics.’ Area studies researchers conducted quantitative data collections in several sites in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,
Yunnan province of China. I worked as a member of this projectand conducted field research in rural Cambodia in the Buddhist
Lent Season (June–August) of 2009, 2010 and 2011. In eachyear, I organized a research team with nearly 10 young Cambodian researchers and visited all the wats in 4 districts in
Kampong Thum province, located 190 kilometers from thecapital. The team spent more than two weeks visiting nearly 90
temple-monasteries in the area. In each wat, we interviewed
abbots and elderly laypeople regarding the general information of each place. At the same time, we collected the lifehistory data of all individuals, both monks and laypeople.
In total we were able to conduct about 1,200 interviews each year.
This form of minute data collection is a positive example ofapplying ‘Area Informatics’ in area studies research. There is noNo.69 Spring 2014

doubt that there are differences in Buddhist practices in Mainland Southeast Asia. However, the diversity in this region cannot be fully understood solely from the perspectives of canonical or philosophical texts. Anthropologists familiar with existing
differences have used descriptive/ethnographic analysis to explore cultural features in a locality, but their insights, howeverrich, cannot be applied at the level of the region for any metaunderstanding of its diversity. In short, we need a new approach for understanding a region. ‘Area Informatics’ helps inthat it can help provide a macro-picture through quantificationof people’s behavior. Actually, the project members spent a lotof time on the content of questionnaires, which were used inseveral research sites in the region. The data derived were thenused in the discussion of cultural diversities in the region.
‘Area Informatics’ enables the processing of large amounts ofdata following certain criteria to identify regularities and patterns. However, it is very difficult to find reliable large data sets
for Southeast Asia. National statistics are issued by government
institutions in each country, but these provide only general
information, which may not necessarily illuminate the situationof specific communities in the country, let alone the region.
For monks/novices in Cambodia, official statistics only provide
the total numbers in each province and not the actual details
of information such as their age distribution and their durationin monkhood/novicehood. In short, determining ways to conduct research for collecting data is very important for ‘Area
Informatics’ in Southeast Asia area studies, albeit extremely time
consuming.
The above project encountered another difficulty. In reality,
most area studies researchers were frustrated when they weretold that there was no place for any qualitative understandingin ‘Area informatics.’ Information scientists see human behavior
only from the perspective of quantitative information. One ofthe objectives of the project was to confirm if data mining
could actually allow us to discover regularities in the behaviorof people in Theravada Buddhist societies. Area studies researchers try to find regularities in the field through observations and interviews. Information scientists say that so-called
data mining (that is, comprehensively collecting and analyzing all the information from societies) contributes to the discovery of knowledge in previously unexamined areas. But inwhat way can data-mining enable area studies researchers to
explain the culture and behavior of Theravada Buddhists ineach society in Mainland Southeast Asia? This question remains
unresolved since my involvement on this project.

Case Study in Progress
One of my current research interests is to uncover the reason
for the decline in the number of monks/novices in Cambodia
through ‘Area Informatics’ techniques. Theravada Buddhism
spread among the lowland populations in Mainland Southeast
Asia over a period of a thousand years. In Cambodia, over 90%of the population are said to be Buddhists. The constitution
declares Buddhism as the state religion, and the Ministry ofCults and Religions works for assisting broad Buddhist activities
in the country.

Needless to say, Cambodian society has experienced dramatic and repeated transformation over the past forty years.
The Pol Pot regime brought about the near-total destruction of
Buddhist activities in 1976 by ordering all the monks in the
country to disrobe. Cambodian monks were reborn under the
initiative of socialist governments in 1979, but ordinations werebanned for men under 50 years old until 1989. The state direction for religious activities ended in that year, and the recovery
of Buddhist activities in the country went into full swing at the
beginning of the 1990s. Since the early 2000s, Cambodian society entered the era of globalization leading to a tripling of GDP
per capita (from $US 253 in 1998 to $US 739 in 2008) all within
the last decade. This is testimony to this transformation.
Interestingly, the number of monks/novices in the country
started to decline in 2004 after showing a continuous increasesince 1979. There were over 60,000 monks/novices in the
country in 1969, which accounted for 1% of the total population at the time. During the Pol Pot period this dropped to zero,but gradually increased after the official ordination ceremony
held by the socialist government in September 1979. Between
1989 and 1992 there was a boost in the number of monks/novices through the removal of age-restriction for ordinations thatthe socialist state had determined in the previous decade. And
increases continued in the 1990s within the context of rehabilitating society and culture. However, the number of novices
started to decrease in 2004 and monks followed­this trend in
2007.
21

Ordination Experience of Monks/novices in
4 districts of Kampong Thum province (2009)
Green: Birth Year
Blue: Period as a Novice
Red: Period as a Monk

chart 1

Being a novice/monk in Theravada Buddhist societies is avery complex phenomenon. Ordination as a monk was once
recognized by Cambodian people as one of the prerequisites
for men to marry a woman, and their devotion to the development of Buddhism is often heard as a reason for their ordination on official occasions. This is seen as an opportunity foryoung men to pay a debt of gratitude to parents, especiallymothers, by giving a chance of merit-making, something still
often referred to by researchers. At the same time, it expands
the possibilities for the social mobility of young boys by offering educational opportunities in the national Buddhist education system as well as training in secular subjects. As such, to bea monk/novice has multiple meanings and the changes in this22

reflect constantly evolving societal trends.
Recently, these trends have become common in Theravada
societies.1 In Cambodia, the decrease peaked with a change insocietal trends from rehabilitation to globalization in the mid2000s. Population growth in Cambodia has been high in recent
years and people are active in conducting various merit-making
acts, such as donating food and money to monks. Yet, the ordination patterns of Cambodian men are now in transition. Since
the beginning of the 21st century, Cambodian society has seen
the further penetration of the market and globalization and a
decline in the number of monks/novices in the country might
be evidence of this shift. Sociological studies on this background, based on the interpretation of qualitative data such as
narratives are very interesting to read, but have difficulty in
putting forward convincing and empirically grounded explanations. In this regard, the quantitative analysis that can beprovided by ‘Area Informatics’ can give us clues to understanding this trend from a different perspective.
Collected data shows is that a distinct majority of persons
who wear yellow robes as monks/novices in this area areyoung. The native monks/novices account for quite a large
portion of both monks and novices, but there are a number ofthem who have migrated from other provinces. Moreover, thedegree of diversity in birthplace is a little bit larger in the caseof novices, than the case of monks. Information scientists havehelped to construct several images and figures from collected
data and these can show the effectiveness of visualization
technology of information science. The ordination experiencesin terms of the life histories of monks/ novices, is shown inchart 1.
The chart shows the actual trends in ordination patterns inrecent Cambodia as expressed in the life-stories of individuals
as well as rural communities and gives us much more information than a mere description or statistical number. Paying attention to the influences of warfare and totalitarian/socialist rulein the country in the 1970s and the 1980s is essential for studying Cambodian society. In the chart, the blank period for ordination experience, showed in white, tells us that there were nomonks/novices during the Pol Pot period. We learned of thisfrom previous interviews, but the chart shows this fact in amuch more visually persuasive way.
With help from the information scientists we were able toexamine the question of who decides to be monks/novices
and live in wats in rural Cambodia today through a spatial approach (See Fig. 1). We created a map that includes the birthvillage of all monks and novices in the area. The red marks show
the position of villages that produced a number of monks/
novices, while blue ones represent villages that have notproduced them. The size of those marks corresponds to thenumber of monks/novices born in the villages. This figure represents the base map showing what village produces whatkinds of monks and novices in the area. What is clear is that
there is a visible tendency for blue marks to concentrate in thevicinity of the provincial capital and the National Highway.
This helps us understand that remote villages where poor
households forma majority produce a much larger number ofmonks/novices. Adding various information such as geo-

No.69 Spring 2014

Fig. 1: Spatial distribution of birth villages of monks. Red marks show the position of villages that produced a number of monks. Blue represents villages that have notproduced monks. Size indicates number of monks born in villages.

graphical features, land usage, school attendance, householdincomes, distances to a main road and so on, to the base map
will open further possibilities for analyzing and answering thequestion of what kind of village has produced a large numberof monks/novices. The analysis will very likely show that thetransformations in living conditions in the villages in semiurbanized­areas will result in the rise of the education continuance rate and may be negatively correlated with the number ofmonks/novices produced there.

For Time-space Analysis of Living Culture‘Area Informatics’ will become an important and viable
analytical method to research society and culture. However, it
will require area studies researchers to overthrow pre-existingunderstandings, not only stereotypes, but also things that appear obvious to specialists and the subsequent quantificationof everything related with the object of study. This quantification has a potential constructive effect for breaking throughthe impasse that exists in area studies: one that wholly depends
on qualitative interpretations. As made clear in this essay, thenumbers of monks/novices in Cambodia began to decrease
from a peak of 2004. But ordination practices are embedded in
Cambodian society, so a simplistic perspective will not lead toany meaningful conclusion. Researchers must employ multiple
viewpoints; both micro and macro; actor-oriented and systemoriented; and from the perspective of practice and institution
and policy. The cross-checking of two or more data setsthrough ‘Area Informatics’ will be a future method that will help

us understand the complexities of Southeast Asian societies
and contribute to potentially rewarding meta- analyses of theregion as a whole.

References
Shibayama, Mamoru. 2012. Appeal for an Area Informatics
Approach­to Area Studies. CSEAS Newsletter, 65: 3-6.
Number of monks dropping nationwide. The Nation. 26
March, 2009. 
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/03/26/national/
national_30098855.php (accessed 1 January, 2014)

Note
1

See “Number of monks dropping nationwide” in The Nation
published on March 26, 2009. 
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/03/26/national/
national_30098855.php

23

Viewing Deep-south Thailand from a Historical Perspective
Piyada Chonlaworn
Affiliated Researcher CSEAS

What is ‘Deep-south’?
In recent years, ‘Deep-south’ Thailand is a term has come tobe commonly used to refer to an area in Southern Thailand
which have been affected by violence since late 2003. The area
covers four southernmost provinces of Thailand; Songkhla,
Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, bordering northern Malaysia. The
majority of the population of this region are Malay-speaking
Muslims, yet the area has long been ethnically and religiously
diverse, with Thai Buddhist, Chinese and indigenous people living together for hundreds of years. Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat
were once known as an integrated Malay kingdom called
Patani­, having a long history of trade and cultural contact withpowers in the North in the Thai basin and to the South in theIndonesian archipelago. As an autonomous polity, Patani had aloose tributary relation with Thailand (then Siam) since the 16th
century, but when the political climate of the two polities
changed in 1810s, Thailand attempted to assert control overher southern periphery by separating Patani into seven small
states, each ruled by a hereditary sultan. During the last decadeof the 1800s and the turn of the 20th century, Patani saw a tremendous change in its political sphere as a Thai royal commissioner was appointed to strengthen control over local rulers.
In 1906 the position of the sultan was abolished and seven
Malay­states were reorganized again as Monthon Pattani under
the direct jurisdiction of the central government in Bangkok,
marking the end of Patani as a sultanate state. A traditional
tributary­sent to Bangkok in the form of ornamental tree madeof gold and silver, and other local products were abolished.
Needless to say, this process provoked discontentment among
Malay elites which fostered and led to a separatist movementin 1950s and in the following years, a militant insurgency byradical Muslims in the southernmost part of Thailand that hascontinued into the present (Aphornsuvan 2007).
When talking about the ‘deep-south’ conflict, the debate
often revolves around the political struggles of Malay people
against the Thai authorities; how they were treated throughdiscrimination by the Thais; and how their Malay identity was
suppressed by national identity. On the other hand, Thai elites
and aristocrats have viewed the conflict differently. They haveoften claimed that Patani had always been a part of Thailand,so any attempt to resist central government is regarded as‘rebellion.’ This ideological conflict has deep roots in different
perceptions of history that exist between the Thais and the
Malays, making the history of Patani itself hard to fit into Thainational history (Montesano et al. 2008). For example, Haji
Sulong­Abdul Kadir al-Fatani (1875-1954?), a Patanian religionationalist demanded Patani’s cultural and legal autonomy in
Background map in header: Patani and the Malay Peninsula (In Moreland 2002, 30)24

1950s and was seen by the Thai authorities to be a threat(Ockey 2011). But for many Malay people, he was regarded as
their hero. Collective memories among Patanians also include
their rulers such as the first female ruler Raja Hijau and the last
sultan Tunku Abdulqadir Kamarruddin who has been remembered as a victim of Thai colonialism. Stories about the queenof Patani are often depicted in Thai movies, novels, and in recent years, as a heroine who struggles to keep her kingdom
from a stronger influence. The fantasy and adventurous movie“the Queen of Langasuka” in Picture1, for example, originatesfrom the life of Raja Hijau (Piyada 2011). For Buddhist-Thaipeople in general, Malay Muslims in the southernmost region
possess a different religious, ethnic, and cultural background,
not to mention a unique geographical situation which is far
removed from central Thailand. The word ‘deep-south’ thus
inevitably reflects the remoteness and peripheral status of
this area.

Picture 1: The movie Punyai Chomsalad (In Thai, Cannon and Pirates or the
Queen of Langasuka) 2008

No.69 Spring 2014

Revisiting Patani’s Past
The Thai-Malay historical background mentioned above
makes any attempt to map and reconstruct Patani’s past a difficult task. This is especially so when it comes to the politicaltransitional period of the 1890s when the Central Thai regime
and colonial powers like the British were becoming more involved in the region. Study of the region is made more difficult
by the lack of local source materials (which are rare) as mostexisting­documents were written by Thai officials and aristocrats, who were dispatched to oversee administration of thelower south at that time. These official records and reports werevery Thai-centric, often self-serving and biased, yet these datasometimes provide valuable information on the social andeconomic activities of people in this region which are not easilyfound in local sources. However, it is not easy to obtain thissource of information. Thai official archives concerning Patani
and adjacent provinces during King Chulalongkorn (1868–1910) and King Vajiravudh (1910–1925), are kept in the
Bangkok National Archive, and have been treated as confidential over the past ten years despite the fact that somecontents are non-political. One of the reasons given is thatmaterials­remain confidential so as to avoid escalating theconflict­between the Malay and Thai authorities in the ‘deep
south.’ The fact that these sources are not publically accessible,
undermines any attempt to enhance knowledge and understanding regarding Patani history especially from social­andeconomic perspectives.
Apart from written sources, another kind of information that
can help unravel the history of Patani is archaeological findings.
Patani has several ancient sites such as Yarang and the famous
Krue Sae mosque. Some sites date back to the 16th and the 17th
century when trade with China, Japan and Dutch was active.
It is said that a large amount of fragmented China ware,­Chinese coins used in Ming period, and Dutch porcelain were
found scattered in paddy fields and along the seashore in Pattani
province.1 Unfortunately the ongoing insurgency makes it difficult
for scholars to conduct serious studies and excavations (Pict. 2).

Recently however, there has been a push by some arche­
ologists of Prince of Songkla University Pattani campus to startan excavation, giving us hope to obtain alternative informationthat could shed light on Patani’s past. Such an attempt to unravel the little-known history of Patani will require the collaboration of experts from different fields working together.
Archaeological findings, together with existing written
sources, can give us potential clues that this region was once
an international entrepôt and ethnically and culturally diverse
society, not a ‘Malay’ or ‘Thai’ dominated area often claimed bynationalists. The historical study of Patani might not be able tosolve ongoing problems in southern Thailand, but new information and the reappraisal of old sources can enhance ourknowledge and understanding of this region; an important
step to help reduce ethnic and religious cleavage among theBuddhists and the Muslims in the region.

References
Jory, Patrick. (ed.) 2013. Ghost of the Past in Southern Thailand.
Singapore: NUS Press.
Montesano, Micheal and Jory, Patrick eds. 2008. Thai Southand Malay North; Ethnic Interactions on a Plural Peninsular.
Singapore: NUS Press.
Mooreland, W. H. (ed.) 2002. Peter Floris: His Voyage to the East
Indies­in the Globe, 1611-1615: The Contemporary Translationof his Journal. Bangkok: White Lotus Press.
Ockey, James. 2011. Individual Imaginings: The Religio-nationalist
Pilgrimages of Haji Sulong Abdulkadir al-Fatani. Journal ofSoutheast Asian Studies, 42(1): 89-119.
Piyada Chonlaworn. 2011. Ryukyu Jidai to Patani — Ryukyu tono Kouryu kara mita Joou no Shihai jiki made 琉球とパタニ――琉球との交流から女王の支配時期まで [Ryukyu andPatani: From Trade to Period of Rule Under the Empress].
In Ekkyo Suru Thai, Laos, Cambodia and Ryukyu. (Ryukyu
Daigaku. Hito no Ido to 21 Seiki no Gurobaru Shakai. 越境するタイ・ラオス・カンボジア・琉球（琉球大学・人の移動と21世紀のグローバル社会）[Transcending Boundaries: Thai-land, Laos, Cambodia, Ryukyu (Migration and 21st Century
Global Society Vol III)], edited by Suzuki Noriyuki andInamura Tsutomu, 鈴木規之, 稲村務. Tokyo: Sairyusha.

Thanet Aphornsuvan. 2007. Rebellion in Southern Thailand:Contending­ Histories. Washington: East-West Center Washington.

Note
1

Personal interview with Prof. Krongchai Hatta at Prince ofSongkla University, Patani campus. 20 December, 2012.

Pict. 2: Map of tourist attractions in Patani. Red stars indicate natural and­historical attractions which include Yarang Ancient City and Krue Sae Mosque.
25

Appraising the Significance of the Center for Southeast AsianStudies’ (CSEAS) Library Collection for Philippine Studies
Suzuki Nobutaka
Associate Professor, University of Tsukuba

The library at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) has been the most essential foundation for the promotion of research
activities in the field of Southeast Asian studies. It has continually expanded and developed its collection by focusing on academic
publications on Southeast Asia, and holds approximately 180,000 items. It assures access by both domestic and overseas patrons
through its open access policy and reference services. Alongside materials collected in print, the library also collects many archival
materials from the colonial period in Microfilm form. Suzuki Nobutaka focuses on a recent additions to the collection from thePhilippines and their significance for Philippine Studies.

Collecting research materials such as newspaper articles,
public documents, information, and data from field research is undoubtedly important not only for specialists in
Philippine Studies, but also in Southeast Asian Studies in general.
However, gathering and exploring such research materials inSoutheast Asian countries, can, at times, be discouraging because they are often poorly preserved. For this reason, it isnecessary for researchers to go abroad, where rich archival
collections are available.
To my knowledge, as far Philippine Studies is concerned, alot of precious and rare research materials and documents areavailable in Japan. The library at the Center for Southeast AsianStudies (CSEAS), Kyoto University is no exception for the collections it possesses. Between 2011 and 2012, I worked on acollaborative research project sponsored by the Center andhad an opportunity to purchase the microfilms (a total of 109
reels) of the Tribune (1930–1945) from Cornell University. This
collection allowed me to gain a firm understanding of the early
20th colonial Philippines.
The most useful part of the research materials is the daily
newspaper’s articles which are indispensable for analyzing pasthistorical events. Good examples for Philippine Studies, using
extensive newspaper’s articles in addition to public documents,
are The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States
1919–1934 (1983) by Bernardita Churchill which attempts to
depict the Filipino elite’s diplomacy toward its own independence from the United States, and The Huk Rebellion: A Study ofPeasant Revolt in the Philippines (1977) by Benedict Kerkvliet,
which focuses on the Hukbalahap, the anti-Japanese resistancemovement in the Central Luzon Plain in pre-war times. English
newspapers were first published when the Philippines becamean American colony in 1898. The library has deposits of the
microfilms of the English daily newspaper, Manila Times (1898–
1930). Prior to my research project, one of the most serious
problems Philippine Studies specialists and scholars faced was
the absence of English newspapers in Japan from 1930 to 1945
in collections. However, in cooperation with Cornell University
and thanks to the kind assistance of Mr. Greg Green and Ms.
26

Carole Atkinson, both curators of the library’s Southeast Asian
Collection, the Center was able to purchase microfilms of the
Tribune following the Manila Times. This Manila-based nationwide English newspaper, originally published in 1925 is without
doubt an important source of research materials, filling a gap
between 1930 and 1945.
Scholars who used to go the Library of Congress and American universities to investigate this period can now benefit fromthis acquisition. The 1930s was a period of diplomatic negotiations with the United States, which were followed by the establishment of a Commonwealth government in 1935 in preparation for absolute independence after a 10–year transitional
period. Since only three major nationwide English newspapers— the Tribune (1925–1945), the Philippines Herald (1920–1941),
and the Manila Daily Bulletin (1907–1942, 1946– to present) —were published, the purchase of the first is of great interest to
library users.
With this new acquisition, along with help of the Foronda
and Ocampo Collections preserved in the Center, researchersand scholars will be able to explore interesting agendas fromnew perspectives. The latter includes very rare excellent collections which are available in the Center, such as the Constitutional
Convention Record of 1935 (11 volumes), which include alegislative­debate and argument over the new constitution
promulgated in 1935, and the Annual Report of the GovernorGeneral of the Philippines (1916–1935).
If more users are aware of the strengths of the Center’scollections­in comparison with other libraries, material collection in Japan could become easier. For example, when scrutinizing the newspapers of the post-independence period forresearch purposes, the Institute of Developing Economies(IDE), in Mihamaku, Chiba, is often recommended. The mostcomprehensive statistical data on the Philippine economy during the American colonial period is available at the Institute of
Economic Researches, Hitotsubashi University.1 It also offers
two distinctive admin­istrative reports in microfilm form, which
include Manuscript Reports of the Governor-General of the­Philippines (1916–1935) and Manuscript Reports of the U.S. HighNo.69 Spring 2014

Commissioner to the Philippine Islands (1936–1940). Additionally,
the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia andAfrica (ILACCA) at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
provides researchers with one of the most important public
reports entitled Manuscript Reports of the Philippine Commission(1900–1915).
In addition to the library’s collection, a number of rare documents are easily accessible in Japan. To carry out efficientand practical library research in Japan prior to going abroad,knowledge of the latest repository conditions of each library,
particularly those that focus on the early 20th colonial Philippines can help improve our scholarship. It is hoped that thesekinds of collections at the Center will play a vital role in becoming a “hub” of Southeast Asian Studies open to scholars not
only Japan, but also those from abroad.

References

Nagano, Yoshiko. 1998. The Location and Composition of Philippine Historical Statistical Materials. Asian Historical Statistics
Project Newsletter. 
http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/Newsletter/
No.8.english/yoshiko.htm (Accessed 6 January 2014).

Newspapers
The Tribune (1925–1945)
The Philippines Herald (1920–1941)
The Manila Daily Bulletin (1907–1942, 1946 – to present)
The Manila Times (1898–1930)

Note
1

Churchill, Bernardita R. 1983. The Philippine Independence Missions
to the United States 1919–1934. National Historical Institute.

For more information, please see a short essay written by
Nagano Yoshiko entitled The Location and Compositionof Philippine Historical Statistical Materials.

Kerkvliet, Benedict J. 1977. The Huk Rebellion: A Study of PeasantRevolt in the Philippines. University of California Press.

Publications

Kyoto CSEAS Series of Asian Studies No. 10

Entering Unchartered Waters?
ASEAN and the South China Sea

Living With Risk:
Precarity and Bangkok’s Urban Poor

Edited by Pavin Chachavalpongpun. 2014. Singapore: ISEAS Press

Endo, Tamaki. 2014. NUS Press and Kyoto University Press

27

Visiting Fellows
CSEAS is accepting applicants semiannually for about 14­ ositions for scholars and researchers who work on SoutheastpAsia, or any one of the countries in that region, to spend 3 to 12
months in Kyoto to conduct research, write, or pursue other
scholarly activities in connection with their field of study. Since
1975, more than 300 distinguished scholars have availed
themselves of the Center’s considerable scholarly resourcesand ­enjoyed the invigorating atmosphere of scenic Kyoto, the­ancient capital of Japan and the main repository of the country’s cultural treasures, to pursue their interests in Southeast
Asian Area Studies. The Center’s multi-disciplinary characterand the diverse research interests of its faculty offer visiting
scholars an ideal opportunity for the exchange of ideas andthe cultivation of comparative perspectives. The highly competitive selection process has brought to the Center in recent
years researchers from Southeast Asian countries, Bangladesh,
China, Korea, and western countries including the United Statesand France. The visiting fellows represent various basic disciplines in their study of Southeast Asia, and their official postsin their home institutions include teacher, researcher, librarian,journalist, and NGO worker. Information and Technology (IT)experts who conduct research on Southeast Asia are also
joining the Center, not only to manage various database systems but also to construct academic networks for area study
throughout the world. Successful applicants receive an appropriate stipend to cover international travel, housing, and living
expenses in Kyoto. Research funds will also be provided to facilitate his/her work. Funds will also be allocated for domestic
travel, subject to government regulations, and a number ofother facilities are available to visiting scholars. Fellows will be
expected to reside in Kyoto for the duration of their fellowshipperiod. Fellows are normally invited to deliver a public lectureduring their term at the Center and encouraged to submit anarticle for possible publication in the Center’s journal, Southeast
Asian Studies and to contribute to the online journal Kyoto
Review of Southeast Asia. CSEAS also received researchers,
both Japanese and foreign, who visit on their own funds or on
external fellowships.

Name

PeriodAffiliation/Position

Research Title

Sasiwongsaroj, Kwanchi

15.9.2013–14.9.2014

Lecturer for Research and Academic Affairs,
Institute of Population and Social Research,
Mahidol Universtiy

Healthcare Design for the Elderly Supported
by Buddhism Network: International
Comparative Study

Zaw Aung

20.11.2013–31.7.2014

Research Fellow, Master of Arts Program inInternational Development Studies, Facultyof Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Trans-boundary Investments andResponsibility for Social and Environmental
Justice: Lessons Learned from the Industrial
Development Policies and Practices of Japanand Thailand

Muhammad, Ahmad

4.1.2014–29.3.2014

Senior Lecturer, Department of Biology,
Faculty of Mathematics & Natural Sciences,
Riau University, Pekanbaru

Transition of Tropical Peat Land Ecosystem
Induced by Land Use Conversion

Treerat, Nualnoi

1.11.2013–30.4.2014

Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics,
Chulalongkorn University

Media, Politics and Democracy

Tran Van Quyen

1.11.2013–30.4.2014

Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences andHumanities, Phu Xuan University

Study Methods of Revision, Safekeeping
Han Nom Documents and the Ancient Maps
in JapanRahman, Md. Mizanur

1.1.2014–31.3.2014

Director, Rural Institution and Local
Government Division, Bangladesh Academy
for Rural Development (BARD)

Development at Program and Non-Program
Villages: A Comparative Study

Phakdeewanich, Titipol

7.1.2014–30.6.2014

Head of Department of Government, Facultyof Political Science, Ubon Ratchathani
University

The Roles of China and the US for theDevelopment of the Greater Mekong
Subregion and also for the Strengthening of
ASEAN

Chen, Pei-Hsiu

15.1.2014–27.2.2014

Professor, Graduate Institute of Southeast
Asian Studies, National Chi Nan University,
TaiwanThe Rising of Continental Southeast Asia
and Its Implications to Taiwan

Bautista, Julius

15.1.2014–14.7.2014

Senior Lecturer, Department of Southeast
Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences, National University of Singapore‘Export Quality Martyrs’: An Ethnohistorical
Analysis of “Suffering” and “Sacrifice” in thePhilippines

Cheng, Ke-Sheng

4.1.2014–30.9.2014

Professor, Department of Bioenvironmental
Systems Engineering, National Taiwan
University

Detecting Hydrological Changes andAssessing the Impact of Climate Change inSoutheast Asia: Focusing on Extreme
Rainfalls in Thailand

Lai, Suat Yan

28.3.2014–25.6.2014

Senior Lecturer, Gender Studies Programme,
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
University of Malaya

Buddhist Women As Spiritual Leaders, RitualSpecialists and Religious Innovators

Andi, Amri

7.4.2014–30.9.2014

Associate Professor, Fisheries Department,
Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries,
Hasanuddin University

Fostering Local Experiences with Global
Visions of Mangrove Conservation for
Sustainable Humanosphere in Southeast Asia

List of Visiting Research Fellows, Visiting Researchers, and Visiting Project Researchers at CSEAS

28

Workshop Reports

On 10 January 2014, The Center for Southeast Asian Studies(CSEAS), hosted two workshops. Both were sponsored by
the “Toward Sustainable Humanosphere in Southeast AsianStudies” Research Program in conjunction with the Center forSoutheast Asian Studies, University of California-Berkeley andthe School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS), University of
Hawai’i at Manoa.
The joint workshop between SPAS and CSEAS concentrated
on plural coexistence and engaged with how it has often been
held up as both ideal and goal in managing political and social
relations between states and in avowedly multiethnic andmultireligious societies. Speakers from both CSEAS and SPAS
shared presentations on how do specific strategies of classification, negotiation, contestation, mobilization, and redistribution
bring “plural coexistence” into play and, just as importantly,
into question. Speakers engaged in a lively discussion on how“plural coexistence” — particularly in its ethnic and statemediated dimensions — is “operationalized” (to use Cathy­Clayton’s phrase who spoke on the Macanese and Macau’ssmall mixed-race Eurasian minority) across East and Southeast
Asia. Presentations worked through what happens when“difference” — and the capacities, resources, networks, andcirculations (whether human, material or ideational) it indexes
and taps — is codified, institutionalized, and enforced by avariety of so-called “stakeholders,” including the state, ethnic
groups and their representatives, the organizations that act on
their behalf, and individuals.
Discussions made clear that “differences,” in for example religion, ethnicity and its recognition, and the demands groups
can make in seeking recognition, impact upon how East Asia’s
experiences of plural co-existence can enrich discussions on
the fluidity of people’s and their contexts. The discussions inthis workshop highlighted how the concept and practice of“plural coexistence” travels and circulates. It unifies and fragment populations; erase divisions while producing new ones
or deepening existing chasms; can provide the terms not only
for empowerment, resistance, accommodation, and evasion,
but also reproduce relations that are often asymmetrical.
The workshop in effect offered an examination of the contours of plural co-existence in East Asia and evaluated how
the variegated cultural, political, religious, and social visions for(re)thinking and (re)making particular communities are playingout at present.
The joint seminar between CSEAS and its counterpart at
University of California-Berkeley focused on Indonesia’s experience of political transition, its economic growth (fueled in partby the high prices of commodities) and rich natural resources,
its checkered record of successes and failures in managing
ethnic and religious pluralism and co-existence, and its vibrantliterary and arts scene. It was grouped around three-theme
based sessions: on “Culture and Arts,” “Resources” and “Old politics and New.” In the first session, speakers discussed in depthon the socio-political context of Indonesia’s literary productions
and postcolonial architectural styles. In the second session,
speakers shared thoughts on the changing regimes of forest
land in Java’s local politics and also on the recent developmentof a coal railway project in the Kalimantan hinterlands. In thethird session, speakers discussed a number of key issues on
Indonesian­political conditions: the roles of journalist associations in colonial times, types of Chinese Indonesian emigration
after the 1960s, the politics of aristocracy, and transitional
justice in post-Suharto Indonesia.
The seminar was well attended by a number of Japan-based
Indonesian specialists and graduate students who took part in
the discussion. Overall, the seminar presented a wide range ofdebates and perspectives in the field of Indonesian studies.

Professor Barbera Watson Andaya (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawai‘i) asking
questions to participants at the Kyoto-Hawai‘i Workshop on “Plural Coexistence and its Discontents.”
29

Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
Tel: +81-75-753-7302 Fax: +81-75-753-7350
京都大学東南アジア研究所 〒606-8501 京都市左京区吉田下阿達町46 Tel: 075-753-7302 Fax: 075-753-7350

Editors: Mario Lopez, Ishikawa Noboru

Date of Issue: 31.3.2014〈編集〉
マリオ・ロペズ 石川

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ISSN 2185-663X