NO.

80 2022

CSEAS Newsletter 2022
Contents

003

Editorial Foreword

004

Message from the Director: Reflections on FY2022

006

Pioneering New Fields with Informatics Knowledge and Methods:

Takamichi Serizawa and Kisho Tsuchiya
Fumiharu Mieno

The Trajectory of Research, Development, and Practice — Reflecting on a life in research

An Interview with Professor Shoichiro Hara to Commemorate his Retirement
Shoichiro Hara and Hiroki Baba
020

Beyond Nationalism? Revisiting the Youth Movements of the 1990s in East
Timor and Indonesia
Takahiro Kamisuna and Kisho Tsuchiya

026

CSEAS Special Seminar “Knowledge Hegemonies and Autonomous Knowledge”
with Syed Farid Alatas (National University of Singapore) Takamichi Serizawa

028

Voyage to Autonomous Knowledge, with Farid Alatas
Syed Farid Alatas, Takeo Suzuki, and Zenta Nishio

035

Seeing Southeast Asia through Chinese-Language Newspapers

037

Publications

Gen Shibayama

Imperial Japan’s Propaganda: Political Publicity and Visual Media Coverage Fueling “WarFever” by Toshihiko Kishi
Contemporary Myanmar Politics by Yoshihiro Nakanishi
Seeking Modernity Behind the Veil: Post-Soviet Experiences of Muslim Women in Uzbekistan by
Chika Obiya
The Strength to Dream: Indonesian Cinema and Imagination by Yoshimi Nishi

039

MAHS

042

Visitor’s VoiceCSEAS NEWSLETTER

Front Cover image: At the port of Dili, Timor-Leste (photo by Kisho Tsuchiya)

No. 8002

Editorial Foreword
Since the collapse of the Cold War, Southeast Asian Studies has searched for new aims and identities, drawing a contrast
with its origin as a field of Western scholars knowing “the others” in unknown terrains. Western-centric understandingof Southeast Asia has been criticized by various scholars as Orientalism. Yet, the current Anglo-American paradigm ofacademic research and university education reinforces the notion that scholars and students based in Asia need tocatch-up to the academic trends that emanate from traditional “powerhouse” universities and research institutes in theWest. Scholars and students in Southeast Asia are pressured to publish in “top” journals (many of which are controlled
by leading academic institutions in the Anglo-American world), as doing so has significant bearing on recognition,
tenure, and promotion. These realities and pressures undermine efforts to publish research in regional languages.
The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at Kyoto University has forged its own path, often in quiet,
low-key defiance of the academic trends as well as Anglo-American academic pressure. Securing such intellectual andinstitutional autonomy is costly, to be sure, but the Center believes in nurturing and promoting more human andinstitutional hubs, so that metropolitan scholars—whether in the so-called West, Japan, or Southeast Asia—cannot
ignore knowledge produced from the region.
To further accelerate regional networking and produce “autonomous” knowledge for Southeast Asian studies, theCSEAS Newsletter 2022 features several academic dialogues and introduces research by scholars and graduate students
based in Asia. Since the easing of Covid-related restrictions, the Center reopened its doors to visiting scholars from2022. These “Visitor’s Voices” introduce the scholars’ research, fieldwork, and Kyoto experience, but also open a
conversation about what it is to be a researcher. Lastly, to introduce non-Japanese audiences to Japanese knowledge
production in area and Southeast Asian studies, this issue introduces four excellent Japanese-language books written by
CSEAS faculty that were published in 2022.

Takamichi Serizawa and Kisho Tsuchiya
The Editors

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

across the world. This issue presents interviews with thirteen scholars who have joined the Center for the fiscal year

03

Message from the Director
Reflections on FY2022

Message from the Director
Reflections on FY2022
2022 passed amid a slow recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and a search to return
to normal activities based on field research. Until last summer, Covid-19 continued toplace severe constraints on our activities, limiting overseas travel, domestic and international fellowship programs, and face-to-face seminars. As the newly appointed director, from spring to summer I was busy attempting to get a general feel of my overall
responsibilities. However, after the summer break, country border entry restrictions
were gradually relaxed and activities within CSEAS have normalized, except for social
gatherings that include food and drink. As we entered 2023, our traditional face-toface meetings resumed as the government relaxed its guidelines for May. We are now
faced with the usual problem of many staff going overseas for research and CSEAS
becoming deserted due to many faculty. Last summer, I was also able to make threeoverseas field trips for the first time in a long time.
It is now clear that even if the world recovers from the pandemic, it will be adifferent place than before: international cooperation and free trade, taken for granted
until the 2010s, are being rapidly replaced by divisions and restrictions, while the digitization of society is, without exception, globally accelerating. This is transforming not
only the lives of people but also political and economic structures in Asia and beyond.
For area studies, these changes are making travel and field research more difficult thanever before and require collaboration with global academic and local communities.
And with research approaches, it is now clear that collaboration with knowledge from
specialized fields, such as the comprehensive use of data science, will become increasingly important, forcing a transformation in area studies. We are determined to meetthe new challenges presented by this new environment.
Over the next five years, CSEAS will be rapidly replacing and replenishing
its research personnel. In April 2022, Associate Professor Satoko Kimura, who specializes in underwater bioacoustics, and Assistant Professor Chika Yamada, who specializes
in public health, were appointed. The Maritime Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS) project under the direction of Professor R. Michael Feener has continued to receive newresearch fellows from abroad. On the other hand, Associate Professor Julius Bautista,
who was in charge of education at the Kyoto University Institute for Liberal Arts andSciences (ILAS), moved to the National University of Singapore (NUS) at the endof September 2022. Professor Shoichiro Hara, who has long supported CSEAS in
the field of informatics, retired at the end of March 2023. In contrast, two Program-

CSEAS NEWSLETTER

Specific Assistant Professors from the Philippines and Iran and CSEAS’ institutional
researcher from Japan will be appointed in April 2023, and the recruitment process
for an Associate Professor in charge of ILAS, and an Assistant Professor of GYSF is
underway for their arrival around this summer. In this process of staff mobility andNo. 8004

replenishment, we place special emphasis on the diversity of our faculties in terms of their disciplines, gender,
age, and countries/regions of origin. Our experience over the past decade has convinced us that a “pluralism ofcommon sense” brought about by diversity is the source of the vitality of research and organization of CSEAS.
2022 also marked the start of a new six-year period of medium-term goals and plans at national
universities, and the Joint Usage/Research Center project, which had previously been run in tandem at CSEAS,
has been integrated into the Global Collaborative Research (GCR) and re-launched. A five-year joint industryacademia research program with DAIKIN Industries, Ltd. is now in its second year and is making steady progress toward the specification of research themes. Although we held back on holding our long-running Southeast
Asia Seminar on-site this year, we were able to hold a face-to-face seminar in Kyoto. Together with the Visual
Documentary Project (VDP) and others that took place with Covid-19 in mind, how CSEAS’ outreach projects
are presented in the post-pandemic world will be a challenge in the coming year.
The environment of national university research institutes has been changing drastically over the past
few years. We intend to strengthen our external evaluation activities, undertake reforms including reorganization, and above all, constantly redefine our mission as CSEAS. We hope for your continuous support as we move
forward with new developments from next year onward.

Fumiharu Mieno
Director, CSEAS

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

05

An Interview with Professor Shoichiro Hara to Commemorate his Retirement

Pioneering New Fields with
Informatics Knowledge and Methods
The Trajectory of Research, Development, and Practice—R­eflecting on a life in researchInterviewer: Hiroki Baba

Program-Specific Assistant Professor,
Kyoto University Center for Southeast Asian Studies/Hakubi Center for Advanced Research

Leveraging an informatics approach spanning medical informatics,
library informatics, humanities computing, and area informatics,
Professor Shoichiro Hara has pioneered new academic fields andaccumulated numerous achievements during his long career,whether at the National Institute of Informatics (formerly the National
Center for Science Information Systems), the National Institute ofJapanese Literature, or Kyoto University’s Center for Integrated Area
Studies and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. We asked him
to review his research and practice and to offer his perspective on
the future of humanities–informatics collaboration as well as what isneeded to advance collaboration between area studies andinformatics.

─Before you became a researcher, what
were your interests in high school and college?

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80My first interest as a high school student was biology.
At the time (the early 1980s), there was much discussion around the subject we now call biotechnology.1
Reading introductory books on genes and DNA thatwere just being published, an all-night experiment on
sea urchin development during high school—these
may have been triggers from which my interest in
biology gradually grew. My rural high school also hada programmable calculator, literally an electric calculator that was about the size of today’s desktop computers, and teachers allowed us to use it freely, which
was truly a rare opportunity. In retrospect, I realize
now that the calculator used a programming language
close to assembly language.2 It was not at all easy touse, but using it marked the first time I became
absorbed in computers, as I was happy to calculate pi
1

and the Tower of Hanoi.
I also enjoyed tinkering with machines, for example taking clocks apart, and building telescopes andradios. I read scientific articles and other publications
about the imminent arrival of a society that would see
the fusion of living organisms, computers, andmachines. Perhaps because I grew up in such anenvironment, I became interested in learning about
fields that mixed both biology and engineering. I
decided to enroll in Natural Sciences II at the Collegeof Arts and Sciences in the Junior Division within the
University of Tokyo because of the biology and engineering programs offered there.

─After entering the University of Tokyo,
you studied at the School of Health Sciencesin the Faculty of Medicine, is that right?
At university, the fields at the “boundary” between
biology and engineering available for study were

J. D. Watson was among those who received the Nobel Prize in 1962

1976, W. Fiers et al. successfully sequenced the first complete ge-for discovering the double-helix structure of DNA. In 1972, P. Berg et

nome.

06

al. conducted the first-ever DNA recombination experiments. In ↗︎pharmaceutics, agricultural chemistry, and health sciences. Unfortunately, my score was a bit low for myfirst choice, so I decided to pursue my second choice,health sciences. My decision turned out to be a goodthing. In the School of Health Sciences, I studied thebasics of statistics, biology, medicine, and programming. I also conducted a field survey, although it waslimited to Japan. This experience proved invaluable
when I joined the Center for Southeast Asian Studies(hereafter CSEAS). So, all’s well that ends well(laughs).

─When you were a student, I do not think
many people enrolled in graduate school to
become a researcher. Why did you decide topursue master’s and doctoral degrees?

■The Beginning of Artificial Intelligenceand Information Collaboration Research:
Research on Diagnostic Expert Systems
─What kind of research did you do during
your doctoral studies?
In those days (the mid-1980s), medical faculty professors strongly influenced research topic selection, andmy supervisor assigned me to research an automatic
diagnostic system for fluid therapy. My dissertation
was on the same topic. Simply put, the purpose wasto have a computer determine the optimal infusion
volume and intravenous infusion rate to maintain normal levels of water and electrolytes4 in the body. My
research was to develop and write a program withthree different algorithms. These were to estimate thedegree of a patient’s water and electrolyte deficiencies based on their symptoms, to create an infusion
plan to compensate for the deficiencies, and to determine the rate at which the infusion would not burden
the body.
I was immersing myself in this research during the
middle of the second artificial intelligence boom. The
first artificial intelligence boom had started in the
1950s. It focused on algorithmic research for inference and search, with the objective to intelligently
perform games, such as chess, and to prove mathematical theorems. The second artificial intelligenceboom began in the 1980s. It focused on incorporating
human knowledge into computers to create intelligent
systems that could be more flexible than those produced in the first artificial intelligence boom. Since
these systems aimed to achieve the same inferential
power as experts, they were called expert systems.
The third artificial intelligence boom, ongoing since
4

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

It was because I was unsure of what to do after four
years at university. So, I decided to postpone thedecision and go on to graduate school. But I was
pretty worried about entering the master’s program at
the School of Health Sciences. Epidemiology andbiochemistry were my favorite subjects, and I got
along well with the professors. However, health sciences had a strong sociological flavor, and I did not
really fit in. Somehow, I also had poor relations withthe professors there (laughs). While I was hesitating tocontinue with a health sciences major, I received aninvitation to join the Institute of Medical Electronic
Research Facility of the School of Medicine at the
University of Tokyo. That led me to write my graduation thesis on the themes pursued at the Institute.
Still, I was not certain whether I should pursue amaster’s degree at the Institute of Medical Electronics.
It had three divisions: Clinical Medicine, BasicEngineering, and Basic Medicine. The Clinical
Medicine Division was researching artificial organs at
the time. In 1980, they broke the world record for producing the longest surviving extracorporeal total artificial heart (in an experiment using a goat). The BasicEngineering Division was researching medical
devices, such as electrocautery scalpels, andadvanced tools such as biological sensors. The Basic
Medicine Division, which invited me to join, was conducting medical data analysis and simulations andwas researching non-invasive3 biometric measurement methods. This matched my interests: although
the professors in the division were physicians, theresearch they conducted was engineering oriented.
However, I thought that it would be a disservice not tostudy engineering first, so instead of going to the

University of Tokyo, I entered the Department of
Biomedical Engineering of the Institute of Medicine at
the University of Tsukuba to complete my master’s
degree. As the Institute had an engineering laboratory, during my two years at Tsukuba, I studied thebasics of circuits, control, and communication, andretook mathematics courses. I then returned to theInstitute of Medical Electronics in the Faculty of
Medicine at the University of Tokyo for my doctoral
studies. During the doctoral program, I was asked tomake a sensor circuit and a dynamic model of thecirculatory system, so my two years at the Universityof Tsukuba proved to be quite helpful.

An electrolyte is a substance that ionizes into ions when dissolved in

String instructions corresponding to bit strings in machine language.

3

Non-invasive procedures are those that do not involve bleeding; ul-a solvent. Electrolytes in this study included sodium, potassium, andtrasound examinations, for example, fall into this category.

calcium.

07

2

2000, has led to the emergence of machine learning,in which machines themselves acquire knowledge byusing big data. The third boom has also given rise to
deep learning, in which machines themselves acquire
the elements that define knowledge.
Returning to the topic, my research was to create
an expert fluid therapy system. I began by reading
thick books on fluid therapy and extracting the necessary knowledge. The first step was to manually convert the extracted knowledge into forms that computers could use. Next, I developed a database to store
the converted knowledge and then wrote programs to
execute inferences using the knowledge stored in the
database. The mechanism for storing expert knowledge is called a knowledge base, and the mechanism
for performing inference is called an inference engine.
When combined, these two components form anexpert system. During the second artificial intelligence boom, logical inference was the standard.5
Therefore, the knowledge base comprised sets oflogical formulas, and the inference engine was a“theorem prover.” I dedicated four years of research
to developing a theorem prover that could diagnoseand prescribe infusion plans on the same level as anexpert. Although the term “artificial intelligence”
sounds glamorous, the actual work was an interminable and tedious process that involved reading technical books, rewriting knowledge as logical formulas,
and upgrading the knowledge base. Creating theinference engine was also tedious, as it required
rewriting and adding code every time a new type ofknowledge was added, which rendered coding andversion management painstaking.
I also had to verify whether the expert system I
had built was usable. I would borrow medical records
from specialist hospitals, read them, and extract

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80symptoms. However, the old medical records were
handwritten. Moreover, they were mainly in English,
with some German mixed in. Deciphering the difficultto-read characters to create patient data was akin towhen Sugita Genpaku translated Kaitai Shinsho (NewBook of Anatomy) (laughs).
When I fed my expert system with the patient data
I had created in this way, the system would proceed
to make inferences and output a prescription. I would
then compare that output to medical specialist prescriptions as recorded in the medical records. Uponfinding a significant difference between a doctor’sand the expert system’s prescriptions, I would firstexamine the expert system’s inference process andexplain the computer’s inference process and result
to the medical specialist(s). Next, I interviewed specialists about their inference and/or diagnostic processes and asked which part of the computer’s inference process they thought was the source of the
problem. I would then write the newly acquired knowledge into new logical formulas, which I added to theknowledge base. After the inference engine had beenrevised accordingly, the test would be repeated.
However, the expert knowledge was sometimes
vague, and some of their input was difficult to rewritein a logical formula. Moreover, different specialists
often had different knowledge, meaning their inference paths differed in many cases, although they
produced the same prescription for the same symptoms. To reconcile differences, I continued to manually modify the knowledge base and adjust the program. When the modified program and knowledge
were correctly adjusted, other parts that had worked
well would go wrong, and I would have to readjust thesystem further.
In this way, it became clear that expert systems
are flawed. Human beings must describe the knowledge, the high volume of knowledge makes processing difficult, contradictions among experts’ knowledge are frequent, and ambiguous knowledge isdifficult to convert to logical formulas. Other expert
systems developed during my doctoral study days,
such as automatic fault diagnosis of nuclear reactors
and company complaint consultations, also suffered
the same problems. Thus, the second artificial intelligence boom came to an end. Fortunately, just before
the boom ended, I completed my doctoral thesis andreceived my doctorate.
Through my doctoral research, I came up withseveral ideas. First, since obtaining knowledge frommedical specialists and organizing it without contradiction is difficult, the idea is to let the computer learn

08

5 If A, then B. If B, then C. Therefore, if A, then C.

on its own by using the information in medical records.
This idea is the equivalent of today’s machine learning
using big data. I tried this after finishing my doctorate,
but I gave up because medical records had not yet
been digitized, which meant that the knowledge could
not be automatically extracted. In addition, the learning program was practically unusable given the computing capabilities of the time. The second idea wasto measure the amount of water and electrolytes inthe body directly rather than inferring them. I abandoned this because I did not have time to develop
measurement devices, and although the model was
simple, I did not know the algorithms to calculate it.
However, both these ideas led to my interest in medical information systems, which, in turn, led me todatabase and related research, which I have continued to pursue for the past thirty years or so.
As an aside, during my doctoral studies, I did notoften use the term “artificial intelligence.” This isbecause the definition or concept of “intelligence”
was vague, and there was a lot of media hype about
artificial intelligence. Instead, I called it computer
decision-making or computer-supported decisionmaking. This was more in line with the research conducted in our laboratory. Looking back, I think I continued my research on computer decision-making,and even today, I do not use the term “artificial intelligence” often. Although the knowledge base changed
from logical formulas to big data, and the composition of the inference engine changed from theorem
provers to machine learning algorithms, the framework has remained the same. In recent years, myresearch focus has shifted from knowledge bases,
which I studied for the past twenty-five years, to inference engines.

held by university libraries throughout Japan—in
short, to consolidate the catalogs of university libraries. For those my age and older, it was impossible toknow what kind of materials were available in otheruniversities’ libraries without actually visiting thoselibraries and physically perusing their catalog. Then,as university libraries across the country became networked, it became easy to search for materials thatwere not available at one’s own university, in otherlibraries. Next, interlibrary loans allowed access tomaterials without visiting the holding university. The
National Center for Science Information Systems promoted this initiative.
When I took on the new position, the catalog
database primarily used a keyword search and only
displayed bibliographic and location information for
titles and authors of materials that matched the inputted keywords. Viewing material content was impossible, and the search would fail if the keywords did notmatch those that had been inputted. For example,
materials with “computer” registered as a keyword
would not appear in a search done with the word “calculator.” But when the text of the materials is searchable, one can search using different words and seematerial content. This is a so-called full-text database, and I was involved in its development.
Incidentally, on a somewhat technical note, eachmaterial is comprised of text, such as its title and theauthor’s name, followed by several chapters. A chapter begins with the title, followed by several sections.
In other words, a full-text database needs descriptions of the text structure in addition to the character
strings of the material. At that time, SGML6 wasestablished as an international standard for describing text structures, and I used it for text markup.7 I did
the markup manually.

■Professional Experience at the
National Center for Science Information Systems: Constructing a Full-Text
Database System
Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

─In 1990, you were assigned to the National Center for Science Information Systems, the predecessor of the present-day
National Institute of Informatics. What did
you work on there?
At that time, the primary mission of the National
Center for Science Information Systems was tocreate a comprehensive catalog of the materials
Standard Generalized Markup Language, ISO 8879.

7

The process of adding structural information to the text, also
known as tagging.

Development of mass health examination system

096

At the time, relational databases were the mainstream database systems used to store and searchdata (this is still the case today). Microsoft’s ACCESS
is a typical example of a relational database; intuitively, it is an image of a table. In such a table, eachpiece of data is itemized; for example, the field“Author” contains the author’s name as its value.
More technically, a value of a single item8 must nothave any structure.9 This is called “first normal form.”
As I mentioned earlier, texts have structure, so a relational database cannot handle texts. Therefore, mytask became to create a container for marked-up
SGML texts and a mechanism to search them.
The search mechanism was the problematic part.
Search languages such as SQL10 were invented for
relational databases and therefore could not be used
for full-text searches. At the time, there was no searchlanguage for SGML text. To address this, a professor
on my development team invented a search language
called DQL.11 However, he only wrote the specifica-

tions and told me, “You do the implementation”(laughs). What I did is too technical to describe here,
but I developed a parser for SGML text. This parser
analyzed SGML text and retrieved information, suchas the text content with a specific tag12 and the attributes of the tag.13
The DQL could write search instructions such as“Display the author of the document that contains theword ABC in the text tagged XX.”14 Therefore, I wrote
programs that matched the DQL instructions with theanalysis results of the SGML parser and output thestrings within locations that satisfied specified conditions. The computer I used was a Unix workstation,
which was becoming popular then, and the available
language was C. I had studied databases and parsers
after my doctorate, so that helped. However, I had noexperience using a workstation or the C language, sowhen I think about it now, I am amazed that I could dothat kind of work in two years (laughs). When I completed the system, I moved to the National Institute ofJapanese Literature (hereafter NIJL).

It changed dramatically. Instead of handling medical
and natural science information and numerical data, I
was suddenly dealing with classic literature and textual data, working with literary scholars as my colleagues. I have not always been good at Japanese, sowhen I came to the NIJL, I could barely read the classics, let alone interpret them (laughs). Furthermore, I
had spent most of my education in science and mathematics classes and had almost no friends in thehumanities throughout high school, university, andgraduate school, so I had no idea about the temperament and research orientation of Japanese literaturescholars.

─So, even though the general frameworkand direction of building a database were
the same, the data you inputted and thepeople with whom you were working werecompletely different.

─You moved from the National Center for
Science Information Systems to the National
Institute of Japanese Literature (NIJL) in

No. 80Exactly. It was tough to read classical characters(data), and although I had an interest in classical literary works, I was not interested in research on thoseworks. At the same time, the features and processingof data are quite different in the humanities and inengineering. These were not insignificant problems,
but from the standpoint of engineering, computersand databases are the same—this was the only thingthat enabled me to work at the Institute of Japanese
Literature.
My first task at the NIJL was to update the

CSEAS NEWSLETTER■Contributing to the Work Being Doneat the NIJL: Updating the Kanji Database
System1991. I assume you were involved in similar
database-related work, but did the content
of your work change?

8

In Microsoft ACCESS, something that is written in a cell.

12 E.g., content of the author tag is “Shoichiro Hara.”

9

Such as repeating items, concatenating values, nesting, and so on.

13 E.g., contents of the author tag is written in English.

10

10 Structured Query Language, ISO 9075, JIS X 3005.
11 Document Query Language.

14 E.g., the author of the document is “Shoichiro Hara.”electronic catalog database. The NIJL was founded in1972 and is probably the oldest inter-university
research institute in Japan. It had maintained an electronic catalog system since its establishment. I
believe it was one of the world’s most advanced
humanities research institutes at the time. When I
moved to the NIJL, the system was already nearly two
decades old. As expected, the computer system wasgetting old and the software was no longer in line withthe times, so my mission was to rebuild it.
In the early 1990s, servers at universities andresearch institutes were so-called mainframe computers, but Unix servers were gradually replacingthem. Therefore, we had to decide to replace themainframe computers as platforms.15 Moreover, the

15 A fundamental part of computing, such as operating systems andhardware.
form or application to another platform or application

Yes, it took more than a few years to complete.
Another thing I struggled with at the time was Kanji.
The Kanji code available for computers back then wascomprised of approximately 10,000 characters spanning JIS Levels 1 to 4, but for Japanese history andclassic texts, we believed that about 50,000 characters would be needed. Many of these were Kanji used
for the names of people and places. Users had todefine Kanji not included in JIS codes, which werecalled gaiji (external characters). NIJL’s old databasealso used many gaiji, and I had difficulty importingthem to the new computers. One of the problems
stemmed from JIS code transitions. NIJL’s old database used JIS7817, the first Kanji code established inJapan. As this code changed to JIS8318 and JIS9019,
some codes and symbols were replaced. As a result,if a computer was compatible with JIS 78, but a printerwas compatible with JIS 83, characters displayed ona screen and printed on paper were different, eventhough they were the same Kanji (laughs). Finally, I
wrote a program that traced all the changes in the JIS
standards to correct these differences; the program
contained instructions such as “I changed this JIS78
code to that JIS80 code.” Around the year 2000, Ichanged codes from JIS to Unicode. Unicode
includes most of the gaiji, so this problem was solved.
The cumbersome task of Unicode conversions wasdetermining the appropriate Unicode. As Unicodecontains many characters with similar shapes, it isnecessary to determine which code in Unicode corresponds to a specific gaiji. For this, I sought expert
support.
17 JIS C 6226-1978.
18 JIS C 6226-1983.
19 JIS X 0208-1990.

11

16 Being able to easily migrate or move data stored on a specific plat-

─That must have been a daunting task.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

computer network at the time differed for each vendor, whether it was NEC, Hitachi, or others. However,this was also the transition period to the Internet, so
we had to replace networks and rewire the NIJL building to accommodate the new network. Webpages
were also becoming popular, and we redesigned theuser interfaces completely.
The problem was that the original database system was a “network database” older than the relational database. Moreover, although we had the original data specifications, as there were almost norecords of subsequent modifications and updates, I
had no idea as to the current state of the data structure. So, I began by extracting the data from the database as binary files written only with numbers. I thencompared these byte-by-byte with the original specifications to find the areas where they differed from thespecifications, or where there were numbers thatwere not in the specifications but that looked likedata. When I found data areas that did not match thespecifications, I manually converted the numbers into
characters and asked a senior library staff member to
identify the data. I repeated this process to create
new data specifications. According to these specifications, I created salvage programs that extracted
the correct binary data parts, converted them to text,
and finally created SGML text. I used SGML to ensure
data portability.16 If the binary data remained, wewould have to repeat the same conversion process inthe next update, and I wanted to avoid this tediousjob. After converting the data to SGML, I used myexperience at the National Center for Science
Information Systems to create a full-text database. It
was a fairly advanced database for a humanities
research institute in Japan.

■Resource-Sharing Systems and a
Full-Text Japanese Classical Literature
Database
─You were affiliated with the NIJL for
about fifteen years and involved in the Institute’s research activities. What else did you
work on?
Another primary task I worked on at the NIJL wasresource sharing. Here, we aimed for an integrated
search of databases distributed across the network.
Standardization of data fields,20 field names,21 anddata descriptions22 were necessary to share information among databases. However, standardization is
uninteresting for researchers who are taught to dosomething that has never been done before. Even if
the data is just a bibliographic catalog, a researcher
creates it with a particular purpose; that is, the structure of a bibliographic catalog differs for eachresearcher and research project. Therefore, somedata omitted in one catalog may be described indetail in another. In extreme cases, there are as manydifferent databases as there are researchers. In sucha situation, integrating databases is advantageous forusers, who find it difficult to search individual databases that adopt different descriptions and different
data items. On the other hand, integrating databases
can face a backlash from database creators, who are
wedded to their different purposes and sense of ownership in creating the databases. Therefore, to facilitate resource sharing, we created a virtual databaseindependent of each individual database. Data items
in each database were mapped to data items in thevirtual database. Users could search the individual
databases indirectly via searches in the virtual database. This way, database creators did not have torecreate their databases, and users could search fordata without knowing each database’s location ordata structure. I had this idea around 1999.
First, we tried sharing databases within the NIJL.
We also tried sharing databases with Osaka City
University because Professor Mamoru Shibayama,
who was at the university at the time, was interested
in the idea. It was around this same time that national
CSEAS NEWSLETTER

20 Different databases use different data structures, for example, insome, the title and subtitle are both inputs in the “Title” field, while inothers, they are separated into “Title” and “Subtitle” fields.
21 E.g., a data item referring to a book title may be written differently,

No. 80such as “Title” or “書名.”22 E.g., differences in writing dates, for instance, 30th January 2023 or
2023-01-30.

12

23 The Text Encoding Initiative.
24 Called the KOKIN rules ↗

universities and research institutes became corporations. The NIJL was incorporated into the National
Institute for the Humanities (NIHU), and resource
sharing became a project of the NIHU. The specifications and programs created under the NIJL’s resource
sharing project became the backbone of the NIHU
project, and resource sharing was later developed at
Kyoto University.
Another project of the NIJL was creating a fulltext database comprised of 566 works in about 100
volumes of Iwanami Shoten’s old edition of Nihon
Koten Bungaku Taikei (The Complete Collection ofJapanese Classic Literature). This project began
before I joined the NIJL, and the data was almost
completed by the time I arrived. The project stilllacked a database and search tool, so my task was todevelop these. Since the data were text data, I
decided to use SGML. However, because this project
started before SGML became popular, and the standard markup for humanities text, TEI,23 was still being

established, we used our own specific markup.24
Shortly after I arrived at NIJL, TEI-P3 became available. However, as it had some difficulties handlingJapanese classics, we decided to mirror the originaltags created with KOKIN rules in SGML text, without
using TEI.
The trouble with KOKIN rules, though, was theirambiguous definitions (laughs). Technically speaking,
KOKIN rules should have been designed as contextfree grammar,25 but they were actually context-sensitive grammar.26 Most programming languages, SGML
and so on, are context-free grammar; standard parsers could not be applied to data written with different
grammar, such as KOKIN rules. Even more troubling,
the data had many errors, as they were manually created. These troubles meant that the original KOKIN
data could not be easily converted to SGML text. To
solve this, I wrote an error detection program to identify descriptions that did not conform to the specifications. I then fixed those manually. Next, I wrote a
program to add supplement tags to the contextdependent parts of the KOKIN text and applied theprogram to KOKIN text to generate context-free
KOKIN text. Finally, I wrote a parser to convert thecontext-free KOKIN text to SGML text. From this
SGML text, we further created HTML 27 files for web(https://www.dlib.org/dlib/july97/japan/07hara.html).

25 Written formally, it is V → w. In other words, context-free means thatthe lexeme V can be replaced by another lexeme, w, without depending on the pre- and post-relationship with the lexeme V.

26 Written formally, αVβ → αγβ, where αVβ means the lexeme α and β
before and after the lexeme V. In other words, context-sensitivemeans that the context before and after V determines whether lexeme
V can be replaced by lexeme γ.

27 Hyper Text Markup Language, used to describe webpages on the ↗

display and PDF files for printing. I will not go into
detail, but this part of the work required much timeand effort. You can access the created data from the
NIJL homepage.28■Joining the Center for Integrated Area
Studies (CIAS): Confusion Over Area
Studies─In 2006, you moved from Tokyo to Kyoto
to join the newly established Kyoto University Center for Integrated Area Studies (CIAS).
What kind of changes did you experience?

World Wide Web.
29 I do not distinguish between “humanities computing” and “digital ↗

─Since moving to Kyoto, which activity or
research project has left the most lasting
impression on you? You must have participated in joint research and technical support.
Beside database construction, I had little experience
with collaborative research at CIAS or CSEAS.
However, I often collaborated with researchers inlibrary and information science, health sciences,
nursing, and humanities computing,29 mainly fromThailand and Malaysia, and from Taiwan and theUnited States. It was very exciting to work with people
who were conducting similar research in their respective regions. For example, in Thailand, I participated ina project to develop a database of health surveys ofrural residents conducted in connection with community nursing activities. I helped design the database.
This experience gave me pleasant memories ofhumanities.” I prefer to use the term “humanities computing,” but because “digital humanities” is now popular, I use “digital humanities”
here.

13

28 https://base1.nijl.ac.jp/~nkbthdb/■Collaboration with Researchers fromThailand and Malaysia and with University Researchers

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

There were many changes. In addition to the research,
the environment was significantly different. The starkest change was the climate. Fifteen years have passed
since I moved to Kyoto, but I still cannot get used to
the winter sky. Winter in Tokyo has sunny days withalmost no clouds, but it is not so in Kyoto. Even when
it does clear up, it often becomes overcast or snows
soon after, and the winter landscape can be oppressive. I also found the place names in Kyoto difficult.
For example, I do not know how to read “帷子ノ辻,”
but if I misread it, I may fear my surroundings (laughs).
I was also very unfamiliar with the geography of thecity. Nowadays, I can orient myself by looking at Mt.
Hiei, but back then, I would get lost and confused by
all the straight roads laid out in a grid and looking all
the same. For a while after I moved here, whenever I
came to the street level from the subway, I wasn’t surewhich direction I was facing (laughs).
My first confusion regarding the research concerned the term “area studies.” I did not understandwhat it meant. Actually, this was also true for Japanese
literature. Before I moved to the NIJL, I planned to buy
a book on Japanese literature and study it, but I could
not find any. I finally found a textbook from the Open
University of Japan. However, it only contained articles on individual works, such as The Tale of Genji,
rather than discussing Japanese literature more
broadly. Similarly, I did not quite understand whatarea studies entailed. Indeed, I still do not understandit very well (laughs).
Perhaps because CIAS had just been established, the introductory phrase “My area studies
are...” was often used when presenting research. This
was a culture shock for me, as I had never heard anyone in the field of informatics say, “My informatics

is...” even though informatics comprised various
fields, for example, communications or data systems.
I interpreted that they had to say so because researchers from various domains joined and had different
methodologies. Then, on one occasion, while at a
meeting, I said, “Area studies is not a domain, is it?” A
senior professor yelled at me, “Yes, area studies is adomain!” I never said that again after that (laughs).
After all, I still do not understand many aspectsof area studies. However, I see it as a field in which
researchers from various disciplines study areas
comprehensively; in other words, it is a container ofmultiple functions, like an aircraft carrier.

visiting towns and villages in Thailand that I would nothave been able to visit by myself (as I cannot speakThai). The survey was a complete enumeration ofeach rural administrative unit, or tambon, which covered non-urban areas across Thailand. Hence, thedata were fascinating from an academic point of view.
One problem I experienced several times was that,perhaps due to our poor English skills, although wewould reach a mutual agreement about data structure
at a local meeting, after I returned to Japan andlooked at the data from Thailand, I would be shocked
and wonder, “Why did they send me this data?”(laughs).
For me, the research activity of the Unit for
Academic Knowledge Integration Studies left a lasting impression. It is one of four units belonging to The
Kyoto University Research Coordination Alliance, acoalition of research institutes and centers affiliatedwith Kyoto University that aims to create new academic fields across research areas and experimentwith interdisciplinary research. It was establishedwhen I was the director of CIAS. I was in charge of theoperations of the unit, which aimed to develop databases to facilitate advanced usage of Kyoto
University’s research materials as “academic knowledge” and to promote research using these
databases.
Working as a leader of the unit gave me valuable
experience. In addition, my appointment as directorof CIAS gave me more opportunities to converse withprofessors from other departments of Kyoto
University, which was very stimulating and impressive. This interaction has been a valuable asset indeveloping my research. Usually, I prefer to stay in myroom reading books and writing programs. However,
because I was required to attend regular meetings
with department deans, I had more opportunities toexchange ideas with professors from, for instance,
the graduate schools of agriculture, medicine, andenergy science. This enabled me to encounter exciting ideas and make new connections. Since I specialize in informatics, my relationships with the professors in the Academic Center for Computing andMedia Studies in particular grew more robust, leading
to the big data research I am currently conducting.30
CSEAS NEWSLETTER■The “MyDatabase” System for Area
Studies Scholars: Simplifying Database

No. 8030 “Efforts in the New Field of Area Informatics Using AI and Big Data”
https://onlinemovie.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/movie_hara/
31 For example, ten fields called “Author Name” may be prepared in ad-

14vance.

Creation and Use
─At CIAS, the MyDatabase system wasdeveloped and implemented to allow areastudies researchers to build and use theirown databases. Could you tell us more
about it?
As I mentioned when discussing the NIJL database,diversity is essential to research databases. This
point is no different in the realm of area studies. Of
course, from the perspective of the database systemmanager, it would be straightforward if, for example, I
could create a single catalog database system, andeveryone would input their data there. However, sincethat is impossible, CIAS’s database system—called
MyDatabase—had to deal with data diversity. This
created challenges in both the data creation and data
usage functions of MyDatabase.
On the creation side, data creators do not haveenough data literacy, so to speak, regarding what
requirements the data must meet before a databasesystem can accept it. When we began developing thedatabase system at CIAS, many colleagues provided
me with a great deal of data. However, none of thesedata could be directly converted to a databasebecause the data did not meet the requirements of adatabase. This may have been because someresearchers may think that Excel files are enough for
databases, which is not the case. For example, a datatable may include other tables (a nested table), or thesame item31 may appear more than once in a table. As
mentioned earlier, these data structures violate the“first normal form.” These structures may be convenient for humans to read, but database systems cannot handle them. Other examples include non-standardized descriptions of data item names, such as
describing a data item name over two lines (to represent an item name with explanations together) or
inserting spaces in a data name (to write a data item
name as an English sentence).32 Such descriptions
are not allowed in many database systems. There
were many other irregular cases, such as the mixingof numbers and characters,33 or different data types.34
In the end, I had to manually modify each or write correction programs for each data file. What bothered
me was that, even if I solved a problem for one database, another researcher would bring data having

32 For example, “Title of Authors,” where something like “Title_of_Authors” or “TitleofAuthors” would be better.
33 E.g., the integer 1 is not the same as the character 1, and in strings,
01 is different from 1.
34 E.g., the integer 1 is different from the real number 1.0.

similar problems. Therefore, while it is impossible to handle all exceptions, I should have designed the CIAS database system to be flexible
to some exceptions. Specifically, the CIAS database system can handle data with repeated item names, spaces in the item name, and has
no ID requirement. MyDatabase allows data to be registered into the
database if it meets certain criteria, even if it does not entirely meet thestrict requirements. I will skip the explanation, but another prominent
feature of MyDatabase is that no data definition statement is required.
As for usage function, researchers are very particular about how
they use data, or rather, how they use data according to the purposeof their research. Even I would change my approach according towhether I was wearing my information service provider or researcher
hat. As a researcher, I change the user interface often. In the past,
information systems required a fair amount of programming to create
and maintain user interfaces. Fortunately, now that the web homepageis the foundation of the user interface, it has become relatively easy tocreate user views. Anyone with knowledge of HTML can write thispart.
On the other hand, the database system operation remains ascomplicated as ever. Therefore, I have limited the database system
functions available to users and defined procedures necessary to use
these functions. These procedures are called an Application
Programming Interface, or API. MyDatabase has a dedicated API.
Thus, users can receive necessary bibliographic and image data from
MyDatabase by composing simple search instructions according to
the API and sending them to MyDatabase. All that remains to do is tocreate a homepage using the received data and complete the desireduser interface. Although API is a popular function today, it was a novel
feature just a decade ago.

■New Possibilities Due to Informatics’ Permeationof the Humanities
─The third artificial intelligence boom is gaining momentum. What are the possibilities for fusion between thehumanities and informatics?

age).

Database development in the Community Nursing
Project in Thailand

15

35 When Roberto Busa created Index Thomisticus (https://www.corpusthomisticum.org/it/index.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

I do not know if we should call it “fusion,” but I think the synergy effectwill give rise to new research fields. For example, when I was in graduate school, the development of CT (computed tomography), highperformance sensors, and medical expert systems during the second
artificial intelligence boom led to the establishment of the Japan
Association for Medical Informatics. Now, medical informatics is a
medical research field. Corresponding to Medical Informatics in thefield of medicine, in the humanities, we have digital humanities, theearliest example of which wan can trace back to 1946.35 Today, entities like the international Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations
and related international journals have been formed. In this sense, I
think a new “fusion” between the humanities and informatics is
possible.
Although not an application of artificial intelligence or machinelearning, there are examples (in the field of Japaneseclassical literature) of computers making it possible toconduct analyses previously considered too difficult.
For example, the technique of honkadori in waka
poetry incorporates a portion of an old poem into a
new poem. Introducing honkadori is intended to create more complex and richer expressions and identifying a part of honkadori seems to be a researchsubject in Japanese classical literature. One group of
researchers describes applying pattern-matching
techniques from bioinformatics and other fields toanalyze waka strings and reveal parts of original
poems.36 In another case study,37 a computer is used
to statistically analyze the characteristics of lexical
occurrences to authenticate classical texts. We cancertainly expect to see an increase in such cases.
However, I think a little more contemplation about
whether we really need computers for humanities
research is in order. Even if computers are useful fororganizing resources, computers may not be necessary if the research is mainly about interpretation. In
fact, I sometimes think that interpretation is at thecore of humanities research. If that is true, digital
humanities would be superficial humanities research.
However, humanities research may radically change if
computers can write literary works. This is very interesting. So, I think that the latest information technology, artificial intelligence and so on, will become
widespread among those humanities researchers
who say, “With the help of computers, I can do things
that were previously impossible,” or “Without computers, my research will not progress.” Personally,

however, I am a bit doubtful about what will becomeof the humanities as a whole in such circumstances.

36 https://www.ism.ac.jp/editsec/toukei/pdf/48-2-289.pdf

37 https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/sicejl1962/39/3/39_3_216/_pdf

─Recently, a smartphone app was developed to analyze and read corrupted Japanese characters. Even if researchers do not
adopt this app, it seems it will spread to thegeneral public.
That is possible. I say that because if you look around,from the perspective of information technology rather
than information science, you will find quite a few
tools and applications that have permeated the general public, even if they have not been acceptedamong researchers. A typical example is machinetranslation. I like science fiction, but it is not easy forme to read original texts. When I just want to follow
the plot, I would be happy if a machine could translate
a text to Japanese, even though there are many mistranslations. This situation is not limited to machinetranslation; the use of technology may eventually also
affect the study of information “science.”
Again, I digress, but that phrase “even if they are
not accepted among researchers” reminds me ofsomething. In 1999, I worked as an overseas
researcher at the University of California Berkeley.
The university IT team developed an e-learning tool
for language instruction and asked the language faculty members to enter teaching material data. The
person in charge of the project told me that the faculty teaching Hindi, Arabic, and Chinese were willingto provide input, but the Japanese faculty were reluc-

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 8016

tant. I thought, “Why wouldn’t they adopt it?”
I conjectured whether this reflected something
peculiar to the Japanese vis-à-vis new information
tools. Perhaps they considered e-learning to besomebody else’s domain, they wanted to avoid challenges and continue to do things their own way, or
they were afraid to use the tool due to low information
literacy. Considering how young Japanese today use
smartphone applications for everything, it is a bit hard
to imagine.

■Information Literacy to Support Informatics-Area Studies Collaboration
─Regarding research, what issues do you
foresee in advancing future collaboration
between informatics, area studies, and thehumanities?

─Younger students have better basic information literacy; for example, they can all
use Excel, so in that sense, things may have
improved a little.
If we are only discussing databases, people who canwork with Excel are, on the contrary, somewhat troublesome. It is like putting an image on a table (laughs).
Knowing such techniques may be better than nothing, but it is not information or data literacy. At a minimum, humanities researchers should know what a
database is and understand the first normal form.
Some researchers cannot distinguish between anomalies, outliers, and missing values. This may seemtrivial, but the difference is essential. Also, if one isgoing to do statistical analysis, they should at least
have introductory-level statistical knowledge.
Nowadays, we have convenient tools available for
free, so obtaining some analytical results is simple if
you have data. However, I have seen some cases
where a researcher uses a tool or algorithm regardless of whether it meets the data requirements it
assumes.
While all this may be true, it is unreasonable toask humanities researchers to study informatics thoroughly. It is also challenging for them to devote a
significant amount of time to creating perfect data.
On the other hand, we in the informatics field do notwant to spend most of our limited research time helping others. Therefore, creating a position to support
data science is necessary. Although funding may be
an issue, I think there should be at least one person in
every organization who specializes in data science,such as a URA (University Research Administrator) ora research assistant.

■Advice for the Next Generation of
Researchers: Be Ready with 2+1 Topics
─Do you have any advice for researchers
who want to get into informatics or related
academic fields?

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

When informatics researchers participate in humanities research institutes like CSEAS, they face difficulties in achieving research results. This is especiallytrue because informatics researchers often end up
assisting their colleagues. For example, when building a database, we allocate considerable time andeffort to building tools and manually collecting andanalyzing data. Unfortunately, despite the considerable time and effort involved, the result has low originality as informatics research, making it difficult topublish papers and in turn, receive promotions. In mycase, I was lucky because during my time at NIJL and
CIAS, few researchers were engaged in digital
humanities and creating databases was valued in its
own right—but this is not true today. Young informatics researchers coming to humanities institutes must
conduct original informatics “research” while also
creating databases and managing information systems. Therefore, I think it will be essential for informatics researchers to try to position informatics as a
research area rather than as support for area studies.
To do this, area studies researchers need to try toincrease their literacy as well.
It is not easy to have a conversation without literacy, making collaboration challenging. For example,
during database creation, those on the information“side” must gain a certain level of literacy of the clientside before starting the work. In my case, when I wasa member of the NIJL, I studied the necessary vocabulary used by the scholars and librarians there andthen analyzed the differences in organizing classicaland contemporary materials before attending

preparatory meetings. However, the scholars andlibrarians often did not make the same effort.
Moreover, they sometimes used information technology terms, but, in many cases, they had not looked up
the correct meaning of the terms, opting to interpretthem as they saw fit instead, which sometimes
became a source of confusion during discussions.

17

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80I have occasionally heard people in data science say,
“I am a data analyst, so I do not know the detail about
the data itself.” This is very curious. I question
researchers who present results based on poor-quality data or without reviewing the data’s validity.
Although algorithms are essential, it is not good forresearchers to use computers if they have notacquired the ability to read data or an adequate levelof data literacy.
I do not want to sound old by giving advice, per
se. However, I will repeat something that my supervisor told me, which is that if you are involved inresearch, you should have two main themes and one
sub-theme, for a total of three. I want to share thisadvice with others, because if you are devoted to only
one topic, there will inevitably come a time when you
get stuck. But if you have two research topics, one ofthem will always be in motion. Many researchers havestudied the same topic in humanities for a long time.
However, in engineering or natural science, trends goout of style quickly, so you must be prepared for yournext move in case one topic is gone in a few years. To
be ready for such a scenario, you should keep a subtheme in mind as well.
I did not follow my supervisor’s advice faithfully,
but I have found myself conducting research mostly
by adhering to the 2+1 rule. At the NIJL, my main work
concerned text databases and resource sharing, but I
also started research on the application of GISs
(Geographic Information Systems) to the humanities.
By the time I moved to Kyoto University, this had
become my primary research topic, which led to thedevelopment of spatiotemporal processing tools andthe creation and publication of a historical gazetteer.38 Machine learning—which began as a subtheme—became my main research focus during mywork at the Unit of Academic Knowledge Integration
Studies.
In science and technology-related research, it ispossible to branch out from a single research topic(my trajectory was artificial intelligence → databases→ big data). Therefore, while it is good to have a single
base, you should have 2+1 themes in mind.

─Indeed, if one persists with singlethemed research, it is sometimes difficult tomake progress, isn’t it?
Exactly. I remember being upset when I first heard
this advice. I thought, “I don’t know if I can do that”(laughs), but now that I think about it, it was wise
advice.

■Source of Ideas and Inspiration: Science Fiction, Anime, and Communication
─Where do you get inspiration for your research? You mentioned that you like science
fiction. Is that a source of ideas for you?
Science fiction and anime often provide hints when I
think about developing and using an idea.39 I think
anime may have made a more significant contribution. I still enjoy watching anime, a habit my wife disapproves of (laughs).
As for inspiration, you hear stories about people
being struck by inspiration when eating or taking aleisurely walk. It is similar for me, but I have my own
routine. Be it a question or whatever else, when I
come up with something that needs to be solved, I
have an image of “sinking it.” It is like having a swamp
in my head and letting the problem sink there. After awhile, something that looks like an answer may pop
up. If that does not solve the problem, I will push it
back into the swamp. In this way, countless things
have been forgotten and rotten (laughs), but there arealso rare occasions when something I have forgotten
comes to mind again. For example, the idea forresource sharing was like that. When I wonder what I
should do, I try pushing it back into the swamp in myhead. As for when something like an answer comesout of the swamp, in my case, it tends to happen while
I’m talking. When I am talking with someone, an idea
suddenly comes to me, and I think, “Ah, I can do it thisway.” Sometimes I think about it alone, but if there isanyone nearby that I can talk to, I explain it all to them

18

38 https://www.nihu.jp/ja/database/source_map

chohistory_(fictional)) provided inspiration for the application of big

39 Isaac Asimov’s “Psychohistory” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psy-

data to area studies.

without delay, even though it may be an annoying
experience for them. They may give me feedback,and in this way, I solidify the idea.

─So, talking to people and general communication is also important.

computer and directs the processing of programs, such as Unix, ↗

─What kinds of research activities do you
plan to undertake after you retire in March
2023?
Fortunately, the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(A) “Development of Evidence-Based Quantitative
Area Studies” will continue until 2026, so I would liketo continue my research on big data.
Beyond that, if I really have nothing left to do, I
would like to create an OS40 by the elderly for theelderly. The latest OSs are nice, but they are too complicated to use. I want to make one that is simpler touse. The image I have now is similar to BASIC of theold PCs. It was both a programming language and an
OS, and we could do everything from computer control to programming, just by using BASIC. If I could
return to that simple world again, it would be a great
OS for older people because we would not have tolearn many extra commands. I would like to work on
it.
(Interview conducted on January 10, 2023 in the Seminar Room on
the 2nd floor of Inamori Foundation Memorial Hall, Kyoto University)

Windows, and so on.

19

40 An operating system, or software that controls the operation of a

■Post-Retirement Activities: Continuing
Big Data Research and Operating System Development

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Exactly. The H-GIS Research Group, a group of about
20 humanities and informatics researchers, has met
about once every two months for over fifteen years.
The meetings have no specific theme. We talk aboutproblems we are having, present new and interestingmaterials or any new ideas that have emerged, andsometimes, members prepare summaries. However,most of the time, it functions as a space where we justtalk a lot. This research group has become a valuable
place for me to communicate with others; I often discover ideas that are useful for my research or findways to advance my stalled research.
Through discussing various ideas in the researchgroup, I have realized that although we may say thesame things, humanities researchers and informatics
researchers sometimes have different images in mind.
For example, once in a mixed researcher group, we
tried to plot incident data from a neighboring countries on a map. The locations of the incidents wereidentifiable to the extent that we could assign latitudes and longitudes. However, without knowing theadministrative borders, how could we draw the map?
The informatics researchers assumed that since there
was no information between the two locations, it was
void, and they took the bisector of the points where
the two incidents occurred as the border. They
thought that if additional information was obtainedlater, they could modify borders accordingly. The
humanities researchers, however, realized thatboundaries often follow natural topography and tried
to draw the border referencing the mountain ridges
and rivers. It is fun to recognize these differences in
how we see things, and it can also lead to newresearch. In fact, the research topic of managing
ambiguous borders was adopted as a project under
the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research.

The H-GIS Research Group is very active in
identifying new research themes by polishing ideasthat come out of discussions and applying for Grantsin-Aid for Scientific Research. This group also organizes national and international conferences, inviting
people from within and outside the university to join
our research group.

Beyond Nationalism?

Revisiting the Youth Movements of the 1990s
in East Timor and Indonesia
A dialogue with Takahiro Kamisuna and Kisho Tsuchiya*

To mark the twentieth anniversary of Timor-Leste’s independence, two specialists of the country discuss theroots and findings of their research in a dialogue about the significance of youth movements to both East
Timorese and Indonesian resistance. The dialogue spans their own field experience and training in Japan,
historiography, the ongoing evolution of East Timor Studies, and the meaning of independence today.

Research Roots and Findings
Tsuchiya: As a historian of East Timor who also began
research in the 2010s, I have been excited by yournew approach to resistance. How did your research
journey begin?

CSEAS NEWSLETTER

Kamisuna: During my undergraduate study, I was
fascinated with theories of nationalism and began toread seminal works by Eric Hobsbawm, Ernest
Gellner, Anthony Smith, and Benedict Anderson.
While being exposed to theoretical and normativearguments, I was quite skeptical of the empiricalfoundations of the theories and began questioning,“Where do such phenomenon actually take place?”
Theories of nationalism in Europe tended to benormative and empirically based in European history.
Frustrated with Europe-centric formulations of these
theories, I picked up Benedict Anderson’s influential
work Imagined Communities. This was my first intellectual encounter with Southeast Asia, especiallyIndonesia. After reading Anderson’s works, I became
intrigued with the nationalism of newly born nations. It

No. 80*

did not take long to turn to East Timor, which had justcelebrated its tenth anniversary of independence
from Indonesia.
Tsuchiya: Your award-winning paper, “Beyond
Nationalism: Youth Struggle for the Independence ofEast Timor and Democracy for Indonesia,” is basedon your MA thesis at Osaka University under Professor
Akihisa Matsuno’s supervision. While you continue
Matsuno’s exploration of East Timorese resistance,
your work asserts quite a different argument. Could
you briefly explain the contents and your argument?
Kamisuna: East Timor was colonized by Portugal
until 1975 and then occupied by Indonesia from 1975
to 1999. My study focuses on the so-called New
Generation (Geraçao Foun) of East Timorese whogrew up under the Indonesian occupation. I was originally interested in shedding light on the thoughts andmovements of this generation through interviews with
East Timorese activists who resisted the occupation.
However, concurrent to the East Timorese resistance,

Takahiro Kamisuna is a first-year PhD student at the University of Cambridge-Centre of Development Studies. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Policy Studies from Kansai University in Japan where he studied political philosophy and western political thought, and a Master’s Degree from Osaka
School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University. In 2020, his research “Beyond Nationalism: Youth Struggle for the Independence of20

East Timor and Democracy for Indonesia” won the Association for Asian Studies’ Pattana Kitiarsa Prize. Kisho Tsuchiya is an Assistant Professor at
the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. He served on the United Nations’ Electoral Support Team from 2009–2010.

Indonesian youth and activists also engaged in prodemocracy and human rights activism against theSuharto regime. As I conducted interviews in East
Timor, I gradually discovered that the East Timorese
New Generation and the Indonesian activists cooperated in their resistance against Suharto’s rule inIndonesia. This was surprising because dominantdiscourses of the independence movement had
downplayed the role of Indonesians and Indonesianeducated Timorese. Meanwhile, official narratives of
the Indonesian pro-democracy movement had marginalized the role of East Timorese youth in the democratic struggle.
I realized that although the East Timorese were
struggling against Indonesia, they had received an
Indonesian education, the language of their resistance was Indonesian, and they operated withIndonesian activist networks within Indonesiannational space. Understanding this backdrop, I grew
more interested in the synthesis of the East Timorese
independence struggle with the Indonesian prodemocracy movement. My new question became,“why did two groups belonging to different nations
engage in a single political movement together?”Conventional theories assume that nationalism is apolitical movement to establish a state defined by acertain physical territory. But they have not exploredjoint struggles of different nations that aim to establish different national polities.
In short, East Timorese and Indonesian youth wereable to share a political movement while pursing different national goals. Some may disagree with calling
this phenomenon “nationalism.” Nevertheless, ininterviews with former activists in Dili and Jakarta,
both groups clearly define their movement as anationalist struggle. In this respect, there is room to
explore a different form of nationalism that does notnecessarily rely on the notion of territory.

“save the world.” His teaching, therefore, concerned
how to stabilize conflict and post-conflict societies.
Timor-Leste was his most important case.
Kamisuna: Yes, the UN’s peace building project has
been the predominant research topic of Japanese literature on East Timor. Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa
is the pioneer in this field. Hence, East Timor Studies
was a part of UN Studies in Japan. Meanwhile,
Professor Akihisa Matsuno wrote the history of East
Timorese struggle from the 1970s–1999. Professor
Matsuno himself supported the East Timorese independence movement. His book Higashi Timōru
Dokuritsu-Shi [The History of East Timorese
Independence Movement] (Waseda University Press,
2002) is based on a vast range of historical sourcesthat were available during the Indonesian Occupation.
Tsuchiya: When I decided to become a historian anda Southeast Asia area specialist, Professor Hasegawa
told me, “you have flown away in a totally different
direction.” But, Hasegawa’s training shaped myresearch in a way that he did not expect. He would
ask, “What do you think, why did the Timorese people
end up killing each other?” Xanana Gusmão, thecharismatic leader of the East Timorese resistance,
often revisited this same question. It has remained in
my heart and comes through in my publications.
How was your apprenticeship under Professor
Akihisa Matsuno, the premier Japanese historian of
East Timor?
Kamisuna: Professor Matsuno is very kind and supportive professor. He is fieldworker and historian, but,interestingly, a linguist by training. After studying

Studying under Pioneering Japanese Academics of East Timor Studies
Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

21

Tsuchiya: I originally became interested in East Timor
through my undergraduate education at Hosei
University under Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, who
was the Special Representative of the United Nations
Secretary General to East Timor from 2004 to 2006.
Accepting responsibility for the 2006 Crisis in East
Timor, he stepped down from the UN position andwas later appointed to the Department of International
Politics in Hosei University. He was interested inpeace building and the United Nations’ role, and hisplan was to train us as future international officers tolinguistics and the Indonesian language, he taught
Indonesian. In the 1980s, he supported the East
Timorese struggle. Hence, he has this broader network with Indonesian and East Timorese activists. I
often consulted him on how to use local historicalresources and with whom I should interview in Diliand Jakarta. Studying linguistics, most of his researchis based on meticulous text analysis of historical
documents. Professor Matsuno also has profoundknowledge on political thought and philosophy. I
decided to work with him because when I first met
him, I felt that we may have similar intellectualinterests.
Tsuchiya: In his book Higashi Timōru Dokuritsu-Shi,although he mentions Renetil, the primary focus is on
the armed guerrillas educated during the Portuguesecolonial period.
Kamisuna: Yes. I was very impressed with the wide
range of sources that he collected. His focus is, however, on Fretilin’s armed independence movement inEast Timor. My MA thesis was an extension of hiswork, as I explored East Timor’s young generation,
which Professor Matsuno has hardly written about.

Field Experience
Tsuchiya: How did field experience in the 2010s influence your research?
Kamisuma: While I stayed with an East Timoresefamily, the kids often watched Indonesian dramas athome. My host family was quite wealthy, and theyoften said that culturally, they were Indonesians, as

they studied at Indonesian universities (even after
independence). I attended workshops of a local NGO
that were conducted in Indonesian, not the lingua
franca of Timor-Leste, Tetum (although East Timorese
spoke Tetum in their everyday life). Having read
numerous texts on East Timor in Japanese andEnglish, these experiences came as a shock to me.
Yet through my stay, I gradually understood that East
Timorese sometimes accept Indonesian-ness positively as a part of their life.
Tsuchiya: I had similar experiences. My first visit toTimor-Leste was soon after the 2006 Crisis. At thattime, the dominant discourses of East Timorese resistance emphasized the diplomatic contributions of
diaspora activists and Falintil’s armed struggle at theexpense of the younger Indonesian-educated generation. Such discourses were promoted by the East
Timorese government, transnational activists, and the

CSEAS NEWSLETTER

United Nations. This was questioned by the East
Timorese themselves through the crisis, as the youth
expressed frustrations about the post-independence
order. An example was the language policy. Although
UN higher-ups discouraged the use of the Indonesianlanguage, many of the Timorese officers in the UN
offices belonged to the “New Generation,” who weremore familiar with Indonesian than Portuguese.
I stayed in the household of an ex-FALINTIL guerrilla soldier, whose family also defied simple categorization. The father/husband grew up during the late
Portuguese period and joined the FRETILIN movement in the mid-70s; he was proud of his heroic resistance against Indonesia. His wife belonged to the“New Generation” and she and the children watched
Indonesian melodramas every night. I sat with the exguerrilla soldier in a corner of the living room because
the two of us did not sufficiently understandIndonesian. So, although the state discourse andavailable history books praised the FALINTIL soldiers
as national heroes, his experience was rather marginal at home. I had many experiences like this, which
did not fit into the ready-made image of the East
Timorese. I came to realize that the majority of the
UN’s international officers and the existing AngloAmerican-Japanese scholarship did not have sufficient understanding of what exactly “Indonesia”
meant for various groups of the East Timorese
people.
Was there a specific “foundational experience” thatshaped the course of your research in this regard?

No. 8022

Kamisuna: Fortune favors you in fieldwork. I often ate
my lunch in the canteen of the local NGO Haburas
Foundation. The restaurant was full of former activists

of Renetil, the most prominent clandestine organization that actively engaged in the independence movement in the Indonesian mainland. The former secretary general of Renetil, who later became President of
the National Parliament, Fernando de Araújo sometimes visited this restaurant too. So, this was the basefor the activists of the Geraçao Foun.
When I interviewed Renetil activists, they always
expressed nostalgia for the heroic independence
struggle, saying “we fought with Indonesians!” East
Timorese youth understood that Indonesians werealso oppressed by the Suharto regime. Thus, they
believed that it was important to make Indonesiansrecognize that the issue of East Timor was not an‘international’ issue, but their ‘domestic’ issue inIndonesia. Renetil crystalized this idea as theIndonesianization of the Conflict in East Timor[Indonesiação do Conflito de Timor-Leste].
With this revelation, I decided to visit Jakarta tointerview former pro-democracy activists in Indonesia
who supported the East Timorese struggle. This wasan unexpected but extremely exciting moment in myfieldwork. During the interviews in Jakarta, Indonesian
activists were also enthusiastic when talking about
East Timorese struggle. One former Indonesian activist told me that the East Timorese struggle opened
their eyes to democracy. In principle, Indonesian prodemocracy activists believed that without allowing
the East Timorese referendum, Indonesia could not
be substantially democratised. Therefore, they supported the East Timorese struggle to realize their own
democracy. This made me confident that I had discovered a new idea that would lead me to a new theoretical formulation of nationalism.

Kamsiuna: My impression was that most of the literature focused on East Timor as a single territorial
entity. As the result, the literature has been confined
to East Timorese territory.

Evolution and New Frontiers of East Timor
Studies
Tsuchiya: From the conventional perspective of East
Timor Studies, your research method and arguments
are rather novel. What types of responses have you
received so far?
Kamisuna: Scholars of the countries of East Timorand Indonesia, especially those who engage in social
activism, have reacted negatively to my work with thecritique that the research overestimates the joint
actions between the Indonesians and East Timorese.
Indeed, the joint movement may be only one part ofthe entire struggles of both Indonesia and East Timor.
Tsuchiya: Do you think this is because you focus on
those who have been marginalized by both Indonesianand East Timorese dominant discourses?
Kamisuna: Absolutely. In contrast, scholars who
study nationalism or other countries in Southeast
Asia have appreciated my work more favorably.
Tsuchiya: I believe that these favorable responses
demonstrate the success of your theorization regarding transnational cooperation of two separate nationalist groups sharing one political movement. On the

23

Tsuchiya: What do you mean by research that is“confined to East Timorese territory”?

Tsuchiya: I have had a similar impression regarding
the territoriality of East Timor Studies. When I lived inTimor-Leste, Timorese colleagues in the UN said
things like “I am married to an Indonesian woman,” “Isent my son to Indonesia,” “my relatives are on theother side of the border,” and so forth. If one would
confine our research space to the East Timorese territory, it could result in a grave misunderstanding of
the East Timorese spatial experience, which is notnecessarily confined to the territory of the nation ofTimor-Leste.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Tsuchiya: It seems that your discomfort with theincompatibility between your field experience and theexisting scholarship led you to modify and evenchange your research plan. Following the findings
from initial interviews in Dili, you decided to collectinterviews with Indonesian activists in Jakarta. This
resulted in an unexpected finding about the cooperation between East Timorese youth nationalists andIndonesian democracy activists. You encountered a
Timorese world different from the texts. What wasyour thought about the available texts at the time?

Kamisuna: While some works by Western anthropologists have examined the identity of East Timoreseyouth, the studies tend to downplay their relations
with Indonesians. Although political scientists andhistorians have extensively written about East
Timorese political history, they are also confinedwithin the territory of East Timor. For example,
Professor Michael Leach’s great work criticallyexplains the construction and development of East
Timorese nationalism during the Indonesian occupation. Nevertheless, the relation to Indonesian society
is only superficially examined.

other hand, some activists who struggled for an independent East Timor may feel that by focusing on thiscooperation, you marginalize their own heroic struggles “against” Indonesia.
Kamisuna: There may also be an antipathy toward theidea that Indonesians contributed to the East
Timorese national struggle. Simultaneously, averageIndonesians do not think that the referendum for East
Timorese was historically significant for Indonesia’s
democratization.
Tsuchiya: I have also received similar reviews andresponses when I wrote about the conflation of both
Timorese sense of belonging and colonial boundaries
in the historical construction of East Timor as anational space. As academics, however, we must be
open to new interpretations and indeed, to challenge
the dominant notions of our time. Expanding researchsites beyond existing borders can certainly help withthis. When a historian decides to write “Indonesianhistory” or “Japanese history,” at that exact moment,
they make an important selection of sources. No matter how many sources they consult at the archives ofIndonesian or Japanese history, they necessarily
exclude those that are categorized as sources for“East Timorese history” or “Korean history.” Your
argument regarding the transnational cooperation ofIndonesian and East Timorese youth nationalists
would never have emerged if you had adhered tocountry studies or one research site. Your argument
became possible only as a result of doing research inmore than one site and crossing more than one
perspective.
I believe that generally, “good research” balances
theory and empiricism. A lack of empirical data leaves
us a theory with no basis. On the other hand, a lack oftheory leaves us asking “so what?” How do you balance theory and data?

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 8024

Kamisuna: I became interested in Indonesia and East
Timor due to my intellectual curiosity toward nationalism. Because pioneer social science scholars such as
Benedict Anderson and Clifford Geertz began theircareer as Indonesianists, I thought that Indonesia
would be an interesting theoretical seedbed, if you
will, compared to other countries. East Timor’s tragic
history of Western and third world colonialism seemed
to me to offer new ground. But to be honest, I did notseek out a theory. I was initially motivated to go to
Jakarta because I was afraid that East Timorese
activists may have overstated their roles, which canhappen when you interview “heroes.” Nevertheless, itturned out that Indonesian activists were even moreenthusiastic about the East Timorese struggle thanthe East Timorese activists I met in Dili.
Tsuchiya: Most researchers of East Timor Studies
have been Western Caucasian academics. After the
UN intervention, numerous foreign researchers went
to Timor-Leste in the 2000s for fieldwork. We enteredin the late 2000s to the early 2010s, becoming basically the first batch of Asian researchers to do fieldwork in independent Timor-Leste. Do you think thatour being Asian affected the result of our datacollection?
Kamisuna: That is a difficult question.
Tsuchiya: Let me provide an example. For the past
several years, I have been comparing Australian,Portuguese, and Japanese historical sources fromthe mid-twentieth century. Most Australian informants
described Portuguese Timor as a “tranquil,” “peaceful,” and “idle” place. This school includes the memoirof James Dunn. The oft referred-to book emphasizeschanges from “peaceful Portuguese Timor” to “violent Indonesian occupation.”On the other hand, Kyoto University student Tōru
Takahashi, visited Portuguese Timor only two years
after the Viqueque Rebellion of 1959 (in which
Indonesian citizens and eastern Timorese revolted
against the Portuguese administration). He witnessed
naked racism among the European Portuguese, ethnic Chinese, and Timorese people and sensed deepsocial tensions. Border incursions were being
reported before and during Takahashi’s visit. Being
Japanese (former invader), the Portuguese policemen
looked at him with suspicion, but Takahashi foundclose interlocutors among ethnic Chinese andTimorese populations. I mention this to illustrate thatperhaps my knowledge of Japanese sources (in addition to Portuguese scholarship) and “being Asian” led
me to see more continuities in twentieth century East
Timorese history than James Dunn did.
In the field, some Timorese friends in Dili told me,“Indonesians are friendly, but Portuguese people aremean.” I wonder, though, if they would say the samething to Western researchers. When I collected oral
histories in the Philippines, no matter how I emphasized that I was “neutral,” most Filipino elders did notwant to make negative comments about the Japanese
occupation of the Philippines. They worried that I
might get hurt. So, I believe that “who is talking towhom” really matters in conducting research.
Kamisuna: Indeed, the researcher’s nationality could
affect their research results. Perhaps, East Timoreseactivists were more open to me in talking about theirstruggle because I am Japanese, i.e. an outsider ofboth Indonesian and East Timorese society. As their
youth struggle has been marginalized by bothIndonesian and East Timorese official discourses, aJapanese person may be in a good position to hear
their stories.

Twenty Years of Independence: Looking
Forward
Tsuchiya: This year officially marks the twentiethanniversary of Timor-Leste’s independence. In my
own reflections on what “independence” means inEast Timorese history, I emphasize the diversity ofTimorese experience as well as the idea that the independence of 2002 can be seen as a repetition of alonger historical pattern—of migration and displacement, regime change, political consolidation, anddeepening of social tensions—in modern East
Timorese history. What are your thoughts about
independence?

Tsuchiya: I agree that we should take a longer view,
making use of newly available sources and fieldwork.
As for “independence,” for the groups of East
Timorese whose independence is not yet realized,
luta continua: resistance continues.

Further Readings
1.

Dunn, J. 2003. East Timor: A Rough Passage to Independence. N.S.W.: Longueville Books.

2.

Kamisuna, T. 2020. “Beyond Nationalism: Youth Struggle for the Independence of East Timor and Democracy
for Indonesia.” Indonesia 110: 73–99.

3.

Leach, M. 2019. “The Distinctive Character of East Timorese Nationalism.” Bulletin of the National Museumof Ethnology 43, no. 3: 283–300.

4.

Mastsuno, A. 2002. Higashi Timōru Dokuritsu-Shi [TheHistory of East Timorese Independence Movement] Tokyo: Waseda University Press.

5.

Tsuchiya, K. 2018. “Indigenization of the Pacific War inTimor Island: A Multi-language Study of its Contexts
and Impact.” War & Society 38, no. 1: 19–40.

6.

Tsuchiya, K. 2021. “Southeast Asian Cultural Landscape, Resistance, and Belonging in East Timor’s
FRETILIN movement (1974–75).” Journal of Southeast
Asian Studies 52, no. 3: 515–538.

7.

Tsuchiya, K. 2023. “What was “Independence” for the
East Timorese? A historian’s autobiographical reflections over perceptions of the past." Revista Oriente 29,
91–104.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Kamisuna: My view is that the independence of East
Timor confirmed the victory of the old elites of Fretilinrather than of East Timor as an entire nation. Drawing
from my research on the Geração Foun, I see that thecleavage between older and newer generations has
become politically salient over policy-making andpolitical representation in post-independence East
Timor. Perhaps, the presidential election this year
reflects the last twenty years of representational politics. Although several candidates from the Geração
Foun ran in the election, the victory of Ramos Horta,a prominent figure from the old generation, suggeststhat history is still on their side. The dichotomous perspectives of the old and new generations also blur our analysis of postindependence East Timor. Althoughscholars contend that the Geração
Foun has been marginalized from thecultural and political epicenter of East
Timor, I agree with Professor Matsuno
that elites from the Geração Foun haveenjoyed relatively lucrative positions inpolitics and social avenues in postindependence East Timor. Rather, marginalization is visible when comparing
those who were actively involved in thenational struggle and those who werenot, as well as those in the geographicalcenter (Dili) and those in the peripheries. I suppose that the time has comefor us to shift our analytical lens from a short-sighted
one that traces the political history back to thenational struggle against Indonesia to more longsighted and holistic approaches that allow us to analyze beyond the modern territory of East Timor, tounderstand the country’s everyday politics more fully.

25

CSEAS Special Seminar

Knowledge Hegemonies and Autonomous Knowledge
with Syed Farid Alatas (National University of Singapore)
Takamichi Serizawa*
On October 21, CSEAS hosted a lively discussion with Syed Farid Alatas, a prominent sociologist and leading scholar of Malay studies, on knowledge production and the challenges of multiple biases and hegemonies. Two discussants, Caroline Hau from CSEAS
and Bomen Guillermo from the University of the Philippines Diliman, furthered the discussion with regional perspectives. The event
was attended by more than 50 participants both on-site and online, including many CSEAS post-doc scholars and junior faculty.

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80

As modern social sciences developed in the 19th
century, there came a recognition of knowledge
imperialism—the dominant orientation in knowledge
production toward imperial centers—or Eurocentrism.
This orientation remains dominant in various disciplines of the humanities and social sciences today.
According to Alatas, however, several additionalhegemonic orientations, many of which predate thecolonial period by centuries and have little to do withthe colonial experience, affect knowledge productionin the Third World. These hegemonies include androcentrism, traditionalism, culturalism, ethnonationalism, and sectarianism.
To challenge such hegemonies of knowledge production, scholars must generate autonomous knowledge—that is, knowledge independent not only ofEurocentric, but also of other biased orientations.
This effort was pioneered by Altatas’ father, Syed
Hussein Alatas, who established the Department of
Malay Studies at the National University of Singapore(then the University of Singapore) in 1967. The work of
the father Alatas formed the basis of the School ofAutonomous Knowledge, which emphasizes openness to ideas and influences from various fields anddoes not recognize artificial boundaries between disciplines (for example, history and sociology). It is,therefore, a foundation of the interdisciplinary tradition.1 Alatas’ works on colonialism, such as The Mythof the Lazy Native, are greatly founded on this lack of
disciplinary distinction. While based at NUS for morethan two decades, the father Alatas remained vigilantly critical of departments in the university that hebelieved were “mimicking” UK and US universities.
In response to Alatas’ presentation, Caroline Hau
from CSEAS noted the shift in metropoles for MalayIndonesian and Philippine studies. Centers of knowledge production and validation for Malay-Indonesianstudies historically have been in the UK, Australia,
and the Netherlands, and for Philippine studies, in the
US. In recent years, however, area studies in theWestern world has declined and the metropolitan
centers for Malay-Indonesian studies now include
Java and Singapore. The center of gravity for
Philippine studies has to some extent already shiftedfrom the US to the Philippines. The metropole-periphery divide and the hierarchies and inequalities thatorganize it can be better understood and analyzed
not only by looking at the relationship between theWest and the East, but also, and just as important, therelationship between the capitals of Southeast Asiaand the regional and local centers. Given these different scales of hegemony (not only at the supranational, but also at the regional, national, and subnational levels), Hau asks what the “grounds” forknowledge would look like if the metropolitan center
for Philippine as well as Malay-Indonesian studies is
not anymore in Euro-America or Japan, but, say, in
Manila, Java, or Singapore. In other words, what newhegemonies should scholars be aware—and wary—of, given these new shifts? Should scholars not only
critique a specific, or indeed new, center, but also
consistently question hegemonic production itself
where-ever and however it emerges?
Hau’s second point concerns the question ofaudience(s). A scholar makes decisions about what
topic to pursue, what language to write in, where to
publish, and how and where research results circulate
based on their targeted audience. How then can we
cultivate networks for autonomous knowledge in Asia
to gain enough leverage that scholars can produce
knowledge on their own terms, rather than accepting
the prescriptions emanating from Euro-American
centers? The challenge lies in nurturing and safeguarding younger generations of researchers so that*

Research Fellow, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

1

The father Alatas trained at the University of Amsterdam with Professor Willem Wertheim, who played a significant role in the development of social

26

history and whose academic program Modern History and Sociology of Southeast Asia influenced Alatas.

to write academic essays in Philippine languages andhas negatively affected attempts at local theorizing.
As a response to Hau and Guillermo, Syed Farid
Alatas emphasized the need for further networking
among scholars in Asia and to train graduate students
and nurturing critical thinking. He expressed concernthat although the School of Autonomous Knowledge,
as it emerged from the Department of Malay Studies
at NUS, has lasted almost 60 years, the pressure oftoday’s neoliberal policies in education and universities may lead to its decline following his and his generation’s retirement. To avoid such degeneration, hestressed that scholars in Asia should not be required,for example, to adhere to the current system of global
rankings. But politicians and bureaucrats in Asia may
not move away from such a regime. Echoing Hau andGuillermo, Alatas stressed that to secure the space
for autonomous knowledge, institutes and universities cannot stand alone against the current prevailingEuro-American paradigms of academic research anduniversity education. Networking among scholars isparamount.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

they will not be penalized by decisions toengage in intellectual border-crossing andborder-raiding.
Bomen Guillermo from the University of
the Philippines Diliman elaborated on thedominant hegemonic orientations in thePhilippines that are distinct from Eurocentrism. Guillermo first pointed out
Filipino religious traditionalism and sectarianism in their dominant Roman Catholicvariants, which are deeply rooted in academic intellectual production. Dominant or
emerging oppressive hegemonic forms
have been actively critiqued and opposedfrom the ground up by social movementsof workers, peasants, women, LGBTQ
communities, and marginalized cultural
minorities, at least from the radical 1960s
onwards. However, according to Guillermo,
the call for academic engagement withgrassroots social movements has faced
several challenges in the decades after thecollapse of the Marcos dictatorship in
1986. One of these is the still-prevalent“culturalism,” or cultural nationalism, in
Philippine social sciences and humanities,
which has turned its back on class analysis
as well as ideological and structural critiques. As evidence of his critique, henotes how this culturalism, ironically, wasaided and abetted by two seemingly oppositional intellectual approaches—neoliberal postmodernism and ethnonationalist nativism, both of whichbecame influential in the 1980s.
According to Guillermo, what most resembles
schools of autonomous knowledge production in thePhilippines are Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino Psychology), led by Virgilio G. Enriquez, and Pantayong
Pananaw (From us for us perspective), led by Zeus A.
Salazar. However, unlike Alatas (the father), theseapproaches only engage in incomplete autocritiqueswith respect to their more or less strong culturalist
and nativist tendencies and, although their ideas may
continue to be discussed and developed by scatteredindividuals, they may not last as well-defined schools
beyond the current generation. The crisis facing
Filipino scholars in recent years can be traced in partto language and neoliberal academic internationalization. The pressure to publish in journals of the academic metropoles in the Anglo-American world,which now has a significant bearing on recognition,
tenure, and promotion, continues to undermine efforts

27

CSEAS Special Seminar“Knowledge Hegemonies and Autonomous Knowledge” with Syed Farid Alatas

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 8028

Voyage to Autonomous Knowledge, with Farid Alatas
A conversation with

Syed Farid Alatas, Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, National University of Singapore (FA),

Takeo Suzuki, Project Researcher, Office for Research Initiatives and Development, Doshisha University (TS), andZenta Nishio, Project Researcher, Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences, Ritsumeikan University (ZN)

1colonial capitalism1). I was very familiar

In the 1990s, you were dealing with thethe same time, I understood very well thearound 2000, you began to talk about

Doing sociology differently:
Critique and construction

and comfortable with Marxist analysis. At

Takeo Suzuki (TS): Could you tell us

problem of intellectual imperialism andabout your first encounter with sociology?
Syed Farid Alatas (FA): I learned aboutsociology from my father (Syed Hussein
Alatas), who was a sociologist. We always

had discussions in the house, especiallyduring dinner time, about society andsocial issues, about social problems,and history. So, I was very familiar withsociological discourse, although I was
not introduced to sociology formally until

I went to university. I did my undergraduate study at the University of Oregon

and graduate work at Johns Hopkins
University.

TS: What was your impression of thesociology taught at university? Was it dif-ferent from your father’s talks, or was it
familiar?

FA: Much of it was familiar, because

whether the sociology is Eurocentric ornot, there are similarities in sociological modes of reasoning and in sociologi-

cal interest in the group. The sociology
department at the University of Oregon
offered many courses that were quite left-

ist and paid attention to sociology of themasses. For me this was also very comfortable because my father conductedclass analyses connected to the study ofideology (his book The Myth of the Lazy

the American sociology curriculum was
uncritically adopted by scholars outsideof the West.

TS: So, you were conscious of this fromyour student days.

FA: I was conscious of it because of myfather. He wrote on the captive mind in
the 1970s and was one of the first in the
Third World to conceptualize intellectual

imperialism (his first essay about thiswas published in 19693). At that time,very few people spoke about intellectual
imperialism. Among those who did were

Professor Johan Galtung, a renowned pro-fessor of peace studies from Scandinavia,
who wrote about scientific colonialism in

the 1960s.4 The Indian journal Seminaralso published a special issue on intellec-

tual colonialism in 1968.5 These familiar-

autonomous knowledge production.

Zenta Nishio (ZN): How did this transi-tion happen? From the outside it looks
like a transition, but maybe inside yourthinking process these two orientations
coexisted?

FA: Yes, it is not really a transition. These
are just logical developments.
TS: It is a continuum, right?

FA: That’s right. And it is also overlapping.

When we study knowledge creation, there
is critique and there is construction—cri-tique of Eurocentrism and construction of
non-Eurocentric social science. I am stillinterested in critiquing Eurocentrism, but

I am also going more into construction of
non-Eurocentric social science. For this, I

have focused especially on Ibn Khaldūn’sworks as an example of non-Eurocentricsocial science.6 I have also publishedsome on José Rizal, and plan to do more.7

ized me with the issues.

This is the construction part. At the sameand as a young academic in the 1990s,

has developed and become more sophis-

I attended university in the 1980s

my interest was more the critique ofEurocentrism. But during the last ten
years or so, I have become more focusedon the construction of alternative dis-courses—in going beyond the critique toconstruct new knowledge, new theories,
and new concepts.

TS: I can see that change in your works.

time, I think my critique of Eurocentrism
ticated. Compared to the way I defined

Eurocentrism in the 1990s, today mydefinition is more nuanced, more sophisticated, more complex. I continue withthe critique of Eurocentrism, analyz-

ing the structural context within which
Eurocentric knowledge production takes
place: intellectual imperialism, academic

1 Alatas, Syed Hussein. 1977. The Myth of the Lazy Native: A Study of the Image of the Malays, Filipinos and Javanese from the 16th to the 20th Century and Its Function in
the Ideology of Colonial Capitalism. London: Frank Cass.
2 “Captive mind” is the concept that Hussein Alatas, father of Farid, used to criticize the uncritical reception and imitation of Western thoughts by non-Western intellectuals(see also note 3).
3 Alatas, Syed Hussein. 1969. “The Captive Mind and Creative Development,” in K.B. Madhava, ed., International Development, New York: Oceania Publications.
4 Galtung, Johan. 1967. “Scientific Colonialism.” Transition, 30: 10–15.
5 Seminar (1959–) is a monthly opinion journal. Its 112th issue in December 1968 focused on academic colonialism.
6 See for example Alatas, Syed Farid. 2014. Applying Ibn Khaldūn: The Recovery of a Lost Tradition in Sociology. London: Routledge.
7 See for example Alatas, Syed Farid. 2010. “Religion and Reform: Two Exemplars for Autonomous Sociology in the Non-Western Context,” in Sujata Patel, The ISA Handbookof Diverse Sociological Traditions, London: Sage.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Native analyzes colonial ideology andthe captive mind,2 and I could see how

indigenization of knowledge and from29

dependency, and academic extractivism.

we need a kind of structural framework

the work of German anthropologists,11and early 2000s I was more concerned

Are you familiar with George Ritzer?

gressive, or advanced, civilization, thatSo there is no transition. In the 1990s

for the construction of the theory.

with the critique of Eurocentrism, and I

During my masters’ degree course, I

the past ten years or so, I have begun to

University of Maryland. He used to speak

continue to have that interest. But during

pay more attention to the construction ofalternative social sciences.

ZN: Did any specific event or turning
point lead to this change?

FA: I do not remember any specific turning point, but I would say that over the last

15 or even 20 years, I began to realize that

was a teaching assistant for him at theabout the architectonics of sociology, or

the underlying structure of social theory.8

This gave me some idea about how toreconstruct Ibn Khaldūn’s social theory
for a modern sociology. As I became older,my thinking matured, and I was able towrite two books about Ibn Khaldūn.9 I am

we were spending too much time critiqu-now trying to do the same for José Rizal.

alternative knowledge. We speak about

construction of Rizal’s theory of colonial

ing Eurocentrism without constructing
alternative knowledge, we speak about

the need to create alternative knowledge,
but we are not doing it. We are just speaking about it.

TS: Often just in conclusion, right?

I am currently writing a paper on thesociety in which I use Ritzer’s concept ofarchitectonic.

sciences.

ZN: When you began to realize this, did

you already have Ibn Khaldūn in mind
and did you think studying him maylead to an alternative sociology? Did you
already have a pathway, so to speak?

FA: Yes, I had been interested in Ibn

Khaldūn since I was a student. I begancollecting articles and books by and about
Ibn Khaldūn, but when I was a student

and a young scholar, I had no idea how
to construct a Khaldūnian sociology. I
believed it could be done, but I had no idea

progressive society, he then argues thatthe reason for the “backwardness” is not
because of Filipino culture or because theFilipinos are uncivilized, but rather it isbecause of colonization. In this way, histheory of colonial society is a critique ofcolonial rule.

ZN: In your speech, you quoted this from

Rizal: “the miseries of a people without
freedom should not be imputed to thepeople but to their rulers.”12

speech into a paper, using a detailed struc-ered in José Rizal. This left quite anarea scholars know Rizal very well,

we do not view him that way. Your
description of the potential sciencethat one can find in Rizal was very
eye-opening.

FA: When you read Rizal, you find a

critique of colonial knowledge. Rizal

did not call it Eurocentrism, but hewas critiquing colonial knowledge.
On the one hand, he presents a cri-tique of colonial knowledge, and on
the other, he offers his own under-

standing of colonial society. These

are the two basic parts of his theoryof colonial society.

Rizal examines Filipino history

how to go about it. As time went on and I

to criticize the Spanish (colonial)

various scholars, I began to realize thatward and uncivilized. Drawing onread more and had more discussions with

before colonial rule the Filipinos had ature to reconstruct Rizal’s theory. When I

impression—although we Filipino

of doing sociology and doing social

other industries. Having established that

conference.10 In it, you talked about how

Too many scholars, probably, indulge
endeavor to construct alternative ways

they were involved in shipbuilding and

FA: Yes. I am currently expanding thisthe 2020 Decolonizing Global Studies
decolonial thought can be discov-in that critique and do not, or cannot,

they controlled trade routes, and that

ZN: I listened to your keynote speech at

FA: Exactly.

TS: I think this is a very important point.

he demonstrates that Filipinos had a pro-

understanding of Filipinos as back-

Syed Hussein Alatas in his office (photo courtesy: Syed Farid
Alatas)

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 808 For Ritzer’s argument on architectonics, see Ritzer, George. 2001. “The Delineation of an Underlying Architectonic,” in his Explorations in Social Theory: From
Metatheorizing to Rationalization, London: Sage.
9 Alatas, Syed Farid. 2013. Ibn Khaldun. Delhi: Oxford University Press; 2014, Applying Ibn Khaldūn (note 6).
10 Alatas, Syed Farid, September 17, 2020, “Theorising from Asia,” a keynote speech delivered at the international conference “Decolonizing Global Studies: Charting Trends,
Mapping Trajectories” (Retrieved December 9, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BejPL5Ex7g).
11 While studying in Germany, Rizal was in contact with Wilhelm Joest (1852–97) and Adolf Bastian (1826–1905, who influenced Franz Boas). See Mojares, Resil B. 2013.
“José Rizal in the World of German Anthropology.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 41(3/4): 163–94. Rizal tried to translate Theodor Waitz’s “Die Malaien (TheMalays).” For this, see Quibuyen, Floro Cayanan. 2020. The Future Has an Ancient Heart: In Search of Our Antiguas Buenas Calidades. A Voyage of Rediscovery from
José Rizal’s (Ignored) Translation of Theodor Waitz’s Die Malaien to the Jesuit Missionaries’ (Forgotten) Reports on the Chamorros of Marianas. Quezon: UP Center for
Integrative and Development Studies.
12 Rizal, José. 1963. “The Truth for All,” in his Political and Historical Writings, Manila: National Historical Institute, 31. Farid quotes this phrase in the keynote speech (from39:43 to 40:21 of the video cited in note 10).

30

say structure, I mean that every theory,

I have never found many scholars withrevolutionary for Filipino independence.14

human society. This is a concept of how

my colleague Vineeta Sinha, with whom

help us to understand the roots of Rizal’s

every sociological theory, has a concept ofhuman societies create institutions andhow those institutions dominate people.
People create the institutions, but theinstitutions dominate the people. They do
not allow people to develop their potential as humans, and they distort humannature. For example, Marx said that capi-

talist institutions create alienation. As

whom I could collaborate. An exception isI have been teaching a course on socio-

logical theory for many years. From our

The works of Ileto and Quibuyen also
thinking in Filipino folklore Christianity

and Catholicism.15 Ramon Guillermo’s

teaching together and our similar think-argument have been very useful in terms

a natural collaboration emerged, and weof the human being, which for me is theing about the problem of Eurocentrism,

decided to co-write a book, Sociological
Theory beyond the Canon.13

I have not found such similar possibili-of helping me to articulate Rizal’s concept
starting point of understanding Rizal’ssocial theory.16

I have not been formally collaborating

people become conscious of the problems

ties for collaboration for my work on Ibn

with these scholars, but I am in touchthem and there is a struggle for emanci-

across people with a similar way of think-efit from their work, although they areof the institutions, they revolt against
pation. Like Marx’s social theory, every

theory has a main structure. I use sucha structure to construct Rizal’s theory ofsociety.

TS: In other words, you apply the structural model to Rizal’s works because wecannot know directly from them about his
sociological thinking. This is very theoretical work.

FA: Yes, because Rizal does not pres-ent his thinking as sociology. In fact, hewrote journalistic articles, novels, andpoems. Therefore, we need to develop a

structure and select the aspects from all

his writings and thought that can fit into
the structure, to give us a theory.

2

Collaboration: “South-toSouth”?

ZN: I imagine collaboration among various scholars and networks is importantwhen trying to construct and reconstructsocial theories. Some may pretend as if

they are writing articles alone, but in factother people are always around them:friends, colleagues, and so on. What
are your thoughts on collaboration inacademia?

collaborative work, there is no question

about that. Collaborative work is always

important. Unfortunately, in my case,ing. This is something that I miss. In the

Arab world—as you know, Ibn Khaldūn
was an Arab thinker—I did not encounter

thinkers who would like to approach Ibn
Khaldūn in a similar manner. The sameis true with the Philippines; it seems thatmost of the scholars interested in José
Rizal are not sociologists or anthropologists, but perhaps more historians.

ZN: It seems that in the Philippines, José
Rizal is basically a kind of symbol. How

we understand him is the basis of ourunderstanding of Filipino history. Thisis important, but at the same time quite

limited. You try to establish a construct, a
new science. This kind of idea is perhaps
new for Filipino scholars.

FA: Yes, I remember joking with some

Filipinos once that we need to save José
Rizal from the Filipinos, because, as you
said, he has for many years been only asymbol. But of course, there have been

great Filipino works on José Rizal. The
writings of scholars like Rey Ileto andFloro Quibuyen are excellent. The works

of Resil Mojares and Ramon Guillermo

have also been very beneficial. I thinktheir works have been very important interms of providing ideas for the recon-

struction of Rizal’s thinking. For example,
Quibuyen provides some very importantarguments to support the claim that Rizal

was not an assimilationist, but rather awith some of them and I very much ben-

not doing the same thing that I am, andthey have different interests and dif-ferent expertise. I do look forward tocontinuing contact. In fact, through the

National University of Singapore andthe University of Malaya, where I am avisiting professor at the Department of
Anthropology and Sociology, we are orga-

nizing a study trip on José Rizal to Manila
in February (2023). Through that trip,
we will try to establish stronger ties withour colleagues and with students in thePhilippines, especially regarding Rizal
studies.

TS: It is common to label that kind of col-laboration as South-to-South relations in
the Third World.

ZN: People say that South-to-South collaborative relationships are very impor-tant, but this sometimes feels like a Northidea. Of course, it is sometimes good andsometimes not good. People do not say“North to North collaboration is produc-tive.” Productivity depends on the people
and what they do.

TS: Yes, collaborative relationships are
not produced artificially, but rather begin

from a common issue or similar interest. In the book Decolonizing Sociology,
Ali Meghji critiques your arguments for

not engaging in South-to-South collaboration.17 I feel that this is unfair to someextent, because South-to-South relations,

13 Alatas, Syed Farid and Vineeta Sinha. 2017. Sociological Theory beyond the Canon. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
14 See for example Quibuyen, Floro Cayanan. 1999. A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American Hegemony, and Philippine Nationalism. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
15 See for example Ileto, Reynaldo Clemeña. 1979. Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
16 See for example Guillermo, Ramon. 2012. “Moral Forces, Philosophy of History, and War in José Rizal.” Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints, 60(1):5–32. Guillermo, Ramon. 2009. Translation & Revolution: A Study of José Rizal’s Guillermo Tell. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
17 Meghji, Ali. 2021. Decolonizing Sociology: An Introduction, Cambridge; Medford: Polity. Farid’s arguments are treated in pp. 86–90 of the book with his father’s, and critically commented as they are mainly about how to deal with Western knowledge and do not endeavor to have dialogue with other non-Western traditions.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

FA: Well, I think it is very good to do

Khaldūn or José Rizal. I have not come31

if there is such a thing, cannot be so read-of migration. Another word in Malay,

happening among people. This is related

FA: It is not about South-South collabo-

is different from marantau. This is a very

duce decolonial knowledge not only in a

ily discovered just from the text.

ration; what is important is collaboration

between people with similar minds. In
other words, you may be a scholar work-

ing in North America, but you may have aSouth mentality. Who we are looking foris not the scholars belonging to specificuniversity or country, but those with similar mentality and interests.

3

Decolonizing the mind:“Take our language seriously”

ZN: In your 2021 keynote speech at theBandung international conference onsocial science, you said that we must takeour language seriously.18 When you said

“seriously” and “language,” what did you
really mean?

FA: After we critique Eurocentrism, wewant to construct new knowledge that is
not Eurocentric. The core of this is theory

building and concept formation, which
is where language comes in. Taking lan-

guage seriously for concept formationmeans that the words in our language

are not just used as terminology, butrather that we see concepts in the words.

Words are not simply translated fromone language to another. When we lookat the words in our language seriously,

we see the possibility of social scientificconcepts.

To give you an example, in Malay orIndonesian migration studies, scholars
use the English word “migration,” modified as migraci. They simply use the conventional concept of migration. They do
not take their own language seriously,

because in Malay or Indonesian there areother words that refer to migration, suchas the word marantau. This word is notjust a translation of “migration.” Instead,
CSEAS NEWSLETTER

it refers to a specific type of migrationand hence signifies a different concept

berhijrah, also refers to migration, but it
simple example of how different words

can present different conceptions of the
movement of people, different concep-

tions of migration. This is what I mean by“take the language seriously”: look at themeaning of words and see the possibilityof concepts.

ZN: This is part of the process of the construction of alternative knowledge.

FA: Yes. I will give another example. In

Western social science, the dichotomyof urban and rural is very importantbecause the history of modern Western
society is the history of conflict between

towns and the countryside. All the revo-

lutions in Europe were a result of thebourgeoisie emerging in the towns andattempting to destroy the feudal model.

Town versus countryside. Now, in the
Malay world—Indonesia, Malaysia, and

the Philippines—the dichotomy is nottown and countryside, but land andsea. We had communities that lived on

the sea, Orang Bajau in Sabah and thePhilippines.19 In other words, the sea was

not just a medium of transportation, butalso where people lived. These commu-

nities provided military support for therulers on the land. Therefore, the dynamics of history in the Malay world does

not mainly concern relations between

towns and the countryside, but relations
between the sea and the land. This isto the topic of decolonization: how to pro-text, but also using other ways. We areinterested in such communication outside the academic papers.

ZN: Some area studies scholars are notvery familiar with decolonial texts, but

try to widen the scope of the “decolonial”

through various practices. For me, if thedecolonial is only limited to the text, it

can become narrow. How we can think

about decolonial practices outside of theacademic text, for example in the films,

photography, or other art forms, is also
important.

FA: This is a good point. One of my cri-tiques of Eurocentric social science isthat it limits the source of knowledge:
the method of knowledge construction islimited to the scientific method, meaning
induction and deduction. This requires

facts, from which you generalize, andthen you have a premise or principle

from which you make conclusions. The
Western tradition, the modern tradi-tion, limits social science to scientificmethods. But within premodern meth-ods, from the Christian to the Greek andIslamic traditions, we find knowledge creation through such things as poetics andrhetoric. Poetics is related to art, whichmeans you make a claim about knowl-edge through imagination, not throughinduction or deduction.

For example, some write about thewhy we have the associated terminology

Philippine Revolution based on archives

Darat and Orang Laut. If you look at thethe facts. This is the scientific method.

of land people and sea people, or Orang
language, then you will find new ideas.
This is the point.

4

Knowledge production
beyond academic texts

TS: As I mentioned earlier, I think weneed to look beyond the outside of aca-

demic texts to find collaboration reallyand making some generalizations from

Others, like Juan Luna, paint a scene of
the revolution.20 This is also knowledge

about the revolution, but through imagination, through feeling and emotion.

It is knowledge, because knowledge is
not only fact; it is not only assemblingdata and making a conclusion from that.
Knowledge can be created through apoem, or through a novel like Noli Me

No. 8018 Alatas, Syed Farid. 2021, July 7, “Autonomous Social Science: Contemporary Issues in Social Science,” a keynote speech delivered at the 1st Bandung international conference on social science (Retrieved December 10, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BkLXUpV8PA&t=973s). Farid says “Part of the problem is that we don’t takeour language seriously” from 14:20 to 14:23 of the video.
19 A part of a people called as Sama or Bajau (Badjau, Bajo) live in Sabah in Malaysia and southern Philippines.
20 Juan Luna (1857–99) was a painter, sculptor, and political activist of the Philippine Revolution.

32

Tángere.21 Novel is a method of poetics

that uses metaphors, similes, allegory.
The novel (Noli Me Tángere) gives us

information about the conditions of colo-

nial society by allowing us to imagine

ourselves through the characters in thenovel. Literature, arts, music—these are
all means of making knowledge claims
that we should use. We should not restrict
ourselves to the scientific method.

I use song, music, films, and novels in

my teaching. For example, next week in
my class we are reading Noli Me Tángere.

Last week we read Multatuli, a Dutchcolonial officer who became critical of colonization and wrote a book that eventu-

ally influenced Rizal.22 We read Multatuli,

Rizal, and then The Myth of the Lazy
Native. Every week my students read abook. But I also ask them to watch movies

and listen to music, which we discuss inclass. I like 1970s British (not American)
rock, because it is progressive, it includes

a critique of society. There is a sociologi-

cal theory in the rock music. These arejust some of the ways that we can teach.

ZN: For you, then, the important thing isstimulating and expanding imagination,
whether that is through music, films, novels, poems, or other means.

FA: Yes, that is right. The imagination
through poetics is important for inspiration: to influence and inspire us andour students to be interested in different
types of issues, especially those related tothe decolonial. Reading novels or watching films, rather than reading theoreticaltexts, can be very influential.

ZN: How do you distinguish inspirationand imagination?

FA: Imagination works when you put

yourself in the place of a character in anovel—you feel you are in their place,and you try to imagine what it is like toread Noli Me Tángere, you imagine what

it is like to be the character Ibarra in
Manila during the Spanish time. Thisknowledge.

be inspired because of imagination. Fora Japanese anthropologist who knows

Rizal,23 I wanted to study Rizal more,

not explain Yanagita’s theories.24 If you

encouraged to do something. You may
example, after watching the movie José
because I was inspired.

5

How to teach in a different
way: Some prerequisites

ZN: Although teaching is difficult, it mustbe also an important practice in the construction of alternative knowledge.

TS: What are your thoughts on teachingsociology and sociological theory?

FA: Well, if we want to teach in a decolo-

nial way (let’s just say we want to teach ina decolonial way), there are some prerequisites. The first prerequisite is that the

professor, or teacher, must be interested

in the critique of Eurocentrism and in presenting new knowledge which is decolo-nial. They must be inspired. And I would
say that they must feel shame—meaning

they should feel shameful that they do notknow their own intellectual tradition andhistory of ideas, and that they are unable

to communicate this to their students.
When you have this shame, then you will

feel the urge to critique and to create new

For example, suppose that you wereFranz Boas and Malinowski, but cando not feel embarrassed about this, thenthere is nothing to do. But if you feelshame, then it will inspire them to readYanagita and other thinkers, such as Fei

Hsiao-tung25 or José Rizal. Then yourthinking becomes more civilizational,

more cosmopolitan, not only American orWestern. This is one prerequisite.

Secondly, a professor must have thefreedom within their institution. The university, even if it is Eurocentric, should

not stop you from teaching in a different
way, or interfere. If you want to teachsociological theory or historiography,
the head of the department should nottell you that you cannot teach this or you
must teach that. It is important that theuniversity gives you enough flexibility andfreedom to develop your own syllabi.

If we have these two prerequisites, thenthe professor can do anything in class.
Right? If I was a Japanese sociologist

teaching social theory in Japan, I would

teach Marx and Weber, but I would alsoteach Rizal and Yanagita. I would use

text, but I would also use films and novels.

21 Noli Me Tángere is Rizal’s novel first published in Berlin in 1887.
22 Multatuli is the pen name of the Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820–87).
23 A historical drama film directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya that was released in 1998.
24 Kunio Yanagita (1875–1962) is the founder of modern Japanese folklore studies.
25 Fei Hsiao-tung, or Fei Xiaotong, (1910–2005) was a pioneering Chinese social anthropologist who studied at the London School of Economics under Malinowski.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

be in their time. For example, when you

is imagination. Inspiration is feeling33

It is not difficult, but the professor must

more careful about how we use the term

decolonization. It is not just about repre-

not have the interest, then there is noth-term exactly. In this regard, I’m inter-

It is about having a decolonial politics.

have the interest. If the professor does

“decolonize” and what we mean by theing else to discuss.

ested in Hountondji’s concept of “endog-

education is not just in the classroom, but

arguments on endogenous knowledge?

It is also important to mention that

also outside the classroom. I spend a lotof time with students sitting in cafes andtalking for hours. I also have a readingtant, it is not our only problem. Not all

FA: It is important. Raewyn Connell

be reduced to coloniality. This relates

often refers to him in her book Southern
Theory.28

TS: Yes. Is “endogenous” different frombut some may come from other universi-

FA: No. Well, in the 1970s, (in knowledge

ties. We read all kinds of things, including Rizal. Once a month we read books

and discuss them informally over coffee
and cigars. This kind of informal discus-

sion sometimes is more important than
discussing in the classroom because it

can provide a kind of mutual inspiration

through close contact, which you cannot
achieve in the classroom. Sometimes you
develop a relationship with students formany years, learning from each other.
This is very important.

TS: It sounds very nice. I hear that inJapan we had that kind of culture in thepast among early anthropologists in
Kyoto. Before there was an anthropology
department at Kyoto University, or any

university in Kyoto, they would gather anddiscuss together on their own. This wasa self-made grassroots collective, without
funding and without a department.26

ZN: It is quite interesting that you orga-

nize reading groups in your home. While
the autonomous is sought at the institutional level, at the same time, the autono-

mous is also emerging in more private
or semi-private levels. We should have abroad imagination when it comes to pro-

Second, while decolonization is impor-

What do you think about his

enous.”27

group in my home. Some of the people

in the reading group are my students,

sentation; it is about ideas and concepts.

what you think by the term “decolonial”?

production) people did not really use
the word “decolonization.” They spoke

about “indigenization” of knowledge and“endogenous” knowledge. “Indigenize”
means you take concepts from the outside, such as the West, and localize them.

“Endogenous” means you take concepts

from inside and you make them into social
scientific ideas. To decolonize knowledge,

both “indigenize” and “endogenous” arenecessary.

TS: What do you think of Bhambra andHolmwood’s work in Colonialism andModern Social Theory?29 While it is kindof decolonial, the figures dealt with in thebook are still largely limited to Western
scholars like Hobbes, Tocqueville, Marx,and Durkheim.

FA: Yes, that is right, but it is important toremember that decolonized social theory

does not only involve non-Western schol-

the problems in knowledge creation can
to autonomous knowledge. If you speak

about decolonization, the problem is
Eurocentrism, right? But there are otherhegemonic orientations that are notrelated to coloniality, such as sectarianism, ethnonationalism, or traditionalism. These are also hegemonic orientations that affect knowledge production.

But they are not due to colonialism orEurocentrism.

TS: But they are related to each other,aren’t they?

FA: Some of them are. But sectarian-ism, for example, and the way it affects
knowledge production in the Muslim
world, predates Eurocentrism and colonialism by centuries. There is a long
tradition of sectarian thinking that has

nothing to do with colonialism. We
must distinguish between those that areentangled with colonialism and thosethat are independent of colonialism.
Take androcentrism—you may solve theEurocentric problem, but you may still beandrocentric.

This is why in the Malay world, we notars. It also involves critiquing Western

only speak about decolonization, but we

In Sociological Theory beyond the Canon,edge. Knowledge must be autonomous

scholars from a decolonial perspective.
my colleague and I also have chapters on

Marx and Weber, but from a decolonial
perspective.

I would like to make two points about

also speak about autonomous knowlfrom Eurocentrism—that is the decolo-

nization. But it also must be autonomousfrom androcentrism, traditionalism, sec-tarianism, ethnonationalism, and various

ducing autonomous knowledge.

the decolonization of knowledge. First,

6

diversity. In the US and the UK, people

Eurocentrism is only one hegemonic ori-

representation of, for example womenedge is only part of the effort to produce

Autonomy from 		
hegemonic orientations

TS: Recently there is a trend to “decoloCSEAS NEWSLETTERnize” everything. Perhaps we must be

decolonization should not be limited toare concerned with the need for properor people of color. This is of course
important, but it is not what I mean byhegemonic orientations. I have written
about this in the Third World Quarterly.30

entation. The decolonization of knowlautonomous knowledge.

No. 8026 Referring to Konoe Rondo, an anthropology study gathering held around Kyoto University from 1964 to at least 1989.
27 Hountondji, Paulin J., ed. (translated by Ayi Kwesi Armah). 1997. Endogenous Knowledge: Research Trails, Dakar: CODERSIA.
28 Raewyn Connell. 2007. Southern Theory: The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in Social Science. Crows Nest NSW: Allen & Unwin.
29 Bhambra, Gurminder K. and John Holmwood. 2021. Colonialism and Modern Social Theory. Cambridge; Medford: Polity.
30 Alatas, Syed Farid. 2022. “Knowledge Hegemonies and Autonomous Knowledge.” Third World Quarterly. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2022.2124155. This was also the title of
the CSEAS special seminar.

34

Library Collections

Seeing Southeast Asia through Chinese-Language Newspapers
Gen Shibayama*
During the twentieth and into the twenty-first century,
Chinese-language newspapers have been a mainstay
of Southeast Asian cities. Although newspaper articles are often fragmentary, they give us answers
about key events, such as when and where theyoccurred, who was involved, and why they happened.
Newspapers also convey the atmosphere of a locale
at a certain time. They are therefore an importantsource material for area studies.
The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS)
Library at Kyoto University has collected nearly 6,000
newspaper materials in microfilm format. However,since few people associated with the CSEAS Library
understand Chinese-language materials, especiallythose written in traditional Chinese characters, theseresources have remained largely unexamined. During
the process of compiling a directory, I have closely
examined two newspapers published in Bangkok andManila.1
In introducing the basic information of these two
papers, I consider the usefulness of such materials inSoutheast Asian studies from the standpoint of a
researcher who understands the Chinese language. I
would like to note that I am not a researcher of Thai or
Philippines studies, much less an expert on modern
and contemporary Southeast Asian history. My current main research interest is the practice of placemaking of Indonesian immigrants in contemporary
Taiwan from an anthropological perspective.

Two Leading Newspapers from Thailand andthe Philippines Available at CSEAS*
1

ond from the right), in Sing Thai Wan Pao (July 2, 1951)

1938) are representative examples of this series. Sing
Sian Yit Pao and Sing Thai Wan Pao were the Thai
editions of this series. The daily Sing Sian Yit Pao (星暹日報) originally had eight pages when it was foundedin Bangkok in June 1950, but this gradually increased
to twelve pages by 1954. Sing Thai Wan Pao (星泰晩報), the evening edition of Sing Sian Yit Pao, consistedof four pages. The two-page Sing Sian Hua Pao (星暹画報) was published every Sunday morning. As ofJanuary 2022, the CSEAS Library had collected
microfilm of issues of Sing Sian Yit Pao and its Sunday
edition published from September 1950 to June 1970,
and issues of the evening Sing Thai Wan Pao published from September 1950 to July 1973.
Chinese Commercial News (華僑商報), founded in
Manila in 1919, is the oldest existing Chineselanguage newspaper in the Philippines. A monthly
newspaper when it was first published, it has been adaily since 1922. This newspaper consists of 8 pages

Graduate Student, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS), Kyoto University

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Aw Boon-haw (胡文虎), a prominent overseas Chinese
businessman who amassed his riches through thesale of Tiger Balm, published several Chineselanguage newspapers in Southeast Asian and southern Chinese cities, including a series called “SinChew,” or “star newspapers” [photo 1]. Sin Chew Jit
Poh (星洲日報) (founded in Singapore in 1929) andSing Tao Daily (星島日報) (founded in Hong Kong in

Photo 1 An advertisement for Tiger Balm (on the bottom row, sec-

This work was done as a part of a 2021 joint research project of the International Program of Collaborative Research (IPCR), CSEAS, Kyoto Univerternational Studies, Tenri University).

35

sity titled “Basic Research on Information Distribution through Chinese Newspapers in Southeast Asia” (PI: Prof. Tomohiro Serizawa, Faculty of In-

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80advertisements alone published in
the Chinese-language newspapersof various countries, we can quickly
see that a variety of goods were circulated based on regional connections. This circulation facilitated further communication and connection.
For example, an advertisement for
medicine in Chinese Commercial
News includes a letter from an overseas Chinese in Saigon expressing
his gratitude to a Chinese doctor in
Manila for sending the medicine tohim [photo 3]. From this advertisement, we can see—printed on the
Photo 3 An advertisement for medipage—a cross-border communicacine with a message expressing thetion among overseas Chinese that is
gratitude of a Chinese man in Saigon
mediated by the Chinese language.
Photo 2 Advertisements celebrating Double Tenth Day, in to a doctor in Manila, in Chinese ComChinese Commercial News (October 10, 1950)
mercial News (September 2, 1950)
Clearly, Chinese-language media
have enabled overseas Chinese in
and a Chinese Weekly (華僑週刊) is published on
Southeast Asian countries, who share a common
Sundays. As of January 2022, the CSEAS Library had
writing system, to communicate across borders. This
collected issue of this newspaper published frommedia can therefore help clarify the manner of inforApril 1948 to September 1972 in microfilm format.
mation distribution among these communities andWhat is noteworthy about this newspaper is its clear
thus contribute to comparative analyses of social
anti-communism and pro-ROC (Republic of China, orchanges linked to their transnational networks.
Taiwan) stance during the Cold War period. For examPreviously limited (largely) to studies of overseas
ple, on October 10, 1950, National Day of ROC (alsoChinese communities within a single country,
known as Double Tenth Day), Chinese Commercial
Chinese-language newspapers have the potential toNews increased its number of pages to 22 and pubinform area and regional studies in new ways. To date,lished many feature articles and advertisements celSoutheast Asian studies have tended to focus on aebrating the holiday [photo 2].
single location or country. Chinese-language newspapers allow us to expand our understanding of an
Chinese-language Newspapers: Helping to“area” to include a variety, or indeed all, communities
Redefine “Area”
where written Chinese characters are understood. In
other words, Chinese newspaper materials allow us
Due to their readership, Chinese-language newspato break away from the stereotypical area studies thatpers have been used mainly for research on overseas
define a specific nation-state as an “area.”
Chinese. Such research has focused on Chinese
My hope is that the directory of Chinese-language
communities within a single country, discussing fornewspapers
currently being prepared will not only
example their assimilation into a destination society
facilitate library users’ material searches, but also
and questions of Chinese identity. Studies have also
help users realize fresh approaches to these valuable
probed the maintenance and transmission of theresources. I look forward to new inquiries into theChinese language. Yet how can Chinese-language
concept of “area” as researchers read through newsnewspapers be utilized in Southeast Asian studies?
papers written in Chinese characters, the lingua
The publication and distribution of these media arefranca of written communication among the overseas
not limited to one country, but extend from East to
Chinese communities of Southeast Asia. As moreSoutheast Asia, including areas as disparate as Hongpeople make active use of the Chinese-language
Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia.
newspapers in the CSEAS Library, I expect that
When comparing Chinese-language newspapers
scholars will reconfirm the connections between East
published in different areas, we can find connections
and Southeast Asia.
not only between source and destination countries or

36

between China and Taiwan, but also among different
destination countries. By focusing on thePublications
As we have been reminded by the Russian invasion ofChapter 2: The Russo-Japanese War Period: The

by the grief of refugees who must flee from war zones.

Chapter 3: World War I Period: Press Coverage ofof the past, but a very contemporary phenomenon.

Chapter 4: Anti-Japanese Movements in China andworld where war is still ongoing, and we are touched
We are becoming keenly aware that war is not a thing

Amid this state of ongoing affairs, this book reex-amines Imperial Japan’s war from a fresh perspective.
Why was Imperial Japan obsessed with war propaganda and why did it continue to perpetuate “warfever”? How were impressions about war created

Politics (1920s)

Chapter 5: The Taiwan Musha Incident and theManchurian Incident: Proximity of Newspapers
and Military Power (early 1930s)

Chapter 7: The Asia-Pacific War: The Decline ofJapanese War period (1894–95) to the occupation byConclusion: Immediately After Defeat: Propagandatransitions of propaganda through a study of a vast

In the process of writing this book, I became aware

the Allied Powers (1945–52), the book explores theby Toshihiko Kishi

sense, as a reflection of the times, including Japan’s

National Propaganda (Late 1930s)
Visual Reporting (Early 1940s)

for Occupation and Governance (Late 1940s)

range of visual media, focusing on the inter-relationsof the commonalities between the previous period ofpeople. Political propaganda is treated not merely as

am confident that the book offers insights into how toamong the government, the military, the press, and thea technique to spread ideology, but rather, in a broad
institutions and mechanisms. It is therefore distinct
from earlier books on propaganda tactics.
The content of the book is as follows:

Introduction: War and Propaganda

Chapter 1: Sino-Japanese War Period: Trends inwar (1894–1952) and the present. For this reason, I
avoid crises in our time.

Lastly, while my book has been reviewed in news-

papers and magazines in Japan, I have also recently
received an offer from a Korean publisher to publish itin Korean. Although the publication date is still some

way off, I am very grateful for the interest in my bookfrom abroad.

The political turmoil in Myanmar since 2021 has puz-seemingly changed so rapidly after a long period of

Myanmar’s military, suddenly detained the democrati-

examines the reality of the Aung San Suu Kyi admin-zled us greatly. On February 1, 2021, the tatmadaw,

cally elected state leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, othergovernment ministers, and some political activists

based on unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud. Itthen proceeded to harshly crack down on any resistance, resulting in over four thousands civilian casu-

alties not only of resistance group members, but alsoof ordinary citizens. Turning a deaf ear to repeatedcriticism by the international community, especially
Western countries, Myanmar is becoming further iso-lated from international fora. The tatmadaw’s actions

toward the democratically elected government andthe people’s movement must have seemed extreme to
many. What could have made the tatmadaw behave inthis way? The purpose of this book is to explain thecauses of the current chaos in Myanmar in the context
of its political history since 1988.

The Introduction first presents an analyticalframework for Myanmar politics. Chapter One thenexamines the process by which a student-led anti-

junta movement transformed into a mass movement

centered on Aung San Suu Kyi in 1988, and the subsequent aftermath. Chapter Two analyzes how the military junta, which lasted from 1988 to 2011, survived

amid economic stagnation under strong pressure

from the U.S. and other Western countries. Chapter
Three discusses the political transition to “civilian”
rule in March 2011 and the consequent reforms under

the new presidency, addressing why the country

military rule and under-development. Chapter Fouristration. The establishment of her government in2016 marked the beginning of real democratization,
but it also marked the beginning of an unstable
power-sharing arrangement in which longstanding

political rivals coexisted. This chapter delves into theextent to which Suu Kyi’s “dream” was realized andwhat she failed to achieve before 2021. Chapter Five
explores the immediate causes of the coup and its

aftermath. The coup sparked civil resistance, which

was radicalized by the tatmadaw’s attempts to sup-press it by excessive use of force. This chapter asks
why Aung San Suu Kyi’s semi-democratic government collapsed, why the tatmadaw turned its guns on

its own citizens, and how resistance movements roseand have maintained momentum even while using
violent tactics. Chapter Six discusses foreign relations, focusing on the policies of international powers

toward Myanmar. It maps the trajectory of isolation,
re-appearance, and re-isolation of the country in the

global diplomatic society. The final chapter presents

possible future scenarios of Myanmar politics, noneof which appear bright. While tatmadaw rule is likely
difficult, a successful revolution by resistance forces

also appears unlikely. In assessing these realities, thebook proposes what Japan can do to help the people of

Myanmar. The book seeks to provide a balanced over-view of contemporary Myanmar politics and insights
into the complexities of the country’s politics.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten
August 2022
312 pages
ISBN 978-4-0043-1939-9[In Japanese]

the U.S.: The Relationship between the Press andhelps us answer some of these questions.

Imperial Japan's
Propaganda: Political
Publicity and Visual
Media Coverage
Fueling “War Fever”

by Yoshihiro Nakanishi

the Japanese-German War (1910s)

Chapter 6: The Sino-Japanese War: The Period of

Covering the half-century period from the Sino-

Contemporary
Myanmar Politics

Spread of the “Victory Myth” (1900s)

domestically and internationally? The visual media

coverage that began at the end of the 19th century

Tokyo: Chuokoron-Shinsha
June 2022
232 pages
ISBN 978-4-12-102703-0[In Japanese]

Print Reporting (1890s)

Ukraine since February 2022, there are places in the37

M

Publications
We can observe the so-called Islamic veil/scarf
debate very widely in the world today, not only in

Muslim, but also Western countries. AlthoughContents:

Introduction: How to See the Veil/Scarf Debate in
the Context of Post-Socialist Muslim Countries

the ex-Soviet region is no exception, only a few

Part 1. Uzbekistan as an Arena for the Pursuit ofcomparison with the rich analyses found in Islamic

Chapter 1. Formation of Uzbekistan: National

academic studies on this topic are of the region, in

Modernity

Delimitation in Central Asia in 1924

gender studies. This book therefore attempts tobridge discussions among post-Soviet/Central

Chapter 2. Light and Shadow of Nationalism in

It examines the case of Uzbekistan, where, although

Chapter 3. Religion and Modernity: Rifts overthe veil (or hijob in Uzbek) was strictly controlled

Part 2. Historical Development of the Veil Question

Independent Uzbekistan

Asian area studies and Islamic gender/area studies.
almost 90 percent of the population is Muslim,by the authoritarian secular regime following theIslam in Uzbek Society

Chapter 4. Women’s Attire and the Veil in Central
Asia

country’s independence until 2021. The book firstprovides an overview of the historical background

Chapter 5. Discourses About Muslim Women andregion before analyzing the complex contempo-

Chapter 6. Discourses and Images About Women

These contexts include Uzbek nationalism inPart 3. Politics of the Veil in the Context ofIslamic revivalism. The book argues that throughChapter 7. Islamic Movements and Extremism

the Veil in the Russian Empire

and the development of the veil question in the

Seeking Modernity Behind
the Veil: Post-Soviet
Experiences of Muslim
Women in Uzbekistan
by Chika Obiya
University of Tokyo Press
February 2022
255+27pages
ISBN 978-4-13-026171-5[In Japanese]rary contexts of the scarf debate in Uzbekistan.
the post-socialist period, authoritarianism, andand the Veil in Soviet Uzbekistan

Contemporary Uzbekistan

Under the Authoritarian Regime

the veil question, Uzbekistan is reconsidering the“modern” values promoted under Soviet socialism

Chapterpractices as bad and/or backward. It concludes that

Chapter 9. New Veil, New Discourse: Hijob

Uzbekistan is primed to establish a new value system for its future.

The Strength to Dream:Indonesian Cinema
and Imagination
by Yoshimi Nishi
Eimei Information Design
December 2021
364 pages
ISBN 978-4-909151-22-3[In Japanese]

8.

Post-Socialist

Women and the Veilin the twentieth century, which excluded Islamic

Narratives

About

Question

Conclusion: Does the Long March to Modernity
Restart?

Following the collapse of the Suharto regime in 1998, the domestic film
industry in Indonesia developed rapidly as democratization progressed.

Indonesian cinema, as a medium that reflects both reality and ideals,
has presented a desired worldview while depicting social difficulties.
This book analyzes the stories and narratives of 200 Indonesian films

produced since 1998 to reveal how Indonesians have, through cinema,challenged national agendas (such as familism, religion, and violence)and historical perceptions of national tragedies. In renewing thenational narrative, Indonesian cinema pursues the universal—a society
in which multicultural, multi-religious coexistence and human rights
are widely protected.

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 8038

Maritime Asia Heritage Survey
We introduce six new members of CSEAS who are working with the Maritime Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS)
project. The MAHS aims to systematically inventory and document endangered heritage sites in countries
across maritime Southern Asia through fieldwork in the Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The
project uses cutting-edge technology, including laser scanning, photogrammetry, RTK GIS, CAD, IIIF image
tiling, and oral history video interviews to create an open-access resource website and heritage database.
The project is funded by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.

which entails using both traditional and cutting-algorithm within Ecognition Developer Softwareedge methods to shape our 3D documentation offor individualization and classification of geophysi-

heritage sites across the region. A variety of remote-cal anomalies. This algorithm, based on GEOBIA,

sensing techniques, including various combinations

can also be used in various fields of archaeologi-

of drone and DSLR photogrammetry, aerial andcal research, creating geostatistical data for a GIS

terrestrial laser-scanning, GIS, and satellite imagery,approach. It could also be applied to any research

assist us in documenting and studying each site.

that requires extraction and individualized study ofIn addition to my role with MAHS, I am also the
Principal Investigator of the MegaForts projectsome parts of the content.
Due to the necessity of accurate digital models forwasarchaeology, I became involved in the study of fast

founded by the Romanian government and is admin-field surveys with drones or laser scanning (terres-istered by West University of Timișoara. The project

trial or aerial) that allow researchers to acquire andinvestigates the defensive systems of the largest

process data, run data models, and integrate results.

European Bronze Age fortifications, which were built

Working with a plethora of GIS-related software andin a small area between the Tisza and Mureș rivers

with a variety of methods (including magnetics, ER,

after 1500 BCE. The project uses aerial and ground

ERT, and GPR), I have conducted several case stud-

remote sensing (i.e. applied shallow geophysics)

ies, including mapping the subsurface structures ofand core drillings for stratigraphy, micromorphology

a lost medieval village in Romania and digital imag-

Alexandru HEGYI

assessment, and soil sampling, including radiocar-

ing of a Roman sanctuary. Over the years, I have also

bon dating. As the project nears completion, impres-been part of several international archaeological

PhD in Geoarchaeology (West University of Timișoara, Romania)
Specialty: Geoarchaeology, Applied Geophysics, Remote Sensing, 3D
documentation

sive results have been confirmed, which will formand environmental projects in Romania, Bulgaria,

the basis for several papers and a book publication.

Hungary, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece.

In terms of my studies and qualification, I obtained

My long-term research goals include expanding

I am currently a Digital Heritage Manager and aan MA in Interdisciplinary Archaeology and a PhD ininternational access to research grants, exploring

Program Specific Researcher for the Maritime

Geoarcheology from West University of Timișoara.

new technical and scientific directions for archae-

Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS) project at Kyoto

For my PhD, focused on the interpretation ofology, and developing accessible infrastructure for

University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

geophysical data in archaeology using advanced

multidisciplinary research involving geosciences

I oversee the workflow of big data for the project,

geospatial techniques, I developed a segmentation

and archaeology.

(https://megaforts.projects.uvt.ro/),which

After obtaining my degree, I took up positions asfollowed its development to Kyoto University, wherean archaeologist, initially at the Balaton Museum

I was appointed as a program-specific researcher.

and then at the Zala Museum (both in Hungary).

Here at CSEAS, I oversee data and database man-Working in those museum contexts, I supervised

agement for the project.

and documented rescue excavations and partici-

My role in the MAHS includes not only designingpated in the development and execution of different

and developing our data structures and managing

outreach and museum education programs.

our open-access project database, but also providing the technical infrastructure to facilitate the data-

computer programming. This has allowed me toflow between our project countries and our Digitaldevelop and apply my skills in both IT and archeol-

Heritage Documentation Lab in Kyoto. This can be

ogy as I shifted my career trajectory toward spatial

particularly challenging for our project considering

Krisztina Anna Baranyai

data analysis, GIS, and database development. I

the large amount of data generated by our field

moved to the UK, where I gained experience in col-teams, who are using advanced digital technologies

MA in Archaeology (University of Pécs, Hungary)Specialty: Archaeology, Digital heritage, Geoinformatics, Database development and management

lecting, managing, and processing heritage related

often in very remote areas with unstable internet

spatial data while working on large scale, multi-

access.

I received a master’s degree in archaeology from the

In 2019, I joined the Maldives Heritage Survey

vation of the endangered heritage of maritime Asia

(MHS) under the direction of Professor Michael

and that our multimedia dataset can be a useful tool

Feener at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.

for heritage professionals, local communities, andWhen the project moved, in its extended form as

scholars alike.

University of Pécs (Hungary). During my studies, I
specialized in the archaeology of the prehistoricand Roman periods, with a geographic focus on the
Carpathian basin.

period field projects across England.

I hope that our work can contribute to the preser-

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Later, to pursue another interest of mine, I studied

the Maritime Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS), in 2021, I
39

I am an Australian archaeologist and a 30+ year

Cambodia and Thailand; and amongst urban andveteran of Cultural Heritage Management and inter-remote settlements, ancient and modern.

national research projects. In August 2022, I joined

Based in Southeast Asia from 2015 to 2018, I

CSEAS as Heritage Survey Manager for the Maritime

worked on several projects that relied on LiDAR

Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS) Project.

data

to

understandcomplexarchaeologicalI specialize in site identification, archaeologicallandscapes in Cambodia and Thailand. With thefield methods, interpretation, and analysis. To me,

Cambodian Archaeological LiDAR Initiative (CALI)

archaeology is an incomplete and ever-changing

based at Angkor, I performed site verification andthree-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, with everything

data uploads from field surveys to assist in identify-

from the material remains, site topography, veg-

ing and interpreting c.2000 sq km of GIS-mapped

etation, and stratigraphy to historical documents,

imagery. On The Middle Period and Related Sites

paintings, and more being the pieces that develop

Project, I participated in and advised on appropri-a fuller picture. The framework for my perspective

ate archaeological strategies for an extensive sur-is landscape archaeology, which is a palimpsest:

vey and excavation program at Cambodia’s Earlya gathering of the past, continually re-writing itself

Modern Period capitals.

over and leaving traces of what precedes it. As a

While my curiosity has been described as cat-discipline, archaeology requires you to be part time-

like, my specific research interests are focused on

traveler and detective.

the colonial period of former French Indochina. I am

My career has been diverse in both geographic

particularly interested in colonial conflict and the

Shaun Ian Mackey

and temporal scope. It has taken me into the deserts

archaeological traces of the development of avia-

of inland Australia, the United Arab Emirates, andtion in Southeast Asia. The CSEAS Library archive

Archaeology (University of Sydney)
Specialty: Archaeology, Fieldwork and Interpretation, Cultural Heritage
Management, Historical Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Conflict
Archaeology

Egypt; across the maritime world of the Solomonof aerial photographs and Japanese military maps

Islands, the Zanzibar archipelago, North-West(Gaihōzu, 外邦図) have been invaluable sources ofAustralia, and the Recherche archipelago off

information for this period.

southern Australia; through the jungle forests ofI am a program specific researcher at Kyoto

Maida Irawani
MEd in Education Leadership, Policy and Change (Monash University,
Australia)
Specialty: Project Management, Education and Gender

University, Singapore.

University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies

In the ensuing years, I have expanded my mana-(CSEAS) and the project manager of the Maritime

gerial roles, first in 2015, with the Aceh Geohazard

Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS).

Project (AGP), which combined geology, geomor-

I obtained my MEd in Education Leadership, Policy

phology, history, and archaeology to better under-and Change from Monash University, Australia instand the past occurrence of tsunami in Aceh. In

2009. I have experience working with international

2018, I joined the Maldives Heritage Survey underNGOs and the UN on tsunami reconstruction andthe Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OXCIS) todevelopment in Indonesia. Since 2013, I have been

document endangered tangible cultural heritage ininvolved in several research projects, including work

the Maldives. I travelled with an international field

on female education leadership and female liveli-

team across six atolls in the Maldives for more thanhoods in post-tsunami Aceh. I also managed thetwo years as Project Manager. In early 2020, I moved‘Aftermath of Aid’ research project, a collaboration

to Kyoto to coordinate the work of the project’s field

between the International Centre for Aceh, Indianteams in four countries and manage the Maritime

Ocean Studies (ICAIOS), and the Earth Observatory

Asia Heritage Survey while based at CSEAS.

of Singapore (EOS) at Nanyang Technological

My research interests are culture-based urban

Ilocos, the urban history of the entrepôt town ofregeneration, heritage and development, andVigan, and maritime history in the West Philippine

Southeast Asian trading entrepôts. I am keen to

Sea / South China Sea. I have also managed proj-

explore practical ways that heritage can be usedects on the digitization of Ilocos archival records

as a vector of development to directly benefit

and archaeological digs of pre-Spanish contact

communities.

period Ilocos sites. More recently, I have been

During the past decade, I have helped manage

involved in setting up several museums and curat-

cultural heritage projects across Southeast Asia,

ing exhibits, at Museo Balay Mestizo (a local urban

including a heritage and climate change project

heritage museum), Museo ti Sakada (a labor history

with the SEAMEO SPAFA Regional Centre formuseum), and Museo ti Belen (a crèche museum).

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80Archaeology and Fine Arts in Bangkok, Thailand.

As Heritage Resource Manager for the Maritime

Much of my previous work focused on the

Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS) and a Program-

Maria Eliza Agabin

Philippines, where I have led collaborative heritage

Specific Researcher at CSEAS, I now have theprojects spanning heritage conservation, archaeol-

valuable opportunity of working on the fascinating

Master’s in World Heritage and Cultural Projects for Development (ITC-ILO
Turin School of Development, Universita degli Studi di Torino, Politecnico
di Torino, Italy); Master’s in Cultural Heritage Studies (Unibersidad ng
Santo Tomas, Philippines)
Specialty: Cultural heritage management, Historic urban landscapes,
Heritage and development in Southeast Asiaogy, anthropology, history, and museology.

heritage of maritime Southern Asia, including thePrior to joining CSEAS in 2022, I supervised
several built heritage conservation projects in theWorld Heritage town of Vigan and beyond. I haveconducted research on the intangible heritage ofMaldives, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, andcollaborating with colleagues from this region.

40

I am a Digital Heritage Coordinator for the MAHS.

Marcela Szalanska
MLitt in Cultural Property Protection (Newcastle University)
Specialty: Cultural Property Protection during armed conflict and following disaster, Digital heritage

emergency response in developing countries.

My main research interests include cultural property

During my time in Leiden, I began more intensive

protection during conflict and disaster, with a par-work on digital recording methods. Subsequently,

ticular focus on engagements between the heritage

I completed a post-graduate diploma in GIS

and humanitarian sectors from the perspectives

and remote sensing at the Military Academy ofof international law and heritage policy. While

Technology in Warsaw, focusing on the application

International Humanitarian Law, including the 1954of satellite imagery to analyze the destruction ofHague Convention, is integral to the work of orga-archaeological sites in regions affected by armed

nizations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescentconflict.

Movement in contributing to Cultural Property

Before joining CSEAS, I worked on a large multi-

Protection (CPP), other areas of CPP are still being

site, multi-period archaeological project in the UK.

developed.

My main tasks involved collection of data, process-Prior to my move to Kyoto, I completed an MA

ing, and creation of databases using GIS spatial

in Archaeological Heritage Management at Leiden

analysis and technologies. This experience has been

University. During my study, I was involved in aparticularly valuable to my role as Digital Heritage

heritage project in Palestine, and I volunteered

Coordinator for the Maritime Asia Heritage Survey

with the Centre for International Heritage Activities

project here at CSEAS. I hope that the work of the(CIE) in Leiden, where I worked on mutual heritage

MAHS project can make substantial contributions

projects between the Netherlands and countries

toward improving the management, protection,such as India, Sri Lanka, and Australia, and a culture

and preservation of endangered cultural heritageand development project in Afghanistan. I also havein maritime Southern Asia and support the sustain-

previous experience working in the field of culturalability of healthy, secure, and peaceful communities.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

41

VISITOR’S VOICEInterview with

Benjamas Kumsueb
Guest Research Associate of CSEAS from March – June 2022

The Research Contribution to Organic andConventional Cassava in Thailand
Please tell us about your research.
My research assesses organic and conventional cassava
productivity in Yasothon Province, Thailand. Cassava is
one of the top three commodities contributing bothquantity and value to Thailand’s agricultural sector, with a
total of 506,000 farming households in the cassava supply chain. In seeking to better understand the transformation from conventional to organic cassava production
systems, I identify key factors influencing the change, focusing specifically on the yield gap between the two systems. Finally, I use a simulation model to provide sitespecific technologies to farmers of both production
systems to improve cassava productivity.

ment conditions. The hope is to facilitate farmers’ decision making to maximize the use of farm resources andreap the most benefits.
Why do you find your research topic interesting?
Cassava is a suitable crop for resource-poor environments because it can succeed with low inputs of fertilizers, water, and farm labor. However, because it is mostoften cultivated as a monocrop, its production impacts
biodiversity and deteriorates soil quality. Productivity improvement and technological solutions could enhanceboth conventional and organic production systems.
Integrated systems not only produce high yields, but alsoenhance the quality of soil and reduce negative impacts
on the environment, thus contributing to sustainability.
How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?
I have been researching how to improve crop productivity
for more than ten years. For my PhD dissertation, I focus
on cassava because this crop has a wide range of uses,from food and animal feed to energy. Nowadays, cassava
supply is lower than the demand and Thailand is seeking
supply from other countries. Both farmers and factories
need upgraded practices and technical innovations to be
assured of continued growth.

CSEAS NEWSLETTER

How many research themes do you have?

No. 80042

My research consists of 1) analyzing key socioeconomic
factors, biophysical properties, and crop management
practices related to the transformation of production
practices and yield gaps by using function models; and 2)
developing DSSAT crop models to provide site-specificrecommendations for cassava production practices thatare appropriate to each farm’s environment and manage-

Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?
My research is conducted in the field working with farmers. This requires a significant amount of time to collect,organize, and analyze the data. It is important to advanceboth theories and techniques. Therefore, writing is a timeconsuming and iterative process. Every now and then, I
have to remind myself not to give up. I know that I am not
perfect, but I do my best along my route and responsibility.

Can you share with us an episode about any influential people, things, and places you have encountered whilst doing your research?
I had a chance to join a training course on organic farming
as the lecturer on the topic “nutrient management to increase organic cassava” in Yasothon Province. The participating farmers believe organic practices can provide agood livelihood and sustain their soils. I could sense theirambition to switch their practices despite most people intheir community pointing out the disadvantages of such aswitch. The organic farmers want to prove that the practices can be successful, and they hope that people in thecommunity will change their minds. From my side as a
researcher, I can support them with knowledge and betheir partner. We cannot predict our success, but we cancontinuously work toward it
Which books or people have influenced you?
I often read various kinds of positive thinking books toboost my mind, to move forward, and to move out frommy comfort zone and routine way of thinking. It helps me
to find new ways of mobilizing myself to be a good,friendly, and active person. I like Leadership and SelfDeception: Getting out of the Box (in Thai). I love to readmotivational and positive quotes. People who have influenced me are Nelson Mandela, Walt Disney, and BenjaminFranklin, whose quotes are powerful. They easily support
and push me to keep going and move forward

What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?

What would you say to people who want to become researchers?
To become a researcher, we should have a strong interestin learning, demonstrate a strong work ethic, and have adesire to work in various working environments. We musthave good communication skills and be focused. We
should also have advanced knowledge of one or more
specialized areas.
What ambitions do you have for the future?
I will continue to develop my scholarship and research
career. I would like to improve my knowledge and skill andenhance my areas of specialization. I am an agriculturalresearcher. Today agricultural systems must be concernedwith the maximum use of resources to maximize profit.
Therefore, people move out of agriculture. How can we
support people to return to agriculture? It is the main
source of food and income for many people and the economic sector that employs the most people. I hope that
my work can benefit farmers and the sector as a whole.
(July 2022)
Reference
Pajo, B. 2017. Introduction to Research Methods: A Hands-on
Approach. Edition 1. Singapore: SAGE Publications

043

The academic student should be knowing and inquiring;
they should synthesize knowledge to solve problems.

I would like to recommend Introduction to Research
Method, which explores the nature of being a researcher,its challenges, and ethical considerations relating to various fields. This book offers young researchers a solid
foundation from which they can make decisions about
the next steps in their research path.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

To be a good researcher, a student must reach the required knowledge base and gain experience in the research study area. A good researcher works in a collaborative way, but is also able to prepare and manage
research independently with a creative approach to complex problems. In addition, good researchers write, present, and publish academic papers to the public.

What books can you recommend to a younger
people?

VISITOR’S VOICE

What is your ideal image of a researcher?

They should seek solutions to fulfill research outcomes bycontinuously planning, acting, observing, and learning in
professional practice. I am striving to achieve those qualifications every day

VISITOR’S VOICEInterview withPatrick McCormick
Visiting Research Scholar of CSEAS from April – September 2022

When ‘the Field’ Becomes Home
Please tell us about your research.
The research I am working on while I am here at theCenter for Southeast Asian Studies is a book project
which I started many years ago. I am a historian working
on Burmese history. I lived in Burma for sixteen years before having to leave because of the coup d’état in 2021,
otherwise I would have stayed longer. So my perspective
and my project are different from that of most other historians. I didn’t see myself as an outside researcher who
was visiting the country for only a year or two, and would
then return to the US or wherever to write up my findings.
Over the course of my time in Burma, I noticed the
profound impact that British ideas and practices have hadon so many aspects of people’s lives. Equally striking was
how that situation seems to be normal and natural tomost people living there—it’s not like in, say, India, where
people have thought a lot more about colonization anddecolonization.
My book project is about how British ideas and practices
are key to how Burmese people understand their past
and write their histories, for example, the idea of race(now called “ethnicity”). I argue that the British createdthis place called “Burma,” which is not the same as the
kingdoms that went before it. My ideas are not that revolutionary—the British created India, the French Cambodia(what they called Cambodge) and the Dutch createdIndonesia. It’s just that no one has talked about those
processes in the context of Burma before.
How many research themes do you have?
CSEAS NEWSLETTER

I’ve outlined my main interest in history just now. I also
have a project about Gordon Luce, one of the foundational British colonial scholars who wrote on Burma.
I look at the idea of migration in his work, which reflecteda larger idea in European thought at the time that thepeoples of Asia had migrated from somewhere else.

No. 80044

I also have a few lines of research related to contact
and historical linguistics. I have done some work on the
dialects of Burmese, and have been meaning to look at
the intersection between difference in language and thedrive to assert ethnic difference. Also related to the
Burmese dialects, I eventually want to do some analysisof features of their syntax.
I also have an abiding interest in the use of English
in Burma. English is not a national language in Burma, andthere is not the language fragmentation of a country like
India. Yet English is everywhere and a sign of being educated.
Why do you find your research topic interesting?
To return to what I said a bit earlier, my research interests
are not abstract—these were topics related to the people
around me, and are aspects of phenomena that I could
see all around. There are so many things that have notbeen talked about, or described, or thought about critically. It’s not like in, say, Thailand or Indonesia, much lessIndia, where a sizeable number of scholars have built up
generations of scholarship and research. There havebeen fewer intellectuals in Burma working on the humanities, and generally their research interests are not thesame as those of international scholars.
Also remember that so many of the foreigners in
Burma who write about the country do not speak the language, yet consider themselves experts. They write theirreports or their books based on the same old ideas andinterpretations, which keep getting recirculated. That reality has served as an impetus for me to think more deeply about these topics.
How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?
My research started before I moved to Burma full time in2006. I started learning Burmese in 1995, but even before
then I had been exposed to the country when I took someclasses on Southeast Asian history at university. I was initially interested in the Mon people and their language—
today they live mainly in Burma, but there are many people of Mon ancestry and Mon migrants from Burma livingin Thailand, too. It was from my initial interest in Mons
that I came to my research, then living in Burma I saw that

Fig.1

Fig.2

Fig.3

Fig.1 Reception for a Mon-language Manuscript Recitation, 2008
Fig.2 Talking with a Thai Mon monk, February 2019
Fig.3 Looking at Thai Mon Manuscripts at Aj. Bang’orn’s House,
January 2019

Fig.4

much of the thinking and the processes that I had seenamong them were also present among other ethnic minority groups, and in fact, present generally in the wider
society.
Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?
I have had many challenges over the years. When you
have experienced a lot or have a lot to say, it is hard totrim things down or leave them out. When you can see
the complexity of a situation or a phenomenon, it takes a
lot of practice to learn what to leave out, and how to express yourself in a way that your audience can understand and appreciate. Another temptation is to write abook that is “Everything I know about Burma,” as I jokewith a friend of mine who has similar research experiences.
Something that I’ve learned is to think about my audience in my writing. What will they want to know? How
can I help them understand? As a young writer, it’s very
easy to focus on what I want to say, and what I think isinteresting instead.

When I was at the University of Washington, there wereso many people who pushed me and mentored me. I’ve
kept in touch with most of them. My advisor Laurie Sears
was one. Even though she wasn’t a Burma specialist, shebelieved in my work and helped me see the value in what
I did, but also pushed my thinking forward. I’ve had somany language teachers who have been so patient andgenerous, like John Okell and U Saw Htun, both of whom
also helped me think deeply about Burmese as a language. I also want to mention Richard O’Connor, whom
I heard speak during the summer of 1996 and whose
ideas got me thinking. We have a tradition of spending anhour or two together whenever we can meet at the
Association for Asian Studies conference. He listens to me
but is also a generous intellectual mentor.
What is your ideal image of a researcher?
My ideas have changed a lot. When I was younger, I had a
lot of unhelpful and unrealistic images in my head.
Especially in the US, there is this cult of the “scholar genius,” who is almost always a man. He goes off into thefield by himself, he speaks lots of languages, he has authentic experiences, he has been “over there” for so long
he is practically a native, he has a fantastic job at a firstrank university and so always has funding, his books win
awards.
None of that is realistic or sustainable, for so manyreasons, not least of which because that vision of academic “success” has become infinitely more out of reachthan ever before. Now that I’ve reached a certain age,
I try to mentor some younger scholars and tell them specifically not to compare themselves to the scholars they
read, or to think that those scholars had everything all
figured out, or that if you can’t be like them, there’s nopoint to doing your work.

045

I only went to public universities, so I generally didn’t
come across the really big name, famous academics, orrather, the kinds of academics that people make a big fussover. Not that the work of the people who trained me
wasn’t influential or important! Intellectually, so many of
my encounters have been through what other people
have written. I was able to chew on their ideas slowly andlet them sink in.

Which books or people have influenced you?

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Can you share with us an episode about any influential people, things, and places you have encountered whilst doing your research?

I have occasionally then met one of those famous
academics in real life. If I’m only chatting with them for a
few minutes, or meeting them in a group, there’s little
possibility for developing a rapport. Or sometimes I’ve
thought, “Man, what a big ego this guy has….”

VISITOR’S VOICE

I have been working with two writing coaches. It hashelped me a lot. One of them in particular has helped me
look at my own perfectionism, and how for people of mybackground (white Americans), the impulse can be verystrong. She even helped me see that perfectionism canbe tied up with white supremacy, which really surprised
me. It’s very subtle and subconscious. The idea is that wemust be perfect, so that we aren’t like them…

Fig.5

Fig.4 Talking with Jinghpaw People, Anisakhan Burma, 2016
Fig.5 Young Lao-Speakers, Mon State, Burma, 2012

VISITOR’S VOICE
So my ideal would now be someone who is notoverly ambitious, someone who does their best to learn
local languages (I don’t want to read anything by another
Burma or Thailand expert who speaks neither of thoselanguages—and I don’t just mean enough for orderingfood), and someone who is open and honest.
What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?
I wouldn’t consider my work as a historian “fieldwork,”
because it was just me talking to people where I lived.
When I’ve done linguistic research, I’ve had to make recordings, so a good recorder and microphone were crucial. Even more so was a quiet place to make the recordings, which is not always easy to find in Southeast Asia.
Working with men is one thing, but what do you do when
you are working with women informants? You can’t justsay, “Please come to my home.” So having a woman colleague or assistant or friend, especially when I was working with strangers, was very helpful.
For writing, the ideal is a good laptop, a big externalmonitor, and an office, or failing that, a quiet coffee shop.
Instrumental music is also helpful, as is of course tea!
What would you say to people who want to become researchers?

and heartache. It’s okay to be confused and discouraged—that probably means you are getting somewhere.
It’s important, though, to seek out guidance or help when
you feel like it’s all impossible.
Be aware: you cannot always take what people tell
you literally. Analyze, and tell us what you think. Someyounger people think it’s the right and ethical thing tojust repeat what people in the field tell them without any
critical framing or analysis. I find this dangerous and naïve.
Be aware of how people perceive you, because yourrace and gender and nationality do matter, though someof my European mentees do not want to hear that. If you
yourself are Asian and are working in Asia, you will have avery different experience from what I have had. It’s important to understand how locals perceive us as researchers, who are usually of another race and nationality, andhow they may want to please us, or make themselves
look good, or alternately, may want to get us on their sideand have us perceive them in a certain way. It takes practice to understand these things.
What ambitions do you have for the future?
I would like to finish some of the books and articles that
I’ve been thinking about. If I can do that, I’ll be happy.
(June 2022)

Listen, learn, be open. Do research on something that really inspires you, because research involves a lot of time

Interview with

Uxía Alonso

Guest Research Associate of CSEAS from May – September 2022

Playing on a Relay Team: The Passage of Knowledge
in the Study of Viruses
CSEAS NEWSLETTER

Please tell us about your research.

No. 80046

My research is focused on African swine fever (ASFV), aviral disease that affects different members of the Suidae
family, especially pigs and wild boars. The disease has
been endemic in Africa since 1921, when pigs werebrought from Europe to England’s colonies. The virus
jumped from the European pigs to warthogs (wild Africanpigs) and eventually to domestic African pigs.
There is no vaccine or treatment for this disease
and the incidence of a positive case has widespread socio-economic consequences. The virus jumped twice toEurope; first during 1950-1960 in Portugal and Spain,from where it then spread to the rest of Europe, Russia,
and Latin America. This outbreak lasted 30 years at anenormous expense to affected countries. In 2007, the virus reappeared in Russia and has since spread to otherparts of Europe through wild boars. In 2018, the virus appeared in China, a major producer of pigs. The consequences were devastating. Today, African swine fever is a
global pandemic, with the virus moving around Asia,
Europe, and the Caribbean region. The main aim of myresearch is to understand the immunological mechanisms of protection against the disease to develop an effective vaccine.
How many research themes do you have?

Can you share with us an episode about any influential people, things, and places you have encountered whilst doing your research?
During my PhD program, a postdoc researcher named
Jordi Arguilaguet Marquès joined our group. He is an immunologist, and with him I discovered how amazing immunology could be. He taught me so much in a very patient manner. During those moments when I felt mostinsecure about my PhD, talking with him helped me recover my hope for our work.
Which books or people have influenced you?

My research is characterized by a synthesis of three broad
disciplines. First, virology uses molecular biology techniques to explain the virus’s mechanisms. Second, immunology investigates protection mechanisms. Ultimately,
this disease affects pigs; therefore, concerns about animal production need to be considered. Thus, veterinary
medicine is indispensable in broadening perspectives. For
my dissertation, I have been focused on the immunological side of things. We implement new techniques, such as
single cell RNAseq, which allow us to study each individual gene as it is activated. It is amazing be able to incorporate these new tools in our research.

A book that inspired me recently was Staying with the
Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene written by Donna
J. Haraway, a feminist thinker. This book makes us reflect
upon how we can live in this era of ecological devastation,
the Anthropocene, reorganizing our relations with nature. She gave me the opportunity to think about new
ways to live together with other species. Also, the bookchallenged me think about how to change the way we aredoing science: we need an open mind when we are looking for answers. We need to be on this damaged earth,
but we can try to live in new, more sympoietic ways.

Why do you find your research topic interesting?

What is your ideal image of a researcher?

Although African swine fever was isolated in 1921, today
the virus continues to appear in places around the world.
There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease.
Furthermore, knowledge of the factors involved in protection and immunity are very unclear. This makes it rewarding to contribute new immunological data in pursuitof a vaccine. Creating some new information on this topic
will be beneficial not only to the scientific community, butalso from a socio-economic point of view. Many countries
are waiting for the vaccine.

I do not have an ideal image of a researcher. Since I started my master’s degree study, I realized that there aremany types of researchers. I think that one of the key
characteristics of a researcher is to continue learning andfeeling curious about new things.

How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?

In my research, I think that the most difficult part is theexperiments. I usually do some in vivo studies with pigs.
In this type of experiment, you do not always obtain the
results that you are looking for. During the last few years,
I have gotten some very nice results from some of myexperiments. When you obtain these, you feel excitedabout sharing them with the community and it makes thewriting part easier.

What ambitions do you have for the future?
First, I will finish my PhD and then think about my near
future. My plans are to look for a two- to three-year postdoc position outside of my country (Spain). A research
career in Spain is a bit hard because it is difficult to get astable position. I would like to find a job in a university sothat I can conduct laboratory research and teach. I would
like to continue working in animal health, focusing on diseases related to animals and viruses.
(July 2022)
Reference
Haraway, Donna. 2016. Staying With the Trouble: Making Kin in the
Chthulucene (Experimental Futures: Technological Lives, Scientific Arts, Anthropological Voices). Duke University Press.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?

Being a researcher in the natural sciences allows you tocontinue to learn new things, improve yourself, and shareyour knowledge with other people. This last one is a key
point because science is made to be shared. Science islike a relay race. You cannot play alone; you receive
knowledge and give knowledge to advance the study. It isalso hard work; you can feel very frustrated sometimes
when things do not go as expected.

047

VISITOR’S VOICE

I first studied veterinary medicine and then completed
my master’s degree in virology. Having a background inboth disciplines was a perfect match for working on a viraldisease that affects pigs. Working with this virus is a great
opportunity and I am pleased to be able to do this work.
In the beginning of my PhD study, it was a bit challenging.
But in this last phase of developing my thesis, I have focused on immunological responses related to Africanswine fever vaccination, which has been exciting.

What would you say to people who want to become researchers?

VISITOR’S VOICEInterview with

Arief W. Djati
Research Scholar of CSEAS from June – August 2022

Uncovering a Colonial Cosmopolitan:
A biography of Kwee Thiam Tjing
Please tell us about your research.
First let me explain that I am not an academic or a scholar.
As a Non-Governmental Organization activist, some people call me a public intellectual. I conduct research, but
my research is not as rigorous as an academic’s. Currently,
I am working on the intellectual biography of an
Indonesian-Chinese writer during the Dutch East Indies
period. His real name is Kwee Thiam Tjing (1900-1974),
but he often used Tjamboek Berdoeri (Thorned Whip) as
his favorite pseudonym. This was a reminder to (Chinese)readers of the terrible weapon of antiquity to punish badpeople. As far as I know, he used more than a dozen
pseudonyms during his career as a journalist cum columnist to avoid the censorship of the colonial government.[1]How many research themes do you have?
I examine several groups in my research, namely, laborers, survivors of the PKI (Partai Komunis Indonesia, orIndonesian Communist Party), political prisoners, andChinese. These groups together can be included in theframework of the subaltern group, as they were suppressed during Indonesia’s New Order period and continue to be today. Laborers and Peranakan Chinese can beseen from the theme of class and identity. Ethnic Chinese
in Indonesia are mostly entrepreneurs, and as in the colonial context, are defined in economic terms as “economic
animals,” especially those wealthy groups. Those who are
not very rich face numerous troubles in daily life..

brary. Second, this author employs many tricks to mislead
his readers. For example, his pseudonyms. When he wasa bachelor, he used the pseudonym Hudjin Tjamboek
Berdoeri, or “Mrs. Tjamboek Berdoeri”[2] to pen several
articles. A few years ago, a doctoral candidate from an
American university who was interested in Hudjin
Tjamboek Berdoeri’s work wrote a research proposal
about “her.” The candidate cancelled the proposal afterI explained that the works by Hudjin Tjamboek Berdoeri
were written by Kwee Thiam Tjing himself, not his wife,and I pointed out several articles that demonstrated thecandidate’s claim as baseless. The third thing that makes
my research interesting is being able to conduct interviews with several elderly Chinese people in Malang and
Semarang who were friends and neighbors of Kwee
Thiam Tjing. It is a great exercise and opportunity for me
because I can interview people who are around 90 years
old, and I need to be patient to listen to their stories.

CSEAS NEWSLETTER

Why do you find your research topic interesting?

No. 80

The theme of Tjamboek Berdoeri is becoming more andmore interesting to me for several reasons. First, this research focuses only on newspapers and archives in thelibrary (and if possible, interviews). This is something thatis challenging for me—to learn a new thing such as systematically reading and understanding archives, which
are slightly different from the materials in a general li-

048

Fig.1 Tjamboek Berdoeri’s books

there I was, on and off, trying to work on and on, deepening and expanding my knowledge of this writer’s life journey. And it turned out that the more I delved into it, themore I felt that there were many parts of this person’s lifeand relationships that were extremely interesting and it
would be useful if we saw and interpreted their history
not just to understand the past, but also as a perspectiveon the future.
Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?

Fig.2 Kwee’s wedding photo from his family collection

There is always a problem putting it together because
there is so much material and we want to include everything. We want it to be perfect, detailed, and complete.
Putting it all together takes its own time and readiness—
it cannot be rushed. Knowing this, I first write a draft,
once or twice, and then I re-read it, proofread it, and thenperfect it.
Can you share with us an episode about any influential people, things, and places you have encountered whilst doing your research?
A few people have been influential in my research journey and given me a comprehensive overview. Of course,
the first is the late Benedict Anderson, who brought me
this far by giving me many opportunities to write about
this topic and helping me greatly to systematize my writings. The second person is James Siegel, who taught me
to always think critically and not to be afraid to look foranswers. Unfortunately, my ability and limited horizon ofthought cannot fully follow his thoughts and explanations. The third person is the late Mr. Sartono (pseudonym). He is a survivor of the 1965 tragedy, which, as you
know, is when Soeharto’s New Order killed almost one
million Indonesian communist party members and sympathizers and detained more than one million others.[4]Although Mr. Sartono never joined or was affiliated with
the PKI, he was arrested, and after being detained on
Buru Island for about 10 years, he had to start his life
again from scratch. I was amazed and impressed by his
willingness to learn, his courage, and his fortitude. My interview with him was popularly written up in a chapter inthe book Menembus Tirai Asap: Kesaksian Tahanan
Politik 1965 (2003).[5]Which books or people have influenced you?

Actually, this research was a topic of the late Ben
Anderson’s research. He wanted to write a biography of
the author and I helped him to edit and publish two of
Tjamboek Berdoeri’s works in Indonesian.[3] After Ben
Anderson suddenly passed away, I felt that I had to continue the research as he had requested before. Moreover,
we had already collected quite a number of materials. So

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?

049

VISITOR’S VOICE

Fig.3 Kwee Thiam Tjing’s newspaper at Jember, East JavaTwo books in particular have had an impact on me because they inspired me to confront everyday problems
with the ideas that they put forward. The first is The
Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1980)[6] by Paulo Freire(1921-1997), a Brazilian educator. It was translated into
Indonesian in 1984, and I only read the book around1988. The Indonesian translation was awful, but fortunately for me, I had a friend who had the English edition,
so that is what I read. The book seemed to guide me tohelp the weak and the suppressed to voice their concerns
and to encourage them to overcome their daily problems. The second book was Madilog (1943) written by
Tan Malaka (1897-1949),[7] one of the leaders of theIndonesian independence struggle before Soekarno andHatta. Madilog means Materialism, Dialectic and LogicVISITOR’S VOICEand the title is intended to invite readers to be more critical and not to believe in superstitions. Remarkably, thebook was written underground when Japan occupied
Indonesia. Tan Malaka wrote the book based only on his
memories and notes because he had no access to existingbooks. I read it when the book was banned by Indonesian’s
New Order Government in the 1980s.
What is your ideal image of a researcher?
A researcher should, in my view, not only write down andreport what is found in the research field, but also, as far
as they can, help the people and improve the situations
they encounter. For this reason, researchers must be able
to write honestly and openly about what they find. And,
then, as a human being, they should try to help others
where they can. Maybe this ideal is different from theimagination of scholars or academics generally.
What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?
I think tools are just tools. They are not a must-have.
When it comes to must-haves, then some important
things are patience, perseverance, and hard work.
Patience, because the researcher sometimes must listen
to interviewees talk about issues that they do not appreciate or may think are irrelevant, but also perseverance
and hard work when working in the field. If these are inplace, then the tools can be discussed. Actually, I only use
the Endnotes app occasionally when writing; for transcribing, which is sometimes tiring. I sometimes use a live
transcribing app. However, the transcription is not accurate, especially if it is not in English, and it has to bechecked and edited again. Also, I use my mobile phone tocapture ideas with some note-taking app, and sometimes
I use paper to back it up. For reading journals and articles,
I mostly use my e-book reader.

entations. They were: Kwee Thiam Tjing himself, from PTI(Partai Tionghoa Indonesia, or the Indonesian Chinese
Party) but non-partisan, Liem Koen Hian (1897-1951),
from PTI and Gerindo (Gerakan Rakyat Indonesia, or theIndonesian People’s Movement), A.R. Baswedan (19081986), from PAI (Partai Arab Indonesia, or the IndonesianArab Party) and a Parliament member (a Junior Minister),
Tjoa Tjie Liang alias Anang Satyawardaya (1913-2006),
from PTI and later Golkar (Golongan Karya, or the
Functional Party), and D.J. Syranamual (1900-1956), from
Serikat Ambon and a Parliament member. In contrast toFurnivall’s classic thesis on plural society, that various ethnicities meet each other only in the marketplace, the Sin
Tit Po circle illustrates that people worked together invarious spheres of colonial life and in the broader contexts of, among other things, nationalism and cosmopolitanism.
(July 2022)
Notes
1

His prolific use of pseudonyms reminds us of the great Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), a contemporary of Kwee Thiam Tjing, who also used many pseudonyms.
See Richard Zenith, Pessoa: A Biography, Liveright Pub Corp,
2021.

2

“Hudjin” from “Hudjin Tjamboek Berdoeri” comes from a
Hokkien word, and it means “Nyonya” in Indonesian or“Mrs.” in English. Kwee Thiam Tjing used this pseudonym
many times before he married Nie Hiang Nio in 1928.

3

Tjamboek Berdoeri, Indonesia Dalem Api dan Bara [Indonesia in Flames and Embers] (Jakarta: Elkasa, 2004, 2nd ed.)and Kwee Thiam Tjing (Author), Arief W. Djati and Ben
Anderson (Eds.), James Siegel (Pref.), Menjadi Tjamboek
Berdoeri [Being Tjamboek Berdoeri] (Jakarta: Komunitas
Bambu, 2010). The former is the only book published while
Kwee Thiam Tjing was still alive, and the first edition was
published in Malang in 1947. The latter is a collection of hisdaily columns that were written in the Jakarta newspaper
Indonesia Raya in the 1970s.

4

See Robert Cribb (Ed.), The Indonesian Killings of 19651966: Studies from Java and Bali, Clayton, Victoria, Australia: Monash University Centre of Southeast Asian Studies,
1990.

5

See Mr. Sartono’s testimony in H.D. Sasongko dan Melani
Budianta (Eds.), Menembus Tirai Asap: Kesaksian Tahanan
Politik 1965 [Passing Through the Dark Shadows, testimonies of political prisoners 1965], Jakarta: Yayasan Lontar dan
Yayasan Budaya Indonesia, 2003.

6

Indonesian translation of Paulo Freire’s book, Pendidikan
Kaum Tertindas, Jakarta: LP3ES, 1984.

7

On Tan Malaka, see Harry Poeze, Tan Malaka: Strijder voor
Indonesie’s Vrijheid Levesloop van 1897 tot 1945 [Tan Malaka, Struggle toward Indonesian Independence 1897-1945](The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1976) and Tan Malaka’s own
book, Madilog (Jakarta: Terbitan Wijaya, 1951).

What books can you recommend to a younger
people?
I cannot mention this or that title. If I must make a suggestion, I suggest them to read any book that they like.
Everything. It is also important to always take the time toread literary works to train your style and sensitivity inanalyzing problems/situations.
What would you say to people who want to become researchers?
Maybe before beginning research, you should first ask
yourself whether you are really enthusiastic about thisfield of work. If the answer is “yes,” then do it wholeheartedly and to the best of your ability. Practice writing
and listening to other people’s thoughts while reading
more.
CSEAS NEWSLETTER

What ambitions do you have for the future?

No. 80Working on the biography of this person has encouraged
me to read more and expand my knowledge. Therefore,
after the biography is completed, I want to expand thisresearch and supplement it with writing about his close
circle from the Sin Tit Po newspaper, which included
members from various ethnicities and, later, political ori-

050

Interview with

Krishna Bahadur KC
Visiting Research Scholar of CSEAS from June – August 2022

Seeking Pathways to Sustainably Feed the World’s
Growing Population
Please tell us about your research.
I am an interdisciplinary researcher. I focus on four key
areas: climate change, land-use dynamics, food systems,
and food security. Before entering into academia, I was aforest officer of the Government of Nepal. My academic
research began with my postgraduate studies. I first did amaster’s in natural resources management at the Asian
Institute of Technology, Thailand. My master’s work focused on soil erosion susceptibility mapping using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS).
I earned my PhD in agricultural sciences from the
University of Hohenheim, Germany. My PhD dissertation
combined socioeconomic and spatial methods to enhance rural resource and livelihood development in thehills of Nepal. After my PhD, in addition to case studybased research, I also started to work on global issues
such as global food security, specifically, climate change,
its impact on agriculture, and vice versa. Currently, I am
working on the following big questions: 1) Does current
food production meet the nutritional needs of the global
population? 2) Which currently unfarmed areas acrossthe world may be suitable for agriculture in the face ofclimate change and digital agricultural technologies?

Why do you find your research topic interesting?
I mainly work on issues that have direct societal impacts.
For example, today’s leading global problem is how tofeed the world’s growing population sustainably. Much of
the conversation about “feeding the future” focuses onwhether we will be able to produce enough food for everyone in the year 2100. However, one side-stepped topic is whether we are producing the right kinds of food forall of us to be healthy. Upon investigation, I discoveredthat we are producing only 50 percent of the fruits andvegetables necessary to fulfill the diet recommended by
the Harvard healthy eating plate model. Another area

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

My research is based on an integrated interdisciplinary
spatial approach that emphasizes qualitative and quantitative methods across a range of spatial scales, from thehousehold and community to the watershed, regional,
national, and global levels. Throughout my research career, I have conducted multidisciplinary research on thecomplex links between climate change, food security, andenvironmental sustainability. I have been working on several distinct but overlapping themes. These include: 1)
understanding the factors associated with global foodproduction and food waste, 2) exploring the implicationsof different geographical areas for food security and other ecosystem services, 3) evaluating solutions to the glob-

al food insecurity crisis, and 4) understanding the opportunities and constraints of developing new agricultural
frontiers in the face of climate change and digital agriculture technologies.

051

VISITOR’S VOICE

How many research themes do you have?

Fig.1 For more details, see Hannah L, Roehrdanz PR, KC KB, Fraser EDG, Donatti CI, Saenz L, et al. (2020)and KC KB, Dias GM, Veeramani A, Swanton CJ, Fraser D, Steinke D, et al. (2018).

VISITOR’S VOICE
global food production could be boosted is to explore
novel agricultural frontiers in the face of climate change
and digital agriculture technologies. Over the last coupleof years, I have become fascinated by the potential offarming in the far North. This is a topic that, together withnew technologies, is capturing the imagination of policymakers and industry. New varieties of crops that mature
faster and have a longer growing season due to climatechange may provide new opportunities for farming in areas where it has not been possible in the past.

challenging to produce short, sharp, and synthesizedwriting.
Which books or people have influenced you?
I was very much influenced by, among others, Navin
Ramankutty and Johnathan Foley’s papers on the global
consequences of land use, solutions for a cultivated planet, and farming the planet: the geographic distribution of
global agricultural lands. These were fundamental in motivating me to start researching global issues.

Fig.2 For more details, see Hannah L, Roehrdanz PR, KC KB, Fraser EDG, Donatti CI, Saenz L, et al.
(2020) and KC KB, Dias GM, Veeramani A, Swanton CJ, Fraser D, Steinke D, et al. (2018).

How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?
During the early stage of my career, I concentrated on thelessons of small, more technical case study-based work,
similar to what I conducted for my master’s and PhD research. Over time, I felt I needed to work on areas thatwould attract the attention of policymakers and that will
also immediately impact society. Therefore, in addition totechnical and case study-based analysis, I began to workon a global scale.
Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80052

Putting research results together and publishing research
articles or books is a challenging task. I struggled a lot
when I began writing my first research papers many years
ago. I found it difficult to organize the results of my data
analysis in the form of tables, figures, and graphics. Even
until a few years ago, although I felt I could conduct sophisticated analyses and generate exciting results, it wasdifficult for me to decide which results to include andwhich to leave out. I also felt challenged when formulating a broader thesis statement, and it was not that easy towrite discussion and conclusion sections, particularly relating my work to others.
Writing research papers is a learning process and adifferent kind of art. Over time, I learned that my main
problem was that I usually generate tremendous amountsof results in the form of maps, graphics, and tables. As I
produced the results through arduous effort, I wanted touse as much as possible in my writing, which made it

What is your ideal image of a researcher?
Working as a researcher is an excellent opportunity tocontribute to society. I consider a researcher a think tank.
A researcher should work as neutrally as possible, should
not be aligned with any political parties, should not produce biased or skewed results, and should not publish
papers for the benefit of a specific group, firm, or company. Researchers should always think and work for thewell-being of the greater community and society.
What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?
As I conduct interdisciplinary research, I use many different data types, from remote sensing images to geospatial
data, as well as econometric and socioeconomic data. I
use various image processing and geospatial data analysis
software. Out of all of these, statistical software, such as
STATA and SPSS, are absolutely must-haves for me.

What books can you recommend to younger
people?
I was very much influenced by, among others, Navin
Ramankutty and Johnathan Foley’s papers on the global
consequences of land use, solutions for a cultivated planet, and farming the planet: the geographic distribution of
global agricultural lands. These were fundamental in motivating me to start researching global issues.
What would you say to people who want to become researchers?
Working as a researcher is an excellent opportunity tocontribute to society. I consider a researcher a think tank.
A researcher should work as neutrally as possible, should
not be aligned with any political parties, should not produce biased or skewed results, and should not publish
papers for the benefit of a specific group, firm, or company. Researchers should always think and work for thewell-being of the greater community and society.

What ambitions do you have for the future?
I am finishing my PhD, and I need to think about my near
future. My plans are looking for a postdoc position for
two or three years outside of my country, Spain. The researcher career in Spain is a bit hard, because it is difficult
to get a stable position. I would like to find a job in a university, so I can do research in the lab and teach. I would
like to continue working in animal health, in disease related to animals and viruses.
(July 2022)
References
Hannah, L., Roehrdanz, P.R.; KC, K.B.; Fraser, E.D.G.; Donatti, C.I.;
Berg, A., et al. 2020. The Environmental Consequences of
Climate-Driven Agricultural Frontiers. PLoS ONE 15(2):e0228305.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228305
KC, K.B.; Dias, G.M.; Veermani, A.; Swanton, C.J.; Steinke, D., et al.
2018. When too Much Isn’t Enough: Does Current Food
Production Meet Global Nutritional Needs? PLoS ONE 13(10): e0205683.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205683

Interview withMay Adadol Ingawanij
Visiting Research Scholar of CSEAS from June – August 2022

Please tell us about your research.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University053

My academic training and trajectory of career development is quite an unusual one. I started out with anundergraduate degree in the social sciences. I completed
my PhD on the historical imagination and cultural politics

VISITOR’S VOICE

I am a writer, theorist, and curator specialising in themoving image practices, contemporary art, and cinema
of Southeast Asian artists. My major research and pedagogical themes intersect contemporary art, curatorial
and artistic practice, film studies, art history, and areastudies. My research projects tend to combine methodsof formal and conjunctural analysis with historicisation,
curatorial practice, film programming, and a variety ofwriting forms. I am interested in essayistic and creativemodes of writing, and in combining storytelling and fictional registers of writing in long-form research projects.
Overall, my research projects and publications try to creatively develop de-westernised and decolonize methods
to engage with Southeast Asia’s histories and genealogies
of artistic and cinematic practice.

of contemporary Thai cinema. This was at a multidisciplinary graduate school set up as a collaboration between
several London arts and architectural institutions andBirkbeck, University of London. During the past fifteen
years, I have been based in an art school context within
the University of Westminster. I run the University’sCentre for Research and Education in Arts and Media,
which is a leading centre of practice-based, artistic, critical, theoretical, and historical research in the broad areasof art and creative and interdisciplinary practice. In myteaching activities, I mostly supervise PhD researchers
who undertake what is called practice research (or sometimes artistic research). They develop projects that incorporate artistic or curatorial practice into their processes
and methods of research. Their research outcomes combine artistic and creative works with diverse forms ofwriting. These experiences have taught and enabled me
to develop a multidisciplinary approach to research, one
which incorporates a plurality of analytic and creative
forms.

VISITOR’S VOICE
How many research themes do you have?
My research explores decolonial and de-centred histories
and genealogies of cinematic arts; legacies of artistic andpolitical vanguardism in Southeast Asia; forms of potentiality and future-making in contemporary artistic and curatorial practices; and the aesthetics and circulation ofmoving images, art, and independent films in, of, aligned,
and related to Southeast Asia.

entate toward and to imagine other futures. The project
has already stimulated a variety of activities.[1] While avisiting fellow at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies,
I am working on the monograph component of the project, Animistic Medium: Contemporary Southeast Asian
Artists Moving Image.

Why do you find your research topic interesting?
Southeast Asian contemporary art and moving image
practices are incredibly fertile grounds for exploring someof the key questions of our time. Among these are questions concerning the potential of art and imaginative
practices to propose different common futures and ways
to exist otherwise. Significantly, this area of research andpractice raises important questions about 1) the waysthat colonial and revolutionary legacies persist and shapepresent-day practices of institutions and peoples, and 2)
how communicative, aesthetic, and expressive forms
emerge in response to such legacies.
Researching contemporary Southeast Asian artistic
practices also means constantly asking how you wantyour work to contribute to the task of undoing the legacies of epistemological colonization; and asking what you
need to do to fully participate in this very dynamic terrainof practice, debate, and thinking that has been emerging
over the past few decades, rather than just observing
from a distance. I love how demanding and sociable thisterrain is ー there is a lot of thinking and doing with otherpeople, an expectation to develop capacities to look andlisten closely, to try to think legible thoughts with objects
and experiences that retain their right to opacity, to keep
learning new technologies and practical skills. There is an
openness to experimentation. There is also the constantpush and pull between, on the one hand, the need to develop disciplinary tradition through establishing commonly recognised concepts, methods, and research procedures, and on the other hand, the need to keep things
open, make unusual connections, and resist the buildingof disciplinary boundary.
An example is one of my current major projects,
Animistic Apparatus. It places contemporary moving image practices, such as the installations, films, and videos
of Southeast Asian artists Apichatpong Weerasethakul,
Lav Diaz, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook and Nguyen Trinh Thi,in constellation with the region’s itinerant film projection
rituals that are performed as an offering to powerful local
spirits. The project thus entwines artists’ moving image
practices with Southeast Asia’s scattered genealogies ofanimism (defined as improvisatory rituals and apparatuses of human-spirit sociality and communication).
CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80054

In devising this experimental method for gatheringand juxtaposing cinematic and mediating practices, theunderlying aim of Animistic Apparatus is to conceptualise
the regional, enunciative, cosmological, and relational
characteristics of Southeast Asian artists’ moving image
practices. The affinity between artistic and animistic practices that the project identifies ultimately concerns theagency of precarious humans to enhance life’s possibility
and build relations. It affirms bonds of sociality acrosstimes and beings within an ecology of existence in whichpowerless humans nevertheless claim the agency to ori-

Insert Image.1 Central Region (Tanatchai Bandasak, 2019), video installation inside a medieval tower in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northeast England. Tanatchai’s work is inspired by thepresence of standing stones in Sam Neua, Laos. It evokes the Southeast Asian animistic idea ofsacred spaces. Image by Tanatchai Bandasak

How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?
Given that my background is itinerant, it is probably not
surprising that I have a longstanding interest in different
ways of knowing, in the politics of cultural and epistemological difference, and in trying to understand that whichchallenges received wisdom and eludes neat categorisation. Over time, these interests have grown into an agenda to develop experimental and decolonial methods forresearching cinematic arts in Southeast Asia and theglobal south, which would de-centre teleological assumptions concerning the connection between the traditional,
the modern, and the contemporary.
During the past decade, I have been developing
speculative approaches to historicising genealogies ofcinematic practice in Thailand and Southeast Asia. My
motivation is to shift away from the established narrativethat cinema is the cultural form and contribution of cosmopolitan urban elites. For instance, in my work on the
proliferation of film circulation in Thailand during theCold War period, I disinter practices and circuits of itinerant open-air screenings via the projection of junk celluloid prints to conceptualise the role of humans as intermediaries in the cinematic apparatus. My proposition is
to consider what cinema is when humans form part ofthe ecology of cinema as voice narrators in intermedial
live film projection performances, or as projectionists initinerant rituals of cinematic offerings to spirits.
Working with independent and dissident artists
whose contexts of creation are fragile and at-risk artistic
and cultural infrastructures, I have learned that it is my
job to curate works in ways that support artistic processes, and to highlight practice as forms of research and experimentation in knowing, relating, communicating, andexisting otherwise. It is for this reason that I prioritise sit-

Insert Image.2 Announcement of movie projection ritual as an offering to a ‘grandfather spirit,’ Jao Pu Nong Jok shrine, Udon Thani Province, Northeast
Thailand, April 2019. Image by May Adadol Ingawanij

uating my written publications within curatorial projects
that have multiple components and many collaborators.
One of my longstanding research commitments is tothe praxis of the Filipino radical filmmaker Lav Diaz,
whose films I have been curating and writing about since
the late 2000s. Through curatorial activities and publications, I explore the material, institutional, and discursive
challenges of exhibiting Diaz’s very long films. My curatorial approach to thinking with and about Diaz’s films
adapts the migratory model of exhibiting radical films andartists’ moving image. I draw inspiration from Southeast
Asian genealogies of itinerant film projection, along withthe values of informality and affirmation of the everyday
that is characteristic of a mode of socially engaged Southeast
Asian contemporary art. My writings analyse Diaz’s historiographic and temporal aesthetics in the context of thelegacies and aporias of the Philippines’s artistic and cultural vanguardism. I also analyse the vexed exhibition history of Diaz’s long films, critically highlighting tensions
shaped by the persistence of the western modernist paradigm of art film spectatorship in advocating global contemporary art or radical films.
Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?

(July 2022)
Note
1

These include: an exhibition at a film festival in rural northeast England in which we installed a selection of moving
image works by Southeast Asian artists (including Lucy
Davis/The Migrant Ecologies Project, Chris Chong Chan Fu,
and Tanatchai Bundasak) in medieval and early modern
ruins and buildings in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed; afield learning, artistic research and performance rehearsal
event in a province in northeast Thailand where there is astrong tradition of projecting films for spirits, which involved
around forty artists, writers, curators and researchers; a creative non-fiction journal article that intertwines the fable
form, animistic ritual practices, and itinerant cinema; commissioning online publications and moving image works;
and curating international artists’ moving image screening
programmes presented at arts and academic venues.

055

Research is what you do with other people, and trust is an

I would like to develop new collaborative research aroundthe theme of speculative and imaginative practices of future-making, involving the creation and dissemination ofmoving images. This would explore ecological and redistributive concerns, and imaginings of possible futures, inartistic and curatorial practices. One strand of this project
would explore the potential of Southeast Asian artistic
research to engage with climate and ecological change.
Questions to ask would include: What are the characteristic features of artistic research that responds toSoutheast Asian realities of climate change? How might
definitions, concepts, values, and methods of artistic research be refined, enhanced, or challenged throughstudying Southeast Asian artistic research practices thatare responding to climate change? I would also like to develop a film curatorial project that explores critical, historical, speculative, and retroactive visions of the future.
This would situate Southeast Asia as a starting point forinquiry, yet open up toward other global south localities
and regions. It would include a screening series on thestudent as an emblematic figure of transformation inmodern and contemporary film and moving image practices.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

What would you say to people who want to become researchers?

What ambitions do you have for the future?

VISITOR’S VOICE

All the time! I have learned that the struggle to pull together coherent thoughts and expressions from complex,
intense, and confusing research experiences, and fromthe plethora of materials you have gathered, is part of theprocess. The skill to develop is to stay inside that process,give it time, and not be afraid of not knowing, or the possibility that your initial ideas will unravel, the process will
escalate out of control, or things will run aground. This is
how surprising thoughts emerge. Not fearing the processof inquiring and learning something new and trusting
your own capacity and intuition to push initial thoughts
further along even amid that sense of your ever-inadequate grasp, is something I have learned from many of
the Southeast Asian artists I have had the privilege of
spending time with.

important quality when it comes to finding out something together.

VISITOR’S VOICEInterview with

Richard MacDonald
Guest Scholar of CSEAS from June – August 2022

Outside the Smart City
Please tell us about your research.
My research is broadly concerned with the problem ofparticipation in a technological society. I’ve approachedthis larger question through more focused ethnographic
research on smart urbanism in Thailand and, more recently, on the mediation of public controversy surrounding the construction of high-speed rail in the UK.

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80056

A few years ago, I became interested in the idea ofthe smart city which was then being promoted by influential international and regional agencies, such as ASEAN
and the EU, as a policy framework for solving a wide
range of urban problems. Broadly speaking the idea ofthe smart city crystallises around the urban ideal of thedata-centred city, a city in which movements, flows andprocesses could be efficiently managed through ubiquitous computing. Much of the earlier scholarship on smart
cities focused on a rather small number of canonical, totemic and perhaps atypical real estate developments.
I was more interested in what other scholars of the phenomena referred to as “the actually existing smart city.”
For a previous research project on the ritual economy ofoutdoor cinema in Thailand I had spent time in Khon
Khaen, a city in the Northeast of the country. Returning toKhon Kaen I found a city heavily invested, symbolically atleast, in smart urbanism, an agenda driven locally by arecently formed private sector development corporation
but supported by the central government through its
digital economy programme under the banner Thailand
4.0. Undertaking a form of patchwork ethnography, conducted by necessity in short bursts of fieldwork over a
period of about a year, I set out to understand the meanings, attractions and address of smart urbanism on the
ground. Over the course of the research, I came to think
about the smart city less in terms of specific technologies
actually deployed in the world, and more in terms of analluring horizon, a way of channelling aspiration andspeaking about and imagining the future. Framing it inthis way helped me to situate the entrepreneurial dreamsof the urban networks promoting the smart city in Khon
Kaen within a broader landscape in which other hopes,
hopes of social and political change are perpetually deferred.
Being unable to travel during the first year or so of

the pandemic encouraged many of us to re-engage with
our immediate surroundings. For me, both the pandemic
and the feeling that the climate emergency obliges us to
fly less often has encouraged me to develop more geographically proximate lines of research inquiry. My interest in high-speed rail controversies evolved out of thisshift of focus, the route tunnels through hills not far frommy house. I can cycle to the construction sites!

Fig.1 Computer Generated Images of Khon Kaen Transit System (Source:
Khon Kaen Development Corporation)

How many research themes do you have?
Quite a few! I began my research career as a historian ofcinema and film culture. I still teach a module called theArchaeology of the Moving Image which explores moving
image practice and technology from a critical historicalperspective. I have written about vernacular memory
practices and urban change. I have an enduring interestin the (historical) infrastructures that support and sustain
informal learning and auto-didacticism: public libraries,adult education, public service broadcasting. I consider
each of these themes live and open, awaiting renewal.
The thread that runs through these themes has notalways been apparent to me at the time. In retrospect I
can see that I have been repeatedly drawn to examine thetensions between professions, their forms of expertiseand authority and lay people – non-specialists, or to put it
another way, the hierarchical relationship, asymmetries
and frictions between codified, institutionalised knowledge and situated or experiential knowledge.
Why do you find your research topic interesting?
Smart urbanism has been presented to citizens as the
new common sense, a persuasive formula for efficienturban governance in a context of scarcity. It struck me asboth interesting and necessary to ask: who is the smart
city for? Who benefits most from the smart city? Who isempowered by this particular vision of the future? Of
course, many other researchers have been posing thesesame critical questions—one never works alone. In
Thailand, however, my sense was that the technocraticvision of smart urbanism, especially when carried on the
powerful currents of entrepreneurial localism, tapping
into sentiments of provincial civic pride and identity, hadbeen appraised rather uncritically.
The radical geographer Doreen Massey memorably
described space as the sphere of “contemporaneous plurality.” There is plurality because space is composed of amultiplicity of interactions, the implication being thatspace is always in the process of being made, it is always
unfinished. As researcher I am compelled to ask: whatelse is going on here? How can we multiply the readingsof this space? In this case, what alternative futures, alternative modes of collective action, are suppressed or
struggling to be heard?
How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?

What is your ideal image of a researcher?
I’m not sure that I have an ideal image. And I’m not sure if
it is helpful to idealise research and researchers when the
demands made on early career researchers seeking afoothold in academia get more and more unrealistic andoutlandish each year. The researchers I admire go theirown way. They are not followers of fashion or fad—theydance to their own beat. They have the courage to undertake slow research, to resist the metrics by which researchers are often judged by their peers. They undertake forms of inquiry that are ethically informed andpolitically engaged. They are listeners first and foremost,people capable of crossing social thresholds and barriers
whilst never forgetting how they themselves are sociallysituated. They commit to communicate their research toothers with candour. They reflect openly on their failures
and learn from them. They can readily articulate the larger forces at stake in the specific areas with which they areconcerned.
The Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci insisted thateveryone has the capacity and capability for intellectual
inquiry, for developing a critical conception of the world
and their place in it. So our image of research or intellectual life should not be exclusively concerned with academia as a profession. Perhaps in an ideal world, universities would be spaces dedicated to lifelong learning which
would have the role of nurturing those critical capacities
and capabilities throughout life and throughout the population. Universities as centres of specialised knowledge
production would build strong reciprocal links with researcher educators in social movements, community organisations and trade unions.
What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?
A laptop, a universal plug adaptor, a voice recorder, lots ofnotepads and pens. And Zotero, of course, which is free
and open-source bibliographic software.

057

I certainly have, writing is always difficult. Added to which
it is not always easy to reconcile institutional demands toWhen I was a rebellious seventeen year old and rather dissatisfied with school, I read Ivan
Illich’s book Deschooling Society.
I promptly stopped going toschoolandconsequently
flunked my school leavers exams. To this day I’m not surewhether this was a positive or
negative influence. Either way I
have always been drawn to nonconformist figures and thinkers
who are in some way discomforted by academic institutions and ambivalent towards the kinds of educational
capital that accrue there.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?

Which books or people have influenced you?

VISITOR’S VOICE

I came to higher education as a mature student fairly late
in life. I was hungry for learning. Studying anthropology
and then cultural studies provided me with tools for amore disciplined critical examination of the world and myplace in it. I wanted to continue that journey and embarked on a PhD researching the history of amateur filmclubs. At the time I was a big cinephile, and I decided tomake the institutionalisation of film culture the focus of
my research. In hindsight I think that was because cinephilia had provided me with a solid framework for autodidacticism, self-directed informal learning, in the absence of formal educational institutions. Over time myinterests have shifted away from cinema, and the culturesof critical understanding and appreciation constructedaround it, to consider how we live with the technologicalinfrastructures of contemporary urban life. As much as
anything I think this was simply because I wanted to learn
new things and I wanted those things to be closer to thepulse of contemporary life.

produce auditable research, that is research published in
specific academic journals, with one’s own creative interests and ethical impulses. The writing I admire repays
reading many times whilst being jargon-free and accessible to those beyond a specialised discipline. I’ve always
aspired to write in a way that would resonate beyond thenarrow confines of a discipline or field. I’m not sure I haveachieved that yet.

VISITOR’S VOICE
What would you say to people who want to become researchers?
In the UK where I work, I am often approached by peopleinterested in researching and writing a PhD who are seeking advice. Understandably the idea of pursuing a PhD
and a career in research beyond it crystallises some very
powerful ideals and desires: autonomy over one’s work; asense of meaningful, purposeful work; the pursuit of an
intellectual life and self-directed inquiry; a chance togrow creatively and intellectually. Many of us are denied
these things in our working lives so the desires are powerful and the motivations strong. It is undeniable that forsome embarking on a research career may help them realise some of these goals. In the UK, however, higher education is in a state of prolonged but intensifying crisis
caused by a combination of chronic underfunding, marketisation and the long-term erosion of the autonomy
and independence of universities. Academics wages havefallen dramatically, and their pensions have been slashed.
In arts and humanities disciplines in particular, departments are closing in universities around the country, including my own. In these circumstances so many of mygood friends, brilliant researchers, writers and teachers
have spent years precariously employed on short-term
contracts while the pool of permanent academics inthese areas shrinks year on year. A recent survey of 7000
university staff found that two thirds were considering

Fig.1 Protesting job cuts at Goldsmiths, University of London

leaving higher education. In the UK currently postgraduate researchers who are funded for the duration of their
PhD are currently protesting the fact that their stipend
corresponds to a material existence below the poverty
line. In these circumstances, undertaking a PhD and embarking on a research career looks like a massive gamble
with the odds stacked against you, and as much as I recognise and respect the desire motivating people towardthat path, I would have to urge caution. That said, leaving
aside professionalised institutions and careers, I believe
cultivating a love of research and inquiry is an essential
element of the good life.
(September 2022)

Interview with

Bounthong Bouahom
Visiting Research Scholar of CSEAS from July – October 2022

Honesty and Perseverance:
Must-haves for a Researcher
CSEAS NEWSLETTER

Please tell us about your research.
My research while at CSEAS as a visiting research scholar is entitled“Natural Rubber Sustainable Development and Responsible
Investment in Laos.”No. 80058

Fig.1 Discussion with a rubber company from Vietnam

Due to increasing demand and subsequent high prices fornatural rubber, investment in rubber boomed in Laos during 20052015. The government granted land concessions for rubber production to Foreign Direct Investors (FDI) from China, Vietnam, andThailand, which significantly contributed to the development of

the industry. But many people keep asking the questions,“is this rubber industry fair for the local people and does it
contribute to export earnings for the government? Is theinvestment responsible? How much do smallholders benefit?”
How many research themes do you have?
I worked for almost 20 years at the National Agriculture
and Research Institute (NAFRI) as one of its co-founders.
The institute conducts agricultural and forestry research; I
led the implementation of the following four research programs: agriculture biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, productivity improvement, climate change adaptation, and agriculture policy research.
At present, I work for the Lao Rubber Association, advocating for equitable benefit sharing for small-scale rubber farmers. I also promote responsible investment to foreign rubber companies, encouraging them to consider
environmental protection and social welfare apart fromprofits alone.

How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?
Rubber development in Laos is led by FDI. Approximately
70 percent of rubber production areas in Laos are concessions granted to foreign companies; only 30 percent
of production areas are owned by smallholders.
Therefore, rubber production also causes many challenges for food security, land, labor, livelihoods, and theenvironment.
The rapid development of rubber production in
Laos outpaced the abilities of the government; it was
not ready or well prepared in advance for this development. The responsible authorities related to rubber
production also did not have adequate capacity and coordination.
Have you had any difficulties in putting together the results of your research into a research
paper or book?
It is very important to pose the appropriate and timely
questions to research. Data collection, data analysis,
and writing are all difficult when putting together a scientific research paper. Writing a research paper is aneffort of researchers to communicate with different audiences. Yet it is difficult to present research results forpolicymakers in a way that the research can be used informulating policies. In other words, policy uptake of
research results is an enduring challenge. Sciencepolicy dialogue is needed to close the gaps between
researchers and policymakers.
Can you share with us an episode about any
influential people, things, and places you haveencountered whilst doing your research?

Fig.1 (L to R) Vice Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Minister for Science and Technology,
Vice Prime Minister, Vice Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Bounthong Bouahom(author) at the 20th Anniversary ceremony of NAFRI.

Why do you find your research topic interesting?

All these factors pushed me to become a researcher and encouraged me to contribute to the establishment of a Lao national agriculture and forestry
research system. As a first step in this, I co-founded the
National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute(NAFRI) in 1999.
Which books or people have influenced you?
I first served as a civil servant in the Department ofLivestock and Fisheries. There, Mr. Singkham Phonvixay,
the Director General of the Department, mentored me
as a young staff, passing on valuable suggestions about

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

My aim is to use evidence-based research to contribute to sustainable and responsible rubber industry development in the country. Laos currently does not have a national rubber standard. This affects the price that is paid to
growers, particularly small farmers. In addition, Lao rubber
cannot be exported to countries that require a national
standard. Therefore, the foreign rubber companies use
their own country’s standard when exporting rubber fromLaos.

In rural areas of Laos, people are still poor and live
in difficult conditions, the biodiversity is under pressureof loss, the environment is challenged by illegal logging
and land-based investment. The policy of the government is to promote “Green Growth” and reduce thegaps between urban and rural development. But in real
life, the gaps between urban and rural livelihoods remain significant. The question is how can research contribute to improving rural livelihood in the country?

059

VISITOR’S VOICE

During the past two decades in Laos, Foreign Direct
Investment (with land concessions) in the mining, hydroelectric dam, and agriculture sectors has created tremendous pressure on the environment, resulting in biodiversity
loss, land degradation, and worsening climate change. Our
research on agriculture biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, productivity improvement, and climatechange adaptation is generating results and useful knowledge for society. We organize policy dialogues to deliver
the research results to policy makers.

When I was young and had just graduated from university, I had a chance to network with research colleagues,
senior researchers, and research institute representatives when attending regional and international meetings and conferences.

VISITOR’S VOICE
What would you say to people who want to become researchers?
Research is a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. Research is hard
work throughout the research cycle, from setting the research question, conducting a literature review, writing a
research proposal, seeking an appropriate researchmethodology, collecting and analyzing data, and writing a
research paper, to disseminating research results, ensuring research uptake, and utilizing research results.
Networking is also very important to discuss and exchange views with colleagues.
If you want to be a researcher, you should haveenough patience and enough energy. Dare to express
your evidence-based view and be ready to work for society, not for yourself.
holistic approaches to farming systems. I respect Dr. Ty
Phommasak, the founder of NAFRI, who mentored me inresearch strategy and vision. I also sincerely respect Dr.
Siene Saphangthong of the Ministry of Agriculture andForestry, who signed the agreement to establish NAFRI
and provided us useful guidance in research and research
management.
What is your ideal image of a researcher?
I think there is no 100 percent perfect researcher. I work
more with the adaptive research and I do not have achance to do basic research due to limited research facilities in the country.
Society often complains that researchers do research for themselves. The researcher should first pose
useful research questions and then try to answer thesequestions with appropriate methodology. The aim of researchers should not be to produce research papers
alone; they need to think about the use of the research
results for human beings.
What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?
In agriculture and forestry, field research is critical to generate knowledge, contribute to productivity, and increasesustainability. In-depth understanding of community, livelihood, agroecosystems, and surrounding environments
are vital for field research.
In some cases, research results and reports are
stored in the library without dissemination and some research findings are not disseminated in usable forms. Thisshould change.
What books can you recommend to a younger
people?
CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80060

Today the youth and researchers have better choices foraccessing information and books online through different
search engines. However, young people are currently using tools such mobile phones, the internet, and computers to play games and search information that is not useful. Younger people may have their own choice to read abook that they like. The most important thing you gainfrom reading a book is the knowledge you get from thebook and the key messages the writer wants to communicate and deliver.

But I think that the most important thing a researcher should have is the ethic to be honest and nevergive up.
What ambitions do you have for the future?
I would like to see more quality researchers and researchin Laos in the future. Believing that research is needed forknowledge generation, innovation, and ultimately, for theperspectives to grow the society and ensure the welfareof its citizens. The government should spend more on human resource development and research to generateknowledge and innovation, to contribute to national socio-economic development, and to reduce the exploitation of natural resources.
I am impressed with Kyoto University’s motto “freedom of academic culture.” This is the dream of a researcher—to be free to express their view.
I hope that researchers and policymakers will havemore dialogue in the future. The policy-making process
largely occurs without any research input or the supportof scientific evidence. In Laos today, socio-economic development policies and plans heavily depend on the exploitation of the country’s natural resources. This, coupled with improper management mechanisms and laws,
has created tremendously negative impacts on people’s
livelihoods and the environment. With these poor policy
outcomes becoming obvious over the past 20 years, policymakers and decision-makers are increasingly open toevidence-based recommendations and actively seek advice from researchers. Thus, I am hopeful that the science-policy nexus in Laos will gradually emerge and takeshape.
(July 2022)

Interview with

William Womack
Visiting Research Scholar of CSEAS from July – October 2022

Writing in a Connected World
Please tell us about your research.
During my time in Kyoto I am working on reframing my
PhD research project for publication. The initial projectfocused on the many writing systems that were introduced for Sgaw and Pwo Karen languages in Burma during the colonial period. A lot of writers had noted theimportance of the Sgaw Karen script introduced byAmerican Baptist missionaries in the 1830s, and the impact of the Baptist church organization on Karen political
identity later on. Others had noted that this helped toharden ethnopolitical and dialect categories. But I was
intrigued by the fact that even after Sgaw Karen literature
had developed, many other writing systems emerged andthat some were in direct competition with each other. So
in my thesis I set about recovering the stories of all ofthese scripts, framing them as overlapping networks ofliterate practice that drew on larger traditions of writing,all of which were tied to religious identities (Englishspeaking Baptists, Mon and Burmese and Karen-speaking
Buddhists, European Catholics, etc.). Now the academic
literature on politics of literacy, on colonial formatons ofreligion, on Karen history, and on describing social networks have all developed further since I wrote the thesis.
So I am trying to integrate these new ideas into my analysis.
How many research themes do you have?

Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?
Yes. I enjoy research and I like the process of writing. But it
is not easy for me to find the motivation to revise and edit.
Life keeps me busy with things that seem more urgent,and my research gets pushed aside. So it is helpful to havea dedicated space and period of time to focus on the process. CSEAS is a good place to do that and I am grateful to

061

Well I think most historians are bibliophiles. So choosing
to focus on books and written objects reflects that taste.
There are strong antiquarian and book-loving cultures in

At first I was interested in finding more about the background to armed ethnic conflict in Myanmar. I first became aware of that conflict when I visited the Thai/
Myanmar border after graduating from college. I ended
up staying there as a volunteer teacher in a Karen refugee
camp for an entire school term. I found that not much
had been written about Karen communities in Burma inthe 19th century. Most of it dealt with their participationin missionary institutions because that was well documented. But often it was the foreign missionaries or colonial interests on center stage and “the Karen” were largely passive participants in the story. So I wanted to find away to recover a history of that period that focused on
Karen people as agents, without minimizing the influences of missionaries, the colonial state, and the local contexts of Konbaung Burma and its frontiers.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Why do you find your research topic interesting?

How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?

VISITOR’S VOICE

Too many. One reason I am so keen to publish my work on
Karen writing is to put it behind me so I can work on otherprojects. Overall I am interested in historical connections
that transcend geographic space or national categories.
I’m particularly interested in how people in the 19th century began to experience the world as connected in newways, and the changes that came about as a result.
Maybe that’s just one big theme, but I am interested inmany different applications of it.

Myanmar, too, which makes it an interesting place forme. But on a deeper level, I think Myanmar is a place
where people have a keenly developed sense of history.
That has some good aspects and some bad ones as well.
Obviously competing versions of history can fuel conflict.
The violent displacement of the Rohingya population isjust one recent example of that. Of course this is a universal phenomenon, not confined to Myanmar or any particular place. So uncovering the ways that historical narratives shape human decisions, or are used to justify them,is not only interesting, I think it is a profoundly importantundertaking.

VISITOR’S VOICE
Prof. Hayami and everyone at the Center for inviting me.
Can you share with us an episode about any influential people, things, and places you have encountered whilst doing your research?
I was lucky to be able to travel a lot during my doctoral
research. Because the networks I was tracing led to different parts of the world, I found myself in libraries and archives from London to Mandalay to Mawlamyine to upstate New York. Some of my most vivid memories are ofplaces where the people I was researching lived—scenes
they too might have encountered. I remember a black
bear crossing the road in front of me while driving
through the Catskill mountains. I was on my way to
Hamilton, New York where Burmese and Sgaw Karen languages were first taught in the USA to Baptist missionaries in training in the 1830s. The language teachers there
were likely the first people from Myanmar to visit
America. They might even qualify as the world’s first visiting scholars in Southeast Asian Studies. Maybe they encountered an ancestor of “my” bear while making thesame journey. Who knows?
Another scene I remember was framed in the window of
the overnight train from Yangon to Mandalay. Throughthe haze of early morning I began to make out the shapeof wooden bullock carts piled high with sugar cane coming across the fields. As we rolled along, more and more
appeared as the sun rose behind them. At last we stopped
at a station where dozens of them were unloading beside
the track. Each moment of that looked like a tableau that
could have been painted a hundred years ago or more. In
Paris I remember looking up from manuscripts at theMissions Étrangères archive. Across from me the windows framed a view of the Eiffel Tower and the golden
dome of Les Invalides, above the cloistered garden of theseminary. The Catholic fathers who came to teach in
Burma might have recalled the same sight when they encountered the golden domes and hti of Burmese pagodas. These experiences provided me with a real sense of
the places behind the documents I was reading.
Which books or people have influenced you?
Many people have shaped my thinking but if I had to pick
one it would be Prof. Richard O’Connor. I took his introductory course in Anthropology as an undergraduate,
then went back for his Southeast Asia course. That course
first opened my eyes to the region and led me to explore
it further. He also told me about the SEASSI summer lan-

guage program, where I began studying Burmese. I remember reading some of his work after finishing my MAthesis. It was an article I had never read before but it
seemed oddly familiar. I was surprised to find that someof the ideas that I thought were my own were really ones
I had absorbed from his class. One book that influenced
my thinking about historiography was William Roff’s The
Origins of Malay Nationalism. It drew my attention to theinterplay of people, publications, and ideas in global networks of association. I suppose I am still thinking along
those lines.
What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?
Coffee, maps, and a legal pad. Zotero is very useful for me
as well.
What books can you recommend to younger
people?
One of my favorite history books is A History of the World
in Six Glasses by Tom Standage. It unfolds histories thatspan the globe in a way that is readable and grounded ineveryday things that people can relate to.
For students looking to improve their academic writing,I recommend Graff and Birkenstien’s They Say / I Say.
What ambitions do you have for the future?
I’d like to find a nifty way to visualize the historical networks that I describe in my writing. More and more digital
tools are being developed for this, but none that I havefound yet that show enough complexity. I guess my ambition is to hang around long enough for the technology tocatch up with my imagination, unless I can figure out away to do it first.
(August 2022)
References
Roff, William R. 1968. The Origins of Malay Nationalism. New Haven:
Yale University Press.
Standage, Tom. 2006. A History of the World in Six Glasses. New York:Walker Publishing Company.
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. 2021. They Say/ I Say: The
Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, Fifth edition. New
York: W. W. Norton & Company.

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80062

Interview withPatricia May Bantug Jurilla
Visiting Research Scholar of CSEAS from August 2022 – January 2023

Writing Books about Books
Please tell us about your research.
My research is on the survival of early Philippine books,
an area that has not been given full attention in Philippine
book history. I am conducting case studies on five books
printed in Manila during the 17th century. In each casestudy (or for each book), I examine the book’s initial creation and reception, its dormant period, and its emergence as a rare book when it gained new importanceamong collectors and scholars. Through these studies,
I hope to provide more information and insights on 17thcentury publishing in the Philippines, the reception ofbooks throughout the ages, and the culture of collecting
in modern times. Ultimately, I aim to further the understanding of the survival of Philippine books in general andto contribute to Philippine historiography.
How many research themes do you have?
The main theme of my current research, which is the survival of books, naturally flows into other streams of study,
such as book manufacturing and preservation, print culture, colonialism and post-colonialism, collection studies,and digital humanities.
My previous work on Philippine book history was on
20th-century literary publishing, Tagalog bestsellers, andthe novel in the Philippines.

I traveled a long route to arrive at book history. I started
in journalism, but found that I was not suited to it. I thenmoved to literary studies, which I became competentenough in, but which I tired of at some point. Eventually,
I found out via the Internet that there is this field called‘the History of the Book.’ I quickly recognized that it was
the best-of-both-worlds spot that I didn’t know I waslooking for, the discipline where my training and experiences in journalism and literary studies could come together and where my desire to feel and smell books
would not seem odd. I began with postgraduate studies
in book history, reading and studying countless books inthe process, and became a book historian.
My current research sprang from idly scouring therare book catalogues of antiquarian booksellers and national libraries (mainly the British Library) for fun when
I was in postgraduate school. While doing random searches on Philippine books, I would inevitably get to wondering: how in the world did these books get to where they
are? Having exhausted the materials from my PhD workand being exhausted by its subject already, I wanted towork on something else and thought that I should finallyaddress the question about the rare old books of thePhilippines that had long baffled and fascinated me.
Fig.1

063

Happy to have in my hands
the Boxer Codex, a 16thcentury manuscript produced in Manila that now inthe collection of the Lilly
Library, Indiana University.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Books have stories to tell beyond their subjects and contents. Each stage in the life of a book—its authorship,
publication, distribution, reception, and survival—involves many persons, interactions, and events that exist
amid the social, cultural, and political currents of theirtime. Book histories uncover complex human stories andincidents that connect to culture and society. For example, the story of why a famous and prolific poet-playwright, nearing death, forbade his children from becoming writers, claiming that it would be better to have theirhands cut off than to follow in his footsteps; or the storyof how a self-published novelist borrowed money fromfriends and family and moved to a city where printing wascheaper, yet his books eventually inspired a national revo-

How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?

VISITOR’S VOICE

Why do you find your research topic interesting?

lution; or the story of how one country’s presidential decree ignored all international copyright laws, making it
quite unpopular with foreign publishers and authors. I am
fascinated by stories of books because there is no lack ofdrama, comedy, and tragedy in them and because I learn
so much from them about creativity, conviction, and, ultimately, the human condition.

VISITOR’S VOICEof one’s research area, but recognizes, is unfazed by, anddoes not resent that there happens to be a world outsideof it that does not always understand or care.
What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?

Fig.1 My case study number three: Arte de la lengva iloca, printed in
1627. Copy of the British Library.

MacBook Pro for research and writing, iPad for reading
digital books and documents, iPhone for taking photos
and scanning pages, tape measure, white cotton gloves(because some libraries still insist on the use of such forhandling rare books when actually this should not be necessary anymore), a good old-fashioned analogue notebook, unruled index cards, pencils, and wet wipes.
What would you say to people who want to become researchers?
Go for it! Seek the truth through research, then tell it andprotect it. And always be kind to your books.
What ambitions do you have for the future?
Mainly, to be able to write more books about books.
Generally, to keep battling against historical revisionism,
negation, and ignorance, especially in the Philippines.

Fig.2 My case study number four: Vocabulario de Iapon, printed in

1630. Copy of the Lilly Library,Indiana University.Indiana University.

Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?
Research and writing are never easy for me, but I immensely enjoy doing both, perhaps precisely because
I find them challenging. In research, the most common
obstacle I come across is the inaccessibility or unavailability of data. This is because records are not always made orpreserved well in the Philippines and because Philippine
books do not always survive all too well either. In writing,my process has a rhythm of its own, one that seems to
defy all circadian patterns, so the difficulty for me is finding the time, place, and conditions conducive to letting
this rhythm run freely and fully.
Which books or people have influenced you?
For my grounding in the History of the Book, the works ofRobert Darnton, the model of Thomas R. Adams andNicolas Barker, the lectures of D. F. McKenzie on the ‘sociology of texts,’ Jerome J. McGann’s critique of textual criticism, and Benedict Anderson’s concept of ‘imagined community.’

CSEAS NEWSLETTER

For my studies on Philippine book history, the bibliographies of Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, W. E. Retana, José
Toribio Medina, and the works of Damiana L. Eugenio, Resil
B. Mojares, Regalado Trota Jose, Vicente S. Hernández, andAmbeth R. Ocampo.
What is your ideal image of a researcher?

No. 80I imagine the ideal researcher, specifically one in the
Humanities, to be constantly curious, courageous, andtireless in the search for truth; highly articulate in speaking and writing; compassionate and empathetic; and always honest and ethical. Also, one who thinks the world(September 2022)
References
Adams, Thomas R. and Nicolas Barker. 2001. A New Model for the
Study of the Book. In A Potencie of Life: Books in Society,edited by Nicolas Barker, pp. 5–43. London: British Library;
New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press.
Anderson, Benedict. 1981. Imagined Communities: Reflections on
the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, revised ed. London
and New York: Verso.
Darnton, Robert. 1982. “What Is the History of Books?” Daedalus
111 (3): 65–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20024803.
Eugenio, Damiana L. 1987. Awit and Corrido: Philippine Metrical
Romances. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
Hernández, Vicente S. 1996. History of Books and Libraries in thePhilippines 1521–1900. Manila: National Commission for
Culture and the Arts.
Jose, Regalado Trota. 1993. Impreso: Philippine Imprints 1593–1811.
Makati: Fundación Santiago and Ayala Foundation.
McGann, Jerome J. 1983. A Critique of Modern Textual Criticism.
Chicago and London: Chicago University Press. Reprint,
Charlottesville and London: University of Virginia Press,
1992.
McKenzie, D. F. 1986. Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts. London: British Library. Reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Medina, José Toribio. 1896. La imprenta en Manila desde sus origenes hasta 1810. Santiago de Chile: Impreso y grabado en
casa del autor. Reprint, Amsterdam: N. Israel, 1964.
Mojares, Resil B. 1998. Origins and Rise of the Filipino Novel: A
Generic Study of the Novel Until 1940, 2nd ed. Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press.
Ocampo, Ambeth R. 1990. Rizal Without the Overcoat, 2-3. Pasig
City: Anvil Publishing.
Pardo de Tavera, Trinidad H. 1903. Biblioteca Filipina. In Bibliography of the Philippine Islands. Washington: Government
Printing Office. Reprint, Manila: National Historical Institute,
1994.
Retana, W. E. 1911. Origenes de la imprenta en Filipinas. Madrid:
Librería General de Victoriano Suárez.

064

Interview with

Herman Hidayat

Visiting Research Scholar of CSEAS fromSeptember 2022 – November 2022

Sustainable peatland management:
Critical for reducing global warming
Please tell us about your research.
My main areas of research are in forest policy and political ecology, and Peat Swamp land management. I and ourgroup at the National Research and Innovation Agency ofIndonesia (BRIN) carried out fieldwork on peatland management from 2017-2019. The first set of fieldwork observed and studied the role of various stakeholders involved in peatland management in Pulang Pisau District(2017) and Kapuas District (2018) in Central Kalimantan.
The second set of fieldwork focused on the participationof local people in peatland management (see Figs.1-2).
These research findings aimed to provide recommendations to the government, through Bappenas (Badan
Perencanaan dan Pembangunan Nasional/Ministry of
National Agency of Planning and Development), to address the disastrous forest fires that occurred in 2015 (Fig.
3). These fires were one of Indonesia’s biggest natural disasters and they created large amounts of CO2 emissions,inviting concern and criticism from across the world.
How many research themes do you have?

trict, Central Kalimantan

Fig.2 Canal blocked by Dayak Kahayan villagers and transmigrants from Java to prevent water from flooding gardens when flowing to the small river in Simpur
Village, Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan

Fig.4 Paddy rice storage of indigenous people

065

Fig.3 Forest fires in peatland area of Pulang Pisau District, Central Kalimantan

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

Fig.1 A big canal in the peatland area of Tumbang Nusa Village, Palangka Raya Dis-VISITOR’S VOICE

In 2022, we had two research themes. The first theme issocial forestry, particularly the partnerships between private companies and local people in village social forestry
programs. Fieldwork for this research was conducted in
Segah Subdistrict, Berau District, East Kalimantan, in May
2022. The second theme is the customary rights of indigenous people in managing their forests.[1] We conducted
fieldwork for this research in Rantau Kermas, Jangkat
Subdistrict, Merangin District, Jambi Province in June
2022 (Fig.4). Both topics are necessary to fully understand the role of indigenous people, NGOS (such as WWF,VISITOR’S VOICE
Jakalahari, and Warsi), and private companies in managing forests and non-timber products (NTFPs), such as rattan (Figure 5) and medicinal and other plants.
These themes also provide insights into the utilization, production, and distribution of NTFPs in economic,
social, and ecological spheres.
Ultimately, we want to assess the national social
forestry program, to monitor and evaluate the extent ofpolicy implementation in the field and its strengths andweaknesses. Based on temporary findings, its strength isthe ‘’synergetic” cooperation among government institutions and other stakeholders (NGOs, academics, local
people, etc.). Meanwhile, one weakness is a lack of cooperation among multiple stakeholders to provide sufficientcredit and training in management, human development,
production, and marketing. From this perspective, we cansee that the focus when implementing social forestry
should be supporting local people. Our current researchof the social forestry program is very relevant to working
hand in hand with peatland management programs at
the village (Desa), subdistrict (Kecamatan), and provincial
level to mitigate poverty and ensure a sustainable future.
Why do you find your research topic interesting?

Fig.5 Rattan plantation in a customary forest rights area
Fig.6 A Village Forest is to empower of economic and social local people andto maintain forest conservation

Social Forestry is a national program to economically, socially, and ecologically empower local people, especiallythose who live in and beside forest areas (Fig. 6). Local
people and other stakeholders participate in conservation programs to sustainably manage forests. Since its
launch in 2016, the program has designated 12.5 million
hectares of forest as social forestry areas. According to
the registered National Statistics of 2021, ten percent ofpoor people, who mainly live in villages in or near forest
areas (25-30 million people), are unable to manage forest
resources. The economic potential of forest resources accessed through social forestry schemes (such as Village
forests (Hutan Desa), Community forestry (Hutan
Kemasyarakatan), Community forest plantations (Hutan
Tanaman Rakyat), Customary forests (Hutan Adat), andForest Partnerships (Hutan Kemitraan), is significant to
reducing poverty. During 2011-2016, 2.5 million hectares
were designated for social forestry from the total area of
12.7 million hectares. One main challenge to implementing social forestry is the process of re-centralization thatis now taking place due to law 23/2014. The law shifts theinstitutional structure from the district to the provincial
level with the creation of a Forest Management Unit
(FMU). It also realigns the bureaucratic network, drawing
out the process so that the very final decision about asocial forestry proposal rests in the hands of the central
government, specifically the Ministry of Environment andForestry’s Directorate General of Social Forestry, in
Jakarta (Fisher, M.R., et al. 2018: 350).

CSEAS NEWSLETTER

How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?

No. 80066

The research agenda began by observing the real conditions of local people who live in areas bordering forests,
who amount to more than 10 percent of Indonesia’s population. We adopted the current research themes to become more aware, to study, educate, facilitate, and toempower local people for their economic, social, andecological advancement, because their performance issignificant to the whole of Indonesia.
Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?
Yes, frankly speaking I have found it difficult to put theresults of my research into a research policy paper, both
domestically and internationally, and to produce a book.
This is related to insufficient data due to lack of time in
the research field, insufficient funding, insufficient budget allocations for payments in international journals, andlack of appropriate methodologies.
Can you share with us an episode about any influential people, things, and places you have encountered whilst doing your research?
II have interviewed many impressive people while conducting fieldwork, including the heads of villages, tradersof forest resources, businessmen, local people, and NGO
workers. I have listened to their experiences in managing
forest resources and distributing forest products to district and provincial trading markets. In this sense, social
forestry in peatland areas has encouraged me to strive toimplement wisdom and to integrate idealism and action
research. If this can be realized, programs that target economic, social and ecological empowerment of local people can mitigate global warming due to climate change.
Which books or people have influenced you?
Relating to peatland and social forestry management,
books that have influenced me include Gambut dan
Pengetahuan Ekologi Tradisional (edited by RobertSiburian), Tropical Peatland Eco-Management (byMitsuru Osaki et al.), and Catastrophe and Regenerationin Indonesia’s Peatlands (by Kosuke Mizuno et al.). Social
forestry books and articles by Ari Rakatama et al., M.R.
Fisher et al., and Hans Nicholas Jong have been influential
as well (see references).
What is your ideal image of a researcher?

(October 2022)
Note
1

For further explanation, see Hidayat, H. 2018. “Forests, Law
and Customary Rights in Indonesia,” in Asia Pacific Viewpoint Journal. Number 59 (3): 293-308.

References
Ananta Toer, Pramudya. 1980. Bumi Manusia. Jakarta: Gramedia
Press.
Fisher, M.R., et al. 2018. “Assessing the New Social Forestry Projectin Indonesia: Recognition, Livelihood, and Conservation,”International Forestry Review Journal, Vol. 20 (3).
Hidayat, Herman. 2016. Forest Resources Management in Indonesia:
A Political Ecology Approach. Singapore: Springer Press.
Hidayat, Herman. 2018. Sustainable Plantation Forestry: Problems,
Challenges and Solutions. Singapore: Springer Press.
Hidayat, Herman. 2018. “Forests, Law and Customary Rights in Indonesia: Implications of a Decision of the Indonesian Court in2012,” Asia Pacific Viewpoint Journal, Number 59 (3):293-308.
Hidayat, Herman, et al. 2022. “Contribution of Sumalindo Company
to Local People: Livelihood, Forest Conservation Programand Climate Change Mitigation”, Journal of Environmental
Science and Engineering, Volume 11, Number 4, JulyAugust, pp. 111-124.
Jassanoff, Sheila. 2004. Earthly Politics: Local and Global in Environmental Governance. USA: MIT Press.
Mizuno, Kosuke, et al. 2016. Catastrophe and Regeneration in Indonesia’s Peatlands: Ecology, Economy and Society. Singapore:
NUS Press in Association with Kyoto University Press, Japan.
Nicholas Jong, Hans. 2022. “Community Control of Forests hasn’t
Slowed Deforestation, Indonesia Study Finds,” Indonesian
Forests, 4 January.
Osaki, Mitsuru, et al. 2021. Tropical Peatland Eco-Management. Singapore: Springer Press.
Rakatama, Ari, et al. 2020. “Reviewing Social Forestry in Indonesia:
Opportunities and Challenges,” Forest Policy and Economics
Journal, Vol. 11, February.
Pulhin, Juan, et al. 2021. Climate Change, Disaster Risks, and Human
Security. Singapore: Springer Press.
Siburian, Robert (ed). 2020. Gambut dan Pengetahuan Ekologi
Tradisional: Kebijakan, Degradasi, dan Restorasi. Jakarta:
Yayasan Pustaka Obor Press.

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To read widely enhances the spirit and inspires you towrite articles and books. Certainly, if you wish to be a pro-

LI aim to be a real scientist of a specific discipline. I hopeto publish in international and domestic books and journals, to contribute to the scientific discourse, to educate
and socialize scientific transformation for future young
generations. As you know, the destiny of every nation depends not only on their spirit, but also mastering science,technology, economics, and military science.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

What books can you recommend to a younger
people?

What ambitions do you have for the future?

VISITOR’S VOICE

Research is a profession. To become a professional researcher, a person should master concepts, theories, andtechniques of research into a methodological framework.
To master a methodological framework, a researcher
should graduate from a doctorate program in a university.
Following this, a visiting scholarship can help a researcher
establish partnerships and extend networks with a rangeof colleagues and home scholars. Researchers may apply
to some research institutes to help them publish their research and eventually publish a book and articles in domestic and international journals. The Indonesian novelist and essayist Pramudya Ananta Toer said in his a famousnovel Bumi Manusia (1980), “publishing a book is an eternal work, as it will be read and it is understood to becomea social transformation for young generations in the future.”

fessional scientist, you must practice disciplined studies
to extend your views and perspectives, for instance in thesocial sciences, natural sciences, human sciences, applied
technology, and information technology. To expand thehuman science perspective, I recommend, among others,
Catastrophe and Regeneration in Indonesia’s Peatland by
Kosuke Mizuno et al., Climate Change, Disaster Risks, andHuman Security by Juan M. Pulhin et al., and Earthly
Politics: Local and Global in Environmental Governance by
Sheila Jassanoff.

VISITOR’S VOICEInterview with

Rataya Phanomwan Na Ayuttaya
Visiting Research Scholar of CSEAS from September 2022 – January 2023

Exploring the Wisdom of the Departed
Please tell us about your research.
My work as a visiting research scholar at CSEAS is titled“Cremation Volumes in Thailand: A Case Study of theThammasat University Library Collection, Thailand.” Forseven years, I have worked with the Thammasat University
Library Rare Books Collection, which includes Thai funeralbooks. I provide information resources to researchers,
among them postgraduate students and instructors. In
addition to the usual responsibilities of reshelving books
and providing materials upon request, librarians mustalso guide and counsel users. The memorial volumes I
work with have been digitized and uploaded to theThammasat University Digital Collection database (TUDC).
Containing folklore, recipes, medical advice, personal anecdotes, and other information of sociological and historical interest, these funeral volumes are invaluable resources. By examining and analyzing biographical aspectsof the subjects, illustrations, and contents, unique elements of Thai culture are revealed. The goal of the research is to provide useful information and assistance tofellow librarians as well as scholars interested in the social
sciences and related matters.
How many research themes do you have?
The main theme is the concept of the library, information,and documentation studies. In addition, I am working on
newspaper scanning and microfilm conversion as topics
of interest. I am also researching the preservation andconservation of library materials, and exploring user behavior as well as user experience with library services.

sources. Sometimes surprising or revelatory narratives as
uncovered in the volumes.
How did you get started in your research andhow did you come to focus on your current research?
The official vision statement of the Thammasat University
Library is to be an organization promoting ubiquitous
learning and research anywhere, anytime. We are currently transferring printed materials into digital format.
Academic works, journals, and textbooks by TU lecturers
and students are being processed. My research beganwith checking book duplication before digitizing. Most
Thai memorial booklets contain sections entitled Wisdomof the Departed. I have examined over 7,000 volumes
with the help of colleagues, compiling a data set with theaim of making this information available to users. In thisway, librarianship can enhance the knowledge of researchers.
Have you had any difficulties in putting together
the results of your research into a research paper or book?
As a full-time librarian for many years, exploring books
and reading and collecting data are pleasurable activities.
Difficulties in research and writing sometimes arise related to English writing abilities, which are a work-in-progress for most Thai university staff, including most professors.

CSEAS NEWSLETTER
No. 80Why do you find your research topic interesting?

What is your must-have gear for field research
and writing?

Cremation volumes are seen as a significant resource forstudying Thai history. Researchers use them as a reference in their published works. These funeral books generally consist of three principal parts: a biography, individual content, and memorial speeches by relatives andfriends. Each section contains unique characteristics foranalysis. Illustrations, especially photos of the subjects
and their families, as well as maps, can be precious re-

Since I work by exploring e-books in a database, a fast andstable internet connection is the most necessary element. Web OPAC and library online databases are essential sources of information. I use a laptop with a large external screen for searching and writing and an iPhone formaking quick notes. Less formal but necessary gear include my eyes, contact lenses, aromatherapy scents, anda clear mind.

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What books can you recommend to a younger
people?

What would you say to people who want to become librarians?

Among introductory books about historical research thattarget younger readers, I recommend the new study
Thailand, A Struggle For The Nation by Charnvit Kasetsiri.
This is a basic introduction to modern Thai history by adistinguished Thai historian who is former rector ofThammasat University. Our library is honored to be therecipient of Professor Charnvit’s personal library, which is
shelved in a special room and is available in circulating
form for our students. Books from the personal library of
another distinguished historian, Benedict Anderson, arealso part of this collection. Another title that I recommend was originally written for the benefit of Japanese
students, A Life Beyond Boundaries: A Memoir by Benedict
Anderson.

It is thought that most librarians choose their profession
because they love books. However, librarians must deal
with many subjects apart from books. Problem-solving isan essential skill. A librarian’s work varies according to theorganization. School librarians should encourage children
to love reading. University or special library jobs can be
more complex, requiring skills not previously imaginedthat lead to continual intellectual and emotional self-improvement. Librarians are essential for readers to achieve
their goals. You will be proud to see achievements by students and other researchers that you have helped.

What is your ideal image of a librarian?
At the Thammasat University Library, many senior librarians might serve as role models, whose dedication andprofessionalism I respect. I think of them when I suggestthat for librarians, reader satisfaction must be the top priority. Technical librarians must provide precise and accurate cataloging to make library resources easily retrievable and meet user needs. To achieve good service,service-mindedness is necessary. Librarians should treat
all readers with high-level customer service, surpassing
expectations. They must seek and evaluate resources tomaintain library collections for supporting different fieldsof study. In addition, it is vital to clearly respond to research questions and recommend pertinent data sources.

What ambitions do you have for the future?
I hope to continue microfilming and digitizing back-issue
newspapers, as these resources are quickly deteriorating
due to temperature, humidity, and related issues. In addition, I hope to boost inter-library cooperation to improve
service levels, share information resources, and promotelearning by exchanging work experiences related to sustainable organizational development. As librarians, we
can contribute to educational quality, making every day a
happy day.
(September 2022)
References
Charnvit Kasetsiri. 2022. Thailand: A Struggle for the Nation. Singapore: ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.
Anderson, Benedict R. O’G. (Benedict Richard O’Gorman). 2018. A
Life Beyond Boundaries: A Memoir. London: Verso.

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University

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VISITOR’S VOICECSEAS Newsletter No. 80 (2022)
Editors: Takamichi Serizawa and Kisho Tsuchiya© 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
https://kyoto.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/
ISSN 2185-663X