bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reversible physiological transdifferentiation in the adipose organ
Authors: Cinti Saverio
Published: August 2009

All mammals are provided with two distinct adipose cells, white and brown adipocytes. White adipocytes store lipids to provide fuel to the organism, allowing intervals between meals. Brown adipocytes use lipids to produce heat. Previous descriptions have implied their localization in distinct sites of the body; however, it has been demonstrated that they are present together in many depots, which has led to the new concept of the adipose organ. In order to explain their coexistence the hypothesis of reversible physiological transdifferentiation has been developed, i.e. they are contained together because they are able to convert, one into the other. In effect, if needed the brown component of the organ could increase at the expense of the white component and vice versa. This plasticity is important because the brown phenotype of the organ is associated with resistance to obesity and its related disorders. A new example of reversible physiological transdifferentiation of adipocytes is offered by the mammary gland during pregnancy, lactation and post-lactation stages. The gravidic hormonal stimulus seems to trigger a transdifferentiation of adipocytes into milk-producing and secreting epithelial glands. In the post-lactation period some of the epithelial cells of the mammary gland seem to transdifferentiate into adipocytes. Recent unpublished results suggest that explanted adipose tissue, as well as explanted isolated mature adipocytes, is able to transdifferentiate into glands with epithelial markers of milk-secreting mammary glands. These findings, if confirmed, seem to suggest new windows into the cell biology frontiers of adipocytes.
Functional norms for Young towers
Authors: DEMERS MARK F.
Published: August 2009

We introduce functional norms for hyperbolic Young towers which allow us to directly study the transfer operator on the full tower. By eliminating the need for secondary expanding towers commonly employed in this context, this approach simplifies and expands the analysis of this class of Markov extensions and the underlying systems for which they are constructed. As an example, we prove large-deviation estimates with a uniform rate function for a large class of non-invariant measures and show how to translate these to the underlying system.
Malay Nationalism, 1896–1941
Authors: Soenarno Radin
Published: August 2009

The political concept of the Malays was essentially a product of the society they lived in. Before the British intervened in the Malay States in 1874, the Malay society was a feudal society par excellence. The Ruler, known as the Sultan, was eminently feudal and autocratic. He was responsible to none. He was assisted, in his capacity as Ruler, by senior and minor chiefs whose number varied from State to State. For example, in Pahang, there were four Major Chiefs, known as Orang Besar Ber-Empat. Under them there were the Orang Besar Lapan, the Eight Chiefs, and this group was followed by that of sixteen and thirty two. This was essentially a Hindu political pattern. In other Malay States this regular arrangement did not exist, but the main principle remained, namely, that there ran in descending order, from the Sultan downwards to the Penghulu, the village headman, an absolute autocracy. Each chief or Penghulu in his respective capacity was a sultan miniature.
In Quest of Kalah
Authors: Fatimi S. Q.
Published: August 2009

Kalah was the earliest recorded settlement of Muslims in this part of the world, and from Arab and Persian descriptions of it from the middle of the ninth to that of the fourteenth century, it was undoubtedly an important port in South East Asia.

But where was it actually located? The problem has baffled some of the best minds of the east and the west. It has been debated since 1718. During this long period eminent historians, geographers, Arabicists, Indologists and Sinologists have made an effort at solving the riddle, but at best they have succeeded only partially. Earlier attempts at identification were very much wide of the mark. Abbe Renaudot (1718) who initiated the debate identified it with Malabar, while Gildemeister (1838) located it in Coromandel, and Reinaud (1845) equated it with Galle in Ceylon. Alfred Maury (1846) was the first to realise that the search for it must be made in the Malaysian region and he suggested Kedah. Walckenear (1852) made this equation famous by accepting it in his commentary on the story of Sindbad the sailor. P. A. van der Lith (1883–6) gave massive support to it in his elaborate and erudite discussion on the subject in his annotation and edition of Buzurg bin Shahriyār'sBook of the Marvels of the Indies. It seemed that van der Lith had clinched the issue by getting the philological support from no less an eminent authority on the subject than M. Kern, who stated that the Malay d was pronounced very like an Arab 1. And then followed a galaxy of great Arabicists, like de Goeje (1889) and G. Le Strange (1905) all of whom accepted this equation. Pelliot (1901) and other Sinologists, and Coedes (1918) and other Indologists found it handy in their own search of Malaysian place-names.
Contemporary Philippine Historians and Philippine History
Authors: Carroll John
Published: August 2009

Currently two historical societies exist in the Philippines, the Kapisanang Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas (Philippine Historical Association) and the Philippine National Historical Society. Each of these organizations sponsors a journal. The Kapisanang Pangkasaysayan issues the Historical Bulletin, formerly entitled Buletin ng Samahang Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas and Buletin ng Kapisanang Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, in English, Tagalog, and Spanish; and the Historical Society publishes The Journal of History, formerly called the Journal of the Philippines Historical Society, in English. Other scholarly journals that from time to time contain articles about Philippine and Southeast Asian history are the Ateneo de Manila's Philippine Studies, the University of Manila's Journal of East Asiatic Studies, the University of the Philippines' Philippine Social Sciences and Humanities Review, Silliman University's Silliman Journal, Centro Escolar University's Graduate and Faculty Studies, the Universidad de Santo Tomás' Unitas, and the Philippine Sociological Society's Philippine Sociological Review. Moreover, Philippine newspapers — notably the Philippines Free Press, the Fookien Times, Sunday Chronicle, Daily Mirror, and The Sunday Times Magazine — feature some historical essays. All of these publications are in English except Unitas, which is in both Spanish and English, and the Fookien Times, which is in Chinese and English.
Britain's Intervention in Malaya: The Origin of Lord Kimberley's Instructions to Sir Andrew Clarke in 1873
Authors: MacIntyre D.
Published: August 2009

It is well known that British political control in the Malay States began with the Pangkor agreement of January 1874, which was soon followed by the appointment of the first Resident in Perak. The Earl of Kimberley's famous instructions' of 20 September 1873 have generally been accepted as providing the basis for this new phase in the history of Malaya and of the British empire. Sir Andrew Clarke was told that the conduct of Britain's relations with the Malay States which were not subject to Siamese influence, would be an important part of his duties as governor. Since growing anarchy was injuring trade and British interests generally, the government had to consider whether it could do anything to improve matters in the States. Although the British government had no desire to interfere in the affairs of the Peninsula, said Kimberley, Clarke should inquire into the condition of each state and report any steps which the Straits government could take to restore peace and to protect trade. Kimberley also added the often-quoted words:

“I would wish you especially to consider whether it would be advisable to appoint a British Officer to reside in any of the Malay States. Such an appointment would only be made with the full consent of the native government.…”
American Colonial Policy Towards the Philippines
Authors: McHale Thomas R.
Published: August 2009

American entry into the ranks of colonial powers as an aftermath of the Spanish American War was sudden, unexpected, and, chronologically speaking, late in the game of colonial empire building. Prior to the last decade of the 19th century, United States had shown no lack of territorial acquisitiveness, but national expansion was exclusively in terms of organic growth of the whole nation. There was no interest in, nor attempts at building a “colonial empire” along conventional lines in which territories and their inhabitants were placed “permanently” under control but not under a shared set of political institutions. Up to 1898, all “civilized” inhabitants of new territories were immediately given the status of United States citizens with all rights and privileges thereof.
The use of Dutch Material for South-East Asian Historical Writing
Authors: Arasaratnam S.
Published: August 2009

A glance at a bibliography of the history of the Vereenigde Oost Indische Campagnie is sufficient to give one an idea of the treasure house of source material that must be extant to have made possible studies of such wide and varied nature. Those who have even a nodding acquaintance with this material will confirm that even more is waiting to be explored. From a study of the use to which this material has been put in the writing of history and from my own personal experience in their use, I shall set down in the following pages some comments on the nature and characteristics of the Company's records. Though my examples will, in the main, be taken from the South Asian region, it is hoped that the general observations will be of wider application.
The Origin of the Javanese Mosque
Authors: de Graaf H.J.
Published: August 2009

The difficulties when making an investigation into the origin of Jaranese mosques are numerous. Owing to the limited durability of the material from which they are made – in the majority of cases of wood – the remains of old mosques are rare. There are no pictures from the 16th century; from the 17th century we have only a couple; from the 18th century hardly any. In the 19th century we find more of them.
The Coming of Islam to North Sumatra
Authors: Hill A. H.
Published: August 2009

Long before the time of Majapahit there had been small communities of Arab merchants living in South East Asia. Groeneveldt (1880, 14–5) quotes a Chinese source dated 674 A.D. as mentioning an Arab settlement which he believed was on the west coast of Sumatra. By 915 Arab traders had sailed across the Bay of Bengal and discovered a large trade market south of the Isthmus of Kra. But by 1300 Islam had begun to appear east of India as a proselytizing force. Its power was to bring about the downfall of Majapait two centuries later, and politically to change the face of South East Asia.
The Uniqueness of Philippine Nationalism
Authors: Milne R. S.
Published: August 2009

This article is intended as a ‘footnote’, written from the political science point of view, to more comprehensive accounts of the subject. Its main concern is to underline some respects in which Philippine nationalism is atypical in Southeast Asia. It is not proposed to define nationalism. Many definitions seem to fall into one of two groups, the unsatisfyingly general or the (still unsatisfying)determinedly specific. An example of the former is that nationalism consists in “on one side the love of a common soil, race, language or historical culture…” This immediately prompts the question, “which soil, which race etc.”? The latter group is exemplified by the definition of Karl W. Deutsch, which is based on the existence of “complementary habits and facilities of communication.”
The “Kim Eng Seng”
Authors: Tarling Nicholas
Published: August 2009

An interesting episode in the development of British relations with Malaya, and in particular with Trengganu, is that of the jumk “Kim Eng Seng”.
A Note on the Founding of Singapore
Authors: Winstedt Richard
Published: August 2009

In both versions of the Malay Annals the founder of Singapore is a prince of Indian descent who had been given the throne of Palembang by a chief with the corrupt name of Demang Lebar Daun, and both versions make this chief a descendant of a Raja Shulan. Shulan is generally taken to be a corruption of Chola, but if Demang Lebar Daun were a Chola, it would mean that the Indian dynasty which ruled Palembang (or Śri Vijaya)was installed after 1025, the date of the first Chola raid on that country. In fact Palembang bore the Indian name of Sri Vijaya and had rulers with Sanskrit titles as early as the time of the Buddhist monk I-tsing, who stayed there for six months in 671 A.D. to study Sanskrit. Demang Lebar Daun, whatever his correct name, must have been an aboriginal chief who welcomed Indian rule and Indian trade.
Malacca's Early Kings and the Reception of Islam
Authors: Wake Christopher H.
Published: August 2009

The sources for the early history of Malacca are so meagre, and often so contradictory, that not only is the detail in some doubt but the whole framework of events rests on an uncertain foundation. Dates ranging from the middle of the fifteenth century back to the eighth have at various times been proposed for the foundation of Malacca, and considerable uncertainty has surrounded both the identity and sequence of the early kings and the time and manner of their conversion to Islam. As a result of evidence which has come to light within the last thirty years, notably the Suma Oriental of Tomé Pires and a partially deciphered inscription, from Sumatra, the current view of the early history of Malacca differs materially from that which was generally held before the second world war. Whereas it was then believed that there were four kings before Sultan Muzaftar Shah and that two or three of them were severally converted to Islam, it is now held that there were only three kings and only one conversion, and that this took place in the reign of the first king, about the year 1414. In view of the nature of the evidence upon which this latest interpretation rests it will be useful to review the king-list and the question of the conversion in some detail.
A Spanish Sidelight on “Siamese” White and Francis Davenport
Authors: Cummins J. S.
Published: August 2009

A brief but interesting glimpse of Samuel White, the Shāhbandar of Mergui, and of his secretary Francis Davenport, is afforded in the account of a Spanish friar who saw them twice in 1687, travelled with them to Madras after their flight from Mergui, and claimed to have converted Davenport to Catholicism.
The International Status of West New Guinea Until 1884
Authors: Bone Robert C.
Published: August 2009

In the years between 1949 and 1963 the clarification of the international status of West New Guinea, now officially included within the borders of the Republic of Indonesia as Irian Barat, constituted a perennially active and confusingly complex item on the agenda of world territorial disputes. While the protagonists involved were new, the general situation was a familiar one for the territory in question. For it has been the island's curious destiny to be a passive but disputed pawn of history from the time of its first mention in Javanese court chronicles until the presumably “permanent” settlement of its international status in the seventh decade of the twentieth century.
A Note on the King Kundungga of the East Borneo Inscriptions
Authors: Minattur Joseph
Published: August 2009

“The illustrious king, the excellent Kundungga…” so runs one of the yupas, the sacrificial posts of stones found at Kutei in Muara Kanam on the Mahakam in East Borneo.
British Mercantile Cooperation in the India-China Trade from the End of the East India Company's Trading Monopoly
Authors: Nish Ian
Published: August 2009

“[Your committee] are not aware that anything material has been omitted that could have conduced to the welfare of the Association, or the trade of India and China generally…They have not failed to maintain their communications with the different Presidencies in India and the Chambers of Commerce at Canton and Singapore.”
The Imperial Archives of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802–1945
Authors: Ching-Ho Chen
Published: August 2009

Though the appellation “Châu-B'an” designates particularly the dynasty archives viewed or critized by emperors personnally with minium ink, the Châu-B'an of the Nguyên has traditionally included “T'âu-B'an” (report),: Tnu'o'ng-Du” (decree), “Chi'ên-Ch'i” (edict), as well as other documents connected with official matters.
The International Conference on Laos and the Geneva Agreement of 1962
Authors: Czyzak John J. , Salans Carl F.
Published: August 2009

On July 23, 1962, the International Conference on the Settlement of the Laotian Question in Geneva came to a close with the formal signature of a Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos and a Protocol to the Declaration. The Conference had been in session for over a year; fourteen governments participated, and all of them became parties to the agreements reached.
The Formation of a Social Class Structure: Urbanization, Bureaucratization and Social Mobility in Thailand
Authors: Evers Hans-Dieter
Published: August 2009

Urbanization and bureaucratization are usually connected with a high rate of social mobility in western industrialized societies. In Thailand, however, mobility has declined at least between certain strata of Thai society following the consolidation of a bureaucratic elite in the expanding urban centre of Bangkok. The growing size, the monopolization of certain status symbols, the development of a distinct subculture and the concentration of economic and political power are indications that the bureaucratic elite is developing into a social class. It is therefore concluded that urbanization and bureaucratization in formerly loosely structured societies may lead to the formation of a class system and to a temporary decline of social mobility.
The Emergency Regulations of Malaya Causes and Effect
Authors: dhu Renick Rhoderick
Published: August 2009

Probably the biggest single effect that the Emergency in Malaya has visibly accomplished has been the resettlement or regrouping of nearly 650,000 “squatters” into more than 550 “new villages.” It is the purpose of this paper to examine the conditions that necessitate the resettlement and regrouping of these “squatters”, the positive law measures utilized, and the direct and indirect results that were accomplished.
Policy without Authority: Singapore's External Affairs Power
Authors: Boyce Peter
Published: August 2009

External affairs have exercised the minds and loyalties of a sizeable section of Singapore's politically articulate population ever since the first preparations towards self-government were taken in 1955. Even though questions of defence and foreign policy were until September 1963 the responsibility of Whitehall exclusively and thereupon transferred to the Malaysian central government, Singapore developed its own informal relationships with several foreign or Commonwealth states during those years and hotly debated international problems which seemed to impinge on the island's political future.
Foreign Relations of the Second Republic of the Philippines, 1943–1945
Authors: Vellut J. L.
Published: August 2009

Much of pre-war Japanese propaganda was devoted to convincing fellow Asians that their cause of freedom from colonial rule was that of Japan too. And yet, when the Japanese landed in the Philippines in December 1941, they had to fight not only American troops, but a Philippine army as well. Japanese propagandists thus faced a challenging task in Manila. In the case of the Philippines, the pretense of liberating colonial areas from the clutches of Western imperialism was difficult to uphold: the country was by then largely self-governing and due to obtain its full independence by 1946. To make matters worse for Japan, while the Americans had settled on a definite course, the Tokyo government had still to make up its mind on the fate of the “South Seas” territories which it was about to conquer. The daily humiliations and brutalities, and the economic hardship endured by the Filipino people under the heel of an occupation army, cast doubt on the generosity of Japanese aims.
Burmese Sources for the History of the Konbaung Period 1752–1885
Authors: Yi Ma Yi
Published: August 2009

Before outlining these Burmese sources, I would like to make a very brief survey of Burmese history. Burmese history proper begins with Aniruddha, A.D. 1044. From then to 1287 was the heyday of Pagan until it fell at the hands of the Mongols. From then till the time of Bayinnaung 1551–81 Burma was divided into a number of small kingdoms with the Mons in the south. The principal Burmese kingdom had its seat at Ava. Then under Tabinshwehti and his successor Bayinnaung, Burma excluding Arakan but including the Shan States and Chiengmai was unified. This kingdom lasted till 1740 when the Mons of the south broke away to form a kingdom of their own. When they gained in strength they attacked the northern kingdom in annual raids which culminated in the capture of Ava 1751. This brought an end to the Toungoo dynasty and the Mons became practically the masters of the whole of Burma proper. But not for long. U Aungzeya (later known as Alaungpaya, 1752–60), gathered round him a certain following in Shwebo which was also known as Konbaung (subsequently the name of the period): and offered resistance to the Mons. From there his power spread until he was able to crush the shortlived Mon kingdom, unify the whole of Burma proper and make successful raids on Manipur and even Assam. He led an invasion of Siam but he died before he could achieve anything. He had however begun a dynasty, the Konbaung dynasty.
The British in Banjarmasin: An Abortive Attempt at Settlement 1700–1707
Authors: Suntharalingam R.
Published: August 2009

Early in July 1698 the royal assent was received to an Act of Parliament which sanctioned the formation of a corporation, called the General Society, whose subscribers were vested with exclusive rights to trade in the East. The ‘New’ Company obtained its Royal Charter in September 1698 under the name of ‘The English Company Trading to the Indies' and it was to superced the ‘Old’ Company which was given a three-year grace to wind up its business. The ‘Old’ Company was expected to liquidate its East Indian assets, dismantle its Asian factories and recall its servants by September 1701.
Some Japanese Sources on Malayan History
Authors: Williams Lea E.
Published: August 2009

A brimming reservoir of Japanese materials on South-east Asian history is ready to serve scholars with appropriate research interests and the needed linguistic tools. In this brief paper an introduction to selected sources on Malayan history will be made. Readers will see that the materials to be described are of special usefulness to economic historians working on the 1930's and 1940's, to sociologists and political scientists analyzing the complexities of a plural society, and of course to students of the period of the Japanese occupation of Malaya. To tell the military story of the Japanese conquest, accusations and apologiae have appeared from the British side and Colonel Tsuji Masanobu proundly published the victor's account. Except, however, for books by guerrilla opponents or civilian victims of Japanese rule, the occupation years are an historical blank. Little imagination is required to sense that, in the years bwbween the collapse and the return of the British, the Japanese in Malaya were obliged to face the wide range of administrative problems imposed on a governing authority. Accordingly, studies of Japanese solutions and failures could be highly instructive. Furthermore, as is generally recognized, the terrorist units of the 1948–60 Emergency were direct descendents of elements in the anti-Japanese resistance campaign, and Malayan nationalism itself moved toward maturity under Japanese pressure. Clearly the occupation years form the most dynamic and the most neglected period in modern Malayan history.
Changing Patterns of Employment in Malayan Tin Mining
Authors: Jackson N. R.
Published: August 2009

Each period has special characteristics, amongst which the pattern of employment is not the least interesting. In all except the first and last, the industry was completely Chinese in capital, management and labour; this is a major fact of Malayan history.
The Distribution of Thai Centres at Mid-Nineteenth Century
Authors: Sternstein Larry
Published: August 2009

Late in the seventeenth century the Phaulkon fiasco encouraged Thailand to rid herself of the possibility of European domination — an endeavour whose success no doubt owed much to unsettled conditions in Europe. It is not until the mid-nineteenth century, following the ascension of the enlightened King Mongkut, that the renewed activity of Western diplomats, traders and missionaries provide the memoirs from which may be reconstructed a relatively coherent description of the distributional pattern of the Thai centres.
The Superintendence of British Interests in South-East Asia in the Nineteenth Century
Authors: Tarling Nicholas
Published: August 2009

With the end of the East India Company's monopoly of trade to China in 1834, relations with the Celestial Empire came under the direction of the Foreign Secretary in London, who appointed a Superintendent of Trade, subsequently British Plenipotentiary and also, under the Colonial Office, Governor of Hong Kong. In Southeast Asia, no similar arrangements were made. The three Straits Settlements remained under the Company's administration, with a Governor controlled by the Supreme Government in India, between 1834 and 1851 via the subordinate Bengal Government. The “foreign relations” of the Settlements in regard to indigenous states tended to be handled by the Company's or by naval officers. Relations with the Dutch were handled in London and The Hague by the Foreign Office and its envoys. At various times the appointment was urged of a Superintendent or Plenipotentiary or Commissioner to conduct British diplomacy in South-east Asia, but none ever eventuated. This may seem an unimportant point. But it calls attention to certain basic traditions in British policy in Southeast Asia, as distinct from China, and the fact that the appointment was not made despite pressure for it calls attention to a challenge to these traditions in the little studied mid-century period, a challenge, however, never pressed hard and ultimately only partly successful.
National Archives of Malaysia
Authors: Verhoeven F. R. J.
Published: August 2009

In recent years quite a number of States in Africa and Asia have gained independence. These States have three characteristics in common from an archival point of view: they are of smaller size, they are situated in tropical areas and the bulk of their archives and records dates from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Patterns of Political Party Behavior in South Vietnam
Authors: Joiner Charles A.
Published: August 2009

Following the initialing of the Treaty of Hue in 1884 ceding Tonkin and Annam to France as “protectorates”, the Vietnamese Emperor Ham Nghi led a nationalist imperial party against consummation of the colonialists gains. This Nguyen imperial party, a regional guerrilla and terrorist faction based only in the north central section of the nation and operating from highland fiefs, relied upon violence, the personality of its leader, the mystic of his cause and the mystic of nationalism. This combative “party,” while hardly a party in the strictest sense of the term and perhaps not even a movement in the strictest sense of that term, was defeated with the capture of its leader in 1888. Yet this party has continued to serve in miniature as the model for subsequent political party activities in Vietnam. Nearly all of the numerous Vietnamese parties have more or less emulated the patterns of behavior of the first anti-colonial party and few in South Vietnam have gone much beyond modifying the tactics of that vanguard group.
Parties, Personalities and Crisis Politics in Sarawak
Authors: Lockard Craig A.
Published: August 2009

The political life in Sarawak has been characterised by confusion, disunity, and repeated crisis. As a primitive hinterland permeated by relatively sophisticated forms of political conflicts, it offers a rare phenomenon to political analysts. Several insightful articles have recently appeared concerning various aspects of its party system. I hope to concentrate on some aspects that I have not seen previously discussed.
British Expansion in Malaya, 1897–1902
Authors: Klein Ira
Published: August 2009

Was British expansion in Malaya the unitary expression of an implacable imperialism, in which gradually but inexorably British economic and political enterprise gained indirect hegemony and then unequivocal rule; in which, by friendship and guile, power and diplomacy, Malay chiefs and populace were controlled, Siamese authority negated, and European rivals bested? There was at Whitehall a steady interest in the late nineteenth century by Salisbury, Balfour, Chamberlain and others in furthering British control in Malaya. But the strategy of expansion, ardently pushed by Straits Settlements officials during the period of ‘High Imperialism’ in the late nineteenth century was checked by other imperatives of British imperialism in Asia. The British were reluctant to take any step in Malaya which, by offending and weakening the Siamese, would encourage French expansion in eastern Siam. Further, the Indian Government, the trustee of British military power in Asia, was unwilling to commit large resources to Southeast Asia which might have been required to combat Russia on India's northwest threshold. These factors limited a British forward movement in Malaya. At times, however, British expansionary fervour did burst stridently upon Malays and Siamese. In 1902 the British wrested concessions from Siam which allowed the placement of British ‘advisers’ in Kelantan and Trengganu, and by which Siam abandoned all prerogatives of interfering with these states' internal affairs. This study is directed to comprehension of the strategy of British expansion in Malaya, particularly of British efforts to sequester control of economic concessions and privileges in Kelantan and Trengganu, and the significance of these manoeuvres in preparing for the transfer of Kelantan, Trengganu, Kedah and Perlis from Siam to Britain in March, 1909.
Recent Dutch Contributions to Modern Indonesian History
Authors: Pluvier J. M.
Published: August 2009

The limitation of this essay seems obvious if we take modern Indonesian history to have started in 1870 and consider the word “recent” in the above title adequately covered by the years since 1940. The date 1870 is the starting-point of Western modern imperialism — a world-wide phenomenon — as well as of the so-called Liberal Period in the restricted Indonesian context. Thus the heyday of Dutch colonialism, the emergence of Indonesian nationalism, the downfall of the Netherlands Indies and the first decades of Indonesian independence fall within the scope of this survey. The choice of 1940, too, can be explained easily: it is the first year of the period which ultimately led not only to the political separation of the Indies and the Netherlands but also to a new approach in Dutch history-writing on Indonesia. This is not to sav that opinions critical of colonialism had not found their way into Dutch literature on Indonesia before 1940, or that opposition to the so-called Europe-centric attitude is to be noticed only after the Second World War: Stokvis and Van Leur, to mention only one for each case, are evidence that this was not so. Nor is it true that colonial apologists are extinct since 1940. But the Second World War nevertheless contributed to a significant change in the general trend of Dutch history-writing on Indonesia.
Vietnam: in China's Shadow
Authors: Coughlin M.
Published: August 2009

Although much has been written on China's relations with her neighbours to the north, west and east, relatively little has been done on those to the south. Such studies could provide many valuable contrasts and comparisons and should be of considerable assistance in assessing China's historic role as well as her present intentions in Southeast Asia.
Laos: The Vientiane Agreement
Authors: Hill Kenneth L.
Published: August 2009

An individual observing the varied complex course of Laotian events since the 1954 Geneva conference on Indochina can well appreciate the frustrations experienced by Alice as she watched the animals run their caucus race. From 1954 to 1957, Laos followed a generally pro-Western foreign policy but government leaders would occasionally extol the virtues of the five Panscheel principles of peaceful coexistence. From November 1957 to July 1958, Laos was governed by a coalition that included two members of the Communist Neo Lao Hak Sat (NLHS), the political arm of the Pathet Lao. The Royal army and right wing political factions opposed the coalition, removed it from power and established a new government, one that was avowedly anti-Communist. By 1961, the major cold war protagonists had become so deeply and dangerously involved in Laotian politics that some observers feared and expected a major escalation in the Laotian conflict. Instead of fighting the major powers decided to convene a second Geneva conference. They debated the issues for more than a year and then agreed to neutralize Laos and recreate the coalition government. Today Laos is officially neutral but the fighting continues as it has since 1954. The Pathet Lao have withdrawn from the coalition and they continue to rely on military means for the realization of major objectives. In Alice in Wonderland, the caucus race has a happy ending: all the animals are declared winners. In Laos there have been no winners; the struggle continues and its outcome will affect the future of mainland Southeast Asia.
Evolution of Concepts of Representation In Burma
Authors: McLennan Barbara
Published: August 2009

Burma, like so many other former British colonies, embarked upon its independence period with the stated aim of establishing a representative government of the parliamentary type. From 1949 to 1962, with the single interruption of General Ne Win's caretaker regime (1958–1960), Burma conducted in practice what its leaders conceived as a Parliamentary system. Concepts of government were “democratic” and emphasized the need for open discussion, political competition, and some real sense of political representation.
The Ancient History of Singapore
Authors: Colless Brian E.
Published: August 2009

It seems fitting that, on the occasion of the commemoration of the founding of modern Singapore 150 years ago, we should look further back than the year 1819 and see whether another examination of ancient documents can bring to light new data on the early history of Singapore. Accordingly it is here submitted that a previously unrecognised reference to Singapore, under another name of course, is to be found in a well-known Indian document written nearly 950 years ago. Such a discovery gives immediate rise to further speculation regarding the possibility that this island was also known to Chinese and Arab geographers and merchants as an important trading centre and possibly known as such as early as the second century of the Christian era.
The European Mercantile Community in Singapore, 1819–1867
Authors: Turnbull C. M.
Published: August 2009

In continental India the East India Company subjected European immigration to tight restrictions. Private Europeans had to obtain a licence to live in India and were forbidden to buy land. When the trade of India was thrown open to private merchants in 1813, the restriction on settlement was retained. The same licensing system applied in theory to European immigrants in the Straits Settlements, but in practice it was not enforced. In 1797 when Calcutta first enquired by what authority the European inhabitants had settled in Penang, few of them could produce licences, but no steps were taken to evict them, and in 1823 the Recorder ruled that the possession of land entitled them legally to remain in Penang.
Population Trends in Singapore, 1819–1967
Authors: Swee-Hock Saw
Published: August 2009

The records of Singapore abound in population censuses which have been quoted by demographers, historians and other writers. These censuses can be broadly divided into those taken before 1871 and those conducted since that year. In the first period census counts were undertaken rather haphazardly, mainly by the police at fairly regular and short intervals, viz. annually from 1824 to 1830 and from 1832 to 1834, and then in 1836, 1840, 1849 and 1860. The original publications pertaining to these census counts are no longer available and the figures can only be obtained from secondary sources. In the second period proper and systematic censuses, as understood in the modern sense, were conducted by trained enumerators at regular but longer intervals and the results published in their original form are still available. The first census of this kind was held on 2 April 1871, and thereafter censuses were conducted every ten years up to 1931. Owing to the Second World War the 1941 census was postponed until 1947, followed by one held in 1957. By and large, it can be said that the census records gradually improved in comprehensiveness and accuracy.
The Early Shipping Conference System of Singapore, 1897–1911
Authors: Ding Chiang Hai
Published: August 2009

The shipping conference system in Singapore was under severe and sustained criticism three times in the last 60 odd years. In 1910 the colonial Straits Settlements legislative council in Singapore passed the Freight and Steamship Bill whose lengthy preamble contained the indictment that the conference system was ‘injurious to the trade of the colony and inconsistent with the public welfare’. In 1930, during the annual general meeting of the Singapore Branch of the Straits Settlements Association, a leading lawyer, Roland Braddell, launched a bitter attack on the conference. Subsequently a public meeting was held which called on the colonial government to see ‘if we cannot rid ourselves of this octopus which is strangling this Colony’.
Devarāja
Authors: Mabbett I. W.
Published: August 2009

The ideas of the ancient Khmers about the connection between kings and gods, as known from sources bearing on the Angkorian kingdom, have received considerable attention from modern scholars. As early as 1904, Aymonier in the third volume of his history described the cult of theDevarājaas “une sorte de déification aux divinités brahmaniques, des rois et même des personnages de distinction, hommes ou femmes, qui érigent des temples ou contribuent d'une façon quelconque à rehausser le culte de ces divinités.” The stele of Sdok Kak Thom, edited by E. F. Aymonier in 1901, by L. Finot in 1915, and again by G. Coedès and P. Dupont in 1946, is particularly important in yielding fragmentary information about the history of thedevarājacult, and the introduction to the last-named of these editions contains a discussion of the cult, which appears to link the person of a king to the god Siva, or some other. G. Coedès has discussed aspects of royal divinity in several places, his most general and best-known account of the subject, originally presented as “Cultes Personnels à l'Epoque du Bayon” appearing as the third chapter ofPour mieux comprendre Angkor. The scholarly literature describing the statuary and architecture of the Angkor monuments abounds in references to the apparent deification of kings and their relatives, as represented in statues and in titles attributed to them. J. Filliozat's notable study of the symbolism of the Bakheng may be mentioned as an example of the attention which has been devoted to Khmer architecture as a reflection of ideas associating a king with a god. Among other relevant discussions, J. Przyluski's views on the nature. of the Angkorian monuments and B. P. Groslier's analysis of the kings' religious functions in the light of their social, political and economic rôles may be mentioned here. The representation of kings as gods is a theme commonly recognized in Angkorian studies, and even in other periods of Khmer history. A comparatively recent article suggests the existence of the “god-king” in pre-Angkorian times.
The Withdrawal of the Last British Residency from Upper Burma in 1879
Authors: Chew Ernest
Published: August 2009

Anglo-Burmese relations during Mindon Min's reign (1853–1878) fluctuated between settlement and unsettlement, between friendly gestures and frustrated hopes. By the early 1870's the Burmese ruler had given up dreams of regaining territories captured by the British in the second war, and was busy preserving the independence of his truncated kingdom. However, a Burmese mission failed to secure either direct relations with the British Government or diplomatic support from other European powers. All this while British commercial interests clamoured for the implementation of the Anglo-Burmese treaties of 1862 and 1867, and for the investigation of new trade routes via Burma to China.
The Eurasians of Indonesia: A Problem and Challenge in Colonial History
Authors: van der Veur Paul W.
Published: August 2009

Persons of mixed European and Asian parentage appeared in the Indonesian archipelago shortly after the arrival of the first “Westerners” in the sixteenth century. Although most of them were absorbed by the indigenous population, some were not and came to constitute a separate, identifiable group. The main reason, apart from paternal pride, seems to have been religious. Christianity, especially during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, encouraged a strong feeling of responsibility toward the biracial offspring of non-European women. A moral obligation was felt to baptize the child and give it the name of the father. Legal rules and regulations facilitated the process: the European father, for example, could “recognize” his natural child by a non-European woman, adopt it, or request a “Letter of legitimation”. Possession of “the status of European” in the nineteenth century permitted persons of mixed descent to benefit educationally from the rapid expansion of “European” (i.e. Dutch) schools. Finally, the Dutch nationality law of 1892 — based squarely on thejus sanguinisprinciple — contained the crucial provision that all those who were considered Europeans when the act came into force (July 1, 1893) — including those who were legally assimilated and socially a part of the European group — became Dutch citizens.
Changes in the Pattern of Malay Politics, 1629–c. 1655
Authors: Bassett D. K.
Published: August 2009

For almost a century before 1629, the sultanate of Acheh in north Sumatra was the most formidable indigenous state on either side of Malacca Strait. A stalemate had developed between Acheh and the Portuguese in Malacca, with the Portuguese unable to maintain sufficient forces locally to invade Acheh, and the Achinese unable to press their numerous sieges of Malacca to a successful conclusion before the Portuguese relief fleet arrived from India. Under additional Dutch pressure early in the seventeenth century, the Portuguese seem to have been unable to render the assistance against Acheh which they had given the Malay states on occasion in the sixteenth century. In 1613–20 Johore, Pahang, Kedah and Perak were conquered by Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607–36) of Acheh. In most cases, the defeated sultan was carried off to Acheh and a relative installed as a vassal of Acheh. Sultan Ala'ud-din Ri'ayat Shah II of Johore escaped when the Achinese overran Batu Sawar in June 1613, but died a few years later. His half-brother, Raja Bongsu or Raja Seberang, was taken to Acheh, married to Iskander Muda's sister, and sent back to Batu Sawar as Sultan Abdu'llah Ma'ayat Shah (1613–23). When Abdu'llah rejected Iskander Muda's sister and married a daughter of the Sultan of Jambi about 1617, he also rejected the Achinese tradition of hostility to the Portuguese. For this, the Achinese pursued him from his new capital at Lingga to Tambilan, where he died of “hartseer” (despair) in 1623. Carpentier, the Dutch governor-general at Batavia, assumed that the once mighty Johore empire had come to an end.
Some Notes on the Dutch in Malacca and the Indo-Malayan Trade 1641–1670
Authors: Arasaratnam S.
Published: August 2009

The trade between India and the Malay Peninsula was an important link in the inter-Asian trading system. It took in a wide assortment of goods, embracing not only the produce of these two countries but also serving as a vehicle for the transhipment and distribution of goods from neighbouring and even distant regions that are assembled at these centres of trade. Thus the import trade from India to Malaya had cotton piece-goods as its staple and other produce of India in lesser quantities such as rice, wheat, butter, sugar, oil, hemp, leather and sometimes slaves. Among the items of import, goods that have an obviously non-Indian origin are Arabian incense, amber, red corals, rhinoceros horns and most of the elephant tusks. The articles exported show an even wider area of distribution. From the Malay peninsula itself and neighbouring regions there was tin, pepper, cloves, tortoise shells, sandal wood, sappan wood, benzoin, gumlac, coconut fibre, white and brown sugar, diamonds, besoar stones, quick silver and elephants. Chinese porcelain and copper were obviously brought from the far east. Even allowing for some exaggeration in Tome Pires's figures of Gujerati merchants in Malacca and of his account of the trade from Coromandel, Malabar and Bengal, there seems no doubt of the economic importance of the trade to societies on the two ends of the Bay of Bengal. Indeed the Bay seems to have formed a wellknit commercial unit exchanging surplus produce from its various regions for which the Indian traders were an invaluable medium. The main participants of this trade were the Muslims of the Gujerat ports, Muslims of Bengal and Golconda and Hindu and Muslim traders settled in Coromandel and Malabar coasts.