Many have become essential to systems of power in countries where they had been subject to the whims of kings, nobles and the literate elites since time immemorial. The identities, civilizations and countries of the region have all been formed in this period, and its populations has increased fifty-fold.
All signs point to an ever-increasing pace of change.
Although Southeast Asia's past suggests it will somehow accommodate, the imagination fails before the prospect of another millennium of such breakneck transformation. Review Publishing Company Limited, Hong Kong. All rights reserved.