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Citizens of Malaysia: do boundaries really matter?

Nur Atiqah Tang Abdullah
Ms, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

In Malaysia, contemporary discourse about ethnicity has become the subject of intense debate and controversy. Although social class theorists have challenged such ethnic interpretations of Malaysian society, arguing that a focus on ethnic categorisations disguises and draws attention away from the underlying repressive class division, evidence from ethnographic research suggests that the perception and reality of ethnic divisions for people of all social classes continues to shape and define the most basic social, economic and political experiences of Malaysian life. At the heart of the Malaysian identity formation process lies questions about what it means to ‘belong’ or to be excluded from particular social collective. In short, the making of identity is an active process that involves inclusion and exclusion. This paper intends to examine some of the centrifugal and centripetal forces that shape citizens and citizenship in Malaysia, both in the narrow legal sense as well as in the broader sociological understanding.

Biography: Ms Atiqah has a Masters of Education from the University of London, specialising in history and nationalism. She has been a lecturer at the Centre for General Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, for the last decade. She is a PhD candidate at the Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, researching 'the construction of citizen and citizenship in multi-ethnic Malaysia'.

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The future of Indian foreign policy

Itty Abraham
Associate Professor, Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Chair

Scholars of international relations have long identified moments of ‘power transition’ – when emerging powers seek recognition as great powers – as the most dangerous times for international order and stability. The rise of China and India in particular will lead to a considerable rearrangement of global power balances, the shape and outcomes of which cannot be known in advance. The apparent choice facing India today is couched in terms of greater or less autonomy from existing power structures. This choice appears strangely ahistorical, bearing neither a full appreciation of the value of past foreign policy behaviour, nor a serious consideration of India’s desired future. If India is not to adopt a default foreign policy that foregrounds reaction to decisions and actions taken by others, it must chart a path that is novel in scope and practice, yet consistent with India’s unique historical experience. The option proposed here is take soft power seriously.

Biography: Itty Abraham is director of the South Asia Institute, Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Chair, and, Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of 'The making of the Indian atomic bomb: science, secrecy and the postcolonial state' (Zed, 1998), editor of the forthcoming 'Nuclear power and atomic publics: society and culture in India and Pakistan', and co-editor of 'Illicit flows and criminal things: states, borders and the other side of globalization' (Indiana University Press, 2005), as well as numerous articles, book chapters and research reports. He has received grants from the Ford, Rockefeller, and Wenner-Gren foundations, the Open Society Institute Burma Project and the US Institute of Peace, and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford University.

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Dharma and the challenge of secularism

Kala Acharya
Director, KJ Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham

Challenges that religion faces in the modern world include their followers' ignorance about other religions, and excessive pride in their own religion. Both can create contempt for the followers of other religions. India, being a multi-religious country, has specific problems with these issues. Though in the Indian context secularism means respect to all religions, experience shows that sometimes the minority communities become victims of fundamentalism. Attacks on Christians in Orissa at Christmas 2007, the attack in Balliguda Parish and an attack on nuns in Maharashtra in March 2008 can be cited as examples. The Hindu shrines and celebration of Hindu festivals is also under shadow. Similar contradictions arise in the practice of Islam in India. This paper discusses the role of secularism in India in such cases and the stand taken by the institutions of Hinduism on these events and problems. One can go back to the ancient Hindu scripts to see where the solution to these problems might lie. The Hindu scriptures speak of three concepts: One Reality called by different names, One Self abiding all, and Namarupa, which means that every thing has a different name but forms a single reality. I argue that these concepts can be of great help. The paper highlights the challenges to religious harmony in contemporary India with reference to the aforesaid case studies, the role of secularism in India, and the role of Dharma in promoting a solution to conflict in human affairs.

Biography: Dr Kala Acharya is the Director of KJ Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham, a cultural and research institute. She has written two books and edited several others. She has presented papers and has organised interfaith dialogue seminars in India and abroad.

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Elusive becoming: the rising middle classes, internal migration and architectural landscapes of urbanised and urban settlements in 21st century Bali

Amanda Achmadi
Senior Tutor, University of Melbourne

In contrast to the famous rustic and exotic images of popular tourist destinations in Bali, latent urbanisation, internal migration and rapid growth of cities on the island are largely understudied. Hidden away from tourists' observations and directly instigated by the island’s cultural tourism industry, Bali’s urbanised villages and urban settlements are realms where the island’s highly mobile urban and rural middle classes exercise and appropriate their elusive and complex presence. This paper explores these contemporary dynamics of 21st century Bali as means to investigate the more localised discourses of regionalism on the island. By observing the island’s urbanised villages and urban settlements and the everyday life of Bali’s urban middle classes in these contexts, this paper traces contemporary identity construction that is taking place apart from the official discourse on identity conducted by the provincial government of Bali. It will do so by framing a range of case studies of contemporary settlements as they evolve in several contrasting cultural contexts: Ubud, the so-called cultural capital of 20th century; Kuta, the continuously condemned tourist enclave, and Denpasar, the ever-contested capital city of the island province. The framing of these architectural landscapes explores different modes of occupation, production and transformation of housing and streetscapes. In doing so, this project brings into view social phenomena which complicate the Bali provincial government’s current conception of the island’s special regional autonomy status, a conception which profoundly hinges on a simplistic a-historical essentialisation of the island’s culture.

Biography: Amanda Achmadi received her doctorate in architecture and Asian studies from the University of Melbourne for research on identity politics and architectural discourses in Bali. Her work has been published internationally and she is a contributor to 'The past in the present: architecture in Indonesia' (KITLV, 2006); 'Houses for the 21st century' (NAI 2003); and 'New directions in tropical Asian architecture (Pesaro, 2005). She has lived and worked in Jakarta, Shanghai, and Beijing and is currently based at the University of Melbourne, where she works as a senior tutor in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning and the Asia Institute.

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Democracy and stability in South Asia: issues and challenges

Prashant Agarwal
Associate Professor, University of Allahabad

Democracy is a highly complex yet most debatable phenomenon in contemporary political as well as strategic studies. As a concept it is one of the most durable ideas, but, as a system of governance, as an ideology or as a way of life it has been greatly contested. The crux of democracy is people’s power, which has made democracy more flexible, debatable and critical at times. Democracy as a system of governance is widely acknowledged and well established all over the world, especially since the collapse of communism. But the growth of democracy has not been uniform. The situation in South Asia is complex and not very encouraging. New challenges to the state and democracy have created hurdles both from within and outside and almost crippled the stability of this region. Most of the states of the South Asian region share a history, similar political experiences and social values, but they have exhibited divergent patterns of political development. Nor have the nature, functions and attitude of states been uniform. As a result nothing concrete has been done to develop the region as a whole. In this paper, I will trace the factors that create insecurity and instability, and also those socio-economic and political factors that impede democracy. The paper's conclusion establishes a relationship between democracy and stability in South Asia.

Biography: Dr Prashant AgarwalWorking is an associate professor in Defence and Strategic Studies at the University of Allahabad, India. He has published two books on Asian affairs and more than 30 articles in various journals.

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Empowering women in local government: the South Asian context

Nilufar Ahmad
Senior Social Scientist, World Bank

There is growing interest in whether the increasing participation of women in government will lead to more gender equality and empowerment of women. Many countries have implemented affirmative action, such as reservations or quotas at local government elections or in political party nominations. The literature indicates that such reservations or quotas result in policy decisions that are closer to the preference of women, while qualitative research has found that these measures result in 'token' appointments, where women are selected by elites, and in reality do not have much role in decision making. This paper looks at the situation in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The situation differs between South Asian countries. In India, studies indicate that institutional factors matter much more for women than for men – women perform better than men in situations where they have more political experience, live in villages less dominated by an upper class and in states where the local government system is more mature. In Bangladesh, women leaders at local level became much more effective after direct elections were held. In Pakistan, though women are elected directly, men tend to dominate family decision making.

Biography: Nilufar Ahmad is the Gender Co-ordinator for the Sustainable Development Network at the World Bank's headquarters in Washington DC. Trained as a statistician and economist at Boston University, and has previously served as research fellow for the International Centre for Research on Women in Washington DC and Nijera Kori, Bangladesh (a leading non-government organisation working on women's empowerment). She has extensive experience as a program manager, academic and researcher working on poverty, social and gender issues. She also specialises in decentralisation and local government.

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Pakistan's undemocratic political culture

Nasreen Akhtar
Lecturer, Lecturer, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Since1954, the ‘doctrine of necessity’ has been a hurdle for democracy in Pakistan. A dominant theme of a powerful president as Pakistan’s ruler has been the need for good governance. This could not be achieved both by the process of accountability and the introduction of structural administrative reforms. In fact, neither a powerful president nor prime minister could develop a smooth democratic process. The military elite remained dominant and amended the Constitution of 1973 to protect their vested interests.This paper shows that President Mushrraf could not replace the ‘shame’ parliamentary democracy of the past decade with a grass roots ‘real democracy’. The paper will also examine current political developments in Pakistan, in the context of earlier military interventions and confrontation between the President and the Prime Minister. The focus will be on Mushrraf and his political opponents as individuals, and on the institutions and environment that shaped Mushrraf’s quest for democratic stability. Will the 2008 elections nurture a democratic process in Pakistan, or promote the same undemocratic culture as we have seen in the past? The people of Pakistan view their president as absolute and authoritative. This paper will explore the causes of confrontation and co-operation between the president and prime minister and judiciary and executive in Pakistan, particularly during 2007.

Biography: Currently, I am teaching at department of politics and International Relations. I have worked as research assistant at Lahore University of Mangement Sciences. My book, 'War, ethnicity and state in Afghanistan' is being published in the United States.

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Land value patterns in a South Asian mega-city: the case of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Mansura Akter
Ms

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, had already become the eleventh largest city in the world by 2000 and is projected to be the sixth most populous city by 2010, and the second largest mega-city in 2015. The Dhaka metropolitan area is about 306 square kilometres and has population of about 10.7 million. The primacy of Dhaka city is reflected not only by a very large population but also by industrial, administrative, financial, education and health services. Using survey data of 360 randomly selected locations, the present paper investigates the existing land value patterns in the Dhaka metropolitan area and identifies factors that influence land values. The study found that a high demand for land, a high increase in population and the expansion of urban activities influenced a rapid increase in land value. Land value is low where the land level is low and flood prone. The present study revealed that the assumption of declining land value with the increase of distance from central business district is not always true. An increase in land value depends upon locational advantages, the function of the area, and the nature of development in the area. There are also physical and social factors such as environmental conditions, plot area, prestige of the area, residential projects, population patterns, income demographics and government planning.

Biography: Ms Mansura Akter has recently completed her Master of Science degree in geography and environment from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. She completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in geography and environment at the same university. Her research interests include climate change, disaster management and urban geography. She is now seeking an opportunity to undertake further studies abroad.

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Reading for meanings

Pamela Allen
Head of School of Asian Languages and Studies
University of Tasmania

Drawing on the work of theorists in the field of reader-response theory, this paper examines the idea that the meaning of a given literary work is a product of the interaction between the reader and the text, and that a given work thus potentially contains a plurality of valid meanings. My earlier doctoral research applied this idea to the work of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Mangunwijaya and Putu Wijaya. In this paper I read and re-read selected contemporary short stories in a similar way. As with my doctoral research, the boundaries of reader-response theory are tested in two ways. First, it is the nature of the texts themselves, and not the whim of the reader, that determines the appropriateness of a chosen interpretive strategy. The text is thus given a more prominent role in contributing to reading than is allowed in radical deconstructionist theories. Second, it is acknowledged that the authorial voice cannot be entirely effaced. The author is thus not pronounced dead, but neither is s/he the guardian of meaning of the texts. Meaning is thus shown to be largely, but not entirely, in the mind of the reader.

Biography: Pam Allen is Head of the School of Asian Languages and Studies at the University of Tasmania. Her research interests include contemporary Indonesian literature, and popular culture, with a particular interest in postcolonial studies, gender issues and minority ethnic voices. Her publications include articles on contemporary literature as well as translations into English of Indonesian fiction. She was funded by the Australian Society of Authors for the translation of Ayu Utami's novel Saman. She has co-edited a special edition of the journal Asian Ethnicity, devoted to the topic of Chinese-Indonesian identity since the fall of Suharto, and she is currently researching the impact of regional autonomy in Indonesia on literature and the arts, particularly in Bali and West Sumatra.

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Educational futures: the making and unmaking of female professionalism in colonial India

Tim Allender
Dr/ Senior Lecturer, Sydney University

Creating the ‘professional’ woman in India proved to be one of the most problematic enterprises of the colonial education project. In the early twentieth century, colonial mentalities about female education were influenced by emerging feminist discourses in the West. This influence intersected poorly with the cultural norms of the subcontinent to perpetuate, perversely, an unattractive and restricted education enterprise that came to be starkly predicated on race and class. In contrast to Western brands of feminism, middle-class and elite Indian women in the early twentieth century adopted new role models as they spread a nationalist message that was less antagonistic with the agenda of the men. And the Indian women’s movement remained tentative about embracing ‘feminism’ in the way women professionals had done in the West a generation earlier. Rejection of Western constructions of the female professional was inevitable as the arm of colonial governance retreated, cultural mores were allowed to intervene more strongly, and nationalist leaders, particularly Gandhi, initially restricted satyagraha for women to boycotts of British woven cloth and alcohol as part of a plan of action for females. However, the colonial heritage also had a part to play in this rejection. By the late nineteenth century the educational focus of the colonial state had become the ‘training’ of women teachers and, to a lesser extent nurses, whilst its discourses almost wholly ignored the more basic business of educating schoolgirls at elementary and secondary level. This neglect, and the training of women professionals instead, mostly precluded the Indian population in favour of a relatively small circle of Eurasians and Europeans. Examination of these corrosive colonial precursors will be the focus of this paper.

Biography: Tim Allender is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Most recently, he published his book 'Ruling through education: the politics of schooling in the colonial Punjab' (New Dawn Press, 2006), which deals with the development and then regression of the colonial education project. He has published in a range of international journals on education and has also been involved in various research projects.

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The religious variable: empowering Indonesia and Malaysia on the international scene?

Delphine Alles
PhD Candidate

The 1970s saw an increasing religious activity in most of the Muslim world. Indonesia and Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s two main Muslim countries, are no exception. This paper will explore the extent to which their international insertion has been influenced by this factor. Although it has been argued that neither Indonesia (SUKMA, 2003), nor Malaysia (NAIR, 1997) has an 'Islamic' foreign policy, there are undoubtedly internal and external incentives for a growing account of this factor in the two countries’ international stands. It is especially the case since both Indonesia and Malaysia are key players in the global fight against terrorism. In this context, can we argue that the Islamic factor can be an asset for Indonesia and Malaysia to enhance their position in the international system?

In a comparative and historical perspective, we will explore this issue with regard to the internal and external sources of the religious variable. The transnational connections established by different parts of the organised Muslim community, and the membership of Indonesia and Malaysia of institutions such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference, are two examples. The differences between the national contexts (a constitutionally Islamic but ethnically and religiously diverse Malaysia, and a 'neither religious nor secular' Indonesia) have produced different approaches of this 'Islamic identity', and are not transposed in the same way in the two countries’ foreign policies. It can for example be argued that Malaysia, under Prime Minister Mahathir, took hold of its Islamic identity in order to strengthen its position within the Muslim world, while Indonesia is considered as a more moderate interlocutor for the West.

Biography: Delphine Alles holds a Masters degree in international relations (Sciences Po Paris, 2007), as well as an undergraduate degree in political science (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Grenoble, 2006). She is currently preparing a PhD at Sciences Po Paris (Centre for International Studies and Research) on the interactions between religion and foreign policy in Indonesia and Malaysia, with a research fellowship from the CNRS and the French Ministry of Defence. In 2006, she spent a semester at the National University of Singapore.

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The mediation and presentation of epics at the local, national and international levels

Dr Andrew Alter
Senior Lecturer in Music
University of New England

This paper uses the Mahabharata as an example of how one epic becomes transformed through different performance mediums and styles. Examples used will include village level dances in the Himalayas, shadow puppetry from Indonesia and present day television depictions. Of particular significance is the way that the social/performance/media context of the portrayal influences the manner in which the story unfolds and the way in which various themes are emphasised over others.

Biography: Andrew Alter is a Senior Lecturer in Musicianship and Ethnomusicology at the University of New England. He performs on piano, cello and Indonesian gamelan. Dr Alter has participated with the UNE Gamelan Ensemble (Swara Naga) in numerous concerts throughout Australia and Singapore, and was a member of the ensemble for both of the group’s recently released CDs. Dr Alter has published articles on aspects of the North Indian Classical tradition as well as on aspects of musical practice in Garhwal. His research has examined processes of oral transmission in the classical North Indian music tradition as well as the relationship between ritual and performance in regional traditions in North India. In 2001 he received a grant from the American Institute of Indian Studies to undertake research on Mahabharata performance in Garhwal, North India. He continues to examine the role of music in ritual and performance contexts, particularly as related to the drum practice and epic traditions in North India. His forthcoming book, titled 'Dancing with Devtas: Drums, Dancing and Power in the Music of Garhwal, North India' is scheduled for publication with Ashgate Publishing at the end of 2007.

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Reform failures and inadequate public communication

Rehnuma Amin
Postgraduate student, La Trobe University

Why have certain government reform programs succeeded while others are yet to take off? Considerable research in this area points towards deficient governmental administrative capacity and poor governance. This study looks into a neglected research arena – public communication – and how it could contribute positively to the implementation of reform. Specific South Asian cases will be cited, notably the Bangladesh Primary Education Program and the Safe Sanitation Program, which have been successful. The programs will be compared with some that have been slower to develop, such as Bangladesh’s Bank Modernisation Program and Public Sector Reform Program. This paper will show that effective public communication led to success, while inadequate communication of ‘intangible’ reform issues had an adverse impact. Communication is most effective when the general population can identify with it. It is easy to understand the benefits of education and sanitation. These programs received support because the benefits often took ‘physical’ forms and could be conceptualised by the regular person. In contrast, the benefit of modernising banking is difficult to comprehended. To ensure sound implementation, a communication scheme which highlights benefits and creates a link between reforms and the public needs to be devised. Without such communication, the public will focus on negative side-effects (such as increased cost or tax burden). This paper will demonstrate that difficult reforms can be successfully implemented with a well crafted public communication strategy.

Biography: Rehnuma Amin is a postgraduate student at La Trobe University, Melbourne. She previously served as the Communications Associate at the World Bank, responsible for implementing the World Bank's communications strategy and outreach program in Bangladesh. She also worked as a Media Officer for the Australian High Commission in Dhaka. Rehnuma also holds a MBA from North South University in Dhaka.

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Solidarity aid: the Cuba–East Timor health program

Tim Anderson
Senior lecturer in Political Economy, University of Sydney

This paper considers the argument between ‘big money’ and mass training in health aid, through the vehicle of the Cuba–East Timor health co-operation program. After East Timor’s independence in 2002, Cuba became the major external agent of health system development in the country. This fact has been little discussed in or by other ‘donor’ countries and agencies. Cuban health programs, now spreading in Asia and the Pacific, are based on immediate Cuban medical worker postings in permanent, mostly rural-based primary health care services and the training of large numbers of dedicated local students to replace those Cuban doctors. Conventional health aid, by contrast, has constructed health centre buildings, contracted temporary or small scale clinics and funded more specific but less co-ordinated health projects, often using private sub-contractors. This paper compares and contrasts those two broad approaches, drawing attention to the co-ordination and human capacity-building aspects of the Cuban program. It does this by examination of the literature on health aid and the Cuban health programs, application of localised Millennium Development Goal health indicators and a series of interviews with doctors, students, patients and families in East Timor and Cuba, including observations of clinics and colleges. The paper draws attention to some challenges posed by the Cuban program for other aid programs in the region.

Biography: Tim Anderson is a senior lecturer in political economy at the University of Sydney. He writes on development, trade and rights.

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Sporting events, politics and the rhetorics of growth in Asia

Lou Antolihao
PhD candidate, National University of Singapore

Is this the Asian century? The answer seems to be a big yes if one considers the increasing role of Asian countries in the international sport scene. Particularly, various major sport events appear to highlight the remarkable growth of the region. The Football World Cup in Japan and Korea in 2002, China’s hosting of the 29th Olympics, and both the holding of the Commonwealth Games in India and the first Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010 have all been used to underscore 'the rise of Asia'. But how far can these sporting events reflect the reality of growth in the region? How does politics affect the articulation of economic growth in the context of sport? How different is the current use of sporting events in heralding growth from the use of sport for political propaganda during the last century? This paper tries to distinguish rhetorics of growth from economics of growth to examine the dynamics of politics and sport in Asia. Particularly, it compares the current sport phenomenon (2001-2010) to certain periods during the last century (1910-1919; 1930-1939; 1960-1969) when sporting events were also used to display perceived economic and political growth. For instance, the First Far Eastern Games in the Philippines in 1913; the 1938 Memorial Games in Japan, and the Games of the Emerging Forces in Jakarta in 1963 were all used to showcase economic and technological growth of certain Asian countries and to promote their international standing.

Biography: Lou Antolihao is a PhD Candidate from the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore. He has a masters degree in sociology from the Ateneo de Manila University (2003) and a BA in Philosophy from the Ateneo de Davao University (1997). Before coming to Singapore, he worked for several years as a researcher at the Institute of Philippine Culture (1998-2000, 2003-2005) and, for some time (2003-2005), was also a Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ateneo de Manila University. His research interest includes sport, tourism, post-colonialism, and urban studies.

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Education and ethnicity in Malaysia: where are we after fifty years of independence?

Ahmad Anuar
Mr, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Education in a modern state has a homogenising role. But for education to fulfill that role in a complex, multi-ethnic society such as Malaysia is not at all easy, almost impossible. This paper intends to examine the central role of education in the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP), launched in 1971, not only to promote national unity by socialising students to a common set of values and aspirations, but also to uplift the economically backward Malay community. The debate that has taken place since the NEP was launched has centred on the issue of whether the two above-mentioned intentions are compatible and what have been results thus far.

Biography: Ahmad Anuar received his Masters of Education degree from the University of London. Currently, he is a lecturer at the Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and enrolled in the same university as a PhD candidate, examining 'The problematic relationship between education and ethnicity in post-independent Malaysia'.

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Situated play: negotiating place and identity in global gaming networks

Tom Apperley
Research Fellow in Literacy Education, Deakin University

'Gunbound: World Champion', a free, internet-based computer game made by the Korean company Softnyx, is popular in many parts of the globe. Taking Gunbound as a case study, my research explores gaming as a global and transnational phenomena, in particular the flow of gaming products from the North to the South, and the new assemblages of networks that this flow allows. Using data gathered during ethnographic fieldwork in Melbourne, Australia during the summer of 2005–06, this paper will focus on the specific local contexts of the play of Gunbound. Rather than approaching the game as a text, my concern is to examine the ways by which this game is insinuated into the everyday life of various Chinese speaking diasporic communities, to maintain pre-existing – and establish new – social networks. In this paper I will argue that Gunbound acts as a space in which diasporic players may enter into negotiations between a variety of sites, in particular the local and the global. For these players the stakes of play include exploring issues of place and identity in relation to transnational global networks.

Biography: Tom Apperley is a research fellow at Deakin University and a PhD student at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on the role of videogames in globalisation, network society, new literacies, and post-industrial labour.

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The Asian century: what are we talking about?

Rashmi Arora
Dr, University of Auckland

Recent years are increasingly labelled as belonging to Asia, and the current century is referred to as Asian century, a term used to describe a transition in demographics and economic growth. However, can we really call it the Asian century? Is Asia a homogeneous group of countries? Are all countries within the continent experiencing demographic transition and observing high rates of economic growth? Is the reference to only two large countries, India and China? China has had high rates of economic growth for the past 30 years. The East Asian nations and Japan have been developed for quite some time. As is well known, Asia comprises of a diverse group of countries, which differ economically, socially and politically. Examining the justification of the term ‘Asian century’, this study at a cross-country level examines whether all the countries within the continent, small and large, are experiencing similar pattern and level of demographic and economic development.

Biography: Rashmi Umesh Arora completed her PhD in development studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her area of research was Uttar Pradesh, the largest but least developed state of India, and its economic development. She was also postdoctoral research fellow with the Centre for Asia Pacific Transformation Studies, University of Wollongong, Australia, where she worked on globalisation and development in the different states of India. She has worked as Assistant Advisor with Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai for more than 20 years. Her areas of research are economic reforms, economic development, agriculture and microfinance.

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Dislocating Asia from place and time: Asian Australian artists in transit

Andrea Ash
Dr

The work of so-called Asian Australian artists disrupts the location of Asia and poses particular challenges to the study of art because it resists being contained, identified or codified. Transience, a fundamental concept that I develop, is embedded in the dispersed art networks of the Asia Australia region and emancipates artistic practice from a place and a time. The intersections of various traditions and conventions that have informed the development of art in the Asia Australia region give a clear sense that notions of fixed identity, ethnicity or nationality should be rejected. I focus on the contemporary artworks of Ah Xian, Guan Wei and My Lee Thi because they raise issues of de-identity and indeterminancy informed by transience. What makes their work so compelling is that it cannot be assimilated into neat cultural categories. The status of these artists has become blurred. Because these artists are both Asian and Australian they paradoxically belong to both regions and neither region. Once enmeshed in Australian society they become something else – not Asian at all, but not Australian either. By attenuating their links with certain spatio-temporal contexts, such artists create artworks that enable associations and references to many historical and cultural contexts, in an active negotiation, while denying assimilation into any particular one. Importantly, the work of such artists contributes to the formation of a new and emerging global landscape of art.

Biography: Andrea Ash, a visual artist in Brisbane, is currently concerned with the painted images of women that incorporate eastern and western cultural icons. She was recently awarded a PhD for her research in Chinese Australian art and globalisation using a case study approach. Andrea has lectured in visual arts theory at universities in Australia and Asia, particularly in relation to social and identity issues. She has published regularly since 1993 in journals, books and exhibition catalogues. Andrea’s academic interests have developed from art criticism methodology, feminist art theory and contemporary Asian art.

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Circulating stories, ruptured collectivities: East Timorese in Australia and questions of post-independence identity

Hedda Askland
PhD candidate, Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies (CAPSTRANS)

Much has been written about East Timor and the challenges it faces as an independent nation, particularly with reference to the ongoing political crisis in the country. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the situation post-independence of those who left East Timor during the civil war of 1975 and the Indonesian occupation. During the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, diasporic groups played a central role in the campaign for self-determination. Throughout the occupation, East Timorese in Australia maintained a strong sense of long-distance nationalism, which drove, directly or indirectly, cultural and social communal activities. The fight to free East Timor was at the core of the exiles’ collective imagination, defining them as a largely homeland focused community. However, in the aftermath of independence, East Timorese in Australia have struggled to find their place and role in relation to the independent nation. Personal experiences upon return, perceptions of political, cultural, economic and social development (or lack thereof), and political unrest and communal violence have led to renewed questioning of identity and belonging. People have begun to re-orient their lives away from East Timor and the transnational sphere. This paper considers this new questioning of identity and belonging through people’s stories of change, sacrifice and return.

Biography: Hedda Haugen Askland (MSocSc) is a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle. Her PhD project is an ethnographic study of East Timorese living in Australia and their lives after the realisation of independence in East Timor. It considers how political unrest and national crisis affect exiles’ experiences of self, community and nation, and aims to improve the understanding of the ways in which expatriates and diaspora communities experience and relate to violence and radical political change in their home country.

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The B & C war crimes trials

Dean Asko
PhD candidate, Muroch University

The development of Australia’s friendship with Japan and Australia’s growing role in Asia are key legacies of the Second World War. During the late 1950s Australia and Japan formed a friendship based on their economic needs. There had been a rapid transformation in relations between the two countries, given that in 1945 they were bitter enemies. The war in the Pacific ceased in 1945 but Australia continued to play a role in prosecuting the end of the war by committing soldiers to the Occupation of Japan and taking responsibility for a number of war crimes trials. Indeed, Australians became heavily involved with the prosecution and conviction of numerous B & C class (Japanese soldiers of lower ranks) war criminals. These trials would prove to be a factor in the development of Japanese–Australian relations. Using official documents from the National Archives of Australia, media sources from the period and Hansard, I will discuss Australian attitudes to Japan during the trials and how perceptions of Japan and Japanese culture changed during the immediate post-war period, as the two countries moved closer to the good relations of the late 1950s.

Biography: After graduating from Murdoch University with first class honours, Dean Asko began researching Australia's involvement with B & C class war crimes trials and Japanese–Australian relations after the Second World War.

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Public political engagement by Australian Indonesianists

Edward Aspinall
Dr, Australian National University

Because Indonesia occupies a fraught place in domestic Australian political debate, Indonesian studies is potentially more politicised in Australia than in other countries. The paper discusses three strands of political engagement on Indonesia among Australian academics. First, a so-called 'Indonesia lobby', emphasising Indonesian security, stability and economic growth, and improved inter-governmental ties, is weaker among Indonesia specialists than is sometimes suggested. Second are scholars who emphasise human rights advocacy and who view Indonesia through the prism of East Timor and Papua and according to a narrative of 'Australian betrayal' of those struggles. The third, and most numerous, strand consists of academics who hold liberal and progressive political views, are personally fascinated by Indonesian society and are committed to increasing public knowledge of, and sympathy for, Indonesia. Scholarship here is characterised by specialisation, both in terms of scholarly apprenticeship (acquisition of high-level language skills, lengthy fieldwork etc) and fields of individual research. Several factors mean that most of these scholars intentionally or unintentionally avoid public political debate on Indonesia. These factors include fear of repercussions for research activities in Indonesia, the specialised nature of their expertise, and the difficulties of negotiating between their views about Indonesian politics and their concern to promote public sympathy for Indonesia. A result is that much public debate on Indonesia in Australia is dominated by individuals who lack Indonesia expertise, and takes the form of a projection of domestic Australian controversy onto an Indonesian canvas.

Biography: Edward Aspinall is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU. He is the author of 'Opposing Suharto: compromise, resistance and regime change in Indonesia' (Stanford University Press, 2005), and has recently published articles on Aceh in Nations and Nationalism and Journal of Conflict Resolution. He is currently writing a book on the history of the secessionist conflict in Aceh, and is the co-ordinating editor of Inside Indonesia.

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Singapore in transition: economic change and political consequences

Ian Austin
Dr / Lecturer in International Business, Edith Cowan University

With the ascendancy of the Lee Hsien Loong to the prime ministership of Singapore, there has been little expectation that this change in generational leadership will produce any fundamental political change. This paper argues that, rather than the current actors, changes within the Singaporean economy are a more fruitful source of political change analysis. By political change I do not mean any diminishing of the dominance of the People’s Action Party, but a change in the ‘type’ of political actors that will be required to ensure Singapore’s future economic success. The dominance of engineers and technical specialists within the PAP, including the utilisation of mathematics and science excellence as the benchmark for political suitability, has left the cabinet and echelons of the PAP with policy-process homogeneity. This does not necessarily fit with the current policy promotion of tourism, resorts and gambling, theatre and entertainment as new branches to the nation’s future economic base. Can the PAP move to incorporate into cabinet people who are successful in fields that are not defined solely through statistic-industrial benchmarks? The rapid success of the bio-technology sector, centred on science and hierarchy, visa the failure to extend theatre-entertainment into a broad based sector, indicates that the answer at this time is no. However, the massive investment in tourism resorts and entertainment that is currently taking place, and will accelerate over the next decade, indicates that this will need to change.

Biography: Ian Austin obtained his PhD in East Asian political economy from the University of Queensland in 2001. He has worked for Australian, British and Singaporean tertiary institutions lecturing and researching in areas covering Asian and American political, economic and business affairs. Prior to joining Edith Cowan University, Ian worked at the Queensland University of Technology, the National Library Board of Singapore, Raffles-Lasalle Institute and as a private consultant in Singapore. His works include 'Pragmatism and public policy in East Asia' (2001), 'Changing faces of ASEAN: a select booklist' (2002) and 'Goh Keng Swee and Southeast Asian governance' (2004).

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Literature and the study of Indonesia

Harry Aveling
Associate Professor/ Adjunct Professor, Ohio University
School of Social Sciences, Latrobe University

The study of Indonesian literature has formed a variable part of the curriculum in Indonesian Studies over the past five decades. Sometimes literature has been seen as the highest stage of language learning, a mirror of society, and a valuable insight into the minds and hearts of people in a way which is not otherwise readily available. At other times, literature has also been seen as irrelevant to language learning (especially communicative language learning), elitist (belonging to the court and/or the urban intelligentsia), and difficult to understand in a world dominated by the mass media.

The paper will survey Australian teaching and research on Indonesian literature. I will take the term 'Indonesian literature' in its widest sense, as including classical Malay, Javanese and Balinese literature, as well as the 'modern' literature written in Bahasa Indonesia. The paper will consider major trends and emphases over the half century; significant achievements; missed opportunities; and what Australian scholarship has contributed to literary scholarship within Australia, Indonesia, and the rest of the world.

Biography: Harry Aveling specialises in Indonesian and Malay literature, and translation studies. Besides publishing widely in translation theory, he has translated extensively from Indonesian and Malay and co-translated from Hindi. In 1991 he was awarded the Anugerah Pengembangan Sastera by the Federation of Malay Writers Associations for his contribution to the international recognition of Malay literature; he was short-listed for the NSW Premier's Literary Award in Translation 2003 and 2007. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Southeast Asian Literature, Ohio University and Guru Besar Luar Biasa, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya, Universitas Indonesia.

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Female independent Malaysian director, Yasmin Ahmad

Farah Azalea
Postgraduate Student, Monash University

Yasmin Ahmad is one of the few female directors working in the Malaysian film industry. Her films have received awards both in Malaysia and at international film festivals. They not only move beyond the clichés of the usual commercial films, but have proved surprisingly controversial. In 2004 the Malaysian Information Minister labelled Yasmin’s work a 'disgrace to society' and a 'culture destroyer'. This paper will highlight and explore those issues in her films that have sparked debate and controversy, concentrating particularly on her first film, 'Sepet' (Squinty Eyes, 2004). 'Sepet' is a love story between a Chinese boy and a Malay girl. The film made headlines, for in Malaysia non-Muslims are required to convert if they want to marry a Muslim. 'Sepet', however, paid no attention to the difference in religions, nor did it suggest that the Chinese character had to convert to Islam. Additionally, 'Sepet' might even be seen as criticising the special rights of Malays, for it compares opportunities given by Malay society to these characters from different ethnic groups. In Yasmin’s three subsequent movies, other ‘sensitive’ subjects are explored, such as adolescence, AIDS and prostitution. The paper will explore these controversial aspects of her films. But it will also address the question of why Yasmin Ahmad is a significant filmmaker, apart from the controversies. It will argue that Yasmin is the first Malay filmmaker to portray the true ways Malaysians speak, bahasa rojak (mixed language), and also to represent the voices of non-Malays.

Biography: Farah Azalea is a Bachelor of Arts graduate of Monash University, specialising in media studies, communications and behavioural studies. She is currently undertaking her masters degree in film and television studies.

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Understanding responsible entrepreneurship in Bangladesh

Fara Azmat
Associate Lecturer, Deakin University

This paper will explore the lack of social responsibility of micro-businesses in Bangladesh which is increasing steadily as a result of market-based reforms, urbanisation, poverty and unemployment. The micro-businesses range from petty traders to personal service workers like barbers, street hawkers and small shop owners. These businesses are unregistered and form a large part of the informal sector, yet their contribution in alleviating poverty and boosting economic growth remains critical. The potential of these businesses, however, is being undermined by their lack of social responsibility, as demonstrated by their irresponsible business practices such as the sale of adulterated, underweight goods, price hikes and attempts to hoard, which are becoming commonplace. The term Corporate Social responsibility is novel in Bangladesh, and the few studies that have been undertaken are mainly limited to large companies. The micro-businesses that form the bulk of the informal sector remain largely neglected. This paper attempts to address this void in the literature by exploring thee unique features of these businesses, and also attempts to explore the impact of contextual factors such as business environment, culture, socioeconomic condition and the pressure from international donor agencies and civil society on shaping their perceptions of social responsibility. As this paper offers explanations for the lack of responsible entrepreneurship of micro-businesses in Bangladesh, it has important implications for promoting sustainable business practices and development.

Biography: Fara Azmat (PhD, Monash) is Associate Lecturer, Bowater School of Management and Marketing, Deakin University, Melbourne. Her main areas of interest are international governance, governance in developing countries and corporate social responsibility issues in emerging economies. Her recent publications include ‘Market-based reforms, their sustainability and unintended outcomes: the case of Bangladesh agriculture sector’ (TMC Academic Journal, 2007) and ‘Poverty and deficits linger’ (Monash Business Review, 2007).

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