• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.59-83
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• 2019

The Chinese Belt Road initiatives in the Southeast Asian countries marked a new chapter in the development of China political influence on this region. This article looks at the initiative from the cultural dimension and aims to place its narrative as the entry point to understand the use of identity politics in Asian countries that target the Chinese diaspora. This topic relates to the primordial sentiments of Southeast Asian nations amid massive Chinese investment in the region. The issue of Chinese investments under the Belt Road Initiative corridor has a relationship with the formation of anti-Chinese discourse and anti-communist in some Southeast Asian countries. We took the cases of Indonesian and Malaysian elections to observe the use of identity politics and anti-Chinese political discourse in Southeast Asia. In both cases, a common issue emerged, that of the strengthening both Islamic and indigenous sensibilities. The establishment of ASEAN during the Cold War may be seen then as an anti-thesis to emerging Chinese power. However, anti-Chinese and anti-communism sentiments were not enough to unite the forces of the nations of Southeast Asia. We have concluded that brotherhood, mutual prosperity, and anti-neo-colonialism are yet to be fostered completely to make a distinct ASEAN identity.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.181-203
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• 2023

Cultures often adopt the good versus evil dichotomy within their narratives of religious texts, aural anecdotes, and cultural mythologies. The Ramayana narrates a divine story that transcends time of the battle between the forces of good and evil, between Prince Rama and Ravana. Numerously adapted through time, the Ramayana is today told through moving visuals and has been adapted by Mani Ratnam through Raavanan (2010). Raavanan is adapted to the premise of hero versus villain using the good versus evil premise as Dev Prakash (Rama) searches to rescue his wife Raagini (Sita), who is abducted by Veeraiya (Ravana). The film, however, departs from the Ramayana as Raavanan is told through the perspective of Veeraiya. In the film, Veeraiya is portrayed as a flawed anti-hero who battles against injustice instead of being the antagonist. He seeks revenge for his sister and stands up against the oppression of his tribe. In this battle, he questions ideological understandings of justice and morality that have been conventionally interpellated within society. This paper discusses how Mani Ratnam, through the film Raavanan, contests hegemony, ideology, and class differences within modern cinema and society alongside the more significant question surrounding India's sociocultural conditions.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.229-254
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• 2023

This study observes the language attitude and maintenance of the border community in Telok Melano, Lundu (Sarawak, Malaysia) and Desa Temajuk, Sambas (West Kalimantan, Indonesia). The main objective of this study is to study the language attitudes of two cross-border community who shares the socio-cultural, language, and economic realms. The research data is collected qualitatively through conversation recordings, face-to-face interviews, and participant observations. In this preliminary study, twelve informants (six from Telok Melano and six from Desa Temajuk) were chosen based on the quota sampling method. The questions for the interview were set according to three characteristics of language choice proposed by Garvin and Mathiot (1968), namely language loyalty, language pride, and the awareness of norms. The result of this study indicates that language loyalty, language pride, and awareness of the norms towards the speakers' mother tongue and national language are relatively high. In terms of identity maintenance issues, this study found that the community in Telok Melano (Sarawak), originally identify themselves as "Sambas Malays," shifted to "Sarawak Malays" after the formation of Malaysia in 1963. This preliminary study serves as a basis for further research particularly on the complexity of issues concerned with the border communities in the Southwest of Sarawak.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.255-275
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• 2023

Trade between South Korea and Malaysia has been steadily increasing since the conclusion of the multilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Korea. Bilateral FTAs such as Singapore-South Korea, Vietnam-South Korea, and Indonesia-South Korea came into effect to enhance the economic cooperation between South Korea and major ASEAN countries. However, the bilateral FTA between South Korea and Malaysia, known as Republic of Korea-Malaysia FTA, is still under negotiation. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the economic impact of a possible FTA between these two countries. To examine the economic effects of bilateral FTAs, this study analyzes the trade structure and change in the value of trade between Malaysia and South Korea using panel data analysis. Two significant findings were identified by the analysis. First, the Republic of Korea-Malaysia FTA is expected to promote trade and have a positive effect on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of South Korea. Second, the result of the calculated price elasticity based on substituting figures such as tariff, demand elasticity, and export value is that the value of manufacturing exports is expected to considerably get an increase. Therefore, an early FTA between South Korea and Malaysia would be beneficial for both national economies.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.79-103
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• 2015

Just how does one make sense of the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge during its rule in the 70's and the numerous human rights violations in the Philippines during the Marcos period? Like the conflicts that have marked human history at the close of the 20th century, Southeast Asia is no exception, similar to the many attempts to come to terms with the past and put to account wrongdoers worldwide. The paper is an attempt to historicize these two seemingly unrelated events and analyze them from the synoptic frameworks of transitional justice and reparations. Similar to the experiences faced by many societies transitioning towards democratic rule, notably in Latin America, the dilemma of whether to pursue justice or preserve the peace and the newfound status quo has characterized the length at which justice had eluded the victims in Cambodia and the Philippines. Yet, no matter what the limits are in pursuing accountability, or these so called historical injustices, closure is still achievable. The paper would like to argue that closure is possible when one, all or a combination of the following, depending on the gravity of the crime, is present-truth-telling, prosecution for the crimes committed, and a grant of compensation.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-57
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• 2015

The paper brings together several strands of debate and deliberation in which I have been involved since the early 2000s on the definition of Southeast Asia and the rationale of Southeast Asian Studies. I refer to the relationship between area studies and methodologies as a conundrum (or puzzle), though I should state from the outset that I think it is much more of a conundrum for others than for me. I have not felt the need to pose the question of whether or not area studies generates a distinctive method or set of methods and research practices, because I operate from a disciplinary perspective; though that it is not to say that the question should not be posed. Indeed, as I have earned a reputation for "revisionism" and championing disciplinary approaches rather than regional ones, it might be anticipated already the position that I take in an examination of the relationships between methodologies and the practice of "area studies" (and in this case Southeast Asian [or Asian] Studies). Nevertheless, given the recent resurgence of interest in the possibilities provided by the adoption of regional perspectives and the grounding of data gathering and analysis within specified locations in the context of globalization, the issues raised for researchers working in Southeast Asia and within the field of Southeast Asian Studies require revisiting.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.29-39
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• 2013

This paper deals with the study of a manuscript on Rakhine history which is deposited today in Oriental and India Office Collection of the British Library as the accession number OR 3465 A. The External Criticism of this manuscript shows that it is a manuscript, which was commissioned Nga Mi to compile by Sir Arthur P. Phayre by making references of the existing Rakhine chronicles in the early colonial period, as Phayre wanted a historical account with an outline of the royal dynasties. The Internal Criticism reveals that the compiler Nga Mi did not invent the writing of his own but drawn the sources from various Rakhine chronicles in compiling his work. And Sir Arthur Phayre who used this Nga Mi Chronicle or OR 3465 A as the chief source in writing Rakhine history. He did not analyse the mythical, supernatural and improbable elements in Nga Mi Rakhine Razawin. Phayre did not problematicize any historical issue from Nga Mi Chronicle. One of the outstanding examples of the legend of King Min Saw Mon is discussed in this paper. As Arthur Phayre took this account from Nga Mi Chronicle and framed the story into a convincing narrative in his "History of Burma", the scholars after Phayre have continued to present the legend as a historical fact.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.15-49
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• 2016

It is widely known that the Bugis people, originally from South Sulawesi, have been migrating to many places, including both the Indonesian and Malaysian sides of the borders today. The translocal and transnational movements of the Bugis people, especially to North Kalimantan of Indonesia and Sabah and Johor of Malaysia, have occurred in several waves, particularly during the 17th century, around 1965 and from 1980 to the present. The fall of the kingdom of Somba Opu in South Sulawesi and the rise Dutch colonial power have been the triggers for the early movement of the Bugis to both the Indonesian and Malaysian borders. This was followed by the second push of the Islamic rebellion in South Sulawesi, around 1965, creating another big wave of Bugis movement. The most recent one has been mainly due to economic reasons. These different phases of the movements, as well as the dynamic interplay of various aspects, such as citizenship, ethnic, and sub-ethnic groupings, practicing of cultural traditions and keeping the language, to mention a few, have contributed to the process of the construction of the multiple identities of the Bugis. Indeed, the Bugis people are no longer identified or identify themselves as a single group, but rather have fluid and contesting identities. This paper will discuss three main issues: the history of the translocal and transnational movements of the Bugis to North Kalimantan, Sabah and Johor; the process of adaptation to these new places; and the construction of Bugis identities.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.161-191
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• 2014

The entry of the logging industry in the once heavily forested riverine middle Agusan Valley where aboriginal Manobos live meant the entry of the material practice of wage labor into this out-of-the-way place. Wage labor converted the once relatively isolated, subsistence animist Manobos into laborers of the expanding capitalist regime. A symptom of modernity, this wage labor also accompanied the coming of Visayan settlers (also loggers paid by wage) who introduced indigenous Manobos the compadrazgo social relationship. This friendly relationship across ethnic identities legitimated social ties and is a social material practice represented in recent bilingual Manobo possession rituals where the Visayan spirit is incarnated along with Manobo spirits. To understand the idea behind spirit embodiment, I explore Manobo ritual as mimesis or poeisis. This representation is shaped by concrete material realities as much as these realities, in turn, are reconfigured by ritual practice. In the older Manobo cosmology, which is based on subsistence economy and dependent on the forest and rivers, individuals have an externalized self (as manifest in the idea of twin soul), in which the inner vital principle is co-extensive with a spirit double in cosmos. Manobos imitate the perceived workings of nature in ritual so as to control them in times of illnesses. In contrast, the mimesis of the Visayan spirit is based on a different political economic set up with its attendant asymmetrical interpersonal relationship. By symbolically representing the Visayan patron as friend, Manobos are able to negotiate the predicament of their subalternity in local modernity.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.67-80
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• 2013

A widely shared view identifies civil society with the set of nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations. This tradition reflects a long history of social theory viewed in institutional terms. Myanmar society has developed, mainly based on Buddhist culture and tradition. Buddhist practice necessitates public validation within an economy of merit in which moral action earns future rewards. Myanmar private voluntary associations have, since ancient times, played a vital role in achieving social purposes. Buddhist monasteries were the main education institutions in Myanmar. Until today, monastic schools, or monastic education centers as they are often called, have been the most important civil-society institutions bridging the accessibility gap in the state-run education system in government-controlled areas. Apart from social or community based that serve for public health in Myanmar there has been a number of religious organizations serving for the same. Moreover there appeared an association to very differently help those who need much urgent help. Since military coup in 1962, however, successive regimes have sought to stamp out civil society and permit only state-controlled organizations. Civil society re-emerged during the nation-wide pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988. After 1988 civil societies are allowed as like a political party to form. Now a day some civil societies have worked to start small-scale projects addressing local problems, but they must stay clear of politics.