Encouraging knowledge and enhancing the study of Asia iias.asia 80 The Newsletter Tamil film culture and politics The Focus Heritage expertise across Asia Preservation through specific and diverse interventions Chinese tea and Asian societies 2 Contents From the Director In this edition 3 A benevolent crossroads of the Focus 29-40 The Study 5 Representations of the past in a pre- colonial Khmer monastery manuscript Theara Thun 6-7 Empty Home. House ownership in rapidly urbanising China Willy Sier and Sanderien Verstappen 8-9 Southeast Asia and Trump year one: a work in progress Sally Tyler 10-11 Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine presidency: Rupture or cyclicity? Mesrob Vartavarian The Opinion Heritage 12 Experiences with censorship in research and publication on expertise Singapore’s multiculturalism Lai Ah Eng across Asia The Region 13-15 China Connections Trinidad Rico 16-18 News from Southeast Asia This Focus section proposes to examine and study 19-21 News from Australia and the Pacific cultural heritage debates less on heritage objects 22-25 News from Northeast Asia and practices and more on the human agents that create, promote, and study cultural heritage The Review and its preservation through specific and diverse 26-27 New reviews on newbooks.asia interventions. These interventions do not occur 28 New titles on newbooks.asia in a void: they are often attached to distinct disciplinary approaches and informed by specific political contexts and historical circumstances. The Focus Therefore, the six contributors to this section, 29-30 Introduction: addressing challenging case studies of Heritage expertise across Asia preservation of tangible and intangible heritage Guest editor: Trinidad Rico 31 Palmyra and expert failure in six different regions of Asia, aim to highlight Salam Al Quntar how the involvement of heritage experts affects 32-33 Bordering on the criminal: A clash the very nature of cultural heritage objects and of expertise in Bamyan, Afghanistan practices, including the choice of approaches Constance Wyndham that are used for their study. 34-35 Reclaiming cultural heritage after disasters in Indonesia Cut Dewi 36-37 Heritage making after the earthquake: Safeguarding the intangible heritage of the Qiang people in China In this issue Qiaoyun Zhang The Newsletter is a free periodical In this issue, we take the opportunity to 38-39 A critical review of Catholic heritage published by the International Institute inform you about an exciting new chapter sites in Nagasaki, Japan in the cooperation between IIAS and the for Asian Studies (IIAS). As well as Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Tomoe Otsuki serving as a forum for scholars to share (page 48). On page 51 we present again 40 Reinterpretations at Fort Nassau a report of an interesting activity within the in the Banda Islands, Indonesia research, commentary and opinion with framework of the Humanities across Borders Joëlla van Donkersgoed colleagues in academia and beyond, programme, this time about a workshop on ‘Feminist Methodologies’ at Cotton University The Newsletter is also a window into in India. We are particularly pleased that the the Institute. ideas developed during the workshop for a real The Review humanities approach to knowledge production and curricula development were received with 42-47 Selected reviews from newbooks.asia much enthusiasm by Cotton University’s Vice he International Institute for Asian Chancellor and Registrar. On the preceding Studies (IIAS) is a global Humanities page, two international students of the Double Tand Social Sciences institute and a Degree in Critical Heritage Studies talk vividly The Network knowledge exchange platform, based in about a working visit to Morocco, personally 48-49 Announcements Leiden, the Netherlands, with programmes experiencing the importance of studying that engage Asian and other international cultural heritage issues ‘in situ’, outside the 50-51 Reports partners. IIAS takes a thematic and multi- walls of the academy and in conversation 52-53 IIAS Research, Networks and Initiatives sectoral approach to the study of Asia with local knowledge. 54-55 IIAS Fellowship Programme and actively involves scholars and experts IIAS research programmes, networks from different disciplines and regions in its and other initiatives are described in brief activities. Our current thematic research on pages 52-53. Information about the IIAS clusters are ‘Asian Heritages’, ‘Asian Cities’ Fellowship programme can be found on pages The Portrait and ‘Global Asia’. 54-55. On pages 48-49 you will find our latest Information about the programmes and announcements, and on page 4 the Call for 56 A museum for the living history of Asia activities of IIAS can be found in the Network Proposals for ICAS 11, which will take place Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal pages of each issue of The Newsletter. in July 2019, in Leiden, the Netherlands. The Newsletter No. 80 Summer 2018 3 From the Director The Newsletter is a free periodical published by IIAS. As well as being a window into the institute, The Newsletter A benevolent crossroads also links IIAS with the community of Asia scholars and the worldwide public interested in Asia and Asian Philippe Peycam studies. The Newsletter bridges the gap between specialist knowledge and public discourse, and continues to serve as e are currently entirely captivated The material is still ‘raw’, but with at least changed. The event of Dar es Salaam is a reminder a forum for scholars to share by the preparations of two major one hundred panels and roundtables expected that Asia in its definition or in its influence is research, commentary and Wevents, both of which promise to on subjects as varied as ‘Comparison of the increasingly pervasive. Europe for its part, as opinion with colleagues in stand as important new steps in the pursuit Policies of the Two Koreas and Africa’, ‘Cuisines, a world region in all its diversity, continues to be academia and beyond. of IIAS’s global engagement. The first is the Mobility and Criminality’, ‘African Communities a major scholarly concentration of expertise on upcoming Africa-Asia conference in Dar es in Guangzhou’, ‘Siddis in Karnataka, Gujarat, and with Asia. It also includes within its populations Salaam, Tanzania (20-22 September 2018). Hyderabad and Goa’, ‘Building a Francophone important segments of people with an Asian Postal address It will be the second edition of the Africa- Centre d’Études Afrique-Asie’, ‘Writing Modern background whose voices and experiences are PO Box 9500 based event after the success of Accra 2015, Architectural Histories of Africa, Asia and the becoming more potent. Today, the mayor of one 2300 RA Leiden Indian Ocean’, the Dar es Salaam conference of Europe’s most important cities, London, is of The Netherlands in Ghana. Following that historical event, IIAS, ICAS, the African Association for Asian is set to continue what was pioneered at Accra, Asian background; so is the prime minister of Ireland. Visitors Studies (A-ASIA) and their multiple partners where aspects of connections and comparisons The modes of collaboration, even academic, are Rapenburg 59 were encouraged to think about turning the go hand in hand to weave a new trans-regional evolving, with more fluidity and balance in the Leiden event into a regular one and with it, facilitating framework of intellectual inquiry. exchanges, with more centres of excellence, and an T +31 (0) 71-527 2227 the development of a vibrant pan-African For UDSM and IIAS, the principle organisers, ever-diversified range of connections, experiences [email protected] network of institutions and scholars wishing new encouraging developments have occurred and perspectives among scholars. to build their capacity to respond to the with a number of institutions willing to sponsor An illustration of this intensification and everyday more conspicuous crossing of the event, by supporting a substantial number diversification in collaborations is the revamped Colophon influences between political and economic of participants or by contributing to a travel European Alliance on Asian Studies. Originally The Newsletter No. 80 Summer 2018 actors of the two continents. Together with support fund for participants in need. I take this a small ‘club’ of institutions, the Alliance has grown A-ASIA, we contacted the University of Dar opportunity to thank our colleagues from Muziris to represent almost all the regions of Europe where Managing editor: es Salaam (UDSM); an obvious choice given Institute for the Indian Ocean Studies, University Asia is a focus of interest. This diversification is also Sonja Zweegers the central role the Tanzanian capital and of Calicut (Kerala, India), Leiden University true for the increasingly differentiated collection Guest editor for The Focus: its university once played in nurturing a spirit (the Netherlands), University of Michigan of institutions, from topically focused think tanks Trinidad Rico of African intellectual engagement in the (Ann Arbor, U.S.), Observatoire des Sociétés de to generalist language-training based universities. Regional editors: post-independence period, and because l’Océan Indien, Université de la Réunion (Réunion), The Alliance today represents 18 members or would-be Terence Chong (ISEAS), of its geographically close connection to National University of Singapore (Singapore), members. It was never meant to be exhaustive. It works Ilhong Ko (SNUAC), Asia through the Indian Ocean rim. Social Sciences Research Council (New York, U.S.),