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The Asian Scholar is the official e-journal of the Asian Scholarship
Foundation (ASF). The first issue contains articles culled from the research output of the 2003 cohort. The journal does not include all the
articles presented in the 2004 conference, it contains only the critics' choice for the year.
All the projects submitted and presented by the grantees are equally
valuable to their respective fields, but at the time of selection, they
were also in various stages of completion. The ones selected for the
e-journal have a sense of unity and completion that makes them
publishable. Well-written and well-presented, the selected articles also
offer significant contributions to the researchers' chosen areas of
study in terms of analysis, insight, and possibilities for future
research.
This first harvest covers a variety of topics and disciplines. The topic
of governance seems to be an important concern. It is discussed by Asad
Sayeed who examines the paradoxical nature of Thai governance as it
negotiates between corruption and development. Jaime Mendoza Jimenez
explains the role of civil society in neutralizing state desires in his
exploration of oppositional politics in Thailand. Sudhindra Sharma looks
to Thailand as a model of a harmonious conflation of state and religion,
seeking lessons for Nepal. Governance is also central to Hendra Yusran
Siry's study of coastal zone management in Malaysia and Indonesia where
he expounds on the ramifications of a community based approach to
management of resources.
Health is another important issue. Diwata Reyes examines the successes
and failures of population policies in Thailand and the Philippines,
especially as they affect reproductive rights. Rajagopal Chakraborti
offers rich data and a very detailed analysis of the issues affecting
the Aged in China and India. Sanjay Kumar Sharma studies the sensitive
problem of food security in China and India.
Ethnicity is an equally strong concern among the writers in this issue.
Prasit Leepreecha explores the struggle of the Hmongs in China to
preserve their identity. Umaiyah Haji Umar traces the journey of the
Malay community in Bangkok and their efforts to preserve their ethnic
traditions while gradually assimilating the ways of the Buddhist
majority. Nguyen Thi Yen Ma does a border study of the Tay, Nung and
Zhuang in China, all coming from the same ethnicity but made different
by the dominant cultures they negotiate with. Byungkok Soh writes of the
historical relations between the Malays of Malaysia and Indonesia, as
one supported the other in their fight for recognition and self-rule.
Anindita Dasgupta compares the ethnic management policies of Assam
and Malaysia, citing lessons that
the former can learn from the latter.
Danton Remoto and Flaudette May Datuin have chosen the arts as their
area of contention. Danton Remoto articulates the poetic aspirations of
the Malaysian poet in English for creative space within an ethnically
defined Malaysian culture. Flaudette May Datuin compares the artistic
ideologies and self-constructions of women painters in China and Korea.
Last but not the least, Shen Kaiyan tackles the global issue of
technology as she studies the software industry of India to extract
lessons for China.
These are the first fruits, the products of painstaking research and of
unceasing interrogation. They set the standards for the next harvest.
Lily Rose Tope
Editor |
