The Minutes of the
Asian Studies Association of Australia, Inc.

Web page established: 23 November 1998
Last updated: 23 November 1998

HUA HIN Workshop, 22-24 April, 1998

Twenty-five Asia area specialists came together in Hua Hin, Thailand, for two intensive days of discussion of the state of Asian Studies in Asia and means that might be sought for promoting it. They represented associations or institutions concerned with area studies in Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Most specialised in Asian regions other than or broader than their own. The Ford Foundation had funded the meeting through the Asian Studies Association of Australia, while the Toyota Foundation sent an observer. The Institute of Asian Studies at Chulalongkorn University (Director Dr Withaya Sucharithanarugse) were our hosts.

One stimulus for the meeting was the concern for the internationalisation of Asian Studies, which has been encouraged since 1996 by the (U.S.-based) Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and the (Netherlands-based) International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). Associations and institutes in the Asian region did not play a large part in the steps which led to the International Convention of Asian Scholars (ICAS) in Noordwijkerhout in June 1998, partly because umbrella organisations which could represent the players in the region were relatively undeveloped. The Hua Hin meeting was designed in part to explore this deficiency and consider how to respond to such internationalising trends.

The first day was taken up with discussion of reports on the development of Asian Studies in each of the countries represented, the current situation and problems, and the organisations concerned with it. The differences and imbalances quickly became clear. Only Japan (and to a lesser extent Korea and Australia) appeared to study all subregions of Asia extensively, while only Australia and New Zealand had national Asian Studies associations that aimed to cover all areas and disciplines. China was heavily (even disproportionately) studied in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; whereas few other countries except Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Vietnam appeared to give it much attention. All countries had centres for work on Japan, and most for work on Korea, with some help from the two countries in question. Despite recent encouragement of cross-country work within Southeast Asia from the SEASREP project, Asian Studies of any kind remained relatively weak and isolated in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Central Asia and Sri Lanka, and appeared only recently to be developing significantly in Thailand and Taiwan. Even China and India, with their hundreds of universities and research institutes, had surprisingly few scholars specialising in Southeast Asia, and faced great difficulties, as did Vietnam, in acquiring fieldwork-based expertise there. South Asian expertise was hard to find in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong or Taiwan. There was agreement on the need for more extensive cooperative work to encourage greater mutual interaction and expertise.

On the second day the morning was devoted to examining some of the particular features and strengths of Asian Studies in various places, and the extent to which traditional strengths (such as the study of traditional China in Japan and Korea) invigorated or inhibited a modern understanding of interdisciplinary area studies. We came back to fundamental questions of the nature of "Asian Studies". The crucial importance of studying other societies and civilizations in Asia was undoubted, but the paradox was noted that the most widely studied and understood "other" civilization was that of Europe. While it was more difficult and problematic to perceive "Asia" or "Asian Studies" as a collective whole when standing in it, broader "imagined communities" were developing rapidly, stimulating or at least legitimating broader-based Asian Studies organisations. A recognition of and coping with otherness was suggested as fundamental to all creative analysis, and interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approaches were ever more necessary as disciplines become more specialised and theoretically impenetrable.

The afternoon was devoted to considering the transnational organisations already in existence, and the possibilities which existed for further initiatives. SEASREP, which has creatively encouraged the study of Southeast Asian countries by each other over the past three years, appeared to be the most useful model for developing a broader cooperative program.

Next steps

The following points of consensus emerged from the meeting.

1) The reports on Asian Studies in Asia discussed at the meeting should be revised, extended, published and distributed both commercially and through Asian Studies bodies. The Institute of Asian Studies at Chulalongkorn University undertook to publish them in a booklet. Work is proceeding on this matter, with the IIAS's comprehensive Guide to Asian Studies in Europe providing a formidable model.

2) As a meaningful discipline Asian Studies may be defined as the interdisciplinary study of an Asian culture, society or language other than one's own, since what we share and seek to encourage is the educational effort of acquiring the languages, cross-cultural skills and fieldwork experience which make that possible. In planning cooperative exchanges and programs, however, the deep knowledge of our own societies is a prime asset and specialists in this must be included in exchanges.

3) Asian Studies in general did tend to be dominated, with some exceptions for scholarship expressed in Japanese, Chinese and Korean, by paradigms, problems and perceptions developed in the English-language literature, predominately in North America. There was a need for greater balance and a greater plurality of views, including means of getting into the "mainstream" perceptions developed in Asian scholarly traditions.

4) No enthusiasm was expressed at the Hua Hin meeting for the next ICAS to be held in the Asian region. There were on the contrary reservations against any trend towards institutionalising ICAS which might mean duplicating or competing with ICANAS (the international organisation of the former Orientalists' Congresses, which have met around the world since 1873).

Subsequent to the meeting its convenor, Anthony Reid of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, was invited to give one of the keynote addresses at the ICAS in Noordwijkerhout on 26 June. He used this occasion to convey some of the conclusions of the Hua Hin meeting to that broader group, and to explore the dilemmas and challenges of "Studying Asia Internationally", particularly in the Asian region itself. The informal business meeting held in conjunction with ICAS stepped back from seeking to go global by holding the next international conference in Asia. Instead the view was strongly put by European delegates that the chief purpose of ICAS was to assist the Europeans to develop umbrella organisations comparable to AAS, and that a second meeting in Europe would therefore be most helpful. 2001 was suggested as a date.

5) There was a need for specific encouragements of research and teaching in all countries of the region on other societies and cultures within it. This was particularly true, given SEASREP's existing program of encouraging intra-Southeast Asian cooperation, of connections between the major sub-regions--South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia respectively, not to mention Central Asia and Australasia. This should if possible include encouragement of:

i. In-country language-learning opportunities.

ii. exchange of teachers and students.

iii. conferences on particular themes, particularly those advancing alternative approaches and methodologies.

iv. research collaboration on comparative projects.

v. access to fieldwork opportunities.

vi. graduate scholarships.

6) In order to keep this momentum and plan specific initiative, a working group would be formed by the organisations represented from China, Japan, Thailand, Australia and India. They would communicate electronically and otherwise, and communicate decisions to the wider group. Their first meeting would follow the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) Conference in Sydney (28 Sept-1 Oct 1998), where Professors Giri DESHINGKAR (India) and SUEHIRO Akira (Japan) would also participate in the ASAA President's Panel on "Constructing 'Asia' in Asia". They, together with Professors LIAO Shaolian (China), WITHAYA Sucharithanarugse (Thailand) and Anthony REID (Australia), would meet on 2 October to make specific proposals.

7) It was decided to support the International Association of Historians of Asia (IAHA) Conference in Jakarta (27 August- 1 Sept 1998), by allocating some Ford funding to form a panel of younger scholars working on other Asian societies than their own, who would not otherwise have much oportunity to attend such international conferences. The theme of the panel might be "New Asian perspectives on Asian societies". Subsequent to the meeting, the following were selected to form that panel:

         Name            Topic                             Affiliation                
  Dr Sud Chonchirdsin    The Indochinese Congress (May     Department of History,     
                         1936-March 1937); False Hope      Chulalongkorn              
                         for Vietnamese Nationalists       University,                
                                                           Bangkok, Thailand          
   Dr Elias Miryanti      The Role of Korean Studies In        Fakultas Sastra,       
        Savitri                     Indonesia                Universitas Indonesia    
    Dr Sooyoung Kim      The Comintern & the Far Eastern   Korea                      
                         Communist Movement in Shanghai,                              
                         1919-1922                                                    
    Ms Minghuan Li       Potential and Barriers: the       FuDan University,          
                         Chinese Historians and            Shanghai, China            
                         Southeast Asian Studies                                      

Participants in the Hua Hin meeting:

           Name              Affiliation                                          
Prof. LIAO Shao-lian          Xiamen University, China                            
Prof. WONG Siu-lun           Centre for Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong    
Prof. Taufik Abdullah        Centre for SE Asian Studies, LIPI, Jakarta,          
                             Indonesia                                            
Dr. Giri DESHINGKAR          Instituteof Chinese Studies, New Delhi, India        
Dr. Brij Mohan TANKHA        University of Delhi, India                           
Prof. IKEHATA Setsuho        Southeast Asian History Association, Tokyo           
                             University of Foreign Studies, Japan                 
Prof. SUEHIRO Akira          Ajia Seikei Gakkai, University of Tokyo, Japan,      
Prof. KIM Yong-Deok          Seoul National University                            
Prof. Shaharil Talib         University of Malya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia          
Prof. VOON Phin Keong        University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia         
Dr. Serena M DIOKNO          University of the Philippines                        
Prof. Kingsley DESILVA       International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Sri Lanka   
Prof. WANG Gungwu            National University of Singapore                     
Dr. CHEN Kuo-Tung            Institute of Economics, Taiwan                       
Dr. Do Duc DINH              National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities   
                             of Vietnam, Hanoi                                    
Prof. Oumirserik KASENOV     Kainar University, Kazakhstan                        
Prof. Anthony REID           Asian Studies Association of Australia, Australian   
                             National University                                  
Prof. Beverley HOOPER        University of Western Australia                      
Dr. Richard PHILLIPS         University of Auckland, N.Z.                         
Ms. HIMEMOTO Yumiko          The Toyota Foundation (She is the observer)          
Dr. Withaya                  Chulalongkorn University                             
Sucharithanarugse                                                                 
Dr Sunait Chutintharanand    Chulalongkorn University                             
Dr. Karnchana Ngaorangsi     Narasuan University                                  
Dr. Theera Nujpium           Silpakorn University                                 
Prof. Plubplung Kongchanam   Srinakarinwirote University, Bangkok                 
Dr. Chokechai Sudhawes       Thailand Research Fund