This article takes a historical approach to the legal status of the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies with particular emphasis on the law making process. It is widely known that the Dutch government made a legal distinction between its colonial population as Europeans and “inlanders (natives).” The criterion of this distinction was that the concerned group could be regarded as either “civilized” or not. According to the law, the Japanese were classified as “inlanders” until the introduction of the Japanese Law.

However, as the navigation treaty between the Dutch and Japanese governments concluded in 1896, the Dutch government was confronted with whether or not to change the legal status of the Japanese in the East Indies. They subsequently enacted the so-called Japanese Law to elevate the Japanese from “inlanders” to quasi-Europeans. A parliamentary discussion regarding this law reveals the notion of civilization held by the law-makers and Dutch politicians. In addition, this article describes how the Japanese recognize this law in relation to its social significance in the East Indies.

This article examines how genres are differentiated in thachingyi (great songs), also referred to as Burmese classical songs. In particular, I have focused on the creation techniques of the kyo (string songs) and patpyo (drum songs) genres from the following two perspectives: the creation technique of using already established songs and author Myawadi Mingyi U Sa’s (1766−1853, hereafter referred to as U Sa) role in the differentiation of genres.

Conventional literature has attempted to define genres according to their musical features or based on the origin of their names. The authors of such literature evidently believe that these genres can be clearly distinguished from other genres. This opinion is based on the fact that many of the songs in the same genre use the same melodies, and therefore, they are similar to each other. Moreover, all the publications of song anthologies are segregated based on the songs’ genres, and thus it is assumed that all songs can be categorized into a specific genre.

I have discussed the adequacy of genre divisions with respect to song anthologies, which serves as a background for the perspective that genres have immovable boundaries. By analyzing palm-leaf manuscripts, I have highlighted that the songs were not slotted into any particular genre when they were first composed. It was only in 1870 that the first manuscript, which featured a compilation of song titles, was edited according to the songs’ genres. Following this, all manuscripts and publications related to songs began to be edited comprehensively and compiled according to the songs’ individual genres.

On another front, there exist many similar songs that can form a certain genre. The reason for this is that the creation techniques can lean heavily on already established works.

First, I analyzed the manuscript “Monywe beshop’s old songs.” According to its editor, it might be the oldest manuscript of a song. I used the manuscript that was copied in 1917; however, its year of origin is said to be 1788.

This manuscript contains numerous songs of identical or similar titles. I also noticed that a considerable number of the titles include the word alaik, which means melody. These titles imply that each of these songs was composed using the melody of another song, but with different lyrics; these represent parody songs. I found that the alaik technique was also used in patpyo songs.

However, if the songs were created by using already established songs, the question arises of why different genres appeared. I analyzed this from the viewpoint of the authors.

In “Song titles” (year of origin: 1870), “The purification of maha gita” (year of origin: 1881), and “The prominence songs” (copied year: 1917), U Sa composed the maximum number of patpyo songs but only a few alaik songs, and other authors used his songs as the origin for their alaik songs. U Sa regarded his songs as thanzan or new type songs. Thus, I conclude that U Sa composed the original songs according to the patpyo genre. On the basis of the creation technique, U Sa’s works became “already established songs” for the younger authors. U Sa set a new trend in song creation, and thus, the patpyo song genre was formed.

This paper examines the transnational development of the Dejiao organization and the expansion of its network. Dejiao originated as a spirit-writing cult in 1939 in the Teochiu (Chaozhou) region of South China. Dejiao is largely a Teochiu phenomenon with a close link to Teochiu businessmen. By the end of World War II, Teochiu businessmen had begun spreading Dejiao to areas of Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Since then, the network has grown and has reached out to the Teochiu people in Southeast Asia. At present, the Dejiao organization continues to rapidly expand its networks and reinforce the partnership between the Dejiao organizations in Southeast Asian countries.

However, the main activities coordinated by these organizations involve planchette divination and charity work. They are less concerned with the intellectual aspects of Dejiao or preaching and as a result, lack a complete systematic ethical and spiritual basis. Hence, Dejiao is almost treated as a strictly charitable society, rather than a religious organization.

To strengthen the ethical and spiritual bases of Dejiao as well as to seek out a new forward direction of its development, the members of the organization have made considerable efforts, such as returning to China to confirm the roots of Dejiao and establishing new branches of the organization around the world. It is the objective of this paper to analyze the transnational development of the Dejiao organization and expansion of its networks as its essential character, by clarifying the characteristics and tendencies of its members as well as the way in which the organization has developed across Southeast Asia.

Illegal mining business was rampant in Indonesia since the 1997 monetary and economic crises and political transition from New Order regime to the Reform Cabinet. It has caused enormous loss of state revenue. If the state had suffered losses of up to billions of rupiah, the question arises: why had the state accepted this so far? Why had state control never been effective in its effort to eliminate this illegal business? Had there been some sort of a ‘concubine relationship’ between state actors and business people, making illegal business difficult to be prevented? This article will try to analyze that the problem of illegal economy is not a new phenomenon and not merely a problem of labeling certain transactions registered and unregistered, but more complicated, because it concerns power relations and power contention between and within state actors and society in their efforts to gain access to tin resources.

This paper provides a case study to demonstrate how historical linkages could become past precedents for contemporary international relations by looking at the historical relations between the Chams and the Malays. It is evident that in the context of Malaysia-Vietnam relations, there have been in existence for many centuries, a strong bond between the Chams of Vietnam and the Malays of the Malay Peninsula. This paper will attempt to trace the historical relations that have existed between the two people by placing this relationship in the context of four periods. It argues that this relationship, which is still being actively pursued, could best be understood by taking a long view perspective. While doing so, several questions will be explored. This includes the question of how ‘Malay’ were the Chams; and to what extent, religion played a part in cementing the ties between the two people.

This paper examines how state politics impacted local society, and how developments in local society were situated in larger frameworks such as state and world economy in the Banten Sultanate in the second half of the eighteenth century. The Dutch overlordship over the sultan, which started in 1752, did not immediately affect the traditional personal-tie based ruling system. It brought relative political stability and economic growth in the sultanate in the 1750s and the 1760s.

Changes were brought about when the Dutch decided to promote pepper cultivation directly in the Lampung region in the 1750s and in the Banten region in the 1760s. Lampung people initially welcomed Dutch officials, expecting them to mediate solution in their local troubles, but Dutch reluctance to be involved in local issues soon disappointed them. Instead Palembang, British, and Chinese traders penetrated Lampung, by offering more favorable transaction conditions for pepper cultivators. They successfully established a trade network, in which Lampung products were collected for the China market. In Banten, the local elite cooperated with the Dutch policy of promoting pepper cultivation, but they eventually made use of it to expand their influence. After 1770 the sultan’s power declined considerably, as a result of the diminishment in pepper delivery and the silting of Banten’s ports. The full support of the Dutch resulted in undermining the legitimacy and popularity of the sultan in the court circle. This allowed the Banten elite to become more powerful and independent, and Lampung to be more connected to world economy.