Japanese Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
Online ISSN : 2424-1377
Print ISSN : 0563-8682
ISSN-L : 0563-8682
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Volume 47, Issue 1
Displaying 1-8 of 8 articles from this issue
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Articles
  • Rural Credit and Community Relationships in a Northern Vietnamese Village
    Takashi Okae
    2009 Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 3-30
    Published: June 30, 2009
    Released on J-STAGE: October 31, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20495/tak.47.1_3
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions of success in rural credit in developing countries, based on the investigation of a Vietnamese case. The rural credit institutions in Vietnam have achieved splendid results, compared with those in other Asian countries. Some studies of rural credit in Vietnam have paid attention to the group lending scheme based on the Grameen Bank model or to social ties among borrowers. However, these studies did not show how group lending and social ties function in the rural credit system, so the author interviewed people in a northern Vietnamese village.
     The author found that joint liability groups formed by borrowers are just nominal and have no provision for borrowers’ default. Nevertheless, the bank loans have rapidly penetrated many villagers, and have never been defaulted. This is because the entire hamlet participates in monitoring. Almost all social activities here take place in hamlets. If someone causes trouble in a hamlet, it may result in economic and social sanctions from others, including non-borrowers. However, young villagers with non-agriculture income are under less economic pressure to follow the rules of behavior that have traditionally governed interactions in their hamlets.
     The author concludes that Vietnamese rural credit has succeeded by depending on rural communities characteristic of Vietnam, but an effective monitoring system must be created.
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  • The Politics of National Identity in West Malaysia:
    Continued Mutation or Critical Transition?
    Helen Ting
    2009 Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 31-51
    Published: June 30, 2009
    Released on J-STAGE: October 31, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20495/tak.47.1_31
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    In this paper, national identity is conceptualized in terms of competing representations of the putative “nation” based on which socio-political contests unfold and bureaucracy functions.
     Two key historical happenings marked the politics of national identity in West Malaysia: the 1969 racial riots and the Islamization policies. After 1969, comprehensive ethnic-based preferential policies were formalized, while Malay political primacy justified on the basis of indigeneity became entrenched. The Islamization Policy implemented from the 1980s mainstreamed the idea of Malaysia as a negara Islam. Executive curtailment of judicial autonomy led to institutional mutations dubbed by a scholar as the “silent re-writing of the Constitution.”
     During the 1990s, despite selected socio-cultural measures of “liberalization” more accommodative of non-Malay interests, ethnic preferential treatments remained prevalent. Moreover, the conflation of the logic of Malay primacy with that of Islamic supremacy in institutional practices resulted in a rise in inter-religious contentions. Historic regime change became conceivable following recent political development. Nonetheless, prospects for radical revision of existing inter-religious dynamics remain dim because Islamic conservatism among Malay politicians transcends party-lines.
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  • Filipino Refugees in Sabah:
    State Responses, Public Stereotypes and the Dilemma Over Their Future
    Kassim Azizah
    2009 Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 52-88
    Published: June 30, 2009
    Released on J-STAGE: October 31, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20495/tak.47.1_52
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    Over the past four decades Malaysia has seen a rise in the inflow of foreign nationals. Among them are a substantial number of refugees estimated to be between 57,000 and 70,500 in 2008. The refugees, who are largely from neighbouring countries, are only found in Peninsula Malaysia and the eastern state of Sabah. This paper, which limits itself to Filipino refugees in Sabah examines state administration of the refugees, the various stereotypes accorded to them by the general public and the dilemma of the state over their future. The validity of these stereotypes is tested by looking at their daily lives viz. their family structure and composition, community organisations, economic activities and their interactions with “others” and the state. The negative impact of external constraints on their lives is highlighted, particularly the ambiguous legal status of second and third generation refugees born and bred in Sabah. By presenting the stark realities of their lives, the writer hopes to refute some public misconceptions about them and by doing so help the state overcome its dilemma over the future of the refugees. The paper is based on fieldworks carried out intermittently between 2003 and 2005.
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  • “Making of Community” in a Commercialized Community in Northern Thailand
    Atchara Rakyutidharm
    2009 Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 89-110
    Published: June 30, 2009
    Released on J-STAGE: October 31, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20495/tak.47.1_89
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    The community-based development approach has been applied to development projects for a long time. Recently the Thai government launched the “sufficiency economy” policy, which promotes subsistence agricultural production and claims to strengthen rural communities. However, on the ground implementation of this policy does not necessarily result in the strengthening of rural communities as the government claims it does. A strong sense of community can be built among farmers even if they practice commercial agriculture. Strengthening a community, however, is dependent neither on subsistence farming nor commercial farming. Rather, as I argue in this paper, the idea of “community making” involves collective actions in relation to political and economic conditions. I will illustrate this point by examining the process of strengthening an upland community in Northern Thailand through agricultural practices of farmers in relation to their political and economic conditions.
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