Colonial discourse analysis has proven one of the most fruitful and significant areas of research in recent years. This paper considers the orientalist discourse and its context in the case of pre-colonial Malaya. It discusses the concept of “feudalism” as employed by historians of western Europe, by those of precolonial Malaya and, thirdly, by selected post-colonial writers. In discussing the works of Clifford, Maxwell and other nineteenth-century British officials on Malay feudalism, the author argues that the truth value of their analyses should not be dismissed out of hand, for they have much of value to say, that would repay careful study.

This essay examines the common perception that the nineteenth century was the apogee of Neo-Confucianism in Vietnam by a comparative analysis of high examination passes from 1463 to 1883. Analysing the data generated reveals the nineteenth century as the historic nadir of the traditional examination system. The essay then relates this result to the politics of the time, and especially to the southern nature of the new regime.

This paper analyses the thought of Vietnamese reformer Nguyen Truong To as he formulated his unique response to the nineteenth-century French aggressions against Vietnam. It intends to show that he was a sincere and patriotic reformer whose reform proposals presented a greater challenge to the Confucian monarchical system than is generally recognized.

This article investigates the role of prophet in the Batak millenarian movement of Parmalim against the colonial order. The Parmalim movement was organized in 1890 by Guru Somalaing who claimed to be able to gain access to the source of European power while retaining the essence of Toba-Batak values.

The appointment of a Russian General-Consul, V. Vyvodtsev to Singapore in 1890 was reflective of the “Asiatic Mission” of the last Tsar of Imperial Russia, Nicholas II, and the direction of Russian imperialism in the Far East and its link to Russia's diplomatic presence in Southeast Asia. This article utilizes consulate materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy, Moscow as well as published primary materials, to discuss the specific nature of Russia's interests in Southeast Asia during this period.

This paper analyses the symbolic aspects of the tiger as perceived by the Madurese, both on Madura and in East Java. It focuses on people's relationship with the environment and the supernatural world as well as the way the tiger as symbol has adapted to both the progress of Islam and to the modern world in general.

Over the course of the twentieth century, Southeast Asia's population will have grown from 80 to 530 million. Much of this extraordinary growth is due to the very rapid decline in mortality over the second half of the century, but the socioeconomic and political attributes of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Southeast Asian societies also contributed to rapid population growth, especially in the settlement of frontier rice-growing regions. Although fertility transitions are underway in almost every country in the region, the population of the region will probably double in size before growth ceases sometime in the middle of the twenty-first century.