seameoforum1997 Volume 5 ISSN 0857-0361

Southeast Asian Ministers of Education OrganizationDedicated to the cause of regional cooperation for strategic planning in education, science and culture for the development of Southeast Asia

Higher Education in Viet NamVision of Philippine Elementary Education

Agricultural EducationCultural Administration & Management

Rewriting Art History

Southeast Asian Perspectivesfor the 21st Century

Compiled and published by theSoutheast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat

4th Floor, Darakarn Building920 Sukhumvit Road

Bangkok 10110Thailand

(500/1997)

To realize this purpose the organization will collaborate in thework of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding ofthe people in Southeast Asia as well as the rest of the world:promote and collaborate with Member States at their request injoint projects and programmes of mutual benefit concerningeducation, science and culture and assist members in thedevelopment of education activities; maintain, increase and diffuseknowledge; and assist in articulating education to the economicand social goals of the individual Member States.

SEAMEOSoutheast Asia�s Ministers of Education

The purpose of the organization isto promote cooperation among theSoutheast Asian nations througheducation, science and culture inorder to further respect for justice,for the rule of law and the humanrights and fundamental freedomswhich are the bir thrights of thepeople of the world.

table of contents

Higher EducationDevelopment in

Viet NamStatus, Trends and

Policy

ArtsManagementand CulturalAdminstrationin Southeast Asia

RetrievingBuriedVoices

A Reconsideration of Premises for Writing Histories ofArt of the Twentieth Century in Southeast Asia

p.6

p.24

An overview of thevarious practices inSEAMEO MemberCountries

An overview of the Vietnamesehigher education system with

an emphasis on futuredirections

Vision and Challenges of the PhilippiElementary School for the Next Mille

A tale of how schools willoperate in the future

Higher EducationTraining in

Agriculture in the21st Century

The Director of SEAMEOSEARCA discusses the

future teaching andlearning of agriculture

p.14

p.34

This issue of SEAMEO forum focuses on three subject areas, elementaryand higher education reforms and arts management and art history.

Educational reform is sweeping through Southeast Asia and althoughthere are many similarities, there are also many differences in opinion on thedirection for the reforms. In this issue we are highlighting Viet Nam�s educationreforms.

Dang Ba Lam of the National Institute for Education Developmentdiscusses the history, current issue and reforms of the Vietnamese highereducation system and proposes a policy for its future development in a paperpresented at the Fifth SEAMEO RIHED governing Board Meeting in Ho Chi MinhCity.

Sustainable agriculture and necessary shifts in agriculture curriculaare the focus of a paper delivered by Dr. Percy E. Sajise, Director, SEAMEOSEARCA at a conference on higher education and training in the 21st centuryduring the 30th anniversary of Cantho University in Viet Nam.

In a paper delivered at the national conference of the National Associationof Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs of Elementary Education, Dr. Minda Sutariaidentifies two major problems that must be resolved in the next millenium,achievement and drop-out rates and her vision on how they will be improved.

A study on Arts Management and Cultural Administration in SoutheastAsia by Elmar Beltran Ingles of SEAMEO SPAFA presents us with a summary ofexisting government cultural policies and infrastructures in Southeast Asiancountries and how these policies affect cultural programmes and activities inthe region.

In his keynote address at the SEAMEO SPAFA Symposium on History ofPerforming Arts in Southeast Asia, T.K. Sabapathy discusses his thoughts onwriting 20th Century Southeast Asian art history.

Through these articles, the SEAMEO Forum hopes to maintain a venuenot only for discussion and debate, but for possible linkages and collaborationas well.

This will be the last issue of the SEAMEO Forum. Scholarly and policypapers and researches will be made available online in the SEAMEO DigitalLibrary at: www.seameo.org/library

editor�s note

The SEAMEO Forum is published by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education OrganizationSecretariat at 920 Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110, THAILAND. Tel. (66 2) 3910144.Fax (66 2) 3812587. E-mail: info@seameo.org

Editors: Wilfredo O. Pascual, Jr. Chad Peters

Advisors: Dr. Suparak Racha-Intra Dr. Kantatip Sinhaneti

nenium p.19

HigherEducationDevelopmentin Viet NamStatus,Trendsand Policy

ByDr Dang Ba LamNational Institute

forEducationalDevelopment

Presented at theFifth SEAMEO RIHED

Governing Board MeetingHo Chi Minh City, Viet Nam21 to 22 August 1997

Brief History

Higher education in Viet Nam began with the buildingof Quoc Tu Giam in 1076-the first Royal College inViet Nam-at the time of King Ly. The Vietnamese

feudal education system was greatly influenced by Chinesefeudal education for ten centuries.

The Vietnamese feudal education system includedpublic and private schools, with private schools contributingmuch to the dissemination of knowledge. There were threecourse areas: Buddhist studies, military studies, andConfucianism and literature.

The number of students learning Confucianism andliterature was largest. The learning materials were the classicaltexts on Confucianism. The learning methods were mainlyscholastic and dogmatic, with the materials and exercises inChinese. Vietnamese could be used for lectures. Aconsequence of this teaching-learning method was that thestudents often did not formulate an independent approach tothinking.

In 1919, the Imperial Court, on orders from theFrench, announced the abolition of Vietnamese feudaleducation. The French style of education was then introducedmore fully. A number of universities and colleges wereestablished in Indochina to train colonial administrators andprofessionals. By 1945, all such institutions had been locatedin Hanoi.

Between 1900 and 1924, the institutions calleduniversities of colleges in Hanoi were in fact often specializedprofessional schools, sometimes only at a secondary level.

In the 1924-25 academic year, France implementededucational reform that changed the status of suchestablishments into real colleges. This included increasingenrollment requirements, lengthening the duration of courses,and making curriculum improvements. Between 1939 and1945, France established the Indochinese University, basedon various colleges of Hanoi. At that time, the status of allcolleges in Indochina was considered to be that of modernhigher education. However, the colleges were small. Themaximum number of students in the Indochinese Universitywas 1,000 of which the School of Medicine and Pharmacyhad the largest number with 300 to 350 students.

Following the August 1945 Revolution, theDemocratic Republic of Viet Nam carried out educationalreform on the basis of nationalization, scientific principles,and popularization. Two immediate tasks were identified: tosubstitute Vietnamese teachers for the French teachers andto encourage and expand the use of Vietnamese as themedium of instruction in higher education.

In 1946, when France launched war on theDemocratic Republic of Viet Nam, the colleges wereevacuated from Hanoi into the rural areas and the mountains.

6

From 1951 to 1954, the College of Science, a Teacher TrainingCollege, and tertiary level preparatory courses wereestablished.

The curriculum was designed according to the needsof a state at war. Training courses focused mainly on medicine,agriculture, weapons, and diplomacy. Instructional methodscombined practice with theory in the active war setting. TheDien Bien Phu military defeat of the French then broughtpeace in 1954, but Viet Nam was divided into two zones.

From 1956 to 1975, a higher education system wasbuilt up in North Viet Nam, including universities, polytechniccolleges, and various other specialized colleges. In 1975, inNorth Viet Nam, there were 30 higher education institutionswith 8,400 teachers and 56,000 students. In South Viet Nam,there were seven public universities and seven privateuniversities and colleges, with 166,000 students. Reunificationof the North and South in 1975 saw the establishment ofone socialist higher education system in the country. Alluniversities and colleges werereorganized into the public sectorwhile private colleges wereabolished.

Influenced by theexample of the Soviet Union andother socialist countries, Viet Namestablished polytechnic institutesteaching industrial, construction,and transportation courses.Universities were developedaccording to the same socialistexample, concentrating onfundamental natural and socialscience.

Before the restructuringof the higher education system (1993) the country had 102universities, colleges/junior colleges, and institutes. These weresometimes multidisciplinary, but more often were specialized.The figures were as follows: multidisciplinary (9); industrialengineering (13); agro-forestry-fishery (6); economics (6);medical and sports (8); art colleges (7); teacher traininginstitutions (47), including national teacher training colleges(9), national junior teacher training colleges (8), and provincialteacher training colleges (30); and other colleges (6).

Current Status

The Position of Higher Education in the NationalEducational System.

From 1993, by the Decision 93/CP of theGovernment, the national education and training system ofViet Nam consists of the following four sub-systems.

� Pre-school education which consists of creches receivingchildren from two months to 36 months old; andkindergarten admitting children aged three to six years.

� General education starting at age 6 and consisting of threecycles: 5-year primary (grades 1-5); 4-year lowersecondary (grades 6-9); and 3-year upper secondary(grades 10-12).

� Vocational education consisting of two types: vocationalschools which are designed to train skilled workers; andsecondary vocational schools which are designed to traintechnicians with an intermediate level of techniques.

� Higher education consisting of three levels: undergraduate,masters, and doctoral degrees.

In comparing the past with the present, today�sundergraduate programmes provide wider profiles ofspecialization with reduced time ( generally four years) ; masterdegree has been newly established and one doctor degreereplaced ascociate and full doctors. The goals of thesechanges are to assist graduates to be adaptable to the learningprocess as well as labour market needs.

The Management System ofHigher Education

In Viet Nam, responsibility forthe higher education system lieswith the following bodies andgroups. The Ministry of Educationand Training is responsible forpolicy making, guidance, andsupervision in connection with allthe education programmes and theadministration of the highereducation institutions. Someprovinces administer juniorcolleges to meet particular needs.

Funding of the higher educationsystem is the responsibility of the

central and provincial levels of government, although thecentral government provides most of the funds for salaries,scholarships, and other expenditures (e.g., maintenance andrepair of buildings, furniture and equipment, teachingmaterials, and books). In 1996, thirty-one higher educationinstitutions were responsible to the Ministry of Educationand Training. The remainder are responsible to otherMinistries, such as Health, Culture, Finance, Law, etc. andprovincial people�s committees.

A system of laws, statutes, and regulations has beendeveloped over the past few years to consolidate the legalbasis for the management of institutions. This task has notyet been completed, and indeed has lagged behind the drivefor �renovation�. This is especially the case regarding thecase of management relations between the central government(the various ministries) and the institutions themselves, notthe least of which is in the area of regulations for the self-government of institutions.

The regulations that have been developed currentlyprovide that the Ministry of Education and Training will fundinstitutions through fixed expenses, to include salaries and

�A system of laws,statutes, and

regulations has beendeveloped over thepast few years to

consolidate the legalbasis for themanagement ofinstitutions.�

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scholarships. Regarding personnel, the Ministry of Educationand Training determines the staffing of institutions, the controlof salary levels and the employment of teachers. With regardto course organization, the Ministry of Education and Trainingapproves new courses and the education programs, developsthe examination statutes, and confers degrees.

In addition, the Commission for Education, Culture,and Youth of the National Assembly and the Commissionfor Science and Education of the Party Central Committeeare also responsible for policy making in higher education.The institution that assists the Ministry of Education andTraining in researching strategy, policy and the master planand management of the development of higher education isthe National Institute for Educational Development.

The Delivery of Higher EducationHigher education qualification programmes range

from three years (associate bachelor) to eight years (doctorate)of required training. Longer higher education programmesare offered in most institutions: medical and dental sciences(six years); industrial engineering (three years); and four yearsfor most other degree level qualifications. In general, mostprograms consist of 1 1/2 to 2 years of general education,followed by specialisation.

Short diploma programmes are also offered in juniorcolleges, with a duration of about three years. Most highereducation is government-sponsored, but private education isnow encouraged and a few such programs can be found.

In 1996 there were 93 public, and nine peopleestablished higher education institutions in the whole country,with 41,483 students.

Short-term training in higher education is aimed atcovering the need for a large workforce with the advancedscientific, technical, and professional knowledge requiredchiefly by localities. Many courses have been jointly openedby the needy work units and local colleges on a contract basis.Some short-term courses have been opened especially forethnic minorities living in highland and remote areas, as wellas on offshore islands.

In-service training and correspondence courses areoffered in the universities and colleges. Such courses wereestablished in 1960 and are funded both by the governmentand the learner�s own organization. Provincial in-servicetraining centres were set up to facilitate the provision ofuniversity and college in-service training courses at differentlocalities. Currently, there are 31 provincial training centres,of which 22 are independent and nine are attached to a relateduniversity or college located in the province.

In the past 30 years, this �in-service training�provision has contributed greatly to the improvement of thequalification of working people, thus helping meet therequirements for socio-economic development. From 1960to 1990, 140,000 people graduated from universities andcolleges by this method, constituting 11 percent of the totalnumber of graduates nationally.

In 1993, two open universities were set up: one inHanoi and one in Ho Chi Minh city. These two universitieswill act as coordinators for the turning of the local in-servicetraining centers into an open training network, using the massmedia for educational purposes. Eleven other higher educationinstitutions also run distance education courses.

Most institutions operate two semesters of 15teaching weeks, with two weeks of examinations in eachacademic year (an academic year runs from September toJune). Since 1988-1989, many universities have adopted acredit point system, allowing students greater choice ofsubjects in approved combinations. In 1991, 43 out of60universities had two-phase degree programmes: phase Iconsists of two years of foundation knowledge andtechniques; phase II covers two years of specialized knowledgeand techniques. Most degree courses are of four yearsduration, with medical and dental science lasting six yearsand industrial engineering five years. Teaching depends heavilyon lectures. With nearly 30 formal contact periods scheduledweekly, little time is available for independent study.

Training at the masters level is undertaken as perthe decision of the Council of Ministers, decreed on March9, 1991. Such students are trained for two years in the full-time format or for three years in the in-service format.

Vietnamese is the only language of instruction inthe higher education institution . This leads to themodernisation of the Vietnamese language with the constantaddition of new technical terms. However, graduates of theuniversities and colleges may not be strong in foreignlanguages, restricting international communication.

The Vietnamese government has always paidattention to the training and upgrading of its higher educationteaching staff. By 1996, Vietnamese higher education had21,142 teachers, with 31.8 percent being female. Of thosestaff, about 14 percent are doctors and about six percent areassociate professors or professors. The salaries of teachers(and other education staff) are very low, and are not keepingpace with increases in the cost of living. A serious consequenceof low salaries is that many teachers often seek income fromwork outside their normal jobs. This results in a reduction ofthe quality of their work, their dedication to it, and the timethey have available for the extra assistance that many studentsneed outside normal university hours.

There are many difficulties attached to theprofessional development of higher education teachers.Viet Nam has no institution that specialises in upgrading theteachers of universities and colleges. It can be consideredthat scientific research in universities and colleges, inconnection with one�s subject, is a form of development forstaff. However, it has not really been paid adequate attention,with only six percent of the country�s research budget allocatedfor such work. In past years though, approximately 30 percentof higher education teachers did experience some form ofnormal upgrading training.

8

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Vietnamese higher education has always attemptedto combine theory with practice, and to integrate instructionwith research and production. Before 1990, universities andcolleges had the major task of training cadres for the country�ssocio-economic development. The activity of scientificresearch was only one part of the teaching-learning process.Since 1990, the scientific research activities in universitiesand colleges have been clearly identified and defined as partof the national scientific research system. The results of manyscientific research projects carried out by universities andcolleges have been used in practice, and have contributedgreatly to socio-economic development.

In 1989, the Ministry of Education and Trainingallowed universities and colleges to establish scientificresearch-production units. By 1990, there were 111 units ofscientific research and social service. Thirteen units belongto the Ministry of Education and Training, with a further 98units belonging to 23 universities and colleges.

Current Reform

To improve the relevance of education and trainingto the needs of social and economic development, Viet Namhas now begun to review its higher education system, curricula,and courses. A variety of institution types now exist, includingpublic, semiprivate, and private institutions. They offer longand short, full-time and part-time courses, distance learning,contract, and in-service courses.

To overcome the weaknesses in the system and torespond to the demands of a changing society, Viet Nam hasembraced new concepts and introduced a number of measuresto develop the higher education system. This is demonstratedin Table 1.

Innovation measures have already brought someimprovements to higher education.

The number of new full-time enrollments increasedfrom 127,312 in 1986-1987 to 414,183 in 1995-1996.

The first step in reconstruction of the highereducation network has already taken place. In 1993, thegovernment decided to combine three major Hanoiuniversities into one national level multidisciplinay institution.Further multidisciplinary universities were established in HoChi Minh city, ThaiNguyen, and Hue through theamalgamation of a number of specialised universities andcolleges.

The research and development activities ofuniversities and colleges are becoming more active. TheMOET is now implementing three national researchprogrammes, 80 national projects, and 640 ministerial-levelprojects. Funding for R&D in the state budget accounted forVND 11.5 billion; R&D activities funded by contracts reachedVND 100 billion.

International Relations of Viet Nam Higher EducationFollowing the open policy of the Vietnamese

Government, higher education authorities have, step by step,been expanding international cooperation through theparticipation of education officials, researchers, and teachersin international workshops, study tours, and training. Viet Namhas also invited numerous international organisations like theUNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, WB, ADB to assistand participate in the implementation of educationaldevelopment projects in Viet Nam.

Presently, there is registered contact with 19countries, 10 international organizations, 35 NGOs, and 60universities and colleges. Vietnamese and foreign highereducation institutions are implementing 21 projects jointly,at a funding level of US $ 25 million.

Vietnam has especially expanded its cooperationwithin the Southeast Asia region: rejoining SEAMEO; helpingthe Asian Institute of Technology set up AIT Centre in Hanoi;and sending students for training in many countries.

As well as education at home, the Vietnamesegovernment has often sent students abroad to study. In the

�Vietnamese higher educationhas always attempted to

combine theory with practiceand to integrate instruction

with research and production�

10

1951-1954 period, 593 students went abroad. Then, from 1955to 1975, 30,775 people went abroad to study. Such studyoutside Viet Nam has been in the former countries of theSoviet Union, the German Democratic Republic,Czechoslovakia, China, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, and Cuba.Fifty-five percent of such students were trained in the formerSoviet Union. In recent years, many teachers, researchers,specialists, and students have been sent to Australia, Belgium,Britain, France, India, Japan, and the United States. The AITin Bangkok has been a place of benefit for many too.

Viet Nam has also trained students from other countries in avariety of subjects, including the Vietnamese language. Inparticular, students from Laos and Cambodia have attendedViet Nam�s institutions.

Issues

Nowadays, higher education in Viet Nam is faced withfollowing problems:

� Education and training have not yet been able to respond

Table 1: Concepts and Measures Introduced into Viet Nam'sHigher Education System

In the Past At PresentObjectives of Higher Education

·

Training of scientific and technical man-power for state organisations andenterprises

·

Training of specialists for all sectors of the national economyand social activities

·

To meet the needs of the people in knowledge and culturePlanning and Management of Higher Education

·

Centralised planning of admissions andtraining

·

Decentralised planning at provincial and sector level withcentral coordination.

·

Training according to contracts·

To meet students' individual request·

Almost all education activities funded bystate central budget

·

Funding provided by state central budget, provincial andsectorial budgets

·

By contracts with employers·

By tuition fees·

By R&D and service activities of universities and colleges·

Distribution of jobs-employment aftergraduation

·

By planning·

By contracts·

Employment arrangements by students themselvesOrganisation of Teaching-Learning Process

·

Admission of students by only one nationalexamination; all students admitted wouldhave a Government financial "fellowships,�and almost all would graduate as planned

·

Narrow specialisation from the beginning·

Single curriculum·

No possibility of individual learningprogramme

·

Universities and colleges organise their entrance examinationswith different dates, 1/3 of admitted students will have"fellowship,� selection and competition during the learningprocess

·

Wide profile of training; two cycles of undergraduate training·

Modular programme with credit system·

Acceptance of individual learning programme

Organisation of R&D and Social Service Activities·

By state planning with state funding·

Voluntary non-profit activities·

By state planning & funding·

By contracts·

Social service, non-profit·

Contribution to universities & colleges budgets, supplementarysalaries for staff

Institutional Administration·

Passive participation of staff members andstudents in the decision making andadministration activities

·

Larger and more active participation·

Promotion of leading cadres in universities and colleges basedon vote by staff members and with participation of students

to the important and increasing needs of human resourcesresulting from the economic and social renovation.

� The quality and efficiency of education are still low. Mostof the university graduates do not have the adequatecapacity to cope with rapid industrial and technologicalchanges.

� Social equality in the area of education has not yet beenrealised. Children from poor families encounter manydifficulties in continuing their studies.

� The teaching staff is both weak and insufficient in number.At the level of higher education the proportion of teacherswith graduate degrees is still very low and in the immediatefuture there will be a shortage of teachers resulting fromthe retirement of more qualified teachers.

The main cause of these weaknesses are:

� Education management, in various aspects, is still weakand inefficient.

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� Introduction of deep changes in the teaching/learningprocess in order to suppress one-way transmission ofknowledge and to foster creative thinking of students;

� Gradual implementation of advanced methods and ofmodern means in the educational process which providethe necessary conditions and time for self-learning andself-research, particularly for higher education students;

� Building a certain number of up to date pilot laboratoriesand experimental production workshops for improvingtraining, scientific research and technological transfer, andfor participating in the production process and providingservices.

4. Renovating educational management

� Introduction of improved forecasting and planningmethods in the development of education. Integrationof education in the economic and social development ofthe whole country, and of each province. Developmentof a strategy for adjusting the distribution and growth ofenrollment to the needs of economic and socialdevelopment and reducing the present unbalancedsituation that can be observed;

� Building closer relationships between educationalmanagement offices and the agencies in charge ofmanpower and employment;

� Redefining the attributes and responsibilities ofeducational management agencies for improving nationalcapacities in management, in policy formulation andimplementation, in closely monitoring the realisation andthe quality of educational programmes;

� Defining more clearly the responsibilities, and increasingthe autonomy of all educational agencies, particularlyhigher education institutions;

� Continuing the re-organisation of the higher educationinstitutions and of the research institutions network inorder to fully utilize the capacity of the present teachingstaff and infrastructure;

� Drawing experience from the re-organisation of thenational and regional universities for establishing somelarge national universities and some technological trainingcentres of high quality and reputation;

� Development within the large enterprises and firms withtraining programmes in specialised fields; organisingexperimental models for integrating research and trainingin larger enterprises;

� Educational policies and reforms, changes in content andmethods of teaching, in curriculum, in evaluation, in

� The linkage between knowledge and skills provided byuniversity programmes and real needs of industry is weak.Teaching and training methods change very slowly anddo not produce students capable of initiative and creativethinking.

� Education and training activities are not closely linked toproduction and research.

Policy For Future Development

In order to overcome the above mentioned weaknesses thefollowing solutions are presented:

1. Increased resources for education

� To increase the share of education and training in thenational budget in order to reach 15% of totalexpenditures in year 2000;

� To prepare and promulgate regulations concerning tuitionfees and other contributions, according to the principleof non equal fees i.e. fee exemptions for the poor andmerit families;

� To devote a significant share of the budget for sendinggood and talented students in key fields of studies toforeign countries having an advanced level of scientifican industrial development;

� To use a part of foreign loans and grants for thedevelopment of educational infrastructure.

2. Staff development as a moving force of the teachinglearning process

� To implement a programme of permanent re-training inorder to ensure the application of norms related to teacherqualifications and to improve the quality of the teachingforce so that at least 30% of the teaching staff in highereducation achieve required norms of qualifications in year2000;

� To prepare and implement a plan for the training withinand outside of the country, of those responsible forspecialised subject departments and their youngercolleagues to overcome the shortage of teachers;

� To place teacher salary in the highest salary scale of civilservants and to provide additional allowances accordingto the characteristics of service and according to the zonewhere the teachers are working, in conformity withgovernment regulations.

3. Continuing renovation in the content and method ofteaching and training and improving educationalinfrastructure

12

examination ... should be based on careful scientificresearch, should go through an experimental phase toensure that they correspond to the needs and presentcharacteristics of Viet Nam and then be introduced inthe schools following existing rules and regulations;

� Establishment of a National Education Council with theurgent and immediate mission to assist the governmentto complete the renovation of education, and to preparea strategy for the development of education and training.

Concerning higher education in particular, theMinistry of Education and Training will make every effort toimplement the four following activities to continue the reformand consolidation of higher education:

1. Improving the quality of higher education

In a period of rapid quantitative expansion andsevere resource constraints, particular attention should begiven to questions regarding the quality of higher education.The Ministry of Education and Training will make every effortto stimulate higher education institutions to prepare qualityimprovement programmes and to facilitate the implementationof these programmes which should concentrate on the fourfollowing areas:

� Staff development

� Updating of curriculum and instructional methods

� Preparation of new course materials

� Equipment improvement in key field of study

2. Increasing the autonomy and accountability of highereducation institutions

To increase the efficiency of higher educationinstitutions and to facilitate the implementation of innovativeprojects aiming at quality improvement, greater autonomywill be granted to these institutions. At the same time, it isnecessary to ensure a greater accountability to the sameinstitutions. Specific provisions will be introduced in the Lawon Education and in the Regulations on Higher Education,to define more clearly the status of higher educationinstitutions, their functions and responsibilities, and theirdegree of autonomy.

3. Increasing the resources of Higher EducationInstitutions from non-governmental sources

In order to assist higher education institutions inmobilizing resources from non-governmental sources, theMinistry of Education and Training will review and modifythe existing regulations, including those concerning student

fees. To ensure, however, that students coming from poorfamilies who qualify for entry into higher education, can havereal access to higher education institutions, regulations onfees and fee exemptions will take family income into accountin determining how much different families or students pay.At the same time, a credit fund for student loans should beexpanded.

4. Establishing the Higher Education Quality Council

A Higher Education Quality Council will beestablished. The Quality Council will provide advice to theMinister of Education and Training on matters relating tothe quality of the higher education system.

To assist the Quality Council, a National QualityAssessment Centre will also be established to undertake qualityaudits and provide an objective assessment of system andinstitutional quality of performance. The National Centre willhave a professional staffing establishment, and will be directedby The Executive Secretary of the Higher Education QualityCouncil.

References

1. Constitution of Viet Nam Socialist Republic, 1992.2. National Project, 1992, Educational Sector Review and

Human Resources Sector Analysis Final Report, Hanoi.3. SR Viet Nam, 1995, Report by the Government of

Vietnam to Sectoral Aid Coordination Meeting onEducation, Hanoi.

4. State Planning Committee, 1990, Report on Viet NamEconomy.

5. Viet Nam Population Census of 1989, Samples Results,1992, Hanoi.

6. Le Van Giang, 1985, History of Viet Nam HigherEducation and Vocational Training, Hanoi, NationalInstitute for Higher Education and Vocational Training.

7. Dang Ba Lam, 1994, Development Papers, No.16,Bangkok, UNESCAP.

8. Dang Ba Lam, 1997, Asian Higher Education, Viet Nam,Edited by G.A. Postiglione and G.C.L. Mak,Greewood Press.

9. Communist Party of Viet Nam, 1996, Resolutions of VI,VII, VIII National Congresses.

10. Communist Party of Viet Nam, 1997, Resolutionsof the Second Plenary Session.

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The term sustainable agriculture was preceded by theterm agroecosystems used in the early 1980s.Agroecosystem refers to natural ecosystems modified

by human beings to produce food, fiber, wood, and otherservices for their needs and welfare. At that time, Conway(1984) had already introduced the term sustainability as anagroecosystem property, together with productivity, stability,and equity. Sustainability was then defined as the ability ofthe agroecosystem to recover after the occurrence of a majorperturbation. Inherent in this definition of an agroecosystemare the following basic premises:

One, agroecosystems are basically derived fromnatural systems, which possess basic ecological functions.

Two, the modification process implies human-environment interactions.

Three, the type, extent, and mode of interactionsbetween the natural and social forces will determine theproperties of agroecosystems including sustainability.

Four, the objective of agroecosystem managementis to enhance productivity with the fewest negative effects onsustainability, stability, and equity.

The emergence of the agroecosystem concept inthe early 1980s came at the tail end of the so-called greenrevolution, an agricultural development paradigm premisedprimarily on increased productivity. The achievements of thegreen revolution were quite impressive. However, negativeimpacts in terms of inequity, instability, and low sustainabilitydue to the deterioration of the natural resource base (soilerosion, nutrient depletion, loss in biodiversity, deteriorationof water quality, human health problems, off-site impacts)were also observed. It became apparent that agriculturaldevelopment and protection of the environment must go handin hand in order to attain sustainable agricultural and rural

development. This new paradigm of agricultural developmentgained momentum from two major global events:

� The Bruntland Report of the World Commission onEnvironment and Development (WCED) in 1987, whichdefined and promoted sustainable development.

� The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, whichgenerated, among others, the Agenda 21. The EarthSummit sent a message to the world that �without betterenvironmental stewardship, development will beundermined.� Chapter 14 of Agenda 21 promotessustainable development and rural development (SARD).

With the major objective of sustainable increase inproductivity to enhance food security, the 12 activities ofAgenda 21 will enhance at least four areas:

� Continued productivity/profitability of agriculture forlong time scales relative to human life.

� Maintenance or improvement of the natural resourcebase of agriculture.

� Minimised adverse impact from agriculture onsurrounding lands and people.

� Social equity within agriculture and between rural andother sectors.

The global concern for the environment was sostrong that in 1987, the World Bank established anenvironmental department working in tandem with its otherdepartments, including agriculture. Recently, these concernswere merged under the environmental and sustainabledevelopment office.

RETOOLING FOR

SUSTAINABILITY TODAY FOR

GREATER RELEVANCE

TOMORROW:

HIGHER EDUCATIONTRAINING

IN AGRICULTUREIN THE 21ST CENTURY*

by

PERCY E. SAJISE, Director, SEAMEOSEARCA, and, Professor, Institute of

Environmental Science and Management,University of the Philippines, Los Banos,

Laguna, Philippines

*Paper presented at a Conference on�Higher Education and Training in the

21st Century: Opportunities and Challengesin Developing Countries� during the

30th Anniversary of Cantho University,Viet Nam,

20-24 September 1996.

14

With the preceeding as a historical background, thispaper will now analyze what sustainable agriculture is, whathas been the response of higher institutions of learning inthe region, to this shift of paradigm of agriculturaldevelopment, and the implications on agricultural curriculumdevelopment.

The Argument for Sustainable Agriculture asBase for Sustainable Agro-Industrialisation

The capacity of a country�s natural resources andlife support system, to provide the needed goods and servicesfor its present and future population, is a major determinantof sustainable development. The natural resource base �land, air, water, and biotic elements interacting with other�snatural resource bases, supporting agriculture and ruraldevelopment � is an integral part of this life support system.The interaction of population-environment and agriculture,or any other natural resource base for that matter, is shown.Human population levels determine the demand on the naturalresource base, which then influences not only socioeconomicdevelopment, but also the ability of the natural resource baseto provide these required goods and services in the long run.

Today, the environmental problems of deforestation,pollution, improper land-use, water resources, deteriorationof aquatic resources, soil erosion, declining agriculturalproduction and biodiversity, and undermining of localinstitutions and knowledge in support of sustainableagriculture, generally prevails in South and Southeast Asia(ANGOC 1993, ADB 1994). These problems threatenagricultural sustainability, which this paper interprets as a non-negative trend in the performance of the agro-ecosystem (i.e.,productivity and other functions) because it is sociallyacceptable, ecologically based, and economically viable.

Sustainable Development and SustainableAgriculture

Sustainability, in its common sense meaning, seemsquite easy to comprehend when associated with the words�maintain� and �prolong�. Sustainable development,therefore, simply means maintaining or prolonging theproductive capacity of the natural resource base to meet theneeds of human society (Sajise et al. 1990). In its operationalcontext, however, this goal is more difficult to grasp (Sajiseand Ganapin 1989).

There are also a dozen or more definitions witheither an economic, ecological, or cultural orientation. AnFAO (1989) definition seems most appropriate if the generalparadigm of sustainable development is related to sustainableagriculture, to wit:

�management and conservation of the naturalresource base, and the orientation of technological andinstitutional change in such a manner as to ensure theattainment of and continued satisfaction of human needsfor present and future generations. Such sustainabledevelopment (in the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors)

conserves land, water, plant and genetic resources and isenvironmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate,economically viable and socially acceptable.�

In this definition, it is clear that sustainabledevelopment is both a process and a condition. The processinvolves the adjustments that must take place at all timesbetween the natural resource base, socio-cultural factors, andtechnology, to attain a dynamic equilibrium leading toward acondition of non-negative trend in the capacity of the resourcebase, to provide intra- and inter-generational goods andservices. Sustainable agriculture then becomes a majorcomponent of this sustainable development process.

Sustainable agriculture has been defined in so manyways. Hamlin (1994) interprets it as �continuing productivityof agriculture while maintaining the resource base andminimizing adverse impact on the resource base.� It can alsobe conceptualized in terms of its major features such as thefollowing:

� environmentally-sound

� productive

� economically-viable

� culturally acceptable

� biodiversity-oriented

� socially just and promotes equity

� resilient and low risk

� participatory

� grounded on holistic science

�...it is clearthat sustainabledevelopment isboth a process

and a condition.�

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Regional Initiatives and Responses of HigherEducation to the Sustainable AgricultureParadigm

There have been two models of the integration ofsustainability concepts into the agricultural profession in theSoutheast Asian region and the People�s Republic of China(PROC) between the early 1980s to the present.

One is the institution of new curricula, and the otheris having parallel environmental curricula where students ofagriculture and forestry colleges obtain cognates or requiredcourses. In the case of the latter, most of the curricula wereinstituted at the masters degree level and were preceded withthe implementation of strong interdisciplinary researchprogrammes.

Model A � Institution of New CurriculaThis approach had been adopted by Chiang Mai

University in Thailand and Zhejiang Agricultural Universityin PROC. A masters degree program on agricultural systemswas instituted at Chiang Mai University�s Faculty ofAgriculture in 1984 (SUAN 1992). This postgraduatecurriculum emphasises agricultural system analysis andperspectives with options on production and development. Asimilar master�s level curriculum was instituted at ZhejiangAgricultural University in the mid-1980s, which led to thecreation of an Agroecology Institute in the university.

Model B � Parallel Institution of EnvironmentalProgramme/Institute

This model has been the more popular one. It couldbe found today at the University of the Philippines, Los Banos(UPLB), Viet Nam�s University of Hanoi, and InstitutPertanian Bogor and Padjajaran University in Indonesia.Graduate students from various agricultural fields usually takeintegrative courses in system analysis and ecology as part oftheir academic programme either as cognates or electivecourses (IESAM 1988).

For the undergraduate course in agriculture, a similareffort of integrating sustainability concepts/environmentalconcepts in the agricultural curriculum was done in thePhilippines at the Visayas State College of Agriculture(ViSCA) and the UPLB College of Agriculture in 1996.

Currently, there is a strong interest in similar effortsbetween Khon Kaen University in Thailand and NabongAgricultural University in Lao PDR.

Regional Niche of Sustainable Agriculture

It is projected that the major forces of change inthe 21st century will be in the following areas:

� Technological Forces � Among others, increasingimportance of renewable sources of energy, more threatsfrom bioengineered organisms with the rise in biomedicaland biotechnological revolution.

� Business/Economic Forces � Greater trade andbusiness competition, regional economic integration, andglobalisation of business.

� Cultural Forces � Explosion of information, mass-basedecological consciousness and activism.

� Physical Forces � Population explosion and rapidurbanisation, increasing global environmental problems.

Amidst some of these major forces of change, it isprojected that a global agriculture graduate will emerge; onewho is mobile, flexible, entrepreneurial, has a deep sense ofnationalism, and is tolerant. There will also be a strong needfor implementing sustainable use of resources and an intensiveand extensive application of science and technology.

Sustainable agriculture and sustainable naturalresource use in general will become a major requirement ofthe 21st century, as nations attempt to establish a new balancebetween economic development and environmentalconservation. To bring this about and to produce a humanresource pool in agriculture that will propel this sustainableagricultural and development process, the following shifts inthe agricultural curricula at various levels (bachelors, masters,doctoral) are proposed:

1. Agriculture should re-emphasize and strengthen its beingas a holistic science.

2. Agriculture should enhance its interdisciplinaryapproaches and methods.

3. A balanced approach between practical and theoreticalproblem-solving should be created.

4. The impact aspects of agricultural development shouldbe emphasised along with the production side.

5. Emphasis should be placed on the human and theecological, to integrate societal considerations and on thenatural system, including the right values and attitudes,in support of the sustainable agriculture paradigm.

6. The regional and global perspectives should be enhancedin addition to local and natural concerns in sustainableagriculture.

Regional Lessons on Important Concepts inSupport of Sustainable Agriculture

Various experiences in incorporating ecological andsustainability concepts in agriculture curricula at various levelsindicate that the following core concepts/principles are themore important ones and, therefore, need to be repeated anddeveloped:

1. Systems and Interrelatedness of ComponentsThis core concept is the basic foundation of

16

�Sustainable agriculturecan be called

by many names

but its essence firmly standsfor human survival,

dignity, and social equity.�

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administration will have to do these things themselves firstbefore they can impart them to students to form the mold,which hopefully will produce future environmental stewardswho are more proactive and responsible.

References

ADB. 1994. The Environmental Program of the AsianDevelopment Bank: Past Present and Future. Manila,Philippines 168 pp.

ANGOC. 1993. Sowing the Seeds of Our Future. Cagayande Oro, Philippines. 182 pp.

Conway, G.R. 1984. What is an Agroecosystem and Why is ItWorthy of Study? In: A. Terry Rambo, A. and P.E.Sajise (eds.). An Introduction to Human EcologyResearch on Agricultural Systems in Southeast Asia.UPLB and EAPI, College, Laguna, Philippines. pp.25-38.

FAO. 1989. Sustainable Development and Natural ResourceManagement. Twenty-fifth Conference Document.C 8912-Sup. 1, FAO, Rome.

Hamlin, A. 1994. Indicators for Sustainable Agriculture inthe Asia-Pacific Region. In: Technology Assessmentand Transfer for Sustainable Agriculture and RuralDevelopment in the Asia-Pacific Region. FAO,Rome. pp. 47-86.

IESAM. 1987. An Evaluation of the Environmental StudiesProgram of UPLB. College, Laguna. 108 p.

Manalili, N.M. 1996. Agro-industrialization Research andDevelopment: Agribusiness DevelopmentPerspective. Paper presented during the SEARCAWorkshop on Agro-industrialization. SEARCA, LosBanos, Laguna, Philippines.

Pearlberg, R.L. and S. A. Breth. 1994. Assisting FoodProduction: Apathy or Action? WinrockInternational Institute for Agricultural Development.92 pp.

Sajise, P.E. and D.E. Ganapin, Jr. 1989. Overview of UplandFarming Issues. Proceedings of InternationalMeeting on Sustainable Agriculture, IIRR, Silang,Cavite.

Sajise, P.E., N.E. Tapay, E.P. Pacardo, N.D. Briones, R.D.Jimenez, E.E. Gomez, P.M. Zamora, M.B. Fortes,M.T. Zafaralla, and I. Zosa-Feranil. 1990. Saving thePresent for the Future: The State of theEnvironment. UP National Assessment Project. UPPress, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

SUAN. 1992. Regional Sharing for Agroecosystem and NaturalResources Research in Southeast Asia. Khon Kaen,Thailand. 41 pp.

sustainable agriculture. It communicates the idea thatagricultural systems consist of a set of components linked bymany strong functional relationships to produce the behaviorof the whole, which is distinctly different from that of theindividual components acting in isolation. Agricultural systemsor agroecosystems consist of the biotic and abiotic elements,which are functionally related, occurring in hierarchical order,and imbued with emergent properties such as productivity,stability, sustainability, and equity. The functional relationshipscan either be ecological (food webs, food chains, energy andnutrient cycling, and others) as well as economic and cultural.These principles are basis for the integrated pest management(IPM), integrated plant nutrition system (IPNS), integratedfarming system (IFS), and the participatory approach insupport of sustainable agriculture.

2. Diversity and StabilityThis is another concept that has become a

cornerstone of the biodiversity conservation approach innatural resource management as applied to agriculture,forestry, and aquatic resource management.

3. Other Core Principles� Successional change� Carrying capacity� Finiteness of resources� Bio-geochemical cycling� �Degrader pays� principle� Environmental ethics/values� Human-ecology concepts

The last two principles justify why agriculture canbe written as agri-culture. Integration can occur through eitherincorporation of these concepts and principles in existingcourses, or offering of separate courses such as AgriculturalSystems, Agricultural Systems and Economic Development,Agricultural Institutions and Environment, and Agroecology.

Some very important lessons from various attemptsto incorporate sustainability concepts into the agriculturalcurriculum include the following:

� It will require a strong research back-stopping along thearea of sustainable agriculture.

� There is a need for more interdisciplinary course materialsfor the teaching of core courses, preferably with casestudies

� There is a need for a strong commitment from the facultyand administration of the universities.

Conclusion

Sustainable agriculture can be called by many namesbut its essence firmly stands for human survival, dignity, andsocial equity. These lofty goals are undebatable. The challengefor everyone is how to make the sustainable agricultureparadigm operational. It will need new ways of doing things,a new chemistry among various disciplines, new outlooks,and more commitments. And university faculty and

18

VISION ANDCHALLENGES

OF THEPHILIPPINE

ELEMENTARYSCHOOLFOR THE

NEXTMILLENNIUM

By Dr. Minda C. Sutaria

Delivered at the National Conference ofthe National Association of Chiefs and

Assistant Chiefs of ElementaryEducation at Paras Beach Resort,Yumbing, Mambajao, Camiguin on

28 October 1997

Forces of Change and Megatrends:Implications for Education and Literacy

The major forces of change and megatrends in Asia haveimplications for the Philippine elementary school in the

years to come.

In the next millennium, the economic revolutionwill bring about a better trained workforce and supportfacilities, such as, roads, bridges and parks, telephones andelectricity in areas in which these were but a dream beforethe advent of the new millennium. This will mean betterqualified and better paid teachers, better equipped schoolsand more facilities for improving the delivery of education.Pupils in far flung areas will have transportation to bring themto school and their parents will have greater access to school.

The Philippines will have achieved NIC status andthus a stronger partnership between education and businesscould be forged. There will be more mutually beneficialcooperation between the business and education sectorsespecially those involved in the marketing of educationalgoods and services, so that the quality of these is assured.

The culture of globalisation, competition,entrepreneurship and efficiency will be reflected in thecurricular programmes of the educational system as well asin the management of its schools.

New technologies will be harnessed more extensivelyin the delivery of education. The combination of computers,telecommunication and broadcasting will provide technologiesfor making education available to all such as distanceeducation. Satellite networks will make education availableeven to children in far rural areas, now that the satelliteMabuhay Agila is in place.

The government will increasingly subsidise formalschooling and continue its drive to tap the country�s topcorporations to help financially distressed public schools,especially those located in remote areas.

Lifelong learning will be a common concern andboth the public and private sectors will be deeply involved infostering it. In view of this, basic education, as a prerequisitefor lifelong learning, will come into sharper focus.

The growth of educational networks like the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL),Education for All (EFA), and the World Summit on Childrenwill have considerable impact on education in the country.The increasing thirst for knowledge and the rapid explosionof information will heighten the demand for education forall.

Science and technology will continue to receiveheavy emphasis, and the values of education programmeswill be pursued with greater vigour because of the societaldemand for them.

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The learning needs of children who are gifted,physically disabled, mentally retarded, children fromdepressed areas and children from cultural minoritycommunities will be more adequately addressed.

Society will more seriously pursue the problem ofhow the overall quality of life of all sectors of society maybe improved. The school curricula will be reoriented to therequirements of a better quality of life for rural, urban and�rurban� dwellers.

The Philippines will be a multilingual nation, usingthe vernacular as the language of the home, Filipino for socialcommunication and learning, and English for science andtechnology, for wider communication in ASEAN and forinternational purposes.

There will be greater grassroots participation ofpeople in free enterprise anddemocracy leading to thedemand for the exercise ofresponsible freedom by thecitizenry.

There will be a greaterand continuing concern forpreserving the environment andsustainable development. Thecurricula will reflect thisconcern.

Schools will betransformed into social,economic and political problemanalysis and problem solvingcentres, and curricula will beorganised around problemsrather than mere subject areas.Teachers will be managers andfacilitators of problem andanalysis and problem solvingrather than mere instructors of subjects.

Jobs will require innovative thinking, new skills andnew sets of attitudes. Schools will continually renew theircurricula to meet these demands.

The need to whittle down population growth willfurther increase. Schools will intensify their efforts to promoteeffective population education.

Gender equity will continue to be a common concernand the empowerment of women and girls will continue toreceive emphasis. School programmes will be oriented tothis universal concern.

In spite of all these developments in the environmentof the Philippine elementary school, it will still be plaguedwith the twin problems of low achievement levels and a high

dropout rate in the next millennium. My vision of it shallrevolve around how these problems could be overcome.

Vision of the Philippine Elementary School

A vision is expressed in a variety of ways. It may beexpressed by telling a story with real or fictional characters.Others express it in a series of abstract philosophicalstatements. Still others describe it through a scenario ofeveryday events, or in terms of structures, programmes andsystems. The more artistic would depict their vision in termsof metaphors or images.

I choose to paint my vision of the Philippineelementary school in the next millennium, particularly in theyear 2005, by telling a story. For more effective imaging orvisioning, you may wish to close your eyes and picture inyour mind�s eye the Philippine elementary school seven years

from now.

It is the year 2005, thefirst day of September, also thefirst day of school. There is ameeting going on in each classhome in Ideal ElementarySchool. The pupils are seatedon the floor in small groups,sharing stories about theirsummer vacation led by a pupilleader. Their parents are beingoriented on the reinvigoratedcurriculum of the school. Theteacher describes theapproaches to learning that willbe adopted in order to raise thequality of outcomes ofeducation with the aid of aninteractive video. There isspirited interaction between theteacher and the parents. The

teacher emphasises the importance of a parent learningsupport system (PLSS) that requires parents to motivate, coachand monitor their children in order to improve theirachievement. She gets the parents� commitment to supportthe goal that the class register zero-failure at the end of theyear. She announces that in the middle of the year, the highachievers will be identified, based on portfolio assessmentand an achievement test, and will be accelerated to the nextgrade. The parents and teacher agree to a meeting everygrading period when the pupil report cards are distributed todiscuss matters pertaining to the all-round development oftheir children. The parents suggest that each meeting bechaired by a parent and organised by a specific group ofparents. The goal is to become real partners with the schoolin the development of their children.

The teacher next does a power point presentationon learning strategies that will be employed in class.Occasionally the parents raise questions for clarification. The

20

�Schools will betransformed intosocial, economic

and politicalproblem analysis

and problemsolving centres...�

teacher emphasises that the total teaching-learning approachis multichannel learning, which caters to all learners who differin capacities to learn and vary in interests, experience andbackground. She clarifies that the multichannel learningsystem reinforces formal education, the main programme, asthe first channel of learning; expands and reinvigorates non-formal education, as the second channel of learning; andbroadens and strengthens informal education; as the thirdchannel of learning. She further informs the parents thatthey can very well contribute to all three channels of learning.The parents agree with her and mention how they cancontribute. Some say, �by volunteering as teaching aides, bycoaching and monitoring our children at home, by screeningwhat they watch on TV.� They identify what learning channeleach action contributes to. They realise how much they cancontribute to improve their children�s learning achievement.

The teacher further explains that the multichannellearning approach also refers to different mediators of learningthat may be harnessed, such as, technology, field trips, books,interviews, games and dialogue. The discussion becomesspirited until the teacher shifts to other strategies, such as,active learning which requires optimum pupil participationto enhance learning and integrative learning. Since learnershave different learning styles and multiple intelligences,learning can be made more effective if learners are guidedon how to maximise the use of their different types ofintelligence. The parents are impressed when they are toldthat each child has the capacity to become a genius. They arenow eager to know how to make their children geniuses ornear geniuses.

During the coffee break, the parents look aroundthe classroom and admire the facilities and materials providedfor their children. They note what a far cry the classroom isfrom those in the 1980�s and 1990�s. This classroom is almosttwice the size of the old ones, and each has an area for viewingvideos, another for frontal and group learning, a mini library,and a computer area. The chairs and tables are portable andare adapted for easy grouping.

The parents learn later that co-operative learning, apowerful strategy, requires that the class breaks into teams orgroups that are taught to be self-propelled and focused onlearning objectives. Learning together in-groups or teams isthe general pattern of organisation for learning, and the pupilstake turns assuming the role of leader. This manner oforganising for learning, the parents realize later, is highlyconducive to learning how to live together and to developingvalues, such as, discipline, co-operation, tolerance, promptness,and group solidarity. The parents later learn that their childrenwill be provided rich opportunities in learning to know,learning to be, and learning to do, which are crucial to learningto live together.

The parents reconvene and the teacher uses hercomputer to continue with a power point presentation on thecurriculum. She starts by saying that it is the school�s concernto make the curriculum relevant to the times. While there

are periods for skill development, the curriculum is organisedaround problems rather than mere subject fields. Childrenwill be helped to analyse and solve social, economic andpolitical problems affecting them and their family, and theteacher and volunteer teacher aides will act as managers andfacilitators of problem analysis and problem solving ratherthan be mere instructors of subjects. The skill sessions willprovide a lot of hands-on exercises and these will be followedby a wealth of self-learning individual exercises and groupactivities, such as, games, simulation, dialogue, paneldiscussions, experiments and other interesting and value-ladenactivities. Critical and creative as well as problem solvingskills will be developed throughout the curriculum and merememorisation learning will have no place in the classroom.

In response to a query a parent raises on how hewould know what lessons to coach his child on, the teacherannounces that each parent will receive an outline of thelessons to be taken up a month in advance so that they canprepare to help their children.

The teacher announces that children from the sameneighbourhood will be organised into learning a �barkada�and their parents will form themselves into a team to overseetheir children�s progress. This is a scheme that will allowsharing of coaching expertise by the more capable parentswith pupils whose parents may not be literate enough to coachthem.

It is about time to adjourn the parents� meeting, andthe children are almost ready to go home. One parentvolunteers to lead in the singing of the school song and theyall sing together with the teacher.

�How nice school is today!� one parent remarks.�It�s so much unlike my school many years ago that was dull,too serious and unexciting.� �Our children will certainly growup well and develop in this atmosphere,� said another.

The teacher announces that there will be a specialparent-teacher meeting at the end of the month. She indicatesthat she would like to orient them on how the school evaluatespupil performance. She mentions portfolio assessment,observation, oral and written tests and parent evaluation asthe system of evaluation. The parents become animated uponhearing they will take part in the evaluation process. Theyare pleased about being actively involved in rating theirchildren. The teacher says that she will depend upon themheavily in assessing progress in actualizing at home and outsideit the values and skills that she purports to develop andstrengthen. The parents are happy that the school is puttingemphasis on values development and that they will be activelyinvolved in the education of their children.

�Today�s school is a far cry from that of the past,�says one. �I like being involved in the affairs of the school,�says another. �Before, we talked only about contributionsduring parent-teacher meetings,� one parent says. �I was askedto come to school only when my kids were not behaving.�

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22

Challenges

A vision implies an understanding of the past andthe present. In fact, whenever I speak of a vision I amreminded of St. Agustine�s very powerful statement: �Timeis a three-fold present, the past as a present memory, thepresent as you experience it and the future as a presentexpectation.� Indeed, we cannot dream up a desired futurewithout thinking of what must be done now in order to realizethat future. In order to plan what must be done now, you willneed to look back and forward so that you can determinewhere to begin. This is the challenge that you, leaders of thePhilippine elementary school system will face, and you mustgird for it.

I earlier said that there are twin problems you willcontinue to resolve in the next millennium. One is how toimprove achievement levels so that in this era of globalisation,Filipino children will no longer rank second to the last in aninternational assessment and that all Filipino children canbecome smarter. Another is how to achieve a zero-dropoutrate in all schools, for no matter how progressive we canbecome in the future, we can not afford wanton educationalwastage.

I am happy that I can now make recommendationson how to meet these twin challenges based on Filipinoexperience rather than foreign experience. I refer toSEAMEO INNOTECH�s development and tryout of ascheme for curbing the dropout rate to zero per cent and forraising the quality of pupil learning outcomes. It is called the�No Drops Learning System for Education for All�, whichwas experimented on in six elementary schools, four in ruralvillages and two in urban and �rurban� areas.

Leaders of the Philippine elementary school system,the future of the school is in your hands. Here is a schemethat can make the elementary school�s future as bright as aPhilippine day in summer. I urge you to study it and encouragethe principals and teachers to adopt it, for it holds rich promiseof ending the woes of the Philippine elementary schoolsystem. As national and regional leaders, you are strategicallypositioned to advocate a scheme that has been proven to solvethe problems of low pupil achievement and high dropoutrate. Here is an opportunity for you to make a significantcontribution to education. Shall you shirk from it or grab it?Yours is the answer.

�A vision impliesan understanding

of the pastand the present.�

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23

The United Nation�s effort to promote culture and thearts through its promulgation of �The World Decadeof Cultural Development (1988-1997) has resulted in

increased government attention and support to this otherwiseneglected are of development. In Southeast Asia, particularly,there has been a significant growth in the number ofgovernment and privately run organizations addressing theconcerns of developing and promoting traditional andcontemporary arts as well as preserving the cultural heritageof the region.

Cultural administrators are very much aware thatwhile support for the arts and cultural programmes has beensteadily gaining ground, these important areas of concernare almost always stricken off the list of national priorities intimes of economic crises. Cultural development seems to bealways premised on the economic boom that a particularnation enjoys. We all know about the very active status ofarts and heritage-related activities in Singapore. Before thecurrency crisis, Malaysia and Thailand used to follow suit interms of cultural programme development. BruneiDarussalam has set its sights on developing more culturalinfrastructures. In the case of the Philippines, Indonesia,Cambodia, Viet Nam and Lao PDR, what could not be donein terms of developing physical infrastructures due tobudgetary constraints are more than made up for by thedynamic strategies in their cultural programming andconservation efforts.

The imperative task therefore is to develop strategiccultural planning and programming in line with national andregional development goals. Hence, the need for skilledmanagers, in the fields of arts administration and culturalresource management, who can deal with the demands of acreative cultural programming process through theemployment of relevant management principles.

Academic programmes on arts management andcultural administration have not yet been established inSoutheast Asian universities compared to their counterpartsin the West. To date, there are only two universities in theregion which offer full English-based degree programmeson arts management and cultural administration. Both theUniversity of Malaysia Sarawak and the College of St. Benildeof De La Salle University in the Philippines started offering afull bachelors degree programme in the early 1990s. MahidolUniversity in Thailand currently offers a mixed Thai andEnglish-based graduate programme on Cultural Studies withMuseum Studies and Management as one of the areas ofspecialization. Prior to these developments, a number ofuniversities have been offering semester-long courses onmuseology/museum studies and management, curatorship,and conservation courses in the Philippines, Indonesia,Thailand and Malaysia. Singapore�s Lasalle-SIA College ofArts has also been offering courses on visual arts managementin addition to its many specialised programme offerings ondance, music, theatre and visual arts studies. At the Universityof the Philippines, Manila, a course module on artsmanagement has also been developed and taught since theearly 1990s under a specialised bachelors programme onPhilippine Arts. The Asian Institute of Management, basedin the Philippines, has also been reported to be developing aspecialised module on arts management.

Despite the late development of academicprogrammes in this discipline, Southeast Asia has not beenremiss in practicing arts management on the level ofadministration of cultural programming, conservation,promotion and dissemination. The development of arts andculture being primarily the function of the state, public culturaladministrators have been developing ways and means toprofessionalise the process of delivering cultural programmesand services to their constituents through legislative and

ArtsArtsArtsArtsArtsM a n a g e m e n tM a n a g e m e n tM a n a g e m e n tM a n a g e m e n tM a n a g e m e n t a n da n da n da n da n d

Cultural Cultural Cultural Cultural CulturalAdministrationAdministrationAdministrationAdministrationAdministration

in in in in inSoutheast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia

ByElmar Beltran Ingles

Senior Specialist in Visual ArtsSEAMEO SPAFA

Paper presented during the Cultural Management Conference sponsored by the AssociationFrancais d�Action Artiztique (AFAA), the French Embassy in Thailand and Silpakorn University,

Bangkok, Thailand, 23-24 March 1998.

24

policymaking functions, identification and distribution ofcultural resources, networking with other governments andinstitutions and cultural promotion efforts.

State Mechanism for the Developmentof Arts and Culture

Brunei DarussalamLocated in the island of Borneo with the Malaysian

states of Sarawak and Sabah, Brunei Darussalam has had along history of searching for cultural identity. Its culturalheritage is a result of a process undergoing through severalhistoric periods and phases of civilizations, namely: Animism,Hindu-Buddhism and the Islamic period. Influences of theseperiods still manifest in some of the cultural traditions inceremonies, lifestyles, titles and customs.

The most significant influence on Brunei culturecomes from Islam, which covers all aspects of the physicaland spiritual development of Brunei citizens.

When James Brooks assumed the governorship ofthe District of Sarawak in 1841, western influence interwoveinto the rich Islamic culture and practices in state law andadministration, education, finance, law and physical and nation-building under his leadership (Brunei Museum Journal1978:76).

Presently, Brunei Darussalam is a monarchical statewith the Sultan as head of State and Islam as its state religion.

With the aim of upholding the national integrity, anational cultural policy was formulated with the Malay BruneiCulture, based on the concept of Malay Islamic Monarchy(MIM), as a national philosophy. This concept is furtherdefined as follows:

�the ideal description for a way of life as a nationand people as the basis and source of reference in our effortsto realize the desire to maintain our national identity and allthe positive values that will contribute to national resilienceand the maintenance of Malay Monarchy guided by Islam inits capacity as national religion.�

- Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports

The policy specifically aims to:

1. solidify the spirit of love and loyalty of the subjects tothe concepts of the Malay Islamic Monarchy;

2. maintain and develop the national culture to beappreciated as a way of life which is practical andfunctional;

3. produce and preserve a Brunei race that is cultural,active, progressive and stable in line with the thrust ofsocio-economic nation-building and the current globaldevelopment;

4. inculcate and enhance the spirit of solidarity in theeffort to obtain peace and security, welfare andprosperity for the royal subjects.

In Brunei Darussalam, there are three governmentagencies responsible for the development of arts and culture:the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports which is the maininstitution mandated to coordinate all cultural endeavours;the Ministry of Education through the Extra CurricularActivities Department; and the Information Departmentthrough its performing arts programme called Pentarama.

To implement its mandate, the Ministry of Culture,Youth and Sports operates the following institutions:

1. Brunei MuseumEstablished in 1965, the museum is presently

located at Kota Batu since 1972 when Her Majesty QueenElizabeth II inaugurated its new location. Its aim is topromote conservation and research on the country�s naturaland cultural heritage. It acts as custodian of culturalproperties, and encourages the public and private sectors tomake full use of its facilities through exhibitions. Presently,the museum operates the following galleries in onemuseum complex: History and Development of BruneiConstitution; Brunei Arts and Handicraft; MalayTechnology; and the Royal Regalia Building.

2. Brunei Arts and Handicrafts Training CentreEstablished in September 1975, the Centre aims

to encourage Bruneians to engage actively in the making ofarts and handicrafts through various training andproduction facilities provided by the state. In so doing, theState seeks to instill appreciation of traditional crafts whileproviding employment opportunities to the youth throughproduction of silver and brasswares, weaving and variouscrafts.

3. Literature and Language Bureau (Dewan Bahasa danPustaka)

The signing of the State Constitution inSeptember 1959 marked the recognition of Malay as theofficial language of the country. Since its inception in 1961,this Bureau is primarily responsible for the developmentand propagation of the Malay language and literature,research on Malay culture and publication of Malay literaryworks. It also provides enormous library servicesthroughout the country and is one of the key institutionsengaged in an inter-government effort called MABBIM(Language Council for Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia).

Lao People�s Democratic RepublicLao PDR, or Laos as it is otherwise known, is a

small landlocked country in the North of Southeast Asiabordered by China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand and theUnion of Myanmar. By virtue of its location, Lao PDR hasbeen at the crossroads and middle of cultural developmentof the five countries it shares borders with. Located as such,the country has had its share of being in the crossfire of warsand turbulence and is just enjoying peace after nearly 300years of war. Despite this, Laotians are quick to point outthat the experience has been part and parcel of their nationand identity building.

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Known as the Lane Xang or the �Land of the MillionElephants,� Lao PDR is rich in linguistic, anthropological andarchaeological evidences. Arts and cultural traditions andactivities are as abundant as they are diverse.

Currently, there are 68 ethnic groups in Lao PDR.Each of these groups has an individual and unique culturaltradition of their own. It is the government�s avowed duty toensure that all arts and cultural activities are promoted anddisseminated and that the indigenous elements of ethniccultures are preserved and developed for generations to come.

All cultural and arts-based departments, authoritiesand institutions come under the direct supervision of theMinistry of Information and Culture. The followingdepartments of the Ministry are chiefly responsible for thetask of coordinating cultural programmes and activities:

1. Department of Publishing, Advertising and Library2. Department of Museums and Archaeology3. Department of Fine Arts4. Department of Literature5. Department of Media6. Section of Foreign Affairs7. Section of Finance for Arts and Culture8. Section of Management and Administration for Arts

and Culture

The Institute of Arts and Research lends strengthto the above-mentioned departments as the Ministry�s planningand research facility.

In addition to maintenance and administration ofmany Buddhist temples of historical and religious significance,the Ministry also oversees the operations of the NationalLibrary, the Film Archives (which stores and conserves many35mm films recording the Viet Nam War), the schools ofArt, Dance, Theatre and Music, and a number of state andnational museums such as the Revolutionary Museum, theMilitary Museum, and the Kaysone Memorial Museum(dedicated to the memorabilia of Kaysone Phomviha, founderof Lao PDR).

The PhilippinesIt will be easy to describe the state of Philippine

culture as one that has been nurtured �for over 300 years inthe Convent and 50 years of Hollywood�. However, to dojust that would be to ignore the various historical slippagesand confluences that explain the diversity of Philippine culture- and in effect, its management and administration. Havingbeen under the Spaniards for more than 300 years and theAmericans for more than fifty years, - throw in another threeyears of Japanese Occupation in between - the Philippines iscurrently celebrating its so-called 100 years since the PhilippineRevolution.

Second to Indonesia, the Philippines is SoutheastAsia�s most populated nation-state. With about 75 millioncitizens scattered all over the world, owing to economic andcultural diaspora, the Philippines has long prided itself to bethe region�s -and Asia�s only Christian nation, a fact that has

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A Filipino

national culture

evolving with and

for the people,

instilling pride

and a sense of

identity among all

Filipinos and

unifying them to

build one nation.

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significant bearing and implications in the development ofthe country�s arts and culture.

Functionally, the task of cultural development hasbeen historically under the purview of the Department ofEducation, Culture and Sports. However, the Department,which is also the country�s biggest bureaucracy, has not beenable to address this mandate effectively due to its pre-occupation with its primary mandate: to provide for theeducation of its citizens. During the Marcos regime, FirstLady Imelda Romualdez Marcos was widely acknowledgedas the cultural czarina who was largely responsible for thecreation of cultural edifices such as the Cultural Centre ofthe Philippines, the Folk Arts Theatre, the National ArtsCentre and the Manila Film Centre. Having wide access tothe powers and coffers of the country�s treasure and those ofits leading businessmen and patrons, Mrs. Marcos dreamt ofturning Metro Manila into the cultural centre of Asia andproceeded to host international arts and cultural activities.She took it upon herself to take under her wing the country�sleading artists, writers, media practitioners and artsadministrators. She raised and gave large sums of money tofinance high-visibility projects and left no stone unturned toensure that her efforts were covered by national andinternational media conglomerates as well as patrons. It wasduring her time when the arts and culture were generallyconsidered frivolous, flamboyant, opulent, yet supposedlyworld class. The overriding concept, which was also mockinglydescribed as the national cultural policy, was the promotionof arts and culture that was �true, good and beautiful.�

When the Marcoses were overthrown in a peacefulmass uprising and fled the country in 1986, the CorazonAquino government consciously veered away fromprogrammes, which their predecessor pioneered. Hence, themarginalisation of cultural developmental work as animportant function of the state. Despite petitions by a groupof academics, cultural workers and artists who were some ofher most ardent supporters, President Aquino chose to delayany action on a Ministry of Culture proposed to be separatefrom the then Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.Instead, she established a Presidential Commission for Cultureand the Arts (PCCA) in 1988, which was tasked to overseethe functions of the proposed Ministry of Culture.

The PCCA was the forerunner of what is nowknown as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts,a development mandated by the enactment of the PhilippineDevelopment Plan for Culture and the Arts which is basicallythe master plan for the development of national arts andculture in the country. Through Republic Act 7356, a NationalEndowment Fund for Culture and the Arts (NEFCA) wasestablished and has been managed by the NCCA since 1992.

The Plan envisions a Filipino national cultureevolving with and for the people, instilling pride and a senseof identity among all Filipinos and unifying them to buildone nation. It is geared towards the following:1. reorganisation of all cultural agencies of the Republic

to be more responsive to the needs of culture and thearts;

2. use of all information networks to effectively promotethe various cultures of the Philippines;

3. strengthening of arts and cultural education in alllevels of the school system;

4. coordination with all pertinent government agenciesfor policy formulation in support of the arts andculture;

5. coordination with the academic sector for the conductof research and studies on cultural and historicaltraditions;

6. encouragement of community support for cultural andartistic activities;

7. institutionalisation of resource support for culture andthe arts; and

8. networking with concerned non-governmentalorganisations and the private sector, local orinternational, for the support and promotion ofculture and the arts.

While assuring the independence and autonomy ofindividual institutions, the Plan groups together the followingnational agencies under the umbrella of NCCA:

1. Cultural Centre of the Philippines2. National Museum3. National Historical Institute4. Commission on the Filipino Language5. Records Management and Archives Office

SingaporeAs announced by the government in 1985,

Singapore�s policy is to develop the country into a culturallyand artistically vibrant society whose citizens are aware andproud of their rich Asian heritage. The government alsoaspires for Singapore to be a regional and internationalcentre for the arts.

To realize these policies and goals, thegovernment:

1. provides the necessary infrastructures such asmuseums and performing venues as well ashousing for arts and heritage organisations;

2. provides financial assistance to the community interms of project and training grants;

3. plays the key role of nurturing talents, organisingprogrammes and arousing public interest towardsarts and cultural activities;

4. encourages corporate sector to provide financialsupport in the form of sponsorship and donationsfor programmes, activities and arts facilities; and

5. encourages public participation in arts activities asaudience, exhibition visitors and buyers of artworks.

Support is given to the full range of cultural activities.All art forms including performing, visual, and literary artsin traditional, modern, classical and abstract genres, eitheramateur or professional, are encouraged. Foreign artists andart groups are welcome to perform and exhibit in the country.

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Cultural activitiesin Thailand

are theresponsibility

of all governmentagencies, private

sector andcommon citizens.

However, the government does not allow works, which portrayor promote disorderliness, liberal sex or incite racial or religiousharmony.

In an effort to develop a pool of diverse talents,Singaporean artists are encouraged to learn and work in othercountries while talented artists are welcome to work inSingapore to share their talents with the locals. Thegovernment has also signed a number of cultural agreementsand Memoranda of Understanding with foreign governmentsto promote cultural exchange.

The Singapore Government allocates 0.3% of totalgovernment spending as annual budget given by the state forarts and heritage activities. In Financial Year 1995/1996, thisamounted to S$ 53.3 million. The Ministry of Informationand the Arts is the main agency responsible for the promotionof the performing, literary andvisual arts and awareness ofAsian heritage. This is achievedon two levels:

First, the Ministryprovides the general directionand formulates, monitors andreviews national policies for thepromotion of art and heritage. Itinterfaces with other Ministriesand countries and sets policies ongovernment expenditure on artsand heritage. The second is theimplementation level. The actualtask of implementing nationalarts and heritage policies rest ontwo statutory boards: theNational Arts Council for thepromotion of the Arts and theNational Heritage Board for thepromotion of heritage. Theoperation of these two statutoryboards is governed by a statute and the Minister ofInformation and the Arts appoints the Board Members.

The Singapore Arts Centre Company was formedunder the National Arts Council to oversee the developmentand manage the new performing arts centre: The Esplanade- Theatres on the Bay, a large cultural venue that will becompleted in 2001.

Three museums - the Singapore Arts Museum,Museum of Asian Civilization and a History Museum - and aconservation institute comprise the heritage institutions underthe National Heritage Board.

The Singapore Government has endeavoured toestablish a conducive environment for a wide range of artsand cultural activities to flourish. The increasing number ofarts groups and programmes attest to the success of theseefforts and reflects on the enthusiasm of the arts community.The growth of arts activities has also led to a high demandfor quality facilities. It is in recognition of this demand that

the government has decided to embark on the developmentof such world-class facilities and infrastructures such as TheEsplanade - Theatres on the Bay.

ThailandThailand lies at the heart of Southeast Asia, which

makes it the most open and vulnerable in terms of culturalinfluences. With a population of more than 60 million people,90 percent of whom practice Theravada Buddhism, Thailandhas always been a migratory crossroad. Ethnic Thais formthe majority with strains of Mon, Khmer, Burmese, Lao, Malay,Indian and most strongly, Chinese racial stock produce a highdegree of ethnic diversity.

Cultural activities in Thailand are the responsibilityof all government agencies, private sector and commoncitizens. In 1942, the government regarded culture as a key

dimension in nation buildingand established the NationalCultural Institute (NCI). In1952, the Ministry of Culturewas established to assume amore active role in culturaldevelopment. Unfortunately,subsequent governmentsfavoured other priorities andabolished both the NCI andthe Ministry in 1958.

In 1979, interest incultural development wasrevitalised and thegovernment created theOffice of the NationalCulture Commission(ONCC) in response to thedemand for the grassroots ofculture to be at the centre ofthe development process.

In November 1981, the Office of the Prime Ministerannounced the following objectives for the national culturalpolicy:

1. to promote the preservation of Thai culture in allits aspects;

2. to publicise the application of all facets of Thaiculture to the people;

3. to promote folk culture as well as the indigenouscultures;

4. to promote and support the exchange of culturewith other nations; and

5. to encourage close cooperation among governmentaland private organisations working on culturalmatters.

During the first Chuan Leek Pai Administration(1992-1995), culture ranked 5th in the ten orders of prioritiesof the national government.

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The Ministry of Education is tasked to undertakecultural education, dissemination and development. This isdone through the designation of the Fine Arts Departmentand the Office of the National Culture Commission as thetwo agencies chiefly responsible for the conservation,development and promotion of all arts, culture and heritage-related programmes and activities.

The Fine Arts Department is mandated to maintain,preserve, promote, create and disseminate the knowledge inall aspects of national arts and cultures including crafts,architecture, literature, archaeology, history, performing, visualand musical arts. It is alsoresponsible for protectingand conserving nationalmonuments, antiquities, artobjects and the operation ofnational museums in allregions and provinces inThailand. It providestraining and conductsresearch on performing arts,musicology, architecture,archaeology and history aspart of its developmentinitiatives.

In addition toadministrative, planning andfinance divisions, the FineArts Department, accordingto the Royal Decree of1995, maintains thefollowing offices:

1. Division ofLiterature andHistory

2. Institute ofDance, Music andDrama

3. Institute of Arts4. Office of

Archaeology andNationalMuseums

5. National Archives6. National Library

The ONCC has the responsibility to formulate plansand programmes to promote and develop culture; to draw oncultural heritage and bring its influence to bear on educational,economic, political and social development; and to cooperatewith governmental units, state enterprise and private sectorson cultural development concerns. It supervises the work ofthe Institute of Cultural Education composed of the followingsectors:1. Cultural Research and Development2. Thai Culture Promotion Sector3. Cultural Transmission Sector4. Thailand Cultural Centre5. Thai Life Exhibition Sector6. Cultural Public Relations Centre

Development of National Cultural Policies

As can be gleaned from the previous discussion,national cultural policies are dictated by several motivationson the part of the governing authorities. Many countriesemploy culture in service of the professed religious faith,instilling national discipline and respect to national authorities.Most of the cultural policies enshrine and ensure observanceof traditional cultures and the country�s history. A numberof them accommodate transitions and changes in theinternational cultural order and are willing to enter a processof cultural integration without losing their national cultural

identities.

It has to be singled outhere that one countrydefines its cultural policyby referring to its arts andheritage and not directlyimplying a culturaltradition of its own.Singapore, a multiculturalsociety at the crossroads ofvarious ethnictransmigrations and globalpresence, ascribes to itsheritage instead ofidentifying or defining anational culture. For thispragmatic formulation,Singapore bears thedistinction of notdisplaying too much of itsidentity baggage as theother countries are wont toassert and express.

It should beremembered that mostcountries in Southeast Asiahave experienced varyingdegrees of imperialism,foreign occupation and atthe very least colonialpresence. Such historical

facts are very much evident in the way countries in the regionhave formulated national cultural policies that reflect theircolonial history and at the same time, assert their heritageand identity without excluding the prospects of considerableand reasonable global integration.

Regional Cooperation

Along the lines of asserting and fortifying regionalidentities, countries in the region have formed strategicalliance and formations in all fields of governance, technology,education, and other areas of cooperation. In the fields ofarts, culture and heritage, several inter-governmental linkageshave been formed in the past 30 years.

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“Along the lines ofasserting and

fortifying regionalidentities, countriesin the region have

formed strategicalliance and

formations in allfields of

governance,technology,

education, andother areas ofcooperation.”

Perhaps the most visible and sustainable alliancetowards this direction is the Committee on Culture andInformation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN COCI). As one of the standing committees ofASEAN, COCI enjoys the privilege of having a network ofMinistries of Foreign Affairs, Culture, Information, Educationand related agencies that support its programmes and activities.It also enjoys the fruits of a significant cultural endowmentfund donated by the Japanese Government, the interest ofwhich is being used to finance its many festivals, workshops,training, cultural exchanges, research and publications andrelated programmes and activities.

Based in the ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta,Indonesia, ASEAN COCI focuses on programmes thatshowcase the rich culturaldiversity in the region. Itmaintains cooperation withsimilar grouping in other partsof the world.

While ASEANCOCI concentrates oncultural promotion anddissemination, the SoutheastAsian Ministers of EducationOrganization�s RegionalCentre for Archaeology andFine Arts (SEAMEO SPAFA)focuses on the training anddevelopment of culturalpersonnel through its strongeducation and human resourcedevelopment programmes.Over the past 20 years, it hastrained many of the culturaladministrators occupying keyposts in the region�s museums,cultural centres, heritage sitesand national governmentalagencies dealing with culture,history, tourism and relatedconcerns.

SEAMEO SPAFA operates within a network ofMinistries of Education, which implicates culturalprogramming in the process. It belong to a network of regionalcentres promoting educational development in the field ofnatural and applied science, technology, health, culture andarts, and other disciplines that form the body of specialisedknowledge. As SEAMEO�s centre of excellence for culture,arts, social science, archaeology and humanities, SPAFA strivesto build up its database of information on these disciplinesand cater to advanced level of training and cooperationprogrammes between cultural institutions in the region.

Other inter-governmental cultural agencies whichmaintain strategic presence in Southeast Asia include the

Cultural Unit of the Principal Regional Office for Asia andthe Pacific of UNESCO based in Bangkok, Thailand and itsSoutheast Asia Regional Unit based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Era of Globalisation

The process and practice of arts management andcultural administration need to be upgraded if we are to facethe many challenges ahead. Developments in this �globalised�world demand no less.

In a two-day seminar hosted by the World TourismOrganisation held in Cha-am Thailand in February 1996, itwas projected that the Asia Pacific region will attract 107million tourists in the next five years. The projected figure is

30 million more than the 1993figure of a little over 73 milliontourist-arrivals. Furtherestimates show that this figurewill rise to 200 million in theYear 2010, representing anaverage annual increase of 6percent between 1990 and2010.

News reports such asthis may be viewed in severalways. This is certainly a causefor celebration as this meansthat our governments are stillin business, what withanticipated and much-neededforeign currency reserves andadditional jobs that such atourism influx could generate.It is also a chance for greaterexposure of our people andour culture to the �outsideworld.�

On the other hand,environmentalists andadvocates of cultural heritageprotection and conservation

efforts - including arts managers and cultural administrators- have all the reasons to view this development with greatalarm. We all know the potential damage this could mean toour natural and cultural resources and traditions. It is fearedthat indigenous cultures will be further marginalised andthreatened by the introduction of more commercially viableentertainment fares, which appeal and cater to the tastes ofour visitors. Values and traditions are certainly no match tothe persuasive influence and capacity of the tourist dollar.

Cultural administrators, therefore, must exerciseextreme caution in mapping out programming and marketingstrategies for culture and the arts. We certainly have to bevigilant in protecting our national traditions and cultural

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“...while culture isthe soul of any

society, it is not astatic concept. As a

reflection ofsociety’s

development,culture undergoes

constantmodification and

changes.”

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heritage. However, we must bear in mind that while cultureis the soul of any society, it is not a static concept. As areflection of society�s development, culture undergoesconstant modification and changes. Inevitably, we stand tolose part of our heritage due to cultural assimilation andinfluences brought about by globalisation and tourism. Andyet, this cultural heritage provides us with our unique identityas peoples of this region. It is the identity that sets us apartfrom others, that defines and provides the strength andresilience primordial to our process of development. It keepsus constantly aware of our own realities, who we are andwhat our aspirations are as a people. Eventually a firmer graspof our own culture will arm us with our own strength andwisdom that will better equip us in dealing with ourselvesand the rest of the world.

Challenges

As we head into a borderless world in thisincreasingly cosmopolitan era, Southeast Asia is steadily beinglinked to the rest of the world via satellite television andmodern communications technology. We are now open to allkinds of external influence and bombarded with a variety ofcultures and entertainment fares that will influence ourpreferences. This phenomenon has already brought about anerosion of cultural identities and aesthetic values among theaudiences of our museums and cultural institutions. Today�sgeneration of students and young people have increasinglyfavoured shopping malls, entertainment theme parks,cyberspace technology and mass media as sources ofinformation and education on culture, education and history.With the innovations and ease offered by these facilities andmedia, visits to museums and cultural centres have ceased tobe a relevant activity. After all, why bother experiencingmuseum fatigues, traffic jams, and long queues to culturalcentres� ticket offices when the required information can easilybe accessed by one�s fingertips with a few clicks of thecomputer mouse or television remote control?

Being in the arts and culture disciplines, we realisethe importance and the sense of fulfillment and aestheticexperience of actual patronage of arts and cultural activitieswhich no other media or entertainment facilities couldprovide. Museums, performing arts venues and heritage sites,aside from being repositories of a nation�s culture, have thepower to counter this new form of cultural imperialism andensure that critical thinking and creative faculties are aliveand well in today�s young generation.

References

Unpublished Workshop Proceedings of the SEAMEO SPAFASeminar-Workshop on Arts Management and CulturalAdministration in Southeast Asia held in Manila, Philippineson 3 - 7 November 1995

The Arts and Media of ASEAN. 1995. ASEAN Secretariat.Edited by Nicanor Tiongson

New Museology and Cultural Studies : Re-framing SoutheastAsian Museums Through Re-examination of Practical andTheoretical Concerns in Southeast Asian Cultural Studies.Article in published proceedings of the Training-Workshopon Community Museums in Asia. Published by The JapanFoundation Asia Centre. 1998

RETRIEVING BURIED VOICES

A Reconsideration of Premises forWriting Histories of Art

of the Twentieth Centuryin Southeast Asia

ByT.K.Sabapathy

Presented at the SEAMEO SPAFA Symposium onHistory of Performing Arts in Southeast Asia.

- Kuala Lumpur: 17 - 24 June 1997

During the session devoted to �The Framework ofInternational Art� (Session 4) held as part of aseminar convened in conjunction with an exhibition

of Contemporary Art of the Non-Aligned Countries in Jakarta,Indonesia (29 - 30 April 1995), a speaker from the floor askedthat terms employed in framing the theme of the seminar bedefined and, insisted that such definitions that are offered,be pertinent to the occasion. The seminar proceedings haverecorded the remarks of the speaker as follows:

�The theme in this seminar is unity and diversity incontemporary art, which actually appeals to the contemporaryart of the non-aligned movement in the 1990�s. I believe thatall attempts made must have their significance. Each wordhas its meaning. I would like to request an explanation aboutthe meaning of words that are used in the theme, that actuallyinvited all of us to Jakarta. The question is, is it true thatthere is unity and diversity in international art? We are speakinghere in cultural and art contexts. I would like to have thesequestions clarified through definitions. This question can beanswered totally.�

The concluding sentence may well be read asrequiring a totalising response and for this reason dismissedor resisted as it steers towards subscribing to universal idealsor all-enveloping values, which serve to shut out and excludeeven as they set out to include, compress and consolidate.However, it can be read advantageously in the sense that it isan expression requiring a squaring up to the theme rigorouslyand in all its particulars. Cast in this light, the insistence mustbe endorsed and applauded.

In order to match the forthrightness with which theobservation has been articulated it has to be admitted thatthe sessions constituting the seminar did not deal with thetheme head-on or ostensibly. Evidently, notions related to orarising from �unity�, �diversity� and their interconnectednesswere not sufficiently compelling to draw speakers invited topresent papers in the seminar, to construct their approachesto contemporary art in non-aligned countries along the tracksdelineated by the theme. Having said this, it must be swiftlyremarked that the theme was not avoided or skirted withindifference even as the key terms were not discussed directly;implications arising from it, and addresses analogous to itsdeclaration, formed the abiding interests of the invitedspeakers. Again and again speakers referred to shared yetdifferent characteristics shaping art practices and productionsin particular communities as well as across borders definingcommunities; repeatedly, in recounting conventions,exhibitions and symposia convened in various non-alignedcountries, speakers pointed to factors that were common tonations and peoples, while drawing attention to those whichwere discrepant and differentiated one from another.

The floor speaker was undoubtedly aware of theimplied relatedness between the presentations by the speakers,the ensuing discussion and the theme; however, instigated bythe wide and somewhat meandering directions of the debate,the call was made to urge a greater degree of purpose andfidelity to the theme. An interest springing from the floorspeaker�s assertions is one concerning words and theirsignificance. How and why are words used? What meaningscan be imputted in the words and terms that are selected for

34

use in any discourse? In other words, what is the nature orconstitution of the language of any particular discourse?Arising from this, can one discern a discourse that is particularto countries designated as being non-aligned and withreference to art practices, productions and their reception? Itis important to consider questions such as these if anyadvancement is to be made in the construction of historiesand criticisms of art in ways that are germane to such countriesand, for that matter, to Southeast Asia.

In considering aspects of these questions, I maketwo citations from writings that I am familiar with. At theinaugural Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Australia(September 1993), Marian Pastor Roces made an impassionedyet probing plea to deal with words in developing suitablediscourses in art and to do so rigorously and purposefully;she underlined the necessity to cultivate requisite tools thatcould do justice to the productions displayed at the Triennial.She said:

�The challenge in fact is to create new intellectualtools that can perhaps go beyond the terms �syncretic� oreven perhaps �hybrid� and certainly beyond that sad word�influences�, into terminology that can nuance the levels ofco-optation by the modern vis-a-vis the levels that some othersystems of meaning have been able to insist upon throughtheir tenacity. A calibrated terminology therefore, that allowsrespect for cultures that structured the absorption of thingsfrom outside, with a system of meaning that managed togrow and survive violent encounters with global hegemonies- though they may have managed to do so invisibly, or beyondthe adequacy of dominant systems of representation toregister. A calibrated terminology, therefore that can alsoregister the total extinctions of culture caused by the modernmachine, and therefore, allows us the ability to mourn.�5

Her challenge to create �a calibrated terminology�which can serve to articulate and explicate circumstances andactions along a broad front is compelling and cannot be leftunanswered even as it is daunting. Her call to inscribe, describethe extinctions of culture, wrought by the onslaught of �themodern machine� and in so doing facilitate, legitimise,mourning for such deaths, is moving, unsentimental and addsfresh dimensions to the study of historical processes. Aboveall, Roces is right in determining that the struggle to cultivateways that are conducive for talking about art in the regionsthat make up the Asia-Pacific must revolve around theconstruction of appropriate/suitable languages.

Insights into such struggles can be had from readinga remark by Jim Supangkat, written in conjunction with recentencounters between artists from Indonesia and theNetherlands. For Supangkat among the tasks that lie aheadare those directed:

�To discern the differences, a recontextualisationof modernism is needed. Modernism is not an absoluteconcept, nor is it the opposite of tradition. It is also not justbased on Modernistic philosophy (with a captial M!). In thiscontext, modernism is a pluralistic phenomenon. It is a

principle that originates in the tradition of European HighArt, which in fact interacts with local conditions all over theworld thus creating a modernism that is multifaceted. Thedevelopment of contemporary art cannot be perceived asnot being related the the reality of this pluralistic modernism.This logically contradicts the belief in the correctness of themonolinearity of the development of modern art as ahistorical process.�6

The issues raised in these citations - and thereare very many others one could refer to - point to overlappinganxieties emerging from intertwining historical experiences;most especially those that have been molded by colonialismand its aftermath. Furthermore, since the creation of newnation-states after the Second World War, and thereverberations unleashed by the dismantling of the Cold War,different sets of anxieties have fermented; I have in mindthe excruciating contradictions and severe dislocations arisingfrom the push-and-pull of two asymmetrically aligned forces,namely: the inexorable push towards gaining or forgingeconomic connectedness and enmeshing with global techno-economic systems on the one hand, and the pull away fromsuch allegiances (whose constitution and conduct come underthe surveillance of those with military and economic power)in order to safeguard cultural uniqueness on the other. Thearticulation of these conditions is gaining increasing currencyin the worlds of art and, as discourses, tend to be conductedat ideological levels and as part of cultivating ideologicalstrategies. Such conduct is necessary when engaging with thoseoperating from centres of the imperium; they are necessaryin endeavours to advance counter-discourses, however thesemay be constructed. Even so, it is not sufficient to engageand advance scholarship solely with such goals in mind.

In this respect, how can Supangkat�s �reality of thispluralistic modernism� be validated, demonstrated orapprehended? For that matter, Roces� plea for the creationof �new intellectual tools� was prompted precisely by herencounter with works which remain uneasily explicated ornot at all, by prevailing methods of historical and criticalaccounting. Pointedly she asks for the formulation of �acalibrated terminology� that can interrogate a number offactors, including structures and meanings, and which canilluminate options determined by and made available to artists(including traditions and the past, as well as their absence). A�calibrated terminology� is one that is capable ofdemonstrative properties and, in this sense, can facilitate close,knuckled, sustained readings of specific works, in all theirparticulars; consequently discourses will also have to bedeveloped which will enable scrutiny of productions andobjects in their concreteness.

In advocating this approach, the aim is not to conjureup an old spook, and drive a wedge between ideology (whichis value-laden, specific and partial) and the aesthetic (whichcustomarily is claimed to be disinterested and universal). Onthe contrary, preoccupations with the practicalities ofhistorical and sociological issues are germane not only toideological analysis but aesthetic ones as well, for the aestheticis history and culture specific.

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36

By and large, discourses outside the Westtend to be constructed on inherited

intellectual perspectives that are Westernto begin with, and which assert their

dominance overtly and covertly.

I underline the need to adopt rigorous approacheswhich pay attention to specificity or concreteness by citingan outcome from the exhibition of works by artists from thenon-aligned countries, mentioned earlier; it is highlighted byJim Supangkat. He takes issue with John Clark�s review ofthe exhibition in which a submission by the Indonesian artist,Hedi Haryanto, was cast in overtly political terms. Clarkobserved that �one would have to be a very obtuse Indonesiangovernment official indeed not to see the politicalconfrontation carried by Haryanto�s Terdesak (Backed into aCorner), which combined a circle of nails with theirpenetration of the empty centre of two halves of a split log.�Supangkat counters this reading by remarking (and it isinstructive to read him at length):

�It turned out that Hedi Haryanto�s work had a totallydifferent meaning. The two halves of a porous log with holesin it were actually parts of a traditional Javanese containermeant to hold honey from bees. The nails and circles of ironin the work were modifications of the design of thattraditional tool. It was only by coincidence that the circle ofiron around the container gave the impression of bondageor shackles.

Hedi Haryanto is an artist who pays specific attention to thematerials and technologies of Indonesia�s traditionalcommunities. These self-sufficient segments of Indonesiansociety are the reality which is being �backed into a corner�within the Indonesian way of life. Hedi Haryanto�s work,which focuses on the use of bamboo, wood, ceramic andpaper, reflects the efforts being made to find a place for theproductsof the traditional segment of the populace, that beingthe grass roots, within the expression of contemporary art.He is not the only Indonesian artist experimenting with thesepossibilities.�7

By probing into the material basis of Haryanto�spractice, by ascertaining its affinities with traditional craftsand production, and by relating his approach to those of hiscontemporaries with kindred interests, Supangkat proposesan altogether different, nuanced reading, and a far moreplausible one at that, and a reading which takes into cognisancesome of the sociopolitical circumstances prevailing inIndonesia and ones which artists elect to intervene. Insummary, Supangkat provides two disclosures forconsideration, namely: (i) the work reflects Haryanto�s effortsto find a place for products made by the traditional segmentof the populace within the operational realms ofcontemporary art; (ii) the work signals that traditional art andculture, which are often equated with �national identity�, isno more than an illusion; the work attempts to demystify thisnotion and points out that traditional art and craft have beenmarginalised, � backed into a corner�, by modernisation andby the very conception of traditional culture itself. I dare saySupangkat�s explication can be read as validating the relevanceof the three areas designated for discussion in this symposium,namely: modes of production, iconography and ways ofseeing.

Supangkat�s response to Clark�s �misreading� has notbeen cited to trivialise the latter�s efforts in developing counter

or alternative discourses which are acknowledged by writersand students of modern and contemporary art in the regionsof Asia.8 It has been cited to bring into relief relativeweaknesses or inadequacies in methodologies for the studyof art. And for the remaining duration of this presentation,the focus will be on one aspect of this deficiency and theconcern will be on Southeast Asia.

The intent of this presentation is to gain for writingand mediation on art, heightened degrees of specificity andreflexivity; these gains are to be made, in this instance, throughscrutiny and accommodation of existing literature ofcomment and criticism on art, produced by communities andinstitutions in Southeast Asia. A project such as this can bedirected towards bringing to the surface the following: (i)modes of representing artists, practices, productions andinstitutions; (ii) methods employed to describe, analyse andproclaim concepts, works and practices; (iii) dominantassumptions spurring or shaping debate and discussion; (iv)such discourses there are on modern and contemporary art,relating them to those on pre-modern, traditional arts and todiscourses inscribed as dominant in the sociopolitical domains.

A brief such as this is not astoundingly new; what isstartling is the realisation that as a brief it rarely impingesupon critical enterprises. That is to say, rarely do writers onart in the region of Southeast Asia turn to the histories ofthat very enterprise in their own worlds and transform theminto fertile terrain to advance methodologies; if looking atsuch histories in their own worlds is infrequent, glancing acrossboundaries to neighbouring worlds within the region is indeedexceptional. In these circumstances, every critical effortappears as a new beginning bearing little or no memory tracesof precedents. Bypassing or being indifferent to prevailingor past writings is not only symptomatic of flawed researchtechniques, but deprives critical voices of requisite contextsand grounds for validation, thereby enfeebling and/ordistorting them. For, in as much as art practices andproductions are shaped by and in turn shape historicalcircumstances, similarly too are critical endeavours theoutcome of particular intertwining factors and forces andtherefore are specific to time and place. It is of vitalimportance that acts of interpretation have, built into theirapparatus, controlling principles or checking criteria in orderto prevent them from satisfying convenience or confirminga priorily held positions, be these ideological or aesthetic.The careful reading of such literature of comment andcriticism and its purposeful use can serve to propose textswhich, in turn, can serve as leavening forces in theconstruction of methodologies.

There is one other arena in which the incorporationof existing critical studies may well prove to be a mediatingfactor. By and large, discourses outside the West tend to beconstructed on inherited intellectual perspectives that areWestern to begin with, and which assert their dominanceovertly and covertly. Of course, different, alternative methodsof interpreting, or counter-discourses, are being devised andtested. This is an extremely complex and tangled problemand its unravelling is a mammoth task and beyond the paleof this symposium. I do not underestimate the gravity of the

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situation. Aijaz Ahmad provides a graphic, uncompromisingaccount of the state of dependency in his account of theacademe in India:

�So fundamental and even genetic is the Indian University�srelation with - indeed dependence upon - its British andAmerican counterparts that knowledge produced therebecoming immediately effective here, in a relation of imperialdominance, shaping even the way we think of ourselves. So,in examining the pressures which impel the metropolitanuniversity to devise new categories for conceptualizing culturalproductions in our part of the world, I am speaking also ofpressures which are exerted by the metropolitan universityupon the already subordinated Indian university.�9

According to Aijaz, this �parasitic intellectualdependence� is especially manifest in the teaching of English.

In her thesis on Resisting Colonialist Discourse, ZawiahYahya provides one of the most lucid expositions of thecompeting ideologies, which shape and dominate discoursesin literature. In seeking to resist them while at the same timeclaiming a position of difference enabling her to read Conrad,Maugham and Burgess in ways that are distinct or particular,she is impelled to disclose her dilemma or the pradoxicalgrounds she has to prospect; she says:

�My three reading positions are specific to myhistorical situation as a native reader from a post-colonialgeneration caught between two value systems intellectually-western oriented, but otherwise ethnically bound in manyother socially important ways. As a general readingprocedure,therefore, this may be seen to be limited inapplication. But in view of recent concepts of thedeconstructed subject...it is in fact difficult for anybody,whether from the �Centre�, the �Periphery� or anywhere inbetween, to construct any position other than the ones he isin or has been historically written into.�10

My interests spin around claims of specificity andinscriptions of history; in extending these interests I refer tothe project outlined earlier in order to look at and deal withexisting literatures on art also as prospecting grounds fordeveloping methods of analysis and representation. To consultthese literatures is to be able to ascertain (i) how society atlarge thought about such-and-such art, and (ii) how (such)art became historically possible and was critically thinkable.Presently, when attention is shown to these issues, itmaterializes anecdotally, and past commentaries are citedtransiently; I move that they be utilised comprehensively,consistently, and that they be enlisted as formative,determining components in the formulation of intellectualtools for the explication of art in Southeast Asia. In this sense,existing critical literatures are registrations of voices whichhave largely been muted, if not silenced; these literatureshave to be decoded, the voices be heard, if endeavours toconstruct dialogues between different cultural signifyingsystems are to be pursued rigorously and if they are to endure.

Claire Holt characterizes the development ofmodern art in Indonesia in terms of The Great Debate; within

Indonesia, it was referred to as Polemik Kebudayaan (Polemicson Culture) and it began to appear in print from 1935. Itinvolved writers, poets, artists, educators and politicians. Thedebate ranged over issues such as (i) confrontation of �East�and �West�; (ii) the definition of modernisation; is itnecessarily Westernisation? (iii) the selective use of Westerntechnology and systems without incurring contamination ofindigenous values which are cast in essentialist terms; (iv)developing material aspects of life and in the processadvocating change while at the same time safeguardingIndonesian spiritual values which are conceptualised as eternal,unchanging and immutable; (v) anxieties over the loss ofcultural identity and the problems entailed in constructingfresh or different identities, and so on.11

The terrain is familiar enough; the paradoxes whichcharacterise its topography continue to prevail just as urgentlytoday, although they may be articulated with dissimilarterminology. And the protagonists who are drawn into thesedebates represent a range of constituencies like that notedby Holt. The polemic which convulsed Indonesia in the 1930swas not confined to it; disputations along comparabletrajectories inflamed creative practices in countries inSoutheast Asia in the first half of this century, and continuedafter the Second World War, gathering momentum as theprocess of decolonisation led to the formation of new,independent nation-states and the remapping of regions,including Southeast Asia. The voices raised in advancing issuesrelated to the debate are vocal, combative and partisan; amongthe voices in the forefront have been those of artists andpractitioners from other arenas, signalling that artists are morethan actively involved in gaining for art legitimate spaces andsignificance in society.

To date there have not emerged serious or deepstudies of these voices; there certainly have not emergedstudies of these voices at any levels across national boundarieswithin Southeast Asia; consequently, regionalist perspectivesremain undeveloped and regionalist affiliations, such as theremay be, are unarticulated. Yet there have been in the twentiethcentury, as there have been in the past millenia, continuousmovements of peoples, productions and concepts amongstand between communities in Southeast Asia; how these haveimpinged upon creative practices and especially with regardto modes of production, iconography and ways of seeinghave yet to gain the attention of scholars and writers. Evidentlywork has to be initiated at primary levels; by this I have inmind the collation of such literatures, establishing their sitesand chronologies and ascertaining their structure andreception. In other words claiming them as texts which canshape and discriminate discourses on art, performing arts,architecture and the like.

By way of wrapping up this presentation, I offer ademonstration; a demonstration of a symptom rather thanof a method. I have put together a number of observations,diagnosis and declarations pertaining to the emergence ofmodes of abstraction in the visual arts in Southeast Asia,spanning a period of thirty years commencing from 1948, toindicate the range and tenor of a polemic turning aroundone circumstance. I have chosen modes of abstraction for

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...artists are more than actively involvedin gaining for art legitimate spaces and

significance in society.

this demonstration for it most vividly brings to the forefrontthose tensions, paradoxes and anxieties mentioned earlier ascharacterising debates on creative practices in Southeast Asia.I begin with a reference taken at random.

By about the early 1950s formal properties elevatedas conceptually paramount and symbolically significant werecrystallised in works by artists in Bandung (Indonesia). SanentoYuliman reinforces these features in his description of picturesby Achmad Sadali; he writes:

In Bandung, starting with Sadali in 1953, the paintersbegan tearing apart objects, transforming them into flat motifs.This was accomplished by the cutting up of straight andcurved lines. The paintings consisted of lines dividing up thesurfaces of the canvases, as well as flat areas of colour fillinggeometric shapes by thecutting of the lines. In thisway, what is most apparent inthese paintings, or whatdominates the visual field, isthe organisation of the linesand geometric fields ofcolour, with the form of theobject �submerged� in thenetwork.�12

The submerging orsubjectifying of all otherinterests in order to gain anintegrated overall unity (i.e. apalpable �network�) is anaspiration fuelling abstractoperations; it is in this sensethat claims to attaining a senseof universality are made andcherished. Again and again, inthe advocacy of abstractionin the communities of art inthis region, these values arevalourised. Yet another thread connecting the momentumtowards abstraction is the appeal of international reception,recognition and authorisation. These ventures correspondedwith the rise of abstraction in the West and its propagation,especially by the U.S.A., in advancing abstract expressionismas the banner of freedom per se.

It is in these interlocking circumstances that sectorialinterests were fermented and publicised in adversarial terms.In July 1948, Victorio Edades fired a salvo against theacademicians, accusing them of deliberately thwarting theprogress of art by perpetuating outdated, irrelevant ideals;proclaiming the era of the modern, he asserted that �art isever the expression of emotion, of individual emotion�, andthat it was the privilege of artists to �create distinctive form�which embodied experience. Guillermo Tolentino replied forthe establishment, branding the modernists as �distortionists,mutilators and deformers of the human form.�13

Disagreements were quickly hoisted onto widerplanes; abstraction was constructed as Western and perceivedas a strategy by the West to impose its hegemony in creativespheres; in this situation the nation was imperilled. The artistsof Bandung who were hailed as inaugurating ideas of themodern were also villified for being �anti-national� in theirespousal of abstraction; Trisno Sumardjo underlined thesesentiments by categorising the academy at Bandung as �alaboratory of the West.�14

The debate in Malaysia was propelled along similartrajectories; the principal protagonists were Syed Ahmad Jamaland Hoessein Enas. Syed Ahmad, more than any other person,has advanced abstraction - especially abstract expressionism-as the paramount aesthetic ideology, one which satisfiesindividual aspirations as well as national ideals; in advocating

his beliefs he projects anintegrated vision. At the levelof individual aspiration hesays:

�I believe basically inart as a form of expressionfor perception through thesenses and the imagination,and in the immediacy of thekind of presence that wasexpressed in Expressionism -the directness and closerelationship of purpose andmeans. The main impact ofAbstract Expressionism (forme) is the emotive andmystical qualities, itsexteriorisation of the feelingsand the senses as a kind ofdirect form of mediationwhich telegraphs theintensiveness of feeling,thought and the imagination

through plastic means.�15

Some of the features mentioned in this instancereappear and are amplified in order to capsulate national ideals.Referring to the gaining of political independence (merdeka)he asserts:

The Merdeka artists of the fifties and sixtiessubscribed mainly to the aesthetics of Abstract Expressionism.The immediacy and mystical quality of the mainstream artof the 1960�s appealed particularly to the Malyasiantemperament, sensitivity and cultural heritage.�16

Not everyone was convinced or persuaded by a sucha claim; Hoessein Enas completely rejects abstractexpressionist aesthetics and warns of its dangers and itsalienness:

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My aim was to hint ata range of voices...voices which providevaluable clues toapprehending waysby which artists, artideas and art workshave been publicised.

�A painter should try to express his own country�sculture. That�s why I object to Western abstract paintings.They do nothing for their country. Those who are returninghome after study in Western schools will only find darknessbecause they argue for Western ways.�17

Let me briefly turn to Singapore. In 1959, AbdulGhani exhibited a picture titled Mata dan Hati (Eye and Heart)which was produced in 1957; it generated sustainedcontroversy because it was viewed as �modern� and �abstract�.Discussion was initiated by a writer using the pseudonym�Monalisa� who took issue with the picture on the groundsof its experimental nature and its modernity; both theseattributes, translated as leading to abstraction, were regardedas ominous, foreign and unconducive to the development ofart; several writers endorsed these views and interpretations.Contrary voices were also heard; M. Salehuddin, for instance,declared that : � From what I can see now, in the near futureour artists would certainly go towards modern art. So this isonly the first phase.�18 Apparently the definition of �modern�was elastic and variable, while its status proved to betroublesome; is affiliation with abstraction and theexperimental points to an intriguing constellation of conceptswhich merit detailed study; and the equation of abstractionwith the West led to conclusions pointing to imperialism, inwhich case discussions assumed ideological implications.

Admittedly this demonstration has the makings ofa roller-coaster ride, barely permitting a glance here and thereat a single aspect of artistic activity; even then, it has beenslanted at a particular angle. But then no more was intended.My aim was to hint at a range of voices which were raisedover an issue, voices which were vocal, insistent, urgent andpartisan; voices which provide valuable clues to apprehendingways by which artists, art ideas and art works have beenpublicised. If we are to embark upon creating �calibratedterminology� so that we can operate intellectual tools thatenable us to see and discuss works produced by artists in thisregion (Roces), and if we are to begin to prise into the openthe plurality of modernism in the region (Supangkat) inhistorical contexts, then we cannot ignore these voices whichhave remained buried. We must retrieve them, decode extantliteratures of comment and criticism, and measure the extentto which they can be instrumental in constructing methodsfor the study of art in Southeast Asia which can be pertinentand particular. We have much to do.

Notes1. Coomaraswamy, A.K. �The Christian and Oriental, Or

True, Philosophy of Art� in Christian and OrientalPhilosophy of Art, Dover Publications, New York, 1956,p. 41.

2. Berger, J. Ways of Seeing, British Broadcasting Corporationand Penguin Books, London, 1972.

3. Brook, D, �Flight from the object� in ConcerningContemporary Art, The Power Lectures, 1968-1973, editedby Bernard Smith, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1975,p. 31.

4. Unity and Diversity in International Art, SeminarProceedings, Jakarta, Indonesia, 1995, p. 127.

5. Marian Pastor Roces, �words� in eyeline, 22/23, summer,1993, pp. 47-48.

6. Jim Supangkat, �Knowing and understanding thedifference� in Orientation, the Gate Foundation,Amsterdam, 1995, p. 45.

7. Jim Supangkat, �Contemporary Art of the South�,unpublished draft, Jakarta, Indonesia, 1997, pp. 4-5.

8. See especially J. Clark, �Open and Closed Discoursesof Modernity in Asian Art� in Modernity in Asian Art,ed. John Clark, Wild Peony, Sydney, 1993, pp. 1-17.

9. Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, Classes, Nations, Literatures, Verso,London, 1994, p. 44.

10. Zawiah Yahya, Resisting Colonialist Discourse, PenerbitUniversity Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Bangi,Malaysia, 1994, pp. 19-20.

11. Claire Holt, Art in Indonesia. Continuities and Change,Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 1967. SeeChapter 9, �The Great Debate�.

12. Agus Dermawan T, �Contemporary Indonesian Painting1950-1990� in Perjalanan Seni Rupa Indonesia Dari ZamanPresejarah Hingga Masa Kini ( Streams of Indonesian Artfrom Pre-History to Contemporary), Panitia PameranKIAS, 1990-1991, Bandung, Indonesia, 1991, edited byMochtar Kusuma-Atmadja, Rahmad Adenan, Kusnadi,et.al. p. 110.

13. Rod Paras-Perez, Edades and the 13 Moderns, CulturalCentre of the Philippines, Manila, 1995, p. 13.

14. Jim Supangkat, �Contemporary Art in Indonesia,Development Beyond the 1970s� in Art in Southeast Asia1997. Glimpses into the Future, Museum of ContemporaryArt, Tokyo, 1997, p. 167.

15. Retrospektif Syed Ahmad Jamal, Balai Seni Lukis Negara,Kuala Lumpur, 1975, unpaginated.

16. Syed Ahamd Jamal, Contemporary Malaysian Art, NationalArt Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, 1988, unpaginated.

17. Wharton, D., Contemporary Artists of Malaysia - ABiographical Survey, Asia Society & Union CulturalOrganisation Sdn. Bhd., Petaling Jaya, Selangor(Malaysia), 1971, pp. 90, 36.

18. Abdul Ghani Hamid, �Brief Notes on The Developmentof Malay Art Activities in Singapore in Malay ArtistsSingapore� (exhibition catalogue), Kuala Lumpur, 1995,unpaginated.

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SEAMEO BIOTROP, Bogor, IndonesiaThe SEAMEO Regional Centre for Tropical Biology focuses on Forest, Pest and Aquatic Biology, helps develop experts in the region inidentifying, prioritizing, analyzing and suggesting solutions or alternative approaches to critical biological problems in the region, especiallythose related to sustainable ecodevelopment of tropical ecosystems.Prof Dr H Sitanala Arsyad, Director, SEAMEO BIOTROP, Jalan Raya Tajur, Km 6, P O Box 116, Bogor, INDONESIA.Tel No: (62 251) 323 848. Fax No: (62 251) 326 851, 371 656, E-mail: biotrop@indo.net.idSEAMEO INNOTECH, Manila, PhilippinesThe SEAMEO Regional Centre for Education Innovation and Technology�s overall goal is Education for All. Toward this end, it assistsMember Countries in identifying common or unique problems and anticipated needs.Dr Erlinda C Pefianco, Director, SEAMEO INNOTECH, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City 1101. PHILIPPINES.Tel No: (63 2) 924 7681-4, Fax No: (63 2) 921 0224, E-mail: linda@innotech.org

Southeast Asia’sMinisters of Education

SEAMEO RECSAM, Penang, MalaysiaThe SEAMEO Regional Centre for Science and Mathematics is mandated to provide Member Countries with expertise in science,mathematics and technology education.Dr Abdul Rahim bin Selamat, Director, SEAMEO RECSAM, Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, Gelugor, Penang 11700, MALAYSIA.Tel No: (60 4) 658 326-7, Fax No: (60 4) 657 2541, E-mail: director@recsam.edu.mySEAMEO RELC, SingaporeFocusing on language teaching and learning disciplines, the SEAMEO Regional Language Centre (SEAMEO RELC) upgrades the skillsof language specialists and educators in the region.Mr Edwin Goh, Director, SEAMEO RELC, 30 Orange Grove Road, Singapore 258352, REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE.Tel No: (65) 737 9044, 737 3637, Fax No: (65) 734 2753, E-mail: edgoh@singnet.com.sg

SEAMEO RIHED, Bangkok, ThailandThe SEAMEO Regional Centre for Higher Education responds to needs related to policy and planning, administration and managementof higher education.Dr Padoongchart Suwanawongse, Director, SEAMEO RIHED, 5th Floor, 328 Sri Ayuthaya Road, Bangkok 10400, THAILAND.Tel No:(66 2) 644 9856-63, 644 5418, Fax No: (66 2) 644 5421, E-mail: rihed@mis.mua.go.th

SEAMEO RETRAC, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet NamThe SEAMEO Regional Training Centreassists Member Countries, especially the three Indochina countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR andViet Nam) to identify and solve common problems of human resource development.Dr Nguyen Loc, Interim Director, SEAMEO RETRAC, 35 Le Thanh Ton, Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM. Tel No: (84 8) 823 2174, 824 5617.Fax No: (84 8) 823 2175. E-mail: vnseameo@hcm.vnn.vn

SEAMEO SEAMOLEC, Jakarta, IndonesiaThe SEAMEO Regional Open Learning Centre assists Member Countries in identifying educational problems and finding alternativesolutions for sustainable human resource development through the dissemination and effective use of open learning and distanceeducation.Dr Arief S Sadiman, Interim Director, SEAMEO SEAMOLEC, Jalan Cenderawasih Km 15.5 Jakarta-Bogor, P O Box 7/CPA, Ciputat15411, INDONESIA. Tel No: (62 21) 740 4951-2. Fax No: (62 21) 740 1727. E-mail: seamolec@rad.net.idSEAMEO SEARCA, Los Banos, PhilippinesThe SEAMEO Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture serves the agriculture and rural needs of the regionthrough its human resource development programmes, research and extension activities.Prof Dr Percy E Sajise, Director, SEAMEO SEARCA, 4301 College, Laguna, PHILIPPINES. Tel No: (63 49) 536 2380Fax No: (63 2) 813 5697, (63 49) 817 0598. E-mail: post@agri.searca.org

SEAMEO SPAFA, Bangkok, ThailandThe SEAMEO Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts cultivates awareness and preservation of cultural heritage througharchaeological activities and developing professional competence in the fields of archaeology and fine arts.Mr Pisit Charoenwongsa, Officer-In-Charge, SEAMEO SPAFA, 81/1 Sri Ayuthaya Road, Samsen, Theves, Bangkok 10300, THAILAND.Tel No: (66 2) 280 4022-9. Fax No: (66 2) 280 4030. E-mail: spafa@ksc.th.comSEAMEO TROPMED NetworkThe Regional Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network is composed of four Regional Centres in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippinesand Thailand. The Central Office is located in Thailand. The Network�s overall role is to promote health and to prevent and/or controltropical diseases and public health problems. Areas of Specialization: Community Nutrition (TROPMED Indonesia); Medical Microbiology,Parasitology and Entomology (TROPMED Malaysia); Public Health and Hospital Administration, Occupational and Environmental Health(TROPMED Philippines) and General and clinical Tropical Medicine and Tropical Pediatrics (TROPMED Thailand).Professor Dr. Sornchai Looareesuwan, Secretary-General/Coordinator, SEAMEO TROPMED Network 420/6 Rajvithi Road,Bangkok 10400, THAILAND. Tel: (66 2) 6444331 Fax: (66 2) 6444331/2477721 E-mail: tmslr@mucc.mahidol.ac.thSEAMEO VOCTECH, Brunei DarussalamThe SEAMEO Regional Centre for Vocational and Technical Education�s activities develop the competencies required to acheive andimplement economic, industrial, business and labour market goals through vocational and technical education and training.Haji Abdul Ghani bin Haji Omar, Centre Director, SEAMEO Regional Centre for Vocational and Technical Education (SEAMEO VOCTECH),Jalan Pasar Baharu Gadong BE1318, BRUNEI DARUSSALAM. Tel No: (673 2) 447 980-2. Fax No: (673 2) 447 955.E-mail: voctech@pso.brunet.bn