Today we celebrate New Mandala‘s fifth birthday.
It has been a busy five years. Since 16 June 2006 we have published 3,022 posts, generated 32,280 comments and attracted many millions of hits. It has been a somewhat remarkable run. And, happily, it’s not over yet.
Shortly we will be launching a new New Mandala. Long-time readers will, we hope, enjoy the added functionality; we also expect the redesigned site will set us up for the hectic times ahead.
As events over the past week in northern Burma demonstrate, the politics, cultures and societies of mainland Southeast Asia are worth our serious and consistent attention. We hope that our efforts to provide anecdote, analysis and new perspectives on the region help to shape discussion and influence healthy debate on a wide range of important issues.
This is an approach that we have been experimenting with, and refining, for five years now. If you are intrigued by New Mandala‘s evolution then the posts marking our first, second, third and fourth birthdays cover some of the important ground.
On the occasion of the site’s fifth birthday it is worth offering our special thanks. Darrell Burkey and Jude Shanahan from the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific web team do a great job of keeping our site online. Our friends and colleagues Darren Boyd, Martyn Pearce and James Giggacher are tremendously helpful any time we ask. And then there are those who are intimately involved with creating much of our best content. This is a particularly appropriate time to thank Craig Reynolds, Michael Montesano, Greg Lopez, Saowapha Viravong, Nick Nostitz, Simon Creak, Tyrell Haberkorn and Nick Cheesman for their commitment to New Mandala over the past year.
And thanks, finally, to all of the other guest contributors, commentators, translators, ANU colleagues, informants, journalists, officials, administrators and friends who make so many important contributions to New Mandala‘s success.
Thanks to everyone for your support, interest and ongoing appreciation.
Been a pleasure and honour to be part of New Mandala.
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Just a quick update: New Mandala readers will be keen to know that the ANU has issued a media release to mark our fifth birthday. It is available here. You will see that it includes some comments on the occasion from our Vice Chancellor, Professor Ian Young.
And Milton Osborne, the distinguished Australian scholar of mainland Southeast Asia, has us on his list of suggested reading for Thailand’s 2011 election.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
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Well done, and many happy returns.
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Happy Birthday to you New Mandala! I’ve stumbled on to your website post Sep19,06 (thanks to someone’s post on samesky I think) and never left since. Keep up the good work and thank you everyone in the team for your contribution. I’ve learned a lot from your site and always share it with my friends whenever I can (within the limits of the law of course!)
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Happy Birthday!
As the Chinese saying goes: Chang Ming Bai Shui !
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Well done, and hopefully you can have many more while still welcoming all shades of opinion.
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Dear Khun New Mandala, several apology that it has been such extended time since I past featured in New Mandala. Here in Bangkok we have been very busy dealing with internal division, partly stirred up by uninformed external spokespersons. But on this auspicious occasion I feel obliged to pass my most sincere wishes of fifth birthday splendor to your world-renowned web-site. Here in the Division of International Media Monitoring, Ministry of Foreigns Affair, Royal Thai Government, Bangkok, Thailand we are regular and highly interested readers of Mandala Mai Blog and receive many reports of your work from our representatives abroad. Apart from sincere expression of birthday celebration, I am interested very much in your invitations for guest contributions as I am a little worried that if Mr Fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra’s sister wins the election some of us luuk-nong of Mr. Kasit may be looking for work. Are you able to pay? I hope to see you soon in Thailand. Oh, in fact, perhaps not.
Happy Birthday,
Nuat Namman
Under-Secretary for International Media Monitoring
PS. Could I present a paper at the Thai conference in Melbourne about His Majesty’s discoveries about gravity?
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Congratulations to all involved, including those who take the time to comment. It has been a very valuable first 5 years.
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Bravo NM! Excellent work keeping a supportive space for informed reflection and debate on key issues in SEA especially Thailand.
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As a keen and regular reader of the New Mandala website (albeit a habitual non-commentator/contributor – for a range of reasons) I congratulate all those involved for your unstinting efforts to provide an invaluable and informed source of information about this sometimes alien kingdom – from another universe altogether: the ANU in far away Canberra. May you go from strength to strength.
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Happy birthday New Mandala. Keep up the good work. Without you, we expats here would have brainwashed and turned into defenders of the despotic regime by The Nation and thaivisa.com.
Bkk Post has changed its tune lately as it has seen where the new wind is blowing.
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Many congratulations! Thank you for many innovations in the past year. NM continues to improve. Keep it going.
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Great job and a very happy birthday to NM.
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Many happy returns! And many many thanks for a splendid site and forum.
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