New Mandala

Ikuko Okamoto, Economic Disparity in Rural Myanmar: Transformation under Market Liberalization. Singapore: NUS Press, 2008. Pp. xvi, 239; figs., tables, notes, bib., index.   Koichi Fujita, Fumiharu Mieno, and Ikuko Okamoto, eds., The Economic Transition in Myanmar after 1988: Market Economy versus State Control. Singaporeand Kyoto: NUS Press in association with Kyoto University Press, 2009. [...]

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Yoshinori Nishizaki, Political Authority and Provincial Identity in Thailand: The Making of Banharn-buri. Ithaca, New York: Cornell Southeast Asia Program, Studies on Southeast Asia No. 53, 2011.  Pp. xvii, 254; maps, figures, photographs, bibliography, index. Reviewed by Michael Montesano. Sometime after Yoshinori Nishizaki arrived at the Universityof Washingtonas a doctoral student, his advisor—the Cornell-trained Indonesianist [...]

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Meredith L. Weiss, Student Activism in Malaysia. Crucible, Mirror, Sideshow. Ithaca and Singapore: Cornell Southeast Asia Program Publications and NUS Press, 2011.  Pp. vi, 302; list of acronyms, figure, index. Reviewed by Leon Comber. This is a fascinating book, which provides a detailed account of student activism in Malaysia, with its rise and demise, from [...]

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Derek Hall, Philip Hirsch, and Tania Li, Powers of Exclusion: Land Dilemmas in Southeast Asia. Singapore and Manoa: NUS Press and University of Hawaii Press, 2011.  Pp. 257; maps, tables, appendix, bibliography, index. Reviewed by Keith Barney. “Entitled to Your Entitlements” In Southeast Asia, conflicts over land are a hot topic. In part because of [...]

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Lee Ting Hui, Chinese Schools in Peninsular Malaysia: The Struggle for Survival Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2011. Pp. xv, 282; figures, tables, abbreviations, glossary, bibliography, index. Reviewed by Christine Chan. As its title suggests, Lee Ting Hui’s book treats the ways in which Chinese schools in Peninsular Malaysia managed to survive from 1786 [...]

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Claudio Cicuzza, A Mirror Reflecting the Entire World: The Pali Buddhapādamaṅgala or ‘Auspicious Signs on the Buddha’s Feet’   Critical Edition with English Translation.  Bangkok and Lumbini: Materials for the Study of the Tripitaka Vol. 6, Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini Research Institute, 2011.  Foreword by Peter Skilling.  Pp. lxiii, 224; ills., bib., index. [...]

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Nicholas Grossman and Dominic Faulder, eds., King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life’s Work: Thailand’s Monarchy in Perspective. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2011.  Pp. 383; ills., map, notes, bib., index, picture credits. Reviewed by Paul M. Handley. For King Bhumibol’s fiftieth anniversary on the throne in 1996, the palace put forth a large-format book on his life [...]

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Andrew MacGregor Marshall — the ex-Reuters journalist famous for his comprehensive analysis of leaked US government cables — has just written a 9988 word review of King Bhumibol Adulyadej: A Life’s Work. And apparently he is only warming up: the piece is marked “to be continued”. He begins with the statement that “Thailand is a [...]

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Joel Brinkley, Cambodia’s Curse: The Modern History of a Troubled Land. New York and Collingwood, Victoria: PublicAffairs Books and Black Inc., 2011. Pp. xix, 386; illustrations, bibliography, index. Reviewed by Keith Carpenter. Cambodia’s Curse was first drawn to my attention by a radio programme aired in Australia in April 2011, where I heard Joel Brinkley [...]

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Geoff Wade & Sun Laichen, editors.  Southeast Asia in the Fifteenth Century: The China Factor. Singapore and Hong Kong: NUS Press and Hong Kong University Press, 2010.  Pp. xii, 508; maps, color ills., bib., index. Reviewed by Derek Heng. Recent years have seen a concerted effort to examine the history of Southeast Asia through the [...]

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Kobkua Suwannathat-Pian, Palace, Political Party and Power: A Story of the Socio-Political Development of Malay Kingship.   Singapore: NUS Press, 2011.  Pp. xxiv, 472; map, tables, figures, photographs, list of abbreviations and acronyms, glossary, notes, bibliography, index. Reviewed by Greg Lopez. On 6 February 2009, approximately 3,000 Malays protested in the royal town of Kuala [...]

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