South-east Asia largely inspired by ancient Indic civilisation, says NUS historian
November 28, 2022
In ‘South-east Asia largely inspired by ancient Indic civilisation, says NUS historian’ (The Straits Times, November 2022), Professor Wang Gungwu (NUS History, East Asian Institute) was featured for his lecture at the NUS Institute of Policy Studies’ 12th IPS-Nathan Lecture series, discussing the development of civilisation in the Southeast Asian region. This was Prof Wang’s first lecture of a four-part series on the growing path of Southeast Asian cultures.
Records and artefacts show that early Southeast Asians frequently adopted practices of those they were in contact with outside the region, such as the Indic, Sinic, and Mediterranean civilisations.
The Khmer, Thai, and Burmese consolidated their Indic heritage through their versions of Buddhist authority, whereas the Chinese were drawn to Southeast Asia by Buddhism embedded within the Indic spirituality. However, many Southeast Asian regions gave up on their Indic heritage subsequently, turning to the monotheistic Islamic civilisation instead.
Prof Wang remarked on Southeast Asians’ ‘local genius’ that enriches and empowers native cultures. He explained that being at the centre of Southeast Asia, Singapore’s national identity was also moulded by these ancient civilisations, and the city-state has chosen ‘an exceptional path’ by committing itself to a plural-society nationhood.
Read the article in The Straits Times here: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/south-east-asia-largely-inspired-by-ancient-indic-civilisation-says-nus-historian