Living With Civilisations: Reflections on Southeast Asia’s Local and National Cultures by Professor Wang Gungwu
The Southeast Asian region is home to a set of diverse local cultures and distinct local identities. In this lecture series, Professor Wang will look at how the cultures of our region interacted with civilisations, and how these civilisations shaped local identities and cultures in the process. Being at the centre of Southeast Asia, Singapore’s national identity has also been moulded by great ancient civilisations. From the rise of global maritime trade to Singapore’s role as a port under the British empire, the country has come into contact with many civilisations that empowered its development. Understanding the history of Singapore from this perspective will give us insight to how the country’s modern identity is being shaped and enable us to better understand our region’s place in the modern world order.
Opening to the Global Maritime
In the lead up to the 18th century, Southeast Asia experienced what has been termed the “age of commerce”. Maritime trade brought powerful influences from across the world to the region, such as the Portuguese and Spanish. This lecture looks at how our region interacted with Christian European civilisation, as well as how the rise of industrial capitalism and national empires in Europe transformed our environment, especially the new forces that claimed to separate the civilised from the barbaric, the modern from the ancient. What determined which civilisations would survive and which would become irrelevant? How did the global maritime trade affect the cultures in Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia?
Dr Norshahril Saat, Senior Fellow at ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, will be moderating the Question-and-Answer session of this lecture.
To find out more about Professor Wang Gungwu, the 12th S R Nathan Fellow, click here.
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