Work among the tall poppies:
Between September and December 1997, Dr John Kleinen (University of Amsterdam) was a IIAS Visiting Exchange Scholar at the Research School for Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS). His research there focused mainly on the relationship between political developments and the emerging civil society in Vietnam. His interest in religious revival in Vietnam, and visual anthropology, however, found an equal response in what Australian scientific institutions offer in this domain.By John Kleinen
The Australian National University (ANU) at Canberra, created in 1946, offers an excellent scholarly climate for anyone who likes to spend some time on writing and to participating in scholarly activities.The ANU houses one of Australia's leading centres of Asian Studies. In addition to the Research School for Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS), which is the home of a large number of scholars working in fields ranging from archaeology to Zen Buddhism, the Faculty of Asian Studies teaches a wide range of Asian languages and cultures. Three main libraries, electronically connected to the offices of the staff members and to student hostels and computer rooms, contain more than half a million books on Asia, many of them in the original languages. The different audio-visual sections of some of these libraries with a large stock of video-tapes and well-equipped viewing rooms were a pleasant surprise. Outside the ANU, the Asian scholar can go to the National Library to look for large collections on India, China, and Southeast Asia and to the National Defence Academy with its own Asia Department. The two Canberra institutions, the National Library and the ANU Library hold 75 % of the total national collection of the estimated 2.3 million Asian and Western language titles on Asia. Southeast Asian materials accounted for more than a half million titles (30 % of the total)
The presence of Asian students at the ANU and the University of Canberra not only gives the national capital of Australia an international flavour, it also guarantees a large number of Asian activities ranging from Asian restaurants to Asian films in at least one of the various cinemas the city offers. The proverbial dullness of Canberra, created in 1913 as the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) originates from the specific layout in the 1920s by its chief architect Burley-Griffin whose aim was to create a city for the future with lots of open space and several centres of population named after the aboriginal areas on which houses and shopping malls are built. The heart of the ACT is the new Parliament House, which replaced the old one in 1980s. Another icon is the National War Memorial where those Australians are remembered (including Vietnam) who paid a high price for the country's membership of the Western club.
The RSPAS
The RSPAS is housed in the Coombs building shaped like an ingenious, but for newcomers disturbing honeycomb. Named after the famous elder statesman H.C. 'Nugget' Coombs, the building now has several divisions and departments among them the Division of Asian and Pacific History, the Divisions of Politics and International Relations, and the Division of Society and Environment. Parts of the two last divisions are the Department of Political and Social Change (Ben Kerkvliet) and the Department of Anthropology (Jim Fox). The Division of Asian and Pacific History comprises four area groups committed to the discipline of history: China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands, with a small recent unit devoted to Korean history.
The area group Southeast Asia is best known for its work on Indonesia conducted by outstanding scholars like M.C. Ricklefs, Jane Drakard, Helen Creese, Ann Kumar, and Robert Cribb. Comparative history is promoted by interdisciplinary groups like the Economic History of Southeast Asia (ECHOSEAS) group directed by Anthony Reid (Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce volumes). In addition to this, the ANU/RSPAS is seen as one of the three or four most important world centres for the history of Thailand (Craig Reynolds), Malaysia (Leonard Andaya), and Vietnam (David Marr). More importantly, a large proportion of the Southeast Asian historians and many in Malaysia have been trained here (Barbara Watson Andaya and Leonard Y. Andaya, Reynaldo Ileto, Wang Gungwu, S. Supomo).
Vietnam
The Vietnam Studies Group (VSG) is a loosely structured network of all specialists working on Vietnam in Australia, but mainly concentrated at the RSPAS. Professors Ben Kerkvliet, David Marr, and Carlyle Thayer constitute the scientific core of this group, but enthusiastic PhD students keep the network going. Every year, the VSG organizes the Vietnam Update, a cross-roads event where science and politics meet and where important guests from Vietnam find a platform to voice their views on important developments. The seminars the VSG organizes regularly are the best venue for hosts and guests to share recent research findings.
Australian society cherishes the 'tall poppy syndrome', which means that outstanding people are usually reminded to hide their light under a bushel. Australians like Robert Hughes, Germaine Greer, or Mel Gibson have found fame outside the borders of their home country. The 'tall poppy syndrome' is close to what the Dutch undertake when they try to trim everybody who is showing a tendency to rise above the ground level. Nevertheless, Australians are proud to have distinguished scholars at all their centres of learning. The ANU has an outstanding international reputation for continued excellence in research and in training of graduate students. The pleasant part of it was the complete lack of any feigned distance or upbeat competition, which is sometimes part of academic life elsewhere. The 'tall poppies' are not trimmed, but just measured in a landscape that leaves room and fresh air for everybody.