General At the IIAS annual lecture Professor James Scott argued that the oldest state project in the world is fixing its population in space. He illustrated this with the Malay distinction between hill people and valley people. 'Though more a continuum than a dichotomy, the cultural divide between hill and valley is stunningly constant as an experienced and lived essentialism.'. Tourism in the Asia-Pacific This Newsletter features the first thematic issue, Tourism in the Asia-Pacific. Heidi Dahles and Toon van Meijl spark off the discussion with their full-page article 'Local Perspectives on Global Tourism in the Asia-Pacific Region'. They have asked twelve colleagues to explore what steps local people in the region have taken to redirect external tourist development in order to keep control of their own lives, or to initiate tourism developments for their own benefit. Regions Central Asia The Orientalist Johan van Manen (1877 - 1943) can be regarded the founder of Tibetology in the Netherlands. His legacy comprises 2105 Tibetan manuscripts and block-prints, 500 South Indian palmleaf manuscripts in Sanskrit, as well as 350 objects including Tibetan Buddhist scroll-paintings. Yang Enhong describes a life almost sunk into oblivion. South Asia According to Pancha N. Maharjan democracy in Nepal can only be consolidated if politicians are prepared to pull up their socks and confront their own immorality. People have started to express their disillusionment with democracy, stating that all it means is 'for the parties, by the parties, and of the parties'. Insular South West Asia The ancestors play a significant role in the lives of the Malagasy people. In the book Ancestors, Power, and History in Madagascar eleven specialists explore what local models of identity and personhood ancestors embody, how ritual around ancestors engages with history, what kinds of social and political contradictions ancestors reveal, and more. Southeast Asia W.S. Rendra, Indonesia's most celebrated poet, playwright, and theatre director, wants his art to be contextual. 'I do not make films, which can be put into storage. Theatre is in the here-and-now.' Earlier this year Rendra was a guest of the IIAS. Matthew Cohen seized the opportunity to interview him about his life and the circumstances that influenced his work. Asian Arts The Taiwanese exhibition Face to Face will to come to Australia in September. In the post-industrial society where modernization, urbanization, and commercialization co-exist, young Taiwanese artists are exploring issues concerning Taiwan's identity and its history, as well as political, environmental, and gender issues, in an effort to find deeper, personal meaning.