Opening of Wang Gungwu Permanent Collection at Iseas

Minister for Education Mr Heng Swee Keat
Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong
Professor Tommy Koh
Professor Wang Gungwu
Ambassador K. Kesavapany
Mr Lee Bock Guan
Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to be with you today for the opening of the Wang Gungwu Permanent Collection at the ISEAS Library and the inauguration of the Archaeological Unit at the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre.

In April 2010, Professor Wang Gungwu donated his books on Southeast Asia and private archives to ISEAS. The Collection, consisting of more than 1,200 books and articles, over 440,000 pages of documents, and more than 1,000 photographs, plaques, certificate awards, calligraphies, etc., will be housed in the ISEAS Library. The Collection is accessible to academics, researchers, students and members of the public interested in historical research.

ISEAS commemorates Professor Wang’s generous gift to the Institute with this permanent collection in his honour, entitled Wang Gungwu: Historian, Humanist and Public Intellectual. The Gallery illustrates and narrates his life, career and achievements. A selection of his book and archival collection is also on display.

Prof Wang has been Chairman of the ISEAS Board of Trustees since 2002. However, he has been associated with the Institute for decades, participating in its academic and scholarly programmes, including as Distinguished Professorial Fellow from 1996 to 2002. He has engaged visiting and resident researchers in academic discourse and mentored younger researchers. As a natural progression of his intimate association with the Institute’s research treasure trove, he has decided to entrust his entire private archives and book collection on Southeast Asia to ISEAS. He is familiar with the Library staff and likes their personable and informal style. What is also appealing to Prof Wang is that the ISEAS Library is an established academic research library that is easily accessible to researchers and students not only from Singapore but from the region and elsewhere.  He would therefore like his painstakingly researched collection to also benefit them.

Throughout his many years of devotion to historical research, Prof Wang has accumulated a wealth of eclectic collections. These range from early Chinese history and politics, Confucianism, Communism, Hong Kong’s transition, the Chinese diaspora, Asian values, Southeast Asian history, nationalism, ASEAN and multiculturalism – to Malaysian history and politics in the English, Chinese and Malay languages. The collection includes books written by and on him. As a scholar, public intellectual and prolific writer, in over five decades, Prof Wang has written more than 600 erudite works of books, monographs and other related works.

My association with Prof Wang dates back to our days together at the then University of Malaya in Singapore.  At that time, his literary mind inspired him to write poems and short stories, which may be his best kept secret!  He infused these writings with an empathetic understanding of his multi-cultural environment, family, culture and sensitivity to social injustice and the human condition. Had he pursued a literary career instead of history, I am sure his creative works would have profoundly influenced the genre that we have today.

Literature’s loss is history’s gain and, as they say, the rest is history. May I compliment Prof Wang on his achievements and ISEAS for paying tribute to him in this fitting manner.  I would also like to thank Mr Lee Bock Guan, President, Singapore Buddhist Lodge, for the support given to this undertaking.

I turn now to the Archaeological Unit, an idea initiated by Ambassador   Kesavapany, who was also instrumental in the setting up of the Nalanda-Sriwijaya    Centre at ISEAS.  These are important and pioneering efforts because they focus on the in-depth study of historical connectivities in Asia. Southeast Asia offers a fine example of how cross-cultural interactions and exchanges during the ancient period have contributed to the formation of multiethnic and multicultural societies in the region. The same could be said of South Asia and East Asia. Indeed, the study of ancient interactions, through the examination of texts and artefacts, is vital for understanding the complexities of modern Asian societies. Both the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre and Singapore’s first archaeology unit would help us to understand and address our present political, economic and social situations and go some way in overcoming the dearth of early historical studies in Singapore tertiary institutions.   

The Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre's Archaeology Unit will pursue archaeological research in Singapore, and will also work with archaeological institutions in other parts of Southeast Asia and the world. The Unit’s main goal is to encourage the study of early Asian civilisations and cities. This task will start at home, with excavations in Singapore which will cast new light on the 14th-century settlement of Temasek. The Unit will also strive to make Singapore a hub for joint projects in which a range of countries will cooperate to conduct research in the field and, equally importantly, in the laboratory. It will initiate an annual field school to train the next generation of Southeast Asian archaeologists. It is also hoped that the Unit eventually will play a key role in maritime archaeology in the region, as it is under the seas that much of the story of Asian interactions through time now lies.

Dr. John Miksic, a renowned archaeologist of Southeast Asia, is leading this Unit.  Dr. Miksic has taught at the National University of Singapore for 24 years and has been engaged in the archaeological investigation of the island for almost as long. Now, holding a joint NUS-ISEAS appointment, he will play a key role in making Singapore a hub for Southeast Asian and broader Asian archaeological research.  I support this endeavour and am happy to officially inaugurate the Archaeology Unit today. 

Thank you.