Place,memory and identity: Imagining ‘New Asia’

Abstract: The rapid transformation of Asian societies and landscapes, especially since the mid‐1990s, has engendered much conjecture of the ‘Asian renaissance’ and the rise of a ‘New Asia’. This Special Edition of Asia Pacific Viewpoint explores the intersecting themes of ‘urban place’, ‘social memory’ and ‘cultural identity’ in the articulation of and contestation towards New Asia. Specifically, the six articles here offer various interpretations of New Asia – as tourism marketing tool, political vision and social identity – and the politics involved in urban, tourism and cultural development. From colonial hotels in key South‐East Asian cities to the historic waterfront of Singapore; from festivals and rituals in Hong Kong, Hoi An (Vietnam) and Penang (Malaysia) to the clash of cultural values in Manggarai (Indonesia), ‘selective remembering’ and ‘ideological forgetting’ are central to the construction of New Asian identities. Ultimately, this Special Edition hopes to provoke continuing discussions on the rhetoric of New Asia and its imaginative and contested geographies, sociologies and histories.     

Negotiating ‘home’ and ‘national identity’: Chinese‐Malaysian transmigrants in Singapore

Abstract: Part of the globalisation phenomenon involves an increasing number of elite transmigrants traversing national boundaries in response to the global demand for skilled labour while maintaining multifaceted social ties astride political, geographic and cultural borders, linking home and host countries together. As transmigrants ‘live’ in several communities simultaneously, their identities, behaviour and values are often not limited by location. Thus, notions of ‘home’ and ‘national identity’ are also being reviewed given the discrepancies between these concepts and locality. In this context, this paper explores questions of ‘home’ and ‘national identity’ among skilled Chinese‐Malaysians working and residing in Singapore, portraying them as active participants of two (or more) countries. It focuses on their strategies and struggles in negotiating ideologies of ‘home’ and ‘national identities’ across borders in a setting of two neighbouring countries umbilically linked in a volatile political relationship. It further examines their degree of concern in the political affairs of both countries. Between ‘home’ and ‘host’, Chinese‐Malaysians redefine their practices of home(‐making) in relation to their national identity, drawing on the resources and resilience of familial ties, nostalgic memories and other practical lifecourse needs.     

Openings in the body of ‘capitalism’: Capital flows and diverse economic possibilities in Kiribati

Much of the post‐development agenda is concerned with decoupling Eurocentric imaginings of development from development practices in ‘remote’ regions and exploring new forms of economy that can enhance local well‐being. In the South Pacific (and elsewhere), small peripheral economies have confronted globalisation in varying ways. Some places, such as the Micronesian island state of Kiribati, have engaged directly with the global economy by investing capital generated locally in international financial markets rather than in domestic industries. Kiribati's trust fund, the Revenue Equalisation Reserve Fund, maintains a balanced portfolio of international equity and fixed income assets that produces a financial return, helping to augment Kiribati's other national income sources. In this paper we explore the results of capital flowing from Kiribati to global financial markets, noting that this alternative development practice can enhance local well‐being.     

Performing ‘Chinese‐ness’ in Singkawang: Diasporic moorings,festivals and tourism

Through an examination of two festivals – Qing Ming and Cap Go Meh – in the town of Singkawang in Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan), we show how Singkawang‐bound Chinese Indonesian tourists and their Singkawang‐based relatives produce a diasporic heritage network through ‘moorings’ generated by both transnational and internal migration. Instead of returning to a singular ‘homeland’ in distant China, these tourists return to Chinese‐majority Singkawang as a result of their personal genealogical roots and of their broader cultural allegiance with a kind of Chinese‐ness that Singkawang has come to represent within a post‐Suharto Indonesia. Through these two festivals, we demonstrate how personal heritage practices like ‘roots tourism’ and visiting friends and relatives are intimately bound up with identity and developmental politics at local, national and international scales. In so doing, we identify a range of ways in which migratory and tourism flows by Chinese Indonesian internal migrants shape relations to their ancestral hometowns and cultural ‘homelands’ in Indonesia within the context of membership to and participation in a broader transnational diaspora.     

‘Changing My Thinking With a Western Woman’: Javanese Youths’ Constructions of Masculinity

Yogyakarta’s ‘wild’ guides are young men who pursue fantasies of true love and easy wealth by striking up ‘love affairs’ with tourist women. A hegemonic masculinity emerges as male peergroup gossip evaluates dramatic incidents to pinpoint ideal male with­male image and behaviour. In romances with Western women, guides renegotiate the sexual aspect of their masculinity, as tourist women’s holiday­romance expectations of attentiveness and deference collide with this ideal masculine self­image. The tension between disgust and desire within guides’ lifestyle leads to fragmented performances of identity for their different audiences.     

Deployment of cold tolerance loci from Oryza sativa ssp. Japonica cv. ‘Nipponbare’ in a high‐yielding Indica rice cultivar ‘93‐11’

Cold tolerance is a complex trait, and QTL pyramiding is required for rice breeding. In this study, a total of seven QTLs for cold tolerance in the Japonica rice variety ‘Nipponbare’ were identified in an F_2:3 population. A stably inherited major QTL, called qCTS11, was detected in the region adjacent to the centromere of chromosome 11. In a near‐isogenic line population, the QTL was further dissected into two linked loci, qCTS11.1 and qCTS11.2. Both of the homozygous alleles of qCTS11.1 and qCTS11.2 from ‘Nipponbare’ showed major positive effects on cold tolerance. Through pyramiding the linked QTLs in the cold‐sensitive Indica rice cultivar ‘93‐11’, we have developed a new elite, high‐yielding Indica variety with cold tolerance.     

Understanding ‘resource’ conflicts in Papua New Guinea

Abstract: Papua New Guinea, with its heavy dependence on natural resources, limited economic development in the past two decades, poor record of governance and high‐profile separatist conflicts such as the Bougainville civil war, appears to be an exemplar of the ‘Resource Curse’ theory – the notion that natural resources actively undermine economic development. Using a number of examples from a range of scales, this paper argues that what appear to be ‘resource’ conflicts in Papua New Guinea are actually better conceived as conflicts around identity and social relationships. The very different conceptualisation of natural resources in most Melanesian societies – as elements of the social world as much as any external environmental sphere – means that resources become a conduit for local social and political agendas and tensions to be expressed. The nature of traditional conflict in Melanesian societies is discussed as a guide to the better management and resolution of what appear to be ‘resource’ conflicts in Papua New Guinea.     

Between ‘state’ and ‘society’: Commune authorities and the environment in Vietnam's craft villages

Maintaining a liveable environment in Vietnam's polluted craft villages is a daily challenge for state authorities and residents. Neighbouring urban populations demand that the state effectively curtails and manages pollution, while local residents prioritise their livelihoods and routinely flout regulations. The commune official, tasked with the seemingly impossible task of environmental regulation, occupies a fraught position, torn between the imperatives and constraints of craft producers and state regulatory demands. This study of water pollution in northern Vietnam's craft villages finds that commune officials' conflicted role in environmental governance is a central factor in the failure of the current environmental governance regime, and reflects the internally conflicted nature of the Vietnamese state.     

Researching ‘sustainable consumption’ in Asia‐Pacific cities

Abstract: Asia‐Pacific cities are experiencing substantial environmental problems, which require innovative policy approaches. One newly emergent policy strand is that of ‘sustainable consumption’. This approach aims to reduce environmental degradation by encouraging all consumers to adopt more environmentally friendly modes of behaviour, especially those living in congested and environmentally degraded urban areas. Although a promising initiative, significant conceptual and practical problems exist with sustainable consumption's current policy framework. However, rather than abandon the idea completely, consumption should become central to researching environmental issues in Asia‐Pacific cities. Here, a ‘political ecology’ approach frames all forms of consumption as revealing political, economic and cultural practices and modes of distributions that give rise to current unsustainable outcomes. Through in‐depth examinations of current forms of consumption, this approach aims to offer a challenging perspective for future research into Asia‐Pacific urban environmental problems.     

More than a ‘blip’: The changed character of South‐East Asia’s engagement with the global economy in the post‐1997 period

Abstract: Through reviewing South‐East Asia’s recent economic engagement with the global economy, this paper points to profound recent transformations in the scope and character of the region’s development. Foreign direct investment was the key driver of regional growth in the pre‐1997 period, yet currently, the region faces a more difficult and multifaceted economic arena from which to attract such funds. Foreign direct investment is more selective, both geographically and by sector, than was the case in that earlier period. This paper explains the confluence of economics, business practices and politics that are giving rise to these outcomes, and concludes from this that development trajectories in South‐East Asia will become more diverse between the countries of the region, with implications for how we understand regional economic performance.     

Identification and mapping of adult‐plant stripe rust resistance in soft red winter wheat cultivar ‘USG 3555’

Little is known about the extent or diversity of resistance in soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to stripe rust, caused by the fungal pathogen Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici. The soft red winter (SRW) wheat cultivar ‘USG 3555’ has effective adult‐plant resistance to stripe rust, which was characterized in a population derived from ‘USG 3555’/‘Neuse’. The mapping population consisted of 99 recombinant inbred lines, which were evaluated for stripe rust infection type (IT) and severity to race PST‐100 in field trials in North Carolina in 2010 and 2011. Genome‐wide molecular‐marker screenings with 119 simple sequence repeats and 560 Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers were employed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for stripe rust resistance. QTL on chromosomes 1AS, 4BL and 7D of ‘USG 3555’ explained 12.8, 73.0 and 13.6% of the variation in stripe rust IT, and 13.5, 72.3 and 10.5% of the variation in stripe rust severity, respectively. Use of these and additional diagnostic markers for these QTL will facilitate the introgression of this source of stripe rust resistance into SRW wheat lines via marker‐assisted selection.     

The geographic impact of ‘open skies’ policies on Trans‐Tasman air passenger service

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to examine the various geographic shifts occurring in New Zealand air passenger service as a result of the liberal aviation policies pursued by the country. A brief history of New Zealand air passenger travel both domestically and internationally will be followed by a more in‐depth investigation into the impacts of the single aviation market between New Zealand and Australia, first negotiated in 1992, subsequently altered in 1996 and, in its present form, agreed to in 2000. Particular attention is given to the increased competition that has arisen in the Trans‐Tasman market, making it one of the most heavily contested routes in global aviation. The Trans‐Tasman is analysed at a variety of levels, including airline competition, market growth, and fare changes that have occurred in the five years since the ‘full open skies’ agreement came into effect.     

Non-destructive monitoring of flesh softening in the black-skinned Japanese plums ‘Angeleno’ and ‘Autumn beaut’ on-tree and postharvest

There is a need to develop alternative harvest indexes for black skinned plums. The aim of this research was to analyze and compare the most commonly used indexes for deciding the harvest date for Japanese plum, and evaluate the effectiveness of new approaches for studying maturation. The ripening process was monitored on-tree and during postharvest in a non-destructive way, through the absorbance of chlorophyll (I_AD), the compression strength of the intact fruit, and the traditional parameters associated with ripening. Fruit were harvested at commercial ripeness and “tree-ripe”, and were stored for 10 d at 22 °C and 75-80% RH. The I_AD decreased during the last phase of development of the fruit on-tree, and it was related to the common indexes used for plums. ‘Angeleno’ showed a decrease of the I_AD 24% lower than that observed for ‘Autumn beaut’. The I_AD versus time showed the highest coefficients of determination when compared with the soluble solids concentration (SSC), flesh firmness, hue (H°) and chroma (C*) of the skin. The compression strength of the intact fruit was associated with flesh firmness, and to a lesser extent with the SSC for ‘Angeleno’, whereas for ‘Autumn beaut’ higher correlations for both the SSC and flesh firmness were observed. The C* of the skin on ‘Autumn beaut’ showed an erratic change during ripening; by contrast, for ‘Angeleno’, this index showed a clear trend. During postharvest it was observed that for ‘Angeleno’ fruit picked at commercial ripeness, the rate of change of the I_AD was practically the same as observed on-tree, while for ‘Autumn beaut’ the rates of change on-tree and at postharvest were 0.075 I_AD d⁻¹ and 0.024 I_AD d⁻¹, respectively. For the “tree-ripe” fruit, the rate of change was practically the same for both cultivars. Similar trends were observed for the compression strength.     

‘Two different worlds’: Papua New Guinean women working in development in Port Moresby

This article examines the lives of Port Moresby women who work in the development sector of Papua New Guinea. In particular, it demonstrates how development discourse structures the very fabric of working relationships within this sector in Port Moresby. Underpinned by neocolonial geographies in which those in the global north rescue those in the global south, these discourses produce workplaces in which Papua New Guinean women are seen as lacking the moral and technical capacities to run development projects in their own country. The article argues that the privileges held by expatriates and denied to local women, in conjunction with the workplace discrimination to which they are subjected, ironically undermine the development sector's supposed commitment to promoting gender equality in Papua New Guinea.     

Asset mapping and Whanau action research: ‘New’ subjects negotiating the politics of knowledge in Te Rarawa

Te Runanga o Te Rarawa is the tribal council representing the interests of the marae (tribal commons) and hapu (a subtribal kin group) that make up the iwi (a Maori tribe) of Te Rarawa in the far north of Aotearoa/New Zealand. In April 2005, officials approached us to help them secure a valuable funding stream tagged to marshalling resources for material development in the area. They sought curriculum vitae and assistance in reframing the funding specifications. Intrigued, armed with a conceptual toolkit drawn from Gibson‐Graham's ideas of post‐development and asset‐based community mapping, and confident that we could add value, we agreed to help. This paper examines the complex politics of our involvement and our changing positioning as researcher subjects. We argue that negotiating a politics of knowledge for projects of this nature requires engagement in complex representational politics of place and divisive identity politics that rage around it. There are no easy protocols for outside researchers, but with appropriate humility and sensitivity to these politics, we can rely on, and should stand up for, the value of our work, which lies in commitments to excellence in scholarship. We cannot and should not seek to control these politics, which will chew us up and spit us out – humanely and with good grace or otherwise. However, good academic work will recognise and adapt to them. In our particular case, we argue that our work had significant value; and in this paper, we trace the production of this value.     

The idea of ‘Country’: Reframing post‐disaster recovery in Indigenous Taiwan settings

In Australian Aboriginal thinking, the idea of ‘Country’ comprises complex ideas about relationships and connection. It simultaneously encompasses territorial affiliation, a social identification and cosmological orientation. It draws attention to what might be glossed as people‐to‐environment, people‐to‐people and people‐to‐cosmos relations. These relations influence disaster responses, but are rarely mobilised explicitly in shaping formal recovery and reconstruction efforts. Colonial disruption of connections to Country imposed new practices and presences into contemporary Indigenous geographies and is often reinforced in disaster settings. This paper considers more recent disruptions arising from post‐disaster recovery in Taiwan, arguing that the idea of Country offers a powerful way of framing cultural and social dimensions of post‐disaster relief and recovery for government agencies, non‐government organisations and research alike.