• The Royal Commonwealth Society Library has just created an electronic catalogue for one of its largest and most significant manuscript collections: the papers of the diplomat, colonial administrator and orientalist Henry Burney (1792-1845). Burney was born in Calcutta, the son of a Senior Master of the Calcutta Military School for Orphans. His grandfather was the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and his aunt the novelist Frances Burney. Burney was commissioned into the East India Company’s army in 1808, but transferred to its political service when appointed Military Secretary to the Governor of Penang in 1818. From 1825 he served as Political Agent to the states adjacent to Penang and led several political missions. From the beginning of his career, Burney had displayed a gift for oriental languages, soon mastering Hindustani, and during this time he acquired Siamese and Malay. Burney’s grasp of local politics and languages led to his appointment as Envoy to the Court of Siam, and he travelled to Bangkok in September 1825. By June 1826 he had successfully negotiated a treaty with the King.
  In 1827 Burney was posted to the new British province of Tenasserim, which had been acquired during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826), serving as Deputy Commissioner of Tavoy. Burney immediately began learning Burmese. In 1829, he acted decisively to suppress a rebellion. His diplomatic experience and linguistic skill were further recognised in 1829 with the appointment as the Indian government’s representative to the Burmese Court. Burney arrived at the capital of Ava on 24 April 1830, establishing the first British Residency. Burney’s study of Burmese (with the aid of a tutor) had advanced so rapidly that by April 1832 he was able to communicate directly with the Burmese ministers in their own language. He enjoyed initial success, resolving the problem of banditry on the Arakan and Tenasserim frontiers and a territorial dispute on the Manipur border. He also persuaded the Burmese government to pay the final instalment of the indemnity owed as part of the war’s settlement.
  King Bagyidaw appreciated Burney’s efforts to foster good relations, honouring him with a Burmese title inscribed on gold leaf, Mahaz-eyayazanawrahta, accompanied with a badge of office, a nine-stranded salwe. Burney’s position, however, was undermined in 1837 when Bagyidaw was deposed by the Prince of Tharrawaddy, who later became King, and he found it difficult to work with the new regime. Burney was recalled on 8 March 1838 and went on furlough to England. In 1842, he returned to active service with the EIC army, but died at sea in 1845 while travelling to England on medical leave.
  The collection preserves important records of Burney’s diplomatic missions: his instructions, travel, correspondence, journals and reports, which include rare insight into the Siamese and Burmese Courts. It also contains examples of traditional texts, such as Siamese kradat phlao and Burmese black parabaiks and palm leaf manuscripts. Burney shared the family’s intellectual curiosity and literary flair, and was fascinated by Siamese and Burmese culture. He researched the two countries’ climate, geography, languages, history, philosophy, religion, astronomy, mathematics and astrology, and collected important translations from original sources. Burney presented papers to learned bodies such as the Royal Asiatic Society and published in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal’, the ‘Asiatic Journal’ and the ‘Journal of the Statistical Society.’ During the early 1840s, Burney received permission from the EIC to publish the journal of his mission to Siam and it is possible that he also contemplated writing a pioneering English language history of Burma. With the resumption of his military career, ill health and an early death at the age of 53, however, these plans never came to fruition. The RCS is also fortunate to possess a number of early photograph collections relating to Burma dating from the 1870s (RCS Y3029A-F), which complement the Burney archive.

  2022年10月23日

• In the 12th Century AD, the Khmer Empire ruled most of what is now Southeast Asia. As Europe struggled in the Dark Ages, King Suryavarman II built the massive edifice of Angkor Wat at the height of his empire’s glory.
  But within 200 years, the powerful Khmer civilization mysteriously collapsed. Theories about the cause of its downfall abound but nothing is definite. You see, aside from limited temple inscriptions no written records of the great Khmer Empire survived its demise. The “best” written account available is from the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan, who recorded his journey to Suvannabhum — the legendary Khmer “Land of Gold” — 150 years after Angkor Wat was completed.
  Centuries passed. Dense jungle swallowed the magnificent Khmer temples and cities. Western scholars had never even learned that the great Khmer race ever existed.
  But in the 19th Century, French explorers rediscovered the ruins, initiating 150 years of intense scholarship that continues today. Yet we believe that they have missed the most important keys to the puzzle, hidden in plain sight…
  People worldwide instantly recognize Angkor Wat.

  2022年10月22日

• 密码保护：Tribal Music of Asia

  2022年10月22日

• Indonesian cultural journals have played a great role in the production of modern Indonesian literature and in the Indonesian publishing scene in general (Kratz 1994). As many authors did not have the financial means to have their works printed in book form, authors of short stories and poetry had only the choice to get published in journals and newspapers. Ulrich Kratz has demonstrated the great importance of journals for the production of modern Indonesian literature in his monumental bibliography of nearly 900 pages. It is not surprising therefore that those cultural journals of nation-wide importance like Horison, Zenith, Mimbar Indonesia, Basis, Pujangga Baru or Medan Sastera, to mention only a few, are comparatively well available in European libraries and collections. Local periodicals like Pawon (Surakarta), Puisi (Magelang), Catatan Kebudayaan (Denpasar) or Genta Budaya (Padang) which often appeared for only a few years are far less represented. Cultural journals for children and young readers are nearly totally absent in Western collections.
  The Library of Southeast Asian Studies at Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main acquired in 2011 the collection of books of Prof. Ulrich Kratz, formerly professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Ulrich Kratz was a regular visitor of the Malay world since the early 1970s and acquired many rare titles published locally. His main research interests were literature and culture, so his library consisted of more than 9,000 titles from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, mainly in Indonesian/Malay.

  2022年10月22日

• Indonesia says child deaths from acute kidney injury rise to 133

  2022年10月22日

• The Panji stories, the autobiography of Prince Diponegoro and the epos I La Galigo are narrative works from Indonesia that, in their very own way, bear relevance to the cultural history of the region. The Leiden University Libraries hold a substantial number of manuscripts related to those three heroes. With an exhibition the UB Leiden is currently celebrating the extraordinary fact that, over the years, the above-mentioned items have been included in the Memory of the World Register of the UNESCO.
  Panji and I La Galigo stories always travelled between media, from dance performance to stage theatre to manuscript, from oral traditions and recitations to printed matters – the written text often being a mere ‘back up’ version. The exhibition focusses on the various forms of presentation of these stories.
  Diponegoro, being an historic figure, takes a special stand in this group of Indonesian heroes. However, the items on display confirm that historiography is just another form of narration (freely quoting Hayden White).

  2022年10月22日

• 密码保护：Philippines Real Estate Properties for Sale & Lease

  2022年10月21日

• 密码保护：Singapore Property, Property for Sale/Rent, Singapore Real Estate

  2022年10月21日

• 【泰国男子见妻子与前夫吃饭怒火中烧拔枪杀人】
  2022年10月19日18:45，帕府旺钦县Saroi镇发生了一起嫉妒杀人案件，有两人在事件中遭枪击死亡，警方在接到通报后立即协调医生与警力前往了事故现场。
  事故现场是一栋单层房屋，警方在厨房发现了两具尸体，其中一名死者为男性，名为坎亚，时年42岁，身穿蓝色运动短裤，在左侧胸部有被枪击的痕迹。另一名死者是27岁的Praewphan女士，尸体正面朝上，身穿一条深色裤子和红色T恤。随后警方将上述尸体送往旺钦医院进行了尸检。
  经调查，肇事者为受害者Praewphan女士的现任丈夫Pho，Pho与另一名受害者坎亚是多年好友。坎亚在与Praewphan结婚之后育有2子，此后Pho爱上了Praewphan，插足受害者的婚姻导致两人离婚，两个孩子一直是坎亚抚养的，而Praewphan则和Pho在一起了，但还是会经常去找儿子。
  事发当天，Praewphan前往坎亚家看望孩子，晚上就在家里做饭与前夫和孩子共进晚餐，当两个孩子吃晚饭之后就去洗澡了，浴室紧挨着厨房。当Pho走进屋子里的时候就看见妻子和前夫坐在一起吃饭，因此就使用霰弹枪射击坎亚先生，当坎亚倒下之后继续用枪对付Praewphan，直到两人在孩子面前气绝身亡。在警察到达之前，Pho已经畏罪潜逃。

  2022年10月20日

• 随着曼谷PM2.5粉尘水平以惊人的速度上升，曼谷市政府 (BMA) 高度警惕采取措施遏制空气污染。BMA发言人Ekwaranyu表示，曼谷空气质量中心显示，截至周三早上，每日平均水平已升至每立方米41微克。根据 IQAir 排名，曼谷成为该指标在全国污染最严重的城市中排名第 11 位。
  Ekwaranyu表示，BMA 和各个机构已经制定了一项粉尘控制计划，以减轻明年曼谷高风险地区的不健康雾霾。
  “曼谷每年冬天都会面临空气质量不安全的问题，这会影响人们的健康，尤其是未成年人和老年人，因此，在包括自然资源与环境部、泰国国家研究委员会和泰国卫生组织在内的多个机构的共同努力下，制定最新的粉尘控制计划，我们将解决 PM2.5 污染的根本问题。”
  这些策略包括启动“灰尘侦探”来研究污染的原因，加上PM2.5跟踪系统、更好的交通管理和教育活动，例如在每所学校开展的“除尘器教室”项目，该项目将于10月28日。BMA 还计划通过将污染数据与BMA交通应用程序连接起来，开发一个实时粉尘预报系统，以最大限度地提高BMA的雾霾预报能力。
  在2021年的一份报告中，曼谷的雾霾水平在全国排名第42位。

  2022年10月20日