UBD Lecturers To Hold Public Talks On 9/11 Borneo
By Azrol Azmi

Bandar Seri Begawan – Two lecturers from the Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) will be holding public lectures tomorrow at G.43 of FASS building at 2 pm.

The lecture on "Radical Trends in Post-9/11", delivered by associate professor Dr Iik Arifin Mansurnoor, will showcase radicalism in Southeast Asia, which has been noted throughout modem history. Among Muslims, the early manifestation of radicalism was associated with the resistance movement against the European powers in the region.

Concomitant with the intensification of the European penetration since the 19th century, resistance movement (jihadism) found a new meaning among Muslims in Southeast Asia as a number of Muslim leaders led rebellions against the colonial authorities.

After the Pacific War, radicalism emerged in two major cascades: opposition to the un-Islamic state and secessionist movement. They manifested in the Darul Islam movement in the 1950s Indonesia and Islamic movements in the Philippines and Thailand.

The 9/11 proved that Southeast Asia has been an active node in the proliferation of radical movement among segments of Muslims worldwide, particularly al-Qaeda.

Local and domestic crises in the late 1990s have added to the flame of radicalism as new opportunities paved way for recruitment and campaign. Under the international monitoring and continuing campaigns against the use of terror, major radical networks in the region have been severely weakened and infiltrated.

Dr lik Arifin Mansurnoor will examine the strategies used by the new groups and how they justified their radical actions. Examples and illustrations will be taken from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Meanwhile, "The Description of Boni (Borneo) in the Taiping Huanuj i", delivered by Dr Johannes Kurz, will showcase the Taiping Huanyuji being the first record of Boni that describes a place in Southeast Asia, namely Borneo.

In the lecture, Dr Kurz will deal with the entry on Boni, focusing on the information it provides, and the impression it made on later Chinese works dealing with the history of Southeast Asia.

Admission to the lectures is free and is open to the public.

For further information, contact facilitators at 246 3001 (ext 1470/1468/1396). -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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