East-West Cu1ture1Ii
UNiCATiJiQwest Center L Honolulu, Hawaii
East!
4
October 1979
Volume 6 Number 1
DRAMA FOR DEVELOPMENT:Sundanese Wayang Golek Purwa, an Indonesian Case Study
By Kathy Foley
if the mimetic and dulcet
poetry can show any reason forher existence in awell-governedstate, we would gladly admit her,since we ourselves are veryconscious of her spell.
-Plato, The Republic, X
The ancient quarrel between
philosophy and poetry caused
Plato to ban the arts, which feed
the passions, from his republic,but current use of the
performing arts in transmitting
development messages might
persuade even Plato that the arts
are more-than justified in the
well-governed state. Non-formal
education programs utilizing folk
media, especially dramatic forms,
have served as effective modes of
raising consciousness on family
planning, health care, and
economic development in a
number of countries. In India in
1971 the Directorate of Publicityin Bombay employed forty
The East-West Culture LearningInstitute Report, formerly The Culture
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entertainment troupesperforming over the year to one
million viewers in four hundred
villages to incorporate health and
development messages in their
shows.'
In Ecuador the non-formal
education project undertaken bythe government in collaboration
with the University of
Massachusetts in the early 1970's
used puppets and socio-drama
along with a variety of games to
motivate people to developmathematical, social, and readingskills.2 In Indonesia, traditional
puppet and dance forms have
been used increasingly in recent
years by the government to
promote its development
program. In West Java wayanggolek purwa, a wooden rod puppetform, has been extensively used
for this purpose.
Current interest in the use of
traditional entertainment forms
to receive future issues, please writeto
William Feltz, EditorEWCLI ReportEast-West Culture Learning InstituteEast-West CenterHonolulu, Hawaii 96848 USA
as vehicles of non-formaleducation has prompted a
number of conferences on this
topic. In 1972 a UNESCO/IPPF
conference was held in London
to draw up guidelines for usingtraditional media in publicizing
family planning using the logicthat, "No communication strategywould be complete unless it
included the traditional media,"
since, "they have always served toentertain, educate, to reinforce
existing ideas or ideologies or to
change existing values and
attitudes."' As a result of this
conference a meeting was held in
New Delhi in 1974 in which eightIndian folk forms were used to
present family planning messagesas a kind of case study. Projectsin the Philippines, Mexico, and
other countries have followed
directions indicated by these
conferences.
Using the wayang golek
purwa of Sunda, the
mountainous region of West Java,Indonesia, I would like to
undertake a case study of the use
of this traditional form to present
development messages. Althoughthe case is specific, it has
importance both in its own rightand as a general model of powers
(Continued on page 2)
DRAMAFOR DEVELOPMENT...(From page 1)and pitfalls of the use oftraditional media by modern
governments.
The Form and Its Context
The wayang golek purwauses wooden rod puppets in anall night performance which takes
place outside on a raised stage. A
single storyteller, called a dalang,
manipulates the puppets, speaksall their voices, gives narration,
and sings mood songs to tellstories of characters found in the
Indian epics, The Mahabhrataand Ramayana. Musical
background and interludes are
provided by the gamelan orchestraof bronze percussive instrumentsand one or more female singers.Although stories presupposeevents that are described in the
epics, most performances dealwith events that are nevermentioned in the standardliterary versions. To make an
analogy to western theatre,
imagine plays about Hamlet
showing him as a child or in hisstudent days in Wittenburg, but
always aware of the destiny thatawaits him.
Wayang golek normally take
place in connection with selamatan
(ritual feasts) held for weddings,circumcisions, exorcisms, and
occasionally, are performed forforty day ceremonies for anewborn child or bersih desa, aritual "cleaning of the village." Itis the most popularentertainment form of the
twenty-two million Sundanesewho live in the western part ofJava, an island the size of NewYork State; the populationdensity of 1,600 per square milemakes Java the most highlypopulated large area on earth.4This density, coupled with one ofthe world's lowest gross domestic
products, has prompted thecurrent government to opt for
family planning and developmentprograms. Although there is a
high degree of self-sufficiency in
the villages, Java in particularand Indonesia in general cannot
produce enough rice to feed the
population, and to the villagerrice is synonymous with life itself.
Mass media are reaching anever growing, but still limitedaudience. In 1975 the averagecinema attendance in Indonesiawas about one per year per 1000inhabitants; there were
thirty-seven radios and twotelevisions for each 1000 people.'Outside the cities, electricity is
generally available only certainhours of the day in those villagesthat possess a generator and thislimits transmission of mass mediato those areas. It is little wonderthat there has been a continuallygrowing effort by the
government to use wayang toreach rural audiences andindicators point to an increase.The government has recentlyexpanded efforts to incorporateall dalang into national artistic
organizations, and in 1978 amultimillion dollar contract was
signed by PENMAS, theIndonesian directorate ofeducation for the people, withthe Center for InternationalEducation at the University ofMassachusetts for technicalassistance to a non-formaleducation project that would
employ traditional media,
presumably, including wayang, to
implement its program.
Legitimacy
There are critics who protestthe use of art to carrydevelopment messages for variedreasons. Some point out that the
major appeal of the art form isemotional while the argument for
development is largely a rationalone. Others point out that the
message becomes contaminated
by other, traditional conceptspresented in the performance.Still others protest the violationof art by its use for politicalpurposes. Each of these protestsbear some validity in the case ofthe wayang golek purwa.
Indeed wayang moves the
viewer through emotion. One ofthe earliest records of theexistence of wayang from ArjunaWiwaha composed between1035-1049 attests to this: "Thereare people who weep, are sadand aroused watching the
puppets, though they know theyare merely carved pieces ofleather manipulated and made to
speak. These people are like menwho, thirsting for sensuous
pleasures, live in a world ofillusion; they do not realize the
magic hallucinations they see arenot real."' Still, no developmentprogram is going to argue withsuccess. When wayang mentions
family planning, for example, it isat least one more reinforcementof a concept: as awareness grows,acceptance, and, eventually,practice become more possible.
The fear that traditionalfeatures of the form may work
against the development messageseems more germane, for wayangdoes contain many elements thatwould seem to contradict the
message: In the case of familyplanning, for instance, people inmy village would often use the
newly-learned English term
"playboy" to type Arjuna, theheroic Pandawa brother from theMahabharata cycle who appearsin many of the plays that are
performed. The number of his
marriages and, hence, mandatoryoffspring is almost beyondreckoning. What is more the
image of the female presented inalmost all performances is of a
passive creature who is
kidnapped or jousted over. She is
given in marriage to the herothat merits her, but is rarely anactive participant in her fate.
But, although such featuresare ingrained in the mythos and
ur-patterns of wayangperformances, creative and valid
ways have been found to endorse
development messages. Of the
forty-seven major dalang that Iinterviewed formally and the
many others with whom Iconversed informally during myfourteen months of field study inWest Java, all claimed that they
2 East-West Culture Learning Institute Report
have included developmentmessages in their performances.They most frequently cited
examples of ways to incorporatefamily planning messages. Manydalang would use the contrast of100 unruly Kurawa, born of onemother, and five peace-lovingPandawa brothers, born of twomothers, as an argument forsmall families. In Sunda it is
usually the need and greed of theformer clan that cause thetroubles that lie at the base of theMahabharata cycle stories.
All the dalang claimed that
they used the pawongan, theclown-servants of the Pandawa, to
slip in development themes, sinceit was these characters who couldbe able spokesmen of
development without violatingthe form. The argument is
justified. Arjuna and his brothersare aristocrats who can only talkof the mythic events that make
up the story. Any reference tothe present would be considereda violation of the form. But the
pawongan Semar and his sons arecommoners whose life and lot aremuch closer to the reality of theaudience. By tradition, they canrefer to current events and talkof or even to a member of theaudience without violating theform. When the father, Semar,
complains that schools are builtbut there are no funds formaintenance, when his son,
Astrajingga, says he is too stupidto undertake a mission becausehe never went to school, or whenanother son, Dawala, chides hisbrother for wanting to run off to"make his fortune in the city"instead of dealing with the
problems of their village, theaudience identifies and knowsthat it is modern times ratherthan mythic times to which the
pawongan refer.What is more, though these
characters are clowns, and muchof their talk is buffoonery, theyhave a special twist. Semar, thefather, is actually the olderbrother of the high god whorules the universe. The audienceknows despite all his clowning
InJulyandAugust, 1979, one ofHawaii teatiiigartists, JuiietteMay Fraser, washonor-nan exitAit
ofher works spanningseventyyears. Fraser received the Hawaii State Order ofDistinctionfor Cultural
Leadership in 1978, andasuperb portrait of the artist by William F. Draper willhang in the Culture
Learning Institute lobby. Pictured above, the artist points outpreliminary drawings offrescoes preparedforachurch in Greece to Hawaii's Lt. GovernorJean King. Institute Director VernerBickley is atfar
right.
around, what Semar says is
actually more meaningful thanthe dialogue of most of the othercharacters combined. Therefore,the most usual way that a dalanginserts a development message isin a speech of Semar. In
performances I have seen, this is
usually at Semar's first
appearance. As the musicalinstruments clang, Semar popsup and delivers a speech duringwhich he congratulates the familythat is having the feast. He then
goes on to express the personalfeelings of the dalang onwhatever topic he chooses todiscuss. On a number ofoccasions, dalang chose to speakof development.
Also I found developmentmessages included in the lyrics ofthe sinden, the female singer.Most singers had in their
songbooks two songs that havebeen issued to them bygovernment offices, and which
they said they used to sing. Onewas on reforestation and one on
family planning. A literaltranslation of a portion of thelatter runs as follows:
Let's go register for familyplanning
and seek our aimsfor a happy home
Even if the wayang containsmuch that contradicts the
development message, it doeshave enough flexibility to
effectively transmit messages to
justify its use.Still the question of violation
of the art must be confronted.The concepts of art for art's sakeor art for entertainment's sakeare fairly rare in the annals of
history. Drama has long madeherself the handmaiden ofvarious interests, especiallyreligion (medieval mystery plays,Indian bhakti performances), orideals of a particular class orpolitical power (no -the Samuraiclass, kabuki -the Tokugawagovernment).
From a functional orhistorical perspective the wayanggolek of Sunda has never been a
"pure" art. It has always beenconnected with religion andfurthered the interests of thecurrent political elite, be itHinduized kings, Muslim saintsor Central Javanese princes. The
wayang is used to performreligious exorcisms, and almost
always takes place in connectionwith a religious ceremony for arite of passage. What is more,
though the stories deal with
(Continued on page 4)
DRAMAFOR DEVELOPMENT...(From page 3)characters from the Hindu
pantheon, any Sundanese dalangwill swear that wayang wascreated by the wali, the Muslimleaders who proselytized Java, toteach Islamic religion. Dalang inSunda believe the first wayangwere performed in the mosque.To enter the performance, aviewer had to swear to his beliefin Allah and the Prophet.Certainly the Hindu stories wererevised to fit Muslim ethics afterthe introduction of Islam.Moreover, in an elaborate
attempt to reconcile thecontradictions implied in the
conflicting Hindu-Javanese andMuslim world views, wayang hasevolved a geneology that makesthe Javanese kings thedescendants of the wayang gods,but all ultimately descended fromAdam who was created by Allah,
thereby endorsing the Hindutradition, the Muslim religion andthe Javanese kings all at the sametime.
Wayang has always beenused to validate religious and
political ideas. To expect it to
support the present political andsocial program is not unnatural.
Recent history
The use of the wayang for
governmental purposes has
expanded since Indonesian
Independence. Dalang were first
openly recruited to support a
political stance by the Japaneseoccupation forces. But it waswhen the revolution began in1945 that they took to this newrole with enthusiasm and usedtheir art on the fronts to stir upthe patriotism of the troops.After Independence dalang werecalled upon by the Sukarno
government to continue theirmission as "information officers"and support his politicalmanifestoes.
The first "upgradings,"meetings of dalang called by the
government to inform them and
gain their support in advertisinggovernment programs, seem tohave begun about 1962 in Sunda.
Shortly afterward, in 1964, thefirst conference of the newlyorganized Sundanese dalangorganization was held. The
president of the organization,who worked for the governmentcontrolled radio station, calledSukarno the "great dalang" and
pledged the organization to helpthe government in nation
building.' In the period prior to1965, many dalang were affiliatedwith art wings of the various
political parties that then existed.When political disturbancesoccurred in 1965, manyperformers who were supportersor suspected sympathizers withthe previously legal communist
party (PKI) were arrested and
imprisoned. Since then, the
government has required allartists to register with the
Department of Education andCulture. Dalang are obliged toobtain travel permits to go to
performances they have beenhired for and the person who hashired them must obtain a specialpermit to hold the performance.
The use of wayang golek to
support specific governmentdevelopment programs seems
fairly recent. In the case of the
family planning, which has beenthe most active program in
enlisting the support of the
dalang for relatively non-politicalpurposes, the major push wasfrom 1974-1976. During this
period a series of up-gradings for
dalang as well as artists fromother genres were held at the
provincial and regency level byBKKBN, the Indonesian
government office in charge of
family planning. In 1975 the cityof Bandung, the capital of West
Java, had a week of performancesthat focused on family planning,using many different traditionalforms. In 1972 and again in 1976films were made by the BKKBNthat used wayang golek totransmit a family planningmessage.
In the past few years efforts
by such individual programs asBKKBN have subsided, butgovernment influence persists.The up-gradings continue on a
regular basis, but those Iattended seemed moreconcentrated on the level of theart, with a mandatory call to
generally support the
government programs, than on
giving performers specificinformation on any program thatthey could pass on to theiraudiences. The most noticeablerecent development is theincrease of government founded
organizations for artists, whichare, in theory, non-political.PEPADI, the Union of Dalangsof Indonesia, is one such
organization, and only last yearthe government started BKKNI(The National Organization for
Co-ordinating the Arts ofIndonesia) which includes allIndonesian artists in its ranks.
Although these organizationshave use and value to the dalangand other artists by improvingmaterials for education of artists,and creating a group awarenessthat may result in unity of artistson issues of mutual concern,control often lies withgovernment arts administratorsrather than with the artiststhemselves. Such organizationsare increasing pressure on the
dalang to preserve the politicalstatus quo. February 19-24, 1977the government held a meetingfor forty-six major dalang fromall over Indonesia with thetheme: "The participation of
dalang in promoting the
well-being of the country andstrengthening the leadership ofthe New Order in the
development of the nation."
Impact
The reason that the
government is anxious to keepdalang helping to publicize its
program is that dalang areindeed heeded by the rural
population. Wayang fulfills mostof the requirements that haveshown to make a form a useful
4 East-West Culture Learning Institute Report
tool to transmit a developmentmessage. The audience is familiarwith it and accustomed to its usefor development purposes; theeducational messages that areincluded by dalang are generallysimple and well emphasized;other media such as radio andTV reinforce the messages; and,at least in areas that border thecities, the government services
promoted by the wayang areavailable.' Added to this is the
authority that the dalang himself
gives to the message. He comesfrom and speaks to his people.The older dalang isoftenconsidered religiously powerfuland frequently called upon tobless holy water that is variouslyused for healing sickness, helpingend martial problems, or gettinga promotion. A major dalang isone of the richest and mosthonored members of hiscommunity. Top dalang make
$200 to $400 a night and
perform on the average twentynights a month. They earn farmore than most educated citypeople could ever dream of,much less the average rural
person. What is more, the dalang
conceives of himself as in thetradition of the Muslim saintsand believes it is his duty to giveinformation that will benefit the
community he serves. When he isconvinced of a program, hetakes the initiative in carryingthe message to the people. The
family planning program in West
Java, for example, had taken
virtually no action since 1976 to
encourage dalang to include
messages in their performances,yet in 1978 this was the
government program that wasmost frequently and positivelymentioned in wayang golekperformances that I saw. It mustbe noted, too, that virtually noneof these dalang were receivingany form of payment for theirefforts.
Wayang has been an effectiveaid to the development programand can undoubtedly be even-more effective, as problems thatbeset programs are eliminated bygovernment vigilance, andservices become more available inrural areas. Even greater impactmight result if a system of
communicating detailedinformation about the particulars
of each program wereestablished. This might givedalang greater conviction in theprograms and, through greaterknowledge, better mastery inpresenting the material to theiraudience.
Communication should be
encouraged both ways. Criticismof what is wrong with the worldhas always been a function ofwayang, as of theatre forms inmany cultures. Wayang makes apositive contribution togovernment programs bypointing out their weaknesses aswell as giving information aboutthem. This aspect of wayangshould be safeguarded, anddalang should be encouraged toexpress their opinions, foralthough they have been given amandate by the government,their original mandate is fromthe people, whose best interests
they, like the government,ultimately must serve.
Footnotes
'Tevia Abrams, "Folk Theatre in
(Continued on page 6)
Twenty educators .,net w Lea-1-9 in Wary, .,.a - -, ,es,
'S 0~
thedevelopmentofattitudes, skills, andknowledge necessaryfor effective cross-culturalinteractions. Coordinatedby research associate Kathleen Wilson, the workshop
addressed the needs and interests of institutions whichprovide cross-cultural instructionalprogramsforpersonsfrom differentcountries. Picturedabove:Front Row
(left to right): Robin Richardson, WarwickJohnson, Doug Porter, Koji Kato, Gerald Aitken, G. Trifonovitch, Eric Casino. SecondRow:Kenneth Robinson, Betty
Fish, LawrenceFish, Mike Hamnett, R.T. Mahuta, V. C. Bickley, Norman Dinges, Kathy Wilson, Anuiijit Singh, Isao Sasaki,PaulPederson,JzroNagai, Kentaro
Kihara. BackRow:HowardNixon, Malcolm Skilbeck, Norm Geshwind, Stephen Kemmis, Ted Rodgers, Michael Sullivan, John Brownell, Frank Pottenger,John
Agard, TedWard.
East-West Culture Learning Institute Report 5
DRAMAFOR DEVELOPMENT...(From page 5)
Maharashtrian Social Development," Edu-cational TheatreJournal 27, 3 (1975): 398.'Information on the project is available in
James Hoxeng.LetJorge Do It: An Approachto Rural Non-Formal Education (Amherst:Center for International Education, Uni-
versity of Massachusetts, 1973) and "Non-
Formal Education in Ecuador," TechnicalNotes 1-13 and Non-Formal Education in
Ecuador, 1971-1975 both from the Center
for International Education.3IPPFand UNESCO, "Experts Meeting on
the Integrated Useof Folk Media in Family
Planning Communication Programmes,"London, 20-24 November 1972 (Paris:UNESCO, 1972), 2.1.1.1."'Indonesia," Countries ofthe World and their
Leaders, third edition (Detroit: Gale Re-
search Company, 1977). p. 512.'Statistical Yearbook 1977, 29th edition (NewYork:United Nations, 1978), pp. 938, 944.'As quoted inJamesBrandon, On ThronesofGold: Three Javanese Shadow Plays (Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Univer-
sity, 1970), p. 3.
7Buku Pangeling-ngeling SeminarPadalangan,28-29 February 1964 (Badung: Yayasan
Padalangan Java Barat, 1964), p. 10.8Panitia Penyelengara Saresehan DalangSeluruh Indonesia, "Laporan Hasil-HasilSaresehan Dalang Seluruh IndonesiaTahun 1977," Pandaan, East Java 19-24
February 1977, p. 17.'These are the criteria that have been pre-sent in programs using entertainmentmediathat have proved effective accordingto Nancy Radtke, "NFE and Entertain-ment," The NFE Exchange 12, 2 (1978), 3.
References
Abrams, Tevia. "Folk Theatre inMaharashtrian Social Development Pro-
grams," Educational Theatre Journal, Vol-ume 27, No. 3, October 1975.
Convergence, Volume 1, No. 2, 1977. Specialissue on Folk Culture and Development
guest edited by Nat Colletta.
Hoxeng,James. LetJorge Do It: An Approachto Rural Non-Formal Education. Amherst:Center for International Education,School of Education, University of Mas-sachusetts, 1973.
IPPF and UNESCO. "Experts Meeting onthe Integrated Use of Folk Media and
Mass Media in Family Planning Com-
munication Programmes," London 20-24November 1972. Paris: UNESCO.
Nemenzo, GemmaandAlice Coseterig. FolkMedia in the Philippines, monograph seriesno. 6. Quezon City, Philippines: Popula-tion Communication Project, 1975.
"Using Folk Media to Expand Communica-
tion," Information, Education, Communica-tion in Population Newsletter, No.20, Hono-
lulu: East-West Center Communication
Institute, 1975.The NEE Exchange, No. 12, 2, 1978. Special
issue on Non-formal Education and En-tertainment. East Lansing: Institute for
International Studies in Education,
Michigan State University.
CLI research staff growsTwo scholars joined research
teams in the Culture LearningInstitute late in 1978.
Dr. Kathleen Wilson, a
specialist in curriculum andinstruction has played a
significant role in the shaping ofthe new project entitled,
"Problems in International
Cooperation," of which she is
coordinator.Dr. Wilson was vice president
of programs and publications of
the International Girls Club and
Camp Program, 1970-75. Sheserved as administrative assistantto the Indonesia Project of the
Institute for International Studies
at Michigan State University and
was an instructor in education.She was also acting director of
Educational Design Associates.Dr. Wilson earned a PhD in
curriculum and instruction from
Michigan State University in1978.
Dr. R. P. Anand hasjoinedthe project, "Cultural Problems in
Treaty Negotiation," and will
work closely with researchassociates Dr. Choon Ho Parkand Dr. John Walsh as well as a
team of research fellows andother CLI participants.
A scholar of internationallaw, Dr. Anand earned a JSDdegree from Yale University in1964. Prior to joining the
East-West Center, he was
professor of international law andhead of the international legalstudies division of the School ofInternational Studies at the
Jawaharlal Nehru University in
New Delhi. Anand has received
fellowships and awards for
academic excellence in legalstudies. His publications include
eight books as well as numerousarticles on international law.
Flow many more of us canthe earth hold and sustain? Canwe consume our resources at
present rates, take care of thewastes, and maintain a viableenvironment? When culturesencounter each other throughgovernments, corporations, andinternational organizations, willwe benefit or suffer? Can wecommunicate better to getanswers to these questions? 'Whatcan he done to mobilize human
energy and intelligence to solvehuman problems?
At the East-West Center we
bring together people from Asia,
the Pacific, and the United Statesto analyze problems and searchfor alternative solutions. Here
y11 1'on Jnd scholars, national
policy planners, corporatedecision makers, arid graduatestudents. The challenge is to
work together in an atmosphereof equality, mutuality, and
respect.The East-West Center is an
axis for ideas and action, a placefor building better relations arid
understanding. Together, asworld partners, we can shape abetter future for our planet.
6 East-West Culture Learning Institute Report
ASEAN TREATIES & CULTURE LEARNING:A look at the planning of an EWCLI project
By John E. Walsh
In an earlier Culture
Learning Institute Report(January 1978) I outlined someof the thinking that led our
project team to hypothesize that
treaty negotiating and treatymaking might be richly insightfulsources of culture learning. Inthat article I stressed treaties asthe formal, official and primarymeans by which governmentsinteract with other governments.Treaties are essentiallycross-national and cross-cultural;as such they can be seen asreflecting or refracting in specificconcrete situations the thinkingand the valuing of the parties(countries) signatory to them.
Having agreed that researchinto treaty negotiating and treatymaking might well open the wayto a deeper and clearer
understanding of the culturesinvolved, the project team facedthe problem of determiningwhich kinds of treaties andindeed which actual treatieswould be most likely to serve our
purposes. Most countries are
party to a wide range of treaties,some of highest importance andsome of lesser importance. Itwould be necessary to select fromthe many thousands of treatiesnow in force throughout theworld those that seemed topromise the fullest measure ofculture learning output.
The purpose of this article isto report on how the projectteam came to select the ASEAN(Association of South East AsianNations) treaties, to indicate whatthe project's objectives are, and to
suggest briefly how we now planto proceed toward the
accomplishment of those
objectives.
Contemporary significance
The research team this yearconsists of: four graduatedegree-seeking students (onefrom Thailand, one fromVietnam, and two from theUnited States); three researchinterns (Taiwan, Philippines, andthe United States); one researchfellow (India); three permanentstaff members (Korea, India, andthe United States). As we beganour discussions about which
treaty or treaties might best lendthemselves to the kind of "culture
learning" research we had inmind, the criteria according towhich we would make ourselection began to emerge.
First, we agreed that wewanted to select a treaty ortreaties that had a high level of
contemporary significance. Wewanted, in other words, to. beconvinced within ourselves thatthe research we would do and theother activities we would engagein would be of interest to thewide thoughtful public in manydifferent countries rather thanjust to those in academic circlesor specialized office. "Who is
going to care?" or "Who is it
going to make a difference to?"were frequent questions as weconsidered such treaties as thoseon the law of the sea, on outerspace, on human rights, onborder questions, on the UnitedNations Charter, on educationalexchange, on tariff agreements,on the International Court ofjustice and the development ofinternational law, and even on
strategic arms limitation. All ofthese and others recommendedthemselves to our consideration
precisely because interest in themis so widespread. But no one of
them was sufficiently weighty toconvince the team as a whole
against the doubts and hesitanciesof this member or thosemembers.
Secondly, we wanted to selecta treaty or treaties in the makingof which cultural variables anddifferences would be prima faciepronounced. Our thinking herewas that many of the most
important treaties are on mattersof such generally recognizedimportance or are an attempt toanswer such urgent felt needsthat countries accede to themalmost as a matter course. Detailsof how these treaties are to befinanced and administered maycause serious disagreements butno one doubts that the treatiesare in essence good and
necessary. The treaties
establishing the World Health
Organization, the World FoodOrganization, or the UniversalPostal Service would be examplesof this type. Keeping in mindthat our objective was not to
study the intrinsic technical legalaspects of the treaty, nor whetherthe treaty was an equal or fair
treaty, nor what its binding forcemight be in international law butrather what is revealed about thecultural attitudes, values, ways of
thinking and world views of thesignatory countries, we did not
spend much time in discussion oftreaties of this type.
Third and more practically,in keeping with the generalorientation of the Culture
Learning Institute and theEast-West Center, we wanted toselect a treaty or treaties broad
enough in scope so that the
necessary research and relatedactivities could engage the
(Continued on page 8)
East-West Culture Learning Institute Report 7
ASEAN TREATIES...(From page 7)
interests and the expertise of aninterdisciplinary, multi-cultural,and multi-level research teamover the project's five year life
span.In the light of these three
criteria, it is not surprising thatwhen the ASEAN treaties were
brought up as a possible focus forthe project the immediatereaction of the team as a wholewas to agree that the proposaldeserved much further and moreserious consideration. The ideamet each of the three criteria
relatively fully. (1) The ASEANTREATIES are of immense
importance not only to theASEAN countries themselves butto the rest of the world as well.(2) The ASEAN treaties bringtogether in a regionalorganization five countries with
widely different languages,histories, customs, religions and
legal systems, in short, with
widely different culturalidentities. (3) The ASEANtreaties are broad and general
rather than being particularizedor special purpose treaties. Theyare therefore nicely suited to
interdisciplinary andmulti-cultural research.
The fact that all five of theASEAN countries, Philippines,Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore,and Malaysia regularly send
participants to the East-WestCenter was seen as a furtherreason for selecting the ASEANtreaties.
One point remained to beclarified, however, before theteam members could all agree on
selecting the ASEAN treaties asthe team's central focus. Somemembers expressed doubts - asdid a number other
knowledgeable people with whomwe discussed this matter - thatthe ASEAN treaties had been inexistence long enough to have, asyet, been the cause of any verydeep or widespread socio-cultural
changes. A preliminary andtherefore somewhat superficialchecking, however, favored theconclusion that many changeshave already taken place becauseof the ASEAN treaties, again
both within ASEAN itself and inthe attitudes of other countriestoward the regional organizationas a whole and to its individualmembers. Equally important,certain movements and trends havebeen set in motion and these arelikely to lead over time tosocio-cultural changes of vastproportions. The project will beconsidering the trends and thedynamics of change as well as thechanges already clearly evident.
All of these considerationspointed to the consensus finallyreached by the project team,namely, that the ASEAN treatiespresented an excellentopportunity for culture learningthrough the study of treatynegotiation and treaty makingand that a widely significant highquality research project could bedeveloped with them as thefundamental points of departure.The project would be entitled"The Socio-Cultural Impact ofthe ASEAN Treaties." The
process through which we teammembers had gone in arriving atthis decision was in itself a deep,genuine and personal form of
- -(Poetry,), "January-February, 1979.Along with staffand participants in the CLI research project, "Contact Literature in Cross-National Perspective," the poetsdiscussedthe modern poetry whichis thefruit ofa meetingofcultures, both within andamongnations. Picturedabove: FrontRow(left to right): Mohd Saleh, Donald
Long, Fasz Ahmed Faiz, E. Sarachchandra, Muhammad Moniruzaman, Karen Smith, Kazuko Shiraishi, J. C. Amirthanayagam. Back Row: Reuel De'nny,Theodore Weiss, Naomi Lazard, Ken Ann Huime, Subramani, Young-gui Lee, Alfred Yuson, Syd, C. Harrex.
8 East-West Culture Learning Institute Report
culture learning.
Project objectives
All East-West Center projectshave as their ultimate aim and
objective the creating of better
understanding and more friendlycooperative relationships amongthe peoples of Asia, the Pacific,and the United States. Within this
over-arching objective, theSocio-Cultural Impact of theASEAN Treaties Project hasthree more immediate or
proximate objectives:1. To engage in cross-
cultural collaborative or teamresearch in a process whichhas its own reality, validity and
authenticity as a form of mutualculture learning. Reference has
already been made to the
importance of this process. Themembers of the team, made upof representatives of severaldifferent cultures, learn as theygo along how members of othercultures perceive things, how theyorder their values, how theybehave, and how their sensitivitiesand emotional patterns vary and
change. Throughout the projectthe team meets once a week - oroftener as necessary - to reporton progress, to share researchresources and discoveries, toshare common problems, and to
give each other the benefit oftheir diverse cultural insights.
2. To generate and publish aseries of publications that containthe findings, conclusions and
interpretations of the research.These books will each be on a
specific subject but taken as awhole they will constitute a
thorough study of theSocio-Cultural Impact of theASEAN treaties.
While it is anticipated thatscholars will find the individualvolumes and the entire series
helpful, the books will beintended primarily for a generalreadership. As such they mightwell be used as required readingsor as references in schools,
colleges, and continuing
education programs. In a furthereffort to make sure the results ofthe research are disseminated as
widely as possible, the books inthe series will be considered as
possible basic resource materialsfor the making of documentingfilms and videotapes for use on
public television. The authorsand principal investigators willhave this possible audiovisual useof their materials in mind as theygather data, make their analyses,and write their books. Though itwill not be the controlling factor,it will help to determine how theauthors proceed in their researchand how they order and write uptheir findings.
Two further pursuits aboutthe proposed volumes should bementioned. The first is that thereis a growing interest on the partof large nations and small aroundthe world in the ASEANcountries and their imaginativeexperiment in regionalorganization. The volumes in thisseries will be written in English,although some of the principalinvestigators and authors will beAsian. The subject matter is such,however, that translations intoother languages might be highlyuseful and desirable. If thisshould prove to be the case, everyeffort will be made to make surethe books are translated and
published in various countries.The second is that its treaties
are coming to be seen as playinga greatly increased part in the lifeof every nation. Yet the
knowledge of treaties, how theyare made, how they become lawdomestic and international and,how they directly influence the
day-to-day existence of the
average person is either notavailable or is just not
appreciated and understood. Theseries on "The Socio-Cultural
Impact of the ASEAN Treaties"is also seen as a way of helping tofill the great gap most people feelbetween their knowledge oftreaties and the role and meaningof treaties in their lives. In short,it is expected that the series willdemonstrate clearly that treaties
do have an immense impact onthe social and cultural life of anyof the peoples who enter intothem.
3. A third objective of the
project, which will be
implemented however only asfunds become available, is the
creating at the Culture LearningInstitute of a DocumentationCenter on ASEAN. There are
already a number of first-rateSouth East Asian studies centersin various parts of the world. The
project seeks to develop closecollaboration with these. TheCulture Learning Institute'sDocumentation Center onASEAN would be, so far as weknow, the only such center in thePacific and its purpose would beto make these necessary researchmaterials available to scholars inthis region. This DocumentationCenter would concentrate onsuch things as official documents,
speeches, editorial commentaries,
periodical references, and basic
reports. It would include only themost authoritative books andthose that are not readilyavailable elsewhere.
As far as we have been ableto determine, the work in our
Project supplements rather than
duplicates the work being done inthe above-mentioned South EastAsian Studies centers. Our
emphasis on the socio-cultural
impact of the ASEAN treaties
appears to be a distinctivelydifferent approach.
Project plan
The planning of the project,at the time of this writing, is well
underway but is by no means
complete. In this, the concludingsection of this report, I wouldlike to mention some parts of theoverall plan on which we havenow reached general agreementand also indicate some majorareas that still need further
thinking and clarification.
(Continued on page 10)
ASEAN TREATIES...(From page 9)
We have agreed that thework of the project will bethematic rather than
country-by-country. What thismeans is that the principalinvestigators will be responsiblefor researching a given"socio-cultural impact" throughthe five countries rather than
studying the differentsocio-cultural impacts within anyone country. Five such themeshave now been selected and ourintention is to add others. Thesefive themes are themselves
subject to change or modificationas further research throws morelight on them. They are: (1) The
impact on the legal system; (2)the impact on archipelagicthinking; (3) the impact onscientific and technologicaldevelopment; (4) the impact oninternational perspectives; (5) the
impact on educational theory and
practice.The principal investigators
will be assisted in their researchand writing by members of theteam according to the teammember's interest and field of
specialization. One of the teammembers, who is expert in
quantitative analysis, will beavailable to assist all of theprincipal investigators at differenttimes. The present plan calls the
principal investigators and theircollaborators to devote about oneyear to basic research, both at theEast-West Center and inSoutheast Asia. It also calls for asimilar period of time to bedevoted to the writing of thebook or monograph on the
particular theme.
Conferences
Plans call for twoConferences of ASEAN Expertsand Principal Investigators: oneto be held in Manila in May of1980, possibly on a cost-sharedbasis with the University of the
Philippines. This conference will
be a kind of midway check ofresearch already accomplishedand the gathering of ideas aboutwhat remains to be done and howit can best be done. The other tobe held at the East-West Center,
probably in January, 1981, whichwill have at its purpose adiscussion with persons directlyinvolved in the educational
process of how the research dataand its interpretations can be castinto forms most useful toeducators.
This is generally where the
project stands in its planning atthe moment. We are still in theinitial planning stages and we are
grateful to Professor JeromeCohen of the Harvard East Asian
Legal Studies Department, whorecently spent a day inconsultation with us. A numberof things remain to be workedout in detail but I will mention
only three here:
Methodology. The researchmethods used in this project will
necessarily vary somewhat fromone to the other depending onthe particular item being studiedor explored. Yet since each of thebooks is to be part of the serieswe will want to make sure fromthe very beginning that, withintolerable limits, the books arecompatible. The generalmethodology will be socialscientific rather than that properto legal research, philosophicalresearch, or historical research.The fundamental controlling ideabehind the research is that we are
engaged in culture learning as
part of the effort to achievegreater mutual understanding. Asone of the principal investigatorsstated, "Our effort is todetermine how Asian is ASEAN?"
Although the precisemethodology is still in the processof being clarified, it is most likelythat each of the principalinvestigators will use somecombination of the more or lesswell established social scienceresearch methods and techniques:review of the primary and
secondary literature, interviews,field observation, conferences
and consultations with experts,and such field surveys andquestionnairs as may bepracticable and appropriate. Datasources, among others, willinclude the ASEAN Secretariatsthemselves, the Southeast Asianstudies centers, various agenciesof the United Nations, andboth governmental and non-governmental organizationswithin ASEAN.
One advantage of the studyis that many of the persons atvarious levels most closelyassociated with the establishmentof ASEAN are still living andmight be available for personalinterviews. Finally, the questionof methodology in individualcases will depend on whether theinvestigation is seen primarily asan attempt to measure impactsalready being felt and
experienced,or as an attempt toestablish initial bench marksagainst which trends ormovements just beginning to takeshape can be measured at a laterdate.
Cost-sharing. The project asnow designed has fairly limitedobjectives and we should be ableto achieve them with the
appropriated funds budgeted bythe East-West Culture LearningInstitute. However, ourpreliminary discussions andconsultations have evidenced ahigh degree of interest in the
project, based both on the greatimportance of ASEAN as a
regional organization and on thedistinctiveness of the project'sapproach. It might be possible tosecure funding or cost sharingfrom such sources as
philanthropic foundations,centers of East and SoutheastAsian studies, institutions ofhigher education, or governmentagencies in various countries,including the ASEAN countriesthemselves.
If outside funding or
cost-sharing should becomeavailable, the project would be
expanded in scope, not extendedin time. Items for which outsidefunding or cost sharing might be
10 East-West Culture Learning Institute Report
sought include but are notlimited to: (1) Stipends to payco-researcher for specific fieldresearch; (2) conferences orseminars of experts on each ofthe themes in the project to beheld at the East-West Center orelsewhere; (3) publicationsubsidies; (4) translation costs; (5)documentation center expenses;(6) video-taping and filmingexpenses.
Some of the cost-sharingcould be in-kind contributions for
example, the release of a certain
percentage of a professor's timeto enable him or her to work onthe project. Other funding mighttake the form of direct monetarygrants for specific purposes.
Dissemination, evaluation and
follow-up. These are essential
components of the master plan ordetailed agenda for the project towhich the team has as yet givenonly slight attention. They arementioned briefly here because
they will be questions on whichthe team will be working in themonths ahead. They will beincluded among the things wewill be discussing with the
participants in the planningseminar to which seven personsfrom Asia and the Pacific andthree from the United Stateshave been invited, March 12-23,1979.
Dissemination
In keeping with theEast-West Center's policy that thedissemination of research
findings are to be considered an
integral part of each of its
projects, our team has made theinitial decision to seek educationaloutlets for the materials it
produces. As indicated earlierthis dissemination may take theform of both audio-visual andwritten materials. Also, the samebasic research data can be
presented in different waysdepending on whether it isintended for scholarly journals orfor broader educational purposes.The project encouragespublication in scholarly journalsbut the primary output, that is,the series of books on "TheSocio-Cultural Impact of theASEAN Treaties" will be writtenfor those in senior high schools,liberal arts colleges, and
continuing education programs inthe US and for their equivalentsin other countries throughtranslations.
One idea we have been
considering is to invite aneducational consultant orcurriculum writer to work witheach of the principal investigators
at the organizational stage of hisor her research effort on the
specific themes. This would helpensure that the kinds of analysisand data gathering actuallyundertaken do not overlook or
neglect areas that would later
prove necessary to the
disseminating of results ineducational programs. Asindicated earlier, a conference foreducational specialists is definitelyplanned for the early writingstage of the project.
Every East-West Center
project team expects to beevaluated on the basis of howwell it achieves the objectives itsets for itself and on how well ithas met the East-West Centercriteria. It is not too early to startbuilding an evaluation awarenessas well as an evaluationmechanism into the verystructure of the project. We havenot done so as yet.
Evaluation of this project andother East-West Center projectstakes on special significancebecause it helps to determinewhether to follow-up the projectwith another similar to it or to
change research directions
altogether. All projects are oflimited duration: this one is duefor completion at the end of thefiscal year 1983.
THE EAST-WEST CENTER is anational educational institutionestablished in Hawaii by the U.S.
Congress in 1960 to promote betterrelations and understanding betweenthe United States and the nations ofAsia and the Pacific throughcoo=ative stony, training, aimresearch. Each. year inure than 1,500men and women from many nationsand cultures work together in
problem-oriented institutes or on
"open" grants as they seek solutionsto problems of mutual consequencetWEast and West. For each Center
participant from the United States,two participants are sought from theAsian and ?acifsc area. The U.S.
Congress provides basic funding for
programs and a variety of awards,and the Center is administered by apublic, nonprofit corporation with aninternational Board of Governors.1777 East-West Road,Honolulu, Hawaii 96848
ProfessorLee Chae-Suk of the College ofMusic, Seoul National University, and Dr. Lee ByongWonofthe University ofHawaiipresentedalecture-demonstration onKorean KayagumMusic in August, 1979,
as part of the Institute's continuing "Cultural Manifestations" series.
A special presentation of traditional Ha-
waiian music and dance was sponsored by theEast-West Culture Learning Institute on October
18, 1979. Drawing upwards of800peoplefromthe East-West Center and the Honolulu commu-
nity, theconcertfeatured theMenofWaimapuna,the Hawaiian Isles Serenaders, and the womendancers ofthe Halau o Kahanuola.
A 26-member troup visiting the centerfrom
Rarotonga, Cook Islands, joined in thefestivitiesand in Polynesian fashion, contributed to theper-formance (to the left).
12 East-West Culture Learning Institute Report