Research in Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore

This very brief overview will show how very recent the concept of Southeast Asian Studies in the region is. At the same time however, we must realize that there is perhaps a rather basic difference between the development of such regional studies in the United States and in Southeast Asia itself. To Americans and other outsiders, 'Southeast Asian Studies' are a clearly recognizable field, in terms of geography if nothing else. Indeed, when the concept was being developed in America shortly after World War II, the entire region was actually a terra incognita, all parts of it - with the only partial exception of the Philippines - almost equally unknown academically, and therefore earmarked for careful, preferably inter-disciplinary study. Even then, the various parts of the region admittedly, did not necessarily receive identical emphasis and study.