Every human being has the right to a peaceful life and to freedom. Unfortunately, these two rights are becoming something extremely difficult to obtain for Rohingya people in Myanmar. After session 17 of the SEA Talks where the history and background of the Rohingya crisis was discussed, CESASS UGM organised a new discussion on the issue through the SEA Talks 18 : “Rohingya: International Human Rights Law Perspective” .

Eko Riyadi, M.H. from the Center for Human Rights Studies of Islam University of Indonesia (UII), and Muhadi Sugiono, M.A and researcher for CESASS UGM, were invited to join the SEA Talks discussion as speakers. The cooperation between the Center for Human Rights Studies of UII and CESASS UGM represents a positive sign of active participation from the two institutions that both focus their work on academic studies regarding Human Rights in Southeast Asia. read more

As a response to the influence of modernization and the numerous agrarian conflicts that are affecting indigenous people in Indonesia, more and more villages are conducting community-based activities, one of those is Mollo village in East Nusa Tenggara. On 20th-23rd September 2017 the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) of Gadjah Mada University had the opportunity to host representatives from six villages (Ajaobaki, Fatukoto, Fatumnasi, Lelobatan, Nefokoko and Tune) that have joined to form the Apanola Atolan Pah Mollo (AAPM) or Pelestari Adat Mollo. The village representatives are conducting a comparative study in villages in Yogyakarta Region, among others, in Nglanggeran, Gunung Kidul District , Dlingo in Bantul District as well as in Pulesari Sleman District. read more

Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies hosted a guest presence from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University, Thailand on Monday (10/07/2017). The meeting was held to discuss the cooperation agenda between CESASS and Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University. This visit also further strengthened the relationship between CESASS and Thammast University which has been collaborating in various programs such as SEA-GATE and Visiting Program.

The visit was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Associate Professor Dumrong Adunyarittigun and Associate Professor Penpimol Premaswad as Associate Dean of Administrative Affairs, Jiraporn Phornprapha as Associate Dean for International Affairs, Assistance Professor Adisorn Muakpimai as Head of Department of History, Philosophy, and English Language and Literature, Torpong Jamtawee as Director of Southeast Asian Studies Program, Natthaphon Tripornchaisak as Director of ASEAN-China Program, Hamam Supriyadi as Lecturer of Indonesian Studies Wannee Khumbumrung as Secretary of Faculty of Liberal Arts, and Orawan Changklungmoh as International Affairs Officer. read more

Myanmar is an Indochina country formerly known as Burma. It has experienced a very long civil war turmoil. Since its independence in 1948, Burma has often faced ethnic conflict that has been criticized by other nations. Aung San Suu Kyi, a statesman who won the Nobel peace prize in 1991, was not considered serious in dealing with the prolonged conflict in his country.

In response to the Rohingya conflict that is currently the world’s attention, and Indonesia, SEA Talks # 17 this time invited Dr. Budiawan, a lecturer in Study Program of Culture and Media of UGM Graduate School as a speaker. The topic presented was “The Rohingya Crisis and the Nationalist-Religious Problems” beginning with the historical tracking of Rohingyas to the assumptions that drive genocide crimes against Rohingyas and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar. This discussion was opened with the exposure of opinion from several Indonesian figures and institutions who asserted that the Rohingya crisis is not only a religious conflict but multidimensional. To quote Dr. Budiawan, “Rohingya crisis is not a religious conflict in the sense of being a conflict let alone solely because of religious differences, but the Rohingya crisis can not be separated from the issue of religious and ethnic differences between ethnic Burmese (Buddhist) and ethnic Rohingya (Muslim). read more

Climate change is a disaster that does not entirely come from nature. Humans also contribute to accelerate this situation with unfriendly behavior with the environment, such as cutting down trees, wasting water, using plastic waste in large numbers. Indonesia contributes 9 million tons / year of plastic waste from that amount, 3.6 million tons of waste ends at sea. This situation makes Indonesia a country that contribute the largest plastic waste in Southeast Asia.

Encountering the ecological problems that await human beings, Prof. Judith Schlehe (Freiburg University, Germany) and a team of researchers from the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies(CESASS) UGM conducted a study highlighting waste as an environmental disaster created by humans. Together Dr.phil.Vissia Ita Yulianto, one of CESASS researchers, Prof. Judith Schlehe presented their research results in the cities of Yogyakarta, Bantul, Gunungkidul, and along the coast in the South Sea of Java. This research is part of Ecological Communications research in Northeast Asia Disaster Management in the World Class Professor (WCP) program. read more

Joy was radiated from Khoo Yi Feng’s face while visiting the headquarter of Centre for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) UGM (20/09/2017). The National University of Singapore (NUS) alumni felt like returning to “home” after he attended SEA Gate program organized by CESASS in 2015. This time of SEA-Chat, CESASS invited Yi Feng to share with students who want to know about Singapore with the theme “How Is Singapore?”. Yi Feng is the initiator of SEA-Chat program so it’s no wonder if he was very happy to know that his program still continues. read more

According to data from the annual Reporters Without Borders [1] report on the ranking of press freedom in the world, for the Southeast Asia region, Indonesia ranked top, namely 124th, followed by the Philippines in 127th position. The next ranking is occupied by Myanmar which was previously ruled by the military but is now led by the former opposition party, ranked 131. Next is Cambodia, which is controlled by Prime Minister Hun Sen, ranked 132. Thailand is ranked 142, followed by Malaysia in the order 144th, Singapore ranked 151th, and Brunei was 156th. The two Southeast Asian countries in the lowest position are Laos (170) and Vietnam (175) classified as media black spots. read more

The discussion on the 411 and 212 rallies in Indonesia never ends. Both the pros and cons continue to emerge. By sticking to their arguments and understandings, they continue to multiply mass and followers. In SEA-Talks # 16 organized by Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) UGM on (30/08), action 212 was discussed by Dr.Abdul Gaffar Karim, lecturer of Political and Governmental Department, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM in a discussion entitled ” Radicalism and Unattended Communities “. read more

Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) UGM successfully held the SEA Chat program in CESASS Library (28/08). Interestingly, this event was especially attended by students and teachers of SMP Tumbuh, Yogyakarta. SMP Tumbuh is the first high school that is famous for carrying inclusivity in its learning process. The inclusive junior is intended to receive all kinds of diversity from religion, belief, ethnicity, economic background, to mental ability.

The event that lasted from 13:00 to 15:00 pm began with a speech from Dr.phil.Vissia Ita Yulianto as a representative of CESASS, then it was continued with a welcome from Sri, M.A. as representative of SMP Tumbuh. The event was connected with a brief introduction about CESASS from Aditya Indra Nugraha, S.Ant. and a discussion entitled ” Knowing Southeast Asia and its Dynamics” with Gharin Putra Yanotama, S.IP. as moderator. read more

The problem of prostitution is endless. In addition to the many opposing parties, there are still a handful of supporters. Although considered immoral by most people, but the sex industry is still surviving until now around the world. No matter how intense the government declares illegal, it is not easy to make prostitution vanish from a country because there is always a need. In Southeast Asia, Thailand is famous for its sex tourism. Boonchutima (2009) stated that the government of the White Elephant has been trying to change the image by promoting other tourisms such as cultural tourism. But unfortunately, a thick Thai image of sex tourism has not changed. read more