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© 2002 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore Acknowledgements I wish to thank Professor Wang Gungwu of the National University of Singapore for inviting me to participate in the project on “History of NationBuilding in Southeast Asia” and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore for funding the project and my research fellowship at ISEAS. The numerous discussions and conversations that I held with Professor Wang and the other five research fellows in the project — Charnvit Kasetsiri of Thailand, Reynaldo Ileto of the Philippines, Taufik Abdullah of Indonesia and Edwin Lee of Singapore — contributed in no small way in the formulation of ideas and the shaping of the monograph in its present form. The first drafts were written in 1998 and 1999 and presented in contributors’ seminars. The discussions served to bring about a common awareness of some identical developments in nation-building of the first five ASEAN nations and the deep problems of our subject. Others at ISEAS who shared their ideas on the subject of nation-building were Lee Hock Guan, Leo Suryadinata, Lai Ah Eng, Christopher Wee W.-L., Patricia Lim Pui Huen and John Funston. Thanks also go to the ISEAS library staff under Ms Ch’ng Kim See, to the secretariat under Mrs Y.L. Lee and to the Managing Editor, Mrs Triena Ong. Cheah Boon Kheng Penang 28 March 2002 ix ...

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