Southeast Asian lives: Personal narratives and historical experience, edited by Roxanna Waterson. (Review) National University of Singapore Press, Singapore, 2007, 317pp., index (original) (raw)

Who Owns a Life History? Scholars and Family Members in Dialogue

The recent crisis of representation in ethnographic writing has problematised many of the ethical assumptions which surround the life history method: On what basis can western scholars accurately “give voice” to people from another culture? Life histories are no longer seen as simple documents which can be “collected”, recorded and translated, but as complex, dialogically created narratives, in which the ethnographer’s own questions, interests and expectations construct a series of topics which the subject is called upon to address. Recent critical life histories (Behar 1993; Frank 2000) have developed the notion of the “biography in the shadow”, a term coined by Frank to designate the subtle, often unconfessed attractions that draw each ethnographer to his or her prime informants. This paper examines a new level of these problems. It looks at different claims to “own” a life history — in this case, claims put forward about the life of a prominent man who played an important role in the period of contact and colonial conquest on the Eastern Indonesian island of Sumba. Although his father was beheaded when he was a young boy and he himself was sold as a slave, Yoseph Malo rose to take heads himself, and become both a traditional clan leader and the first Dutch-appointed Raja of Rara. He was the first convert to the Catholic Church on the island, and in 1960, after he retired and Indonesia achieved its independence, one of his last acts was to request a Catholic wedding to the last of his eight wives.

In Search of Happiness in a Malay Hero's Life

2014

This paper discusses the value of the happiness enjoyed by a Malay hero, Hang Tuah, the famous 15 th century warrior of the Melaka Empire. As a Malay hero, Hang Tuah was admired for his wisdom, prowess and strength. He was the epitome of the ideal Malay to his people, especially in his undivided devotion to the King of Melaka. His heroism and greatness as the Admiral of Melaka was evident when he was able to promote the reputation of Melaka, making it famous throughout the world. However, towards the end of his life, he was willing to forgo his fame as the Admiral of Melaka and abandon the king, to whom he owed his loyalty, in pursuit of his dream of genuine happiness in knowing and loving his Creator. Hang Tuah’s action had a very great impact on the king of Melaka, until he also stepped down from the throne to follow after the action of Hang Tuah. It can be said that the absence of Hang Tuah to lead the attack against the Portuguese invasion in 1511 was the cause of the immense de...