THE 12TH POK RAFEAH PUBLIC LECTURE “CONNECTING OCEANS: MALAYSIA AS A MARITIME NATION”

EMERITUS PROF. DR HANS-DIETER EVERS
6th Pok Rafeah Distinguished Chair Professor (2016-2017)

12 May 2017 (FRIDAY)
9.00 AM – 12.00 NOON
BILIK SENAT

Abstract

Malaysia’s geopolitical location connecting the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, the Nusantara inland seas and the Pacific Ocean is an important locational sustainable maritime resource, ready to be utilized more fully in political and economic terms. This lecture combines a geo-political analysis with a theory of civilization and argues that Malaysia is a maritime nation embedded in a Nusantara civilization. The role of port cities and socio-economic connectivity for ASEAN integration is highlighted in this context. We will show how different conceptions of space anchored in Nusantara and Sinic civilizations will impact on maritime policies and on the realization and success of maritime policies. In conclusion, the long-term impact of the Chinese maritime silkroad (OBOR) policy on Malaysia’s position as a maritime nation will be assessed and a new maritime policy will be advocated.

Biodata

Hans-Dieter Evers, is Emeritus University Professor of Development Planning, Senior Fellow, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn and the 6th Pok Rafeah Distinguished Chair Professor (2016-17) at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. After finishing his postgraduate education in sociology, economics and geography at the University of Freiburg, Germany, he taught sociology at the Mannheim School of Economics, Monash University, at Yale University (where he was also Director of Graduate Southeast Asia Studies), University of Singapore (Head of Department) and Bielefeld University (Dean and Director). He also served as Visiting Professor at the Singapore Management University, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universitas Gajah Mada, EHESS (Paris), University of Hawaii, as Visiting Fellow at Trinity College (Oxford), as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore and in 2012-14 as Eminent Visiting Professor, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

His current research is concerned with maritime conceptions of space, the South China Sea and knowledge governance. He has published a large number of books, refereed journal articles and book chapters. He is co-editor of Catalysts of Change: Chinese Business in Asia (World Scientific 2013); Beyond the Knowledge Trap: Developing Asia’s Knowledge-Based Economies (World Scientific 2011); Governing and Managing Knowledge in Asia (3rd revised edition, World Scientific 2014); The Straits of Malacca (Berlin: LIT 2008); Southeast Asian Urbanism: The Meaning and Power of Social Space (Singapore: ISEAS/McGrawHill 2000); and The Moral Economy of Trade (London: Routledge 1994).

Click here for the Programme Book