The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 305 

ConferencedSeminars 

Second Annual Conference of the 
“ASEAN Muslim Social Scientists’ Forum” 

Muhatram 20-23, 1409/Septemk 1-4, l988 

The Muslim Social Science Scholars’ Forum of ASEAN (Association 
of Southeast Asian Nations) held its Second Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand 
from Mubrram 20-23, 1409lSeptember 1-4, 1988, under the auspices of the 
Foundation for Democracy and Development Studies. The theme for the 
meeting was “Muslim Scholars and Social Science Research,” aimed at 
documenting, discussing and analyzing the types of scholarship or research 
that have been done about Muslims in the Southeast Asian region, particularly 
within the ASEAN countries. 

A select group of Muslim social science scholars (together with some 
Muslim politicians) from the countries within ASEAN, except Brunei, were 
invited to the “Forum.” They included: Drs. Dawan Raharjo and Nurcholis 
Majid, and Professor Moeslim (Indonesia), Drs. Surin Pitsuwan, Senee 
Madmarn and Chaiwat (Thailand), Drs. Yusof Talib and Hussain Mutalib 
(Singapore), Professors Taib Osman and Wan Hashim and Umar Farouq 
(Malaysia), and Drs. Carmen Abubakar, Madale and Mastura (Philippines). 
All participants were either presenters of papers or discussants. 

Throughout the four-day deliberations, participants discussed the types 
of studies and research that have been the focus of scholars studying Muslim 
communities in the ASEAN region. Some titles of papers included: “Muslim 
Studies in the Phillipines;” “Social Science Research in Thailand;” and “Social 
Science Research in Malaysia: the Case of Islamic Resurgence.” 

Given the “closed-door” ‘nature of the meeting (participation was by 
invitation only), there was adequate time for a more intensive, frank and 
thorough discussions of the papers. Problems and issues were aired and posed, 
and alternative options offered by participants. For every paper, there was 
a discussant; hence, the issues that came out of the papers managed to be 
seen, discussed and appreciated from a more complete and balanced 
perspective. 

By and large, the Bangkok meeting was a successful one. The 
approximately twenty participants were generally pleased with the high quality 
of papers presented and the sense of brotherhood that prevailed. The warm 
hospitality of the hosts from Thailand was also appreciated. 



306 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 

One of the resolutions of the Conference was to hold its next meeting 
in the Philippines. Professor Carmen Abubakar, with the assistance of Dr. 
Madale, will act as host and will coordinate preparations for the meeting 
including the possibility of arranging a visit to Marawi City as part of the 
Conference program. The mayor of the city wanted delegates to see first- 
hand his attempts at Islamizing the government administration there, and has 
invited delegates to visit his city. 

For the second resolution, the Conference in Bangkok nominated Dr. 
Hussin Mutalib from the National University of Singapore, to coordinate 
the editing and publishing of the papers. It was suggested that existing 
recognized journals within ASEAN be approached to publish a special issue 
of papers of the Conference. If this is not possible, the publication should 
still proceed with the support of other Muslim academic bodies or 
organizations. 

The Conference ended with agreement on the theme for next year’s 
meeting, and with the dub’ that the next meeting will be even better. 

Hussain Mutalib 
National University of Singapore 
Singapore