[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.84,0:00:05.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I promise you that I will not sing.\NI will spare you that, at least.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.44,0:00:08.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I am a historian
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.89,0:00:12.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a background in philosophy,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.22,0:00:16.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and my main area of research is basically\Nthe history of Southeast Asia,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.12,0:00:21.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a focus on 19th century\Ncolonial Southeast Asia,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.34,0:00:23.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and over the last few years,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.10,0:00:26.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what I've been doing is really\Ntracing the history of certain ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.43,0:00:32.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that shape our viewpoint,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.08,0:00:34.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way we in Asia, in Southeast Asia,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.04,0:00:36.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,look at ourselves\Nand understand ourselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.86,0:00:44.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, there's one thing\Nthat I cannot explain as a historian,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.17,0:00:47.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this has been puzzling me\Nfor a long time,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.89,0:00:49.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this is how, and why,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.74,0:00:51.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,certain ideas,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.43,0:00:54.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,certain viewpoints
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.100,0:00:58.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,do not seem to ever go away.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.96,0:01:00.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I don't know why.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.64,0:01:02.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in particular,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.29,0:01:06.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm interested to understand why\Nsome people, not all by all means,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.65,0:01:09.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but some people
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.36,0:01:13.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in postcolonial Asia
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.04,0:01:20.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,still hold on to a somewhat\Nromanticized view of the colonial past,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.78,0:01:23.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,see it through kind of rose-tinted lenses
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.50,0:01:27.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as perhaps a time that was\Nbenevolent or nice pleasant.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.53,0:01:33.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even though historians know\Nthe realities of the violence
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.75,0:01:36.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the oppression and the dark side
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.43,0:01:38.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of that entire colonial experience.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.48,0:01:42.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So let's imagine that I build\Na time machine for myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.60,0:01:44.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I build a time machine.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.30,0:01:48.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I send myself back to the 1860s,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.04,0:01:50.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a hundred years before I was born.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.26,0:01:53.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oh dear, I've just dated myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.14,0:01:56.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,OK, I go back a hundred years\Nbefore I was born.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.50,0:02:00.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, if I were to find myself\Nin the context of colonial Southeast Asia
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.23,0:02:01.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the 19th century,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.25,0:02:05.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would not be a professor.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.59,0:02:07.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Historians know this.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.49,0:02:11.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet, despite that,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.50,0:02:15.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's still some quarters that somehow\Nwant to hold on to this idea
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.64,0:02:18.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that that past was not as murky,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.68,0:02:22.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there was a romanticized side to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.14,0:02:24.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, here is where I as a historian,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.20,0:02:26.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I encounter the limits of history.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.69,0:02:29.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because, I can trace ideas.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.16,0:02:34.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can find out the origins\Nof certain cliches, certain stereotypes.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.61,0:02:38.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can tell you who came up with it,\Nwhere and when and in which book,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.18,0:02:40.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but there's one thing I cannot do.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.36,0:02:46.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I cannot get into the internal\Nsubjective mental universe of someone
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.21,0:02:48.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and change their mind.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.90,0:02:52.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think this is where, and why,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.35,0:02:55.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the last few years,\NI'm increasingly drawn
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.02,0:02:58.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to things like psychology\Nand cognitive behavioral therapy,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.81,0:03:03.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because in these fields,\Nscholars look at the persistence of ideas.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.38,0:03:06.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why do some people\Nhave certain prejudices?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.19,0:03:09.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why are there certain biases and phobias?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.06,0:03:14.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We live, unfortunately, sadly, in a world\Nwhere still misogyny persists,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.66,0:03:18.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,racism persists, all kinds of phobias.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.30,0:03:20.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Islamophobia, for instance, is now a term.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.81,0:03:22.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And why do these ideas persist?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.02,0:03:28.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Many scholars agree that it's partly\Nbecause, when looking at the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.48,0:03:30.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we fall back, we fall back, we fall back
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.76,0:03:32.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on a finite pool,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.66,0:03:36.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a small pool of basic ideas\Nthat don't get challenged.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.02,0:03:41.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Look at how we, particularly us\Nin Southeast Asia,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.19,0:03:45.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,represent ourselves to ourselves\Nand to the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.06,0:03:46.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Look at how often,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.49,0:03:50.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when we talk about ourselves,\Nmy viewpoint, my identity, our identity,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.24,0:03:53.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,invariably we fall back, we fall back,\Nwe fall back, we fall back
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.80,0:03:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the same set of ideas,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.76,0:03:59.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all of which have histories of their own.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.72,0:04:02.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Very simple example:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.38,0:04:04.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we live in Southeast Asia,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.26,0:04:07.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is very popular with tourists\Nfrom all over the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.45,0:04:10.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I don't think that's\Na bad thing, by the way.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.28,0:04:11.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it's good
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.58,0:04:13.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that tourists come to Southeast Asia
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.61,0:04:16.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's part and parcel\Nof broadening your worldview
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.37,0:04:18.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and meeting cultures, etc. etc.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.20,0:04:22.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But look at how we represent ourselves
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.05,0:04:26.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through the tourist campaigns,\Nthe tourist ads that we produce.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.31,0:04:30.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There will be the obligatory coconut tree,\Nbanana tree, orangutan.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.78,0:04:33.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the orangutan doesn't even get paid.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.26,0:04:35.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.34,0:04:39.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Look at how we represent ourselves.\NLook at how we represent nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.68,0:04:41.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Look at how we represent the countryside.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.97,0:04:44.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Look at how we represent\Nagricultural life.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.86,0:04:46.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Watch our sitcoms.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.08,0:04:49.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Watch our dramas. Watch our movies.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.11,0:04:51.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's very common,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.70,0:04:53.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particularly in Southeast Asia,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.61,0:04:56.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when you watch these sitcoms,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.35,0:04:58.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if there's someone from the countryside,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.74,0:05:02.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they are invariably, they are ugly,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.14,0:05:04.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they are funny, they are silly,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.13,0:05:06.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they are without knowledge.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.57,0:05:08.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's as if the countryside
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.78,0:05:10.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has nothing to offer.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.08,0:05:13.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our view of nature,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.21,0:05:15.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,despite all our talk,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.41,0:05:20.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,despite all our talk about\NAsian philosophy, Asian values,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.89,0:05:26.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,despite all our talk about how we have\Nan organic relationship to nature,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.37,0:05:30.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how do we actually treat nature\Nin Southeast Asia today?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.10,0:05:34.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We regard nature as something\Nto be defeated and exploited.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.87,0:05:37.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's the reality.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.65,0:05:40.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the way in which we live\Nin our part of the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.46,0:05:45.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,postcolonial Southeast Asia,\Nin so many ways, for me
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.93,0:05:53.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bears residual traces to ideas,\Ntropes, cliches, stereotypes
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.42,0:05:54.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that have a history,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.93,0:05:58.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This idea of the countryside\Nas a place to be exploited,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.71,0:06:02.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the idea of countryfolk\Nas being without knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.97,0:06:05.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these are ideas that historians like me
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.14,0:06:08.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can go back, we can trace\Nhow these stereotypes emerged,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.74,0:06:12.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they emerged at a time
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.82,0:06:14.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Southeast Asia
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.46,0:06:18.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was being governed according to\Nthe logic of colonial capitalism.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.11,0:06:22.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in so many ways,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.68,0:06:24.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we've taken these ideas with us.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.91,0:06:26.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're part of us now,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.56,0:06:27.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we are not critical
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.54,0:06:30.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in interrogating ourselves\Nand asking ourselves,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.100,0:06:33.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how did I have this view of the world?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.55,0:06:35.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did I come to have\Nthis view of nature?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.85,0:06:38.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did I come to have\Nthis view of the countryside?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.57,0:06:41.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How do I have this idea of Asia as exotic?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.74,0:06:44.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we Southeast Asians in particular
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.65,0:06:48.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,love to self-exoticize ourselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.39,0:06:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We've turned Southeast Asian identity\Ninto a kind of cosplay
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.00,0:06:57.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you can literally\Ngo to the supermarket, go to the mall
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.100,0:07:02.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and buy your do-it-yourself\Nexotic Southeast Asian costume kit.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.53,0:07:04.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we parade this identity,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.66,0:07:07.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not asking ourselves how and when
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.57,0:07:10.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,did this particular image\Nof ourselves emerge?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.92,0:07:12.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They all have a history too.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.19,0:07:15.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's why, increasingly,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.99,0:07:20.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a historian, I find that\Nas I encounter the limits of history
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.36,0:07:23.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I see that I can't work alone anymore.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.73,0:07:26.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can't work alone anymore,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.54,0:07:29.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because there's absolutely no point
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.03,0:07:31.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in me doing my archival work,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.52,0:07:34.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's no point in me seeking\Nthe roots of these ideas,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.64,0:07:37.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tracing the genesis of ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.60,0:07:39.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then putting it in some journal
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.83,0:07:41.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be read by maybe\Nthree other historians.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.78,0:07:43.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's absolutely no point.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.14,0:07:45.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The reason why I think this is important
Dialogue: 0,0:07:45.58,0:07:49.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is because our region, Southeast Asia,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.44,0:07:51.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will, I believe, in the years to come,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.74,0:07:55.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,go through enormous changes,\Nunprecedented changes in our history,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,partly because of globalization,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,world politics, geopolitical\Ncontestations,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the impact of technology,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our world as we know it\Nis going to change.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But for us to adapt to this change,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for us to be ready for that change,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we need to think out of the box,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we can't fall back,\Nwe can't fall back, we can't fall back
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the same set of cliched,\Ntired, staid old stereotypes.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We need to think out,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's why historians,\Nwe can't work alone now.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I, I need to engage with people\Nin psychology, people in behavior therapy.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I need to engage with sociologists,\Nanthropologists, political economists.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I need above all to engage\Nwith people in the arts
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the media,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's there in that forum,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,outside the confines of the university,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that these debates really\Nneed to take place.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they need to take place now,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because we need to understand
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the way things are today
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are not determined by some fixed,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,iron historical railway track,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but rather there are many other histories,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many other ideas that were forgotten,\Nmarginalized, erased along the line.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Historians like me, our job\Nis to uncover all this, discover all this,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but indeed to engage this\Nwe need to engage with society as a whole.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So to go back to that time machine\Nexample I gave earlier.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's say this is a 19th century\Ncolonial subject then,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and persons wondering,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will empire ever come to an end?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Will there be an end to all this?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Will we one day be free?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So a person invents a time machine,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,goes into the future,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and arrives here in postcolonial\NSoutheast Asia today.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our person looks around,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the person will say,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,yes indeed, the imperial flags are gone,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the imperial gunboats are gone,\Nthe colonial armies are gone.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are new flags, new nation-states.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is independence after all.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But has there been?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The person then watches the tourist ads
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and sees again the banana tree,\Nthe coconut tree, and the orangutan.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The person watches on TV
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and watches how images\Nof an exotic Southeast Asia
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are being reproduced again and again\Nby Southeast Asians.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the person might then\Ncome to the conclusion
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, well, notwithstanding
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the fact that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,colonialism is over,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we are still in so, so many ways
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,living in the long shadow\Nof the 19th century,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this, I think, has become\Nmy personal mission,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the reason why I think\Nhistory is so important
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the reason why I think\Nit's so important for history
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to go beyond history,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because need to reignite this debate\Nabout who and what they are,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all of us.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We talk about, no, I have my viewpoint,\Nyou have your viewpoint.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, that's partly true.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our viewpoints are never\Nentirely our own individually.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are all social beings.\NWe are historical beings.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You, me, all of us,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we carry history in us.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's in the language we use.\NIt's in the fiction we write.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's in the movies we choose to watch.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's in the images that we conjure\Nwhen we think of who and what we are.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are historical beings.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We carry history with us,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and history carries us alone.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But while we are determined by history,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is my personal belief
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we need not be trapped by history
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we need not be the victims of history.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)