Chair: Johan Lindquist, Stockholm University

This panel explores various encounters at the borders of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Focusing on the border between Sarawak (Malaysia) and Kalimantan (Indonesia) and the area at the intersection of Singapore, Riau (Indonesia), and Johor (Malaysia), we each address questions concerning the social construction of boundaries in historical and contemporary terms. Our main concern lies in considering whether and how national borders accentuate or compel certain forms of desire and how the sources of transnational desire relate to ideas about the border. Among the questions we address are: How are constructions of these border spaces manifested in exchanges of goods, services, bodies, and ideas? How are border spaces embedded in socioeconomic and political structures? How do interactions at borders relate to constructions of citizenship, ethnicity, and self?

By presenting case studies—life histories, narratives of border crossings, local social histories, and moral dilemmas—we offer examples of how desire is personalized and has regional and global implications. Specifically, our papers look at the history of the Malaysian/Indonesia/Singapore borders, and offer case studies from the interior of Borneo and the border between Batam, Indonesia, and Singapore. In each of our papers, we consider how awareness of the border is tied to the economic, political, and social contexts of each frontier area. Our papers demonstrate how the same national borders act in different ways and suggest that the state is not always a homogenous presence.

Carl A. Trocki, Queensland University of Technology

This paper will examine the process by which Britain, because it was largely British initiatives that determined where the lines were drawn, created the borders that currently separate Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Beginning with the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1823, Britain made the opening statement in asserting its narrative of power in Southeast Asia. Throughout the nineteenth century, a succession of imperial deals and takeovers in Borneo and other parts of the Malay world created a system of borders which had no historical or cultural precedent. Today, those same borders have imprisoned the peoples of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

In addition to the process the paper will also examine the new realities which have arisen as a result of these borders, both in the colonial era as well as more recently. It will, at the same time, examine the changing manners in which these borders were viewed, both by the colonial powers as well as by the indigenous and other non-Europeans in the region. It is of interest that although intended to demarcate colonial administrative frontiers, few Asians found them relevant for most purposes, and with few exceptions, life continued despite the imaginary lines which few could imagine. Even the colonial powers found them problematic so far as economic life was concerned. The initial adjustments that both Europeans and Asians found themselves forced into as well as the ongoing influences of the new enclosures which had been created will be a key focus of the paper.

Poline Bala, University of Malaysia, Sarawak

This paper examines the historical development of the permanent boundary lines between Kalimantan and Sarawak on the island of Borneo, looking specifically at the Kelabit Highlands. Prior to the imposition of the international boundaries, the highland people lived in a fluid and changing situation in which interactions were neither guided by nor limited to territorial boundaries. The new boundaries not only created a situation in which new forms of interactions emerged, but redefined the nature of previously established linkages in the region.

This paper argues that Kelabit involvement in the border conflict known as "Confrontation"—a military conflict that took place along the Malaysian/Indonesia border between 1963–1966—formed a pivotal event in redefining these local notions of the border. For the Kelabit, indigenous concepts such as pehbunu (warfare), helped people make sense of the Malaysian-Indonesian Confrontation and generated new understandings of the political significance of boundaries. Involvement in this military campaign made Kelabit people feel more connected to the Malaysian nation and to the global economy, which in turn led to broader changes in local attitudes relating to space, place, and identity.

Matthew Amster, Tufts University

This paper looks at the relationships and social distinctions made among members of closely related ethnic groups on both sides of the Malaysian/Indonesia border in highland Borneo. Focusing on the Kelabit people of Sarawak, Malaysia and their interactions with neighboring peoples from Kalimantan, Indonesia, I consider how the international boundary serves to enhance social inequality and produce new forms of economic interdependence and desire. In presenting my argument, I outline how relative strengths and weaknesses in the local economies, patterns of rural out-migration, and other factors—such as international eco-tourism—combine to produce a situation in which the free flow of people across this boundary remains beneficial to people on both sides of the border.

A key aspect to the movement of people in this region relates to the demand for seasonal wage labor for rice farming and other labor-intensive projects in the Kelabit Highlands. Economic success of Kelabit out-migrants working in town areas in Sarawak has led to a shortage of labor and increased availability of funds to support rural development. In addition, substantially more young Kelabit men than women choose to remain in rural communities long-term creating a demand for wives from across the border. Economic interdependence and marriage frame the various forms of transnational desire that fuel the diverse exchanges that take place across this particular border.

Johan Lindquist, Stockholm University

The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of the "Asian economic crisis" in a specific border area by considering the experiences of Indonesian migrants and Singaporean tourists who move within the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS-GT). As a result of the creation of the IMS-GT, the island of Batam, on the Indonesian side of the border, has witnessed a rapid economic development and population growth during the last ten years. Singaporean investment and Indonesian labor have led to the emergence of hundreds of factories and a prostitution industry that caters mainly to Singaporean men. Batam has also become a major jumping off point for Indonesians attempting to cross into Singapore and Malaysia, either legally or illegally, in search of wage labor.