Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Colleagues,

We are here today to listen to Professor Wang Gungwu's thoughts on the prospects and potentialities of a world before “Southeast Asia”, and also to honour a scholar who has been a giant in the field of Asian Studies for more than two generations. Some of you will remember that earlier this year, in March, Professor Wang stood at this podium to introduce Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and it was thus somewhat daunting when I was asked to follow in his footsteps and introduce his own presentation, the third in a series of lectures celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. I was especially humbled as I thought of the eminent people who have spoken or written about Professor Wang's achievements as an intellectual and a public spokesperson on so many topics related to the history and present condition of the Asian region. Indeed, I was at a loss as to what I could add to the many tributes that have celebrated his career — his service to the University of Malaya between 1957 and 1968, his time as Professor and later Director of the Research School of Pacific Studies at the Australian National University (1968–86), as vicechancellor at the University of Hong Kong (1986–95), and since then in Singapore where he has been Director of the East Asia Institute and University Professor at the National University of Singapore, the highest honour NUS can bestow. We are all very aware of the global recognition Professor Wang has received — honorary doctorates from some of the world's most prestigious universities, and international awards recognizing his long history of service to scholarship and to the public more generally. However, on this occasion we remember especially his long association with the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, his unwavering support for the concept of a research centre devoted to regional studies, his valuable donations to the library and his leadership as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

This commitment to an institute where the voices of Southeast Asians would be heard and where Southeast Asian debates could find a forum stretches back deep into the past, and it is here perhaps that I can make my own intervention.