Present: The Master of St. Catherine's, the Warden of Rhodes House, the Warden of Merton, the Warden of Nuffield, Professor J.A.A. Stockwin, Dr Christopher Bliss (Nuffield), Dr Cyril Lin (St. Antony's), Dr Adam Roberts (St. Antony's), Mr. Michael Richards (St. Anne's), Mr David McCarthy (Chairman, Lever Brothers, Malaysia), Mr Ted Jones (University of Reading), Dr R.H. Barnes (Institute of Social Anthropology), Dr Farhan Nizami (St. Cross) and Dr Peter Carey (Trinity).
1. Dr Carey opened the proceedings by referring to the circulated report and the circulated letter from the University Information Officer, Dr Anne Lonsdale, about the scope of the proposed scheme (ie whether it should initially also include the non-social science subjects). He suggested that the meeting might consider the business of the morning under six heads: (a) the objectives/scope of the proposed scheme; (b) the schedule for future fund-raising visits to Southeast Asia and other steps; (c) the question of the finance for the post in Modern Southeast Asian Studies and the possibility of the University advancing 'seed finance' for this; (d) the question of the scholarships and bursaries and their scope; (e) the possibility of setting up up a 'Friends of the Oxford/Southeast Asia scheme' drawn from the senior levels in the University, the FCO, the UK Business world with interests in the region, and the Southeast Asian Ambassadors and High Commissioners in London, in order to expedite any fund-raising activities with regard to the post; and (e) how to make the British Academy better aware of the vital role they could play in making the scheme a reality through their representative in Southeast Asia.
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2. The Master of St. Catherine's then asked Dr Carey about the proposed time scale for the implementation of the scheme, and was told that if all went according to plan, he would hope that (provided sufficient finance was forthcoming), the new incumbent of the post in Modern Southeast Asian Studies should take up his position in October 1987, and that the first Southeast Asian scholars/ visiting Fellows should also be coming through then (although, initially, in small numbers and restricted, possibly, to two or three Southeast Asian countries in the first instance).
3. The Warden of Rhodes House then pointed out that, in his view, the scholarship/bursary scheme and the attraction of funds for the post were two clean different things, and that they should be considered separately. He also endorsed Dr. Lonsdale's view (expressed in her circulated letter of 23 October) that Hongkong should be left entirely out of consideration as a possible source of funds for bursaries/scholarships in view of the several 'ongoing' schemes afoot there initiated by the various China Studies Centres in Oxford. Finally, he made an allusion to the Cambridge Commonwealth Fund which had already created a very good impression in the Commonwealth countries of Southeast Asia by funding candidates at the undergraduate level to Cambridge, and suggested that Oxford might consider a similar tri-partite pattern between the University, the FCO and key individuals/foun lations in the Southeast Asian area.