A Discussion with Dr. Frank Dhont: Brunei in World War II: The Japanese Occupation Remembered

Brunei in World War II: the Japanese Occupation Remembered

A Discussion with Frank Dhont (PhD, Yale)

University of Brunei Darussalam

Institute of Asian Studies

11 November 2014 (Tuesday), 1:00 – 3:00PM

Conference Room, Third World Studies Center

Lower Ground Floor, Palma Hall,

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

University of the Philippines-Diliman

In World War II Brunei was occupied by the Japanese. Brunei was included in the Japanese Army administration that governed the whole of the northern part of Borneo. The southern part of Borneo was controlled by the Japanese Navy. The paper investigates the impact the Japanese occupation had on Brunei and how this Japanese occupation is currently depicted and remembered from a personal perspective and collective experience in Brunei.

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Dr. Frank Dhont is Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Asian Studies (IAS), University Brunei Darussalam (UBD). He obtained a PhD in History from Yale University specializing in history of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. He also holds an MHum in history from Gadjah Mada University (Indonesia) as well as an MA in Indonesian from Lund University (Sweden). As Indonesianist, he is regularly involved in multidisciplinary initiatives and is founder and chair of the International Indonesia Forum. His major research interests include the reactions of both indigenous rulers and ordinary people to Japanese colonialism in the Netherlands Indies during World War II. He is also interested in the history of both World Wars in Asia and the spread of nationalism, especially in the context of colonial empires in Asia. He is currently working on the manuscript of Outlasting Colonialism: Socio-political Change in the Javanese Principalities under the Japanese Occupation of Indonesia during World War II.