President's Report 2000

May 26, 2000

Dear Fellows & Members:

There are several important issues we wish to draw your attention. First, the new telephone number, fax no., and e-mail address at the top of the page. Second, this newsletter will cover the following items:

• BRB Vol. 30, 1999, and Vol 31, 2000

• Invoicing for 2000 Fees

• Methods of Payment of Fees and Publication Orders

• Contributions; New Publications in Process

• New Publications This Past Year

• Gifts to Contributors

• Inventory of Publications

• Lack of Orders and the Problem of Turning the Extensive Inventory of Publications Into Cash

• Amazon.com

• Death Notices

• 6th Biennial Conference of the BRC

• Symposium at 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association

• Contributions

• Miscellaneous

• Lost Members

Borneo Research Bulletin  - Volume 30, 1999 and Volume 31, 2000

The Borneo Research Bulletin, Volume 30 (1999) is now being mailed out. Clifford Sather, the overworked editor of the BRB, and Philip Thomas, the overworked preparator of the manuscript, hope to get a second volume of the BRB, Volume 31 (2000), out this year. This will then bring the BRB up-to-date.

Invoice for Fees

It is time now to invoice for Fellowship/Membership fees in the Council for 2000 as per the enclosed.

Some have already paid for 2000, and this should be noted in the enclosed invoice stamped "PAID". If there is any error in this, please let us know.

Let me again draw your attention to the 10% discount on all BRC publications available to Fellows of the Council.

In this regard, we have enclosed a list of BRC publications and an order form.

Methods of Payment of Fees and Publication Orders

Let me again state that arrangements have been made for payments to be made by Visa, Mastercard, currency, or check. Only currency in Malaysian ringgit, British pounds, or U.S.A. dollars are acceptable. Money orders in U.S.A. dollars are also acceptable.

Checks drawn on U.S.A. accounts should be made payable to the Borneo Research Council.

Checks drawn on British or Malaysian accounts should be made payable to George N. Appell. (These will then be transferred to the BRC account in the U.S.A. via G. N. Appell's accounts in those countries.)

Contributions

As a result of the wonderful response to our appeal for contributions, the financial status of the BRC is in decent shape for this year. Please see the enclosed accounting. There is currently available $7,110.15. This will see us through two to three new publications.

Publications

New Publications in Process

The financial status is good news as we have a large backlog of publications that will appear this year. These are:

Monographs:

Eva Maria Kershaw: A Study of Brunei Dusun Religion: Ethnic Priesthood on a Frontier of Islam. To appear in 2000.

Roger Kershaw: Historiography as Battleground: Interpreting the Foundations and Forms of Modern Brunei. (In preparation for 2000 publication.)

W. D. Wilder (ed.): Journeys of the Soul: Anthropological Studies of Death, Burial, and Reburial Practices in Borneo. (In preparation for 2000 publication.)

V. T. King and A. V. M. Horton (eds.) Borneo Diaries of I.H. N. Evans. (In preparation for 2000 publication).

Proceedings:

Peter Martin (ed.): Language Issues in Borneo: Selected Papers from the Third Biennial Conference of the Borneo Research Council, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, July 1994. (Not yet received.)

James Collins and Peter Sercombe (eds.): Selected Papers from the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Borneo Research Council, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, June 10-15, 1996. (Not yet received.)

Jayl Langub and Clifford Sather (eds.): Borneo Epics and Oral Tradition. (Not yet received.)

Occasional Papers:

Foong Kin: Social and Behavioral Aspects of Malaria Control: A Study Among the Murut of Sabah, Malaysia. (To appear in 2000.)

New Publications This Past Year

Monograph No. 3 Traditional Medicine Among the Ngaju Dayak of Central Kalimantan: The 1935 Writings of a Former Ngaju Dayak Priest, A.H. Klokke, Editor. 1999. Price $25.00.

Proceedings No. 6 Rural Development and Social Science Research: Cases from Borneo, Papers from the Fourth Biennial International Conference, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. Victor T. King, Editor. 1999. Price $35.00.

Proceedings No. 7 Environment and Conservation in Borneo: Including Papers from the Fourth Biennial International Conference of the Borneo Research Council held at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, June 10-15, 1996. Peter Eaton, Editor. 1999. Price $25.00.

Gifts to Contributors

In order to express the appreciation of the BRC to all those who have made contributions to the Council, we have been sending out the following gifts:

$50-$75 contribution: Complete Index to the Borneo Research Bulletin in various formats on 3½" Diskette;

$76-$100 contribution: Complete set of Proceedings;

$101-$200 contribution: Complete set of in stock Monographs;

Over $200 contribution: Complete set of both Proceedings and in stock Monographs.

Inventory of Publications

We have an extensive inventory of all publications except the monograph, The Seen and Unseen.

We receive orders for this monograph but cannot fill them. Does anyone know if there is an inventory of this monograph somewhere in Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, or Kalimantan Barat? Is it worth reprinting this volume?

Lack of Orders: How Do We Turn This Extensive Inventory Into Needed Cash?

One of our major problems is that we do not get many orders for our publications. Can anyone with experience in this problem suggest remedies? We have thought of advertising, but this is expensive, takes time to prepare advertisements, and time is not what we have.

If we could turn this extensive inventory of BRBs and proceedings into cash, we could extend our publishing program.

Help on this problem is badly needed!

Amazon.com

Julie Merrigan-Dyer has made arrangements with Amazon.com to carry our Proceeding Series and our Monograph series. This has produced a few orders, but not enough to make a significant dent in our inventory.

Death Notices

It is with great sadness I have to report the death of my close friend and colleague, Dr. Peter R. Goethals, on May 8, 2000. He did anthropological and linguistic fieldwork in Sumbawa and Sabah, and applied research in Trengganu and Java. He was one of my closest friends since undergraduate days in 1946 at Harvard. He was a lovely man, considerate, with empathy for others, and a well honed sense of right and wrong, justice and injustice. He will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues.

6th Biennial International Conference of the BRC: Kuching, Sarawak, 10-14th July, 2000

We all owe a large debt of gratitude to Dr. Michael Leigh for his energetic and extensive efforts to develop an organization of the conference that is inspired, for securing hotel facilities and meals at a reduced rate, for arranging the various evening dinners and activities, and for the organization of the papers and publications. He has done a tremendous job in putting together an incredible conference that promises to be one of the most successful.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend.

Symposium at the Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association, 15-19 November, 2000, San Francisco

Clare Boulanger has organized and submitted for approval to the American Anthropological Association a symposium entitled: "Fertility, Forest Fires, and a Phonebook: What everyone Should Know about Borneo Studies."

Contributors: Endowment Fund

Mr. Allen R. Maxwell, Mr. John D. Pearson, Mr. Patrick Cassels, Dr. W. D. Wilder, Dr. Clare Boulanger, Dr. Anne Schiller, Dr. Phillip Thomas, Dr. Leigh Wright, Dr. Donald Brown, Dr. Reed Wadley, Dr. Michael R. Dove, Mrs. Laura P. Appell Warren, Dr. Robert Winzeler, Dr. & Mrs. Otto Steinmayer, Mr. Ralph Arbus, and Dr. Carol J. P. Colfer

Contributors: General Fund

Mr. A. V. M. Horton, Ms. Ann Appleton, Ms. Judith Heimann, Dr. Martin Baier, Professor Kazunori Oshima, Dr. Robert Cramb, Professor H. Arlo Nimmo, Dr. W. D. Wilder, Dr. Clare Boulanger, Mr. I. M. Scott, Dr. Phillip Thomas, Ms. E. Kim Adams, Dr. Rodney Needham, Dr. Donald Brown, Professor Robert Reece, Dr. Jack Stuster, Dr. Gale Dixon, Dr. Christine Helliwell, Dr. Michael R. Dove, Mrs. Laura P. Appell Warren, Mr. A. J. Bacon, Dr. Robert Winzeler, Dr. Michael B. Leigh, Professor Virginia Hooker, Dr. Carlton Niemitz, Dr. Graham Saunders, Dr. & Mrs. Allen Drake, Dr. & Mrs. Otto Steinmayer, Mr. A. J. N. Richards, Ms. V. K. Gorlinski, Ms. Vicki Pearson-Rounds, Mr. Stuart T. Lyman, Dr. Jay B. Crain, Dr. Peter Metcalf, Mr. Ralph Arbus, Dr. Otto Doering, Dr. Carol J.P. Colfer, Dr. Clive W. Marsh, Mr. Jim Welsh, and Antiquarian Booksellers Gemling.

Miscellaneous

I want to express the thanks of all fellows and members of the BRC to Julie Merrigan-Dyer, who handles all the financial affairs and oversees the mailing out of orders for publications.

I also want to express the thanks of all the fellows and members of the BRC to Mrs. Joan N. Bubier for all the effort she puts in to editing and preparing publication manuscripts for publication.

The following members of the Council are still "lost". If anyone has addresses for any of them, please let me know!

Dr. Robert Allen, Ms. Susan Amy, Awang Hj. Jokeple Hj. Md. Arshad, Ir. Amin Aziz, Mr. E. J. H. Berwick, Ms. G. Chandler, The Rev. William W. Conley, Mr. J. H. De Beer, Mr. David J. Ferguson, Dr. R. R. Goforth, Mr. Joe Jascewsky, Mr. Henry Chan Khuang, Mr. Rilus A. Kinseng, Ms. Ursula Koch, Mr. Jonathan H. Kress, Dr. Chee Kheung Lam, Mr. K. M. Leong, Mr. Richard C. Mayberry, Mr. Frank McKeown, Mr. David Miller, Dr. Tim Moore, Mr. Eric Oey, Mr. Katsumi Okuno, Masahiro Otsuka, and Dr. Ikin Sabrani.

I have enclosed a list of Fellows and Members and their addresses in response to those who have requested it.

Please let me know of any errors that appear in this letter.

Sincerely,

George N. Appell, Ph.D.
President