Breaking Bread, Sharing Knowledge on Publishing in Southeast Asia
The roundtable on publishing in Southeast Asia took place during the International Conference on Southeast Asia (ICONSEA 11) at Universiti Malaya, ranked 58th in the world, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 12 December 2025. Rather than unfolding as a conventional panel, the session became a shared reckoning about whose knowledge travels, whose languages are archived, and whose stories are allowed to endure. Moderated through a conversation by Eric Thompson of the National University of Singapore, the discussion featured Assoc. Prof. Sajed S. Ingilan, the Chief Editor of the Southeastern Philippines Journal of Research and Development (SPJRD), a Q2 Scopus-index journal, who framed publishing as a responsibility to the community, history, and region. Alongside respected co-chief editors Eric Thompson of the Asian Journal of Social Science, Andrew Rosser of the Melbourne Asia Review, and Kathryn Wellen, a senior researcher from Leiden, Netherlands, the editors shared insights on sustaining a peer-reviewed journals that amplify regional and global voices while maintaining rigorous scholarly standards.
A central thread of the discussion was the Suwara sin Bangsa, the commitment to give voice to the peoples of Sulu and Mindanao through the SPJRD. In this context, Ingilan emphasized that the journal was founded on a clear mandate to bring histories, local languages, and cultural practices that have long been silenced in mainstream education into meaningful conversation with global research and academic settings. “Publishing was not about visibility alone, but about dignity,” he shared, stressing the need to “ensure that the stories of our Bangsamoro people, the indigenous knowledge of our IP communities, are documented on their own terms and not as footnotes to dominant narratives.”
From there, the conversation traced the breadth of scholarship carried by SPJRD. This included peer-reviewed work on the languages and cultures of the Tausug, Sama Bajau, Kagan, Blaan, Bagobo-Tagabawa, Obo-Manobo, Kinamigin Manobo, and other Bangsamoro and indigenous cultural communities of Sulu and Mindanao. Grounded in lived experience, these studies engage language revitalization, cultural documentation, community histories, and development concerns that emerge directly from the region. What distinguishes the journal, Ingilan stressed, is its geographically and culturally grounded mission. SPJRD does not position Sulu and Mindanao as peripheral to Southeast Asia. Instead, it insists that the region is central to understanding ASEAN’s cultural, linguistic, and developmental complexity. In this sense, the journal acts as an active participant in regional intellectual life, linking research, community work, and policy conversations.
Yet it was over shared meals that discussions became even more in-depth during the meet-and-greet conversations with the SPJRD Advisers. At the Sahara Tent, a leading Middle Eastern restaurant in Malaysia, Assoc. Prof. Rodney Jubilado of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, USA, discussed the importance of persistence, particularly for regionally focused journals, during the festive dinner. He said that “to publish from Sulu and Mindanao is already an act of resistance,” adding that sustaining a journal like SPJRD requires patience, collective effort, and belief in the long-term value of indigenous-centered scholarship. He emphasized that this work is inseparable from everyday life. “Kaon mo kay gamiton (Eat now, you’ll need it later) … We do this with food on our minds,” he said, pointing to the everyday material realities that shape scholarly labor in the region. For him, the journal’s continued presence affirms that regional knowledge deserves permanence, not merely temporary recognition. The presence of Retired Professor Maya Khemlani David of Universiti Malaya, Malaysia, whose expertise is in discourse studies, spoke of publishing as an ethical act, seeing that “journals rooted in place remind us that knowledge does not only flow from centers of power,” she observed. “It also rises from the margins, carrying wisdom shaped by history and survival.” Referring to her current research on the elderly, she observed that everyday practices such as communal meals, caregiving, and intergenerational knowledge sharing shape how communities produce, transmit, and sustain knowledge. During the team’s dinner at Decanter in Malaysia, which offers Asian cuisine, she emphasized that the journal’s strength lies in its refusal to detach scholarship from accountability to the communities it represents.
Extending the discussion to broader Southeast Asian dynamics, Ybhg Prof Dr. Nasirin Abdillah of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, shared the role of the journal in rebalancing academic conversations within ASEAN during the sumptuous dinner at Luna Luna in Berjaya Times Square, known for its buttermilk percik chicken rice. He raises a point that “when local languages and histories are published with rigor and respect, they challenge the hierarchy of knowledge itself.” He further stressed that such work disrupts the assumption that theory only comes from dominant centers, reminding scholars that insight is also produced through community memory and cultural survival. He saw SPJRD as an essential link between Sulu and Mindanao, contributing to national and international discussions on identity, development, and cultural continuity. In a separate discussion at the Bahasa Café on campus, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Al Aqad, a respected faculty member of Universiti Malaya, spoke of circulation as a form of solidarity over kopi (coffee) and teh tarik (pulled tea) conversation. He shared that a journal like SPJRD becomes most powerful not only when cited by specialists, but also when it is referenced by the general public. Its strength lies in being read, shared, and discussed by students, teachers, community advocates, and researchers seeking careful and dignified representation of their realities. “What I admire most about SPJRD is its refusal to allow regional scholarship to be temporary or invisible,” he said. “It keeps opening doors for research that is grounded in local realities. This research is careful, rigorous, and proud of its origins, even in a world where academic recognition often follows power and popularity. Sustaining the journal, he emphasized, is therefore not simply about producing issues on schedule, but about ensuring that regional knowledge continues to travel, take root, and inspire confidence in the next generation of writers and scholars.
Another conversation took on a more intimate tone during a dinner with Retired Professor Dr. Hanafi Hussin of Universiti Malaya, Chief Editor of JATI – Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. Over a shared meal at Rebung Chef Ismail in Putrajaya, Malaysia, a culinary gem with breathtaking lakeside views and a wide variety of authentic traditional Malay dishes, the discussion shifted from publishing strategies to reflections on scholarly responsibility. Dr Hussin spoke candidly about the importance of nurturing journals that remain accountable to the region, cautioning against the temptation to pursue global recognition at the cost of local relevance. He shared that Southeast Asian studies, at its best, must be built on patience, humility, and sincere engagement with communities. He offered an inspiring reminder that stayed with the group: “Eat more… document the stories of your people… share them globally and think that our journals are archives of struggle and imagination”. He encouraged emerging scholars and editors to protect spaces where marginalized voices can speak in their own registers, insisting that regional journals like SPJRD and JATI play a critical role in safeguarding the intellectual sovereignty in Southeast Asia.
After the discussion in Malaysia, the dialogue continued to Singapore. Engagements at the National University of Singapore (NUS), ranked 8th in the world and the top university in Asia by the QS World University Rankings, focused on future collaborations in research and community work. They also explored how regional knowledge is transferred across institutions and borders. During a breakfast discussion at Niqqi’s the Cheese Prata Shop, an Indian restaurant near NUS, with Prof. Veronica Gregorio—a sociologist, author, and editor from NUS—the conversation shifted to the quieter ways journals travel within academic spaces. Widely published in leading journals, she has also edited major volumes on Philippine families and visual culture. She spoke about how editors and faculty members often act as bridges, donating journals and books to the university library. She emphasized that sharing articles with students and integrating regional scholarship into teaching and research are everyday practices that matter. They help ensure that Southeast Asian voices remain present in classrooms and scholarly debates.
Across Universiti Malaya, UiTM, and NUS, these meal-based conversations brought to life the Filipino spirit of kapatid, or a brotherly and sustaining sense of companionship. Scholars, advisers, and faculty members became partners in knowledge sharing, quietly ensuring that regional journals like SPJRD found their way into libraries, classrooms, and research discussions. In this way, circulation itself emerged as a practice of solidarity, through which Southeast Asian voices are carried forward across borders.
Seen through these shared moments, SPJRD continues to stand firmly by its mission, responding to the development needs of Mindanao and the wider ASEAN region. Through its content, it documents and honors the languages and culture of Sulu and Mindanao. And through its impact, it ensures that the manga kissa (stories), bahasa (languages), and adat (traditions) of the Bangsa (nation) continue to move across borders, institutions, and generations. As the journal gives suwara to the Bangsa by connecting the university’s research work to the pitik sin jantung (living heartbeat) of Sulu and Mindanao. It reminds us that publishing, when rooted in place, relationship, and responsibility, is much like a shared meal: it opens conversation, fosters connection, and nourishes both ideas and communities.
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Article by
Francis N. Reginio, SPJRD Managing Editor
