Contributions examine the idea of the literary canon in Southeast Asia as a list of famous authors and works which have stood the test of time and reflect a country's cultural unity.

These proceedings, comprising 7 plenary lectures, 100 oral and 175 poster presentations, reflect present activities in the field of microporous materials. The International Zeolite Conferences are devoted to all aspects of zeolite science and technology. The term zeolite is to be understood in its broadest sense comprising all kinds of crystalline microporous materials regardless of their composition (e.g. aluminosilicates and other metallosilicates, silica, aluminophosphates, gallophosphates etc.), occurring in nature or synthesized by man. Mesoporous silica, aluminosilicates and other metallosilicates, as recently discovered are also included. Zeolite catalysis continues to be an area of particular interest, not only the classical hydrocarbon conversions but also zeolite catalysis of oxidation reactions, formation of a greater variety of organic compounds and environmental catalysis. Much work has been done on the synthesis of zeolites and zeolite-like materials, which is reflected in the large number of contributions to these proceedings. Improvement of techniques for investigation has stimulated interest in adsorption and diffusion studies. Other areas enjoying increasing attention are modelling, theory, and novel materials.

Kara sang well. It was amazing how she memorized the lyrics of the song at such a young age. As she sang, my thoughts wondered to the time when my mother Francisca Lacierna Mercado, and her younger sister Ninay, fetched their sick brother Gadong who escaped from his Japanese captors during the infamous Death March in April 1942…

Since the early 1980s, approximately ten million people have turned to charismatic businessman-turned-preacher "Brother Mike" and his Catholic "prosperity" movement, El Shaddai DWXI Prayer Partners Foundation International, Inc. Investing in Miracles offers an in-depth look at this unique indigenous movement, characterized by its effective use of mass media and its huge, emotion-filled outdoor rallies. The book investigates the sociocultural, political, and economic contexts of El Shaddai's popularity among the Filipino urban poor and aspiring middle classes and explores its significance for its followers, which reaches well beyond promises of appliances, salary raises, jobs abroad, and healing. Katharine Wiegele argues that Shaddai's theology directly engages and affirms desires for the material signs of modernity in ways that the mainstream Philippine Roman Catholic Church and Filipino leftist movements do not. At stake for its many adherents are their place and identity within the broader society; the meaning of their experiences of poverty, suffering, and oppression; and the relevance of their very notions of God, Christian community, and Christian life. Wiegele evocatively captures the religious and everyday experiences of her informants' lives in poor squatter neighborhoods of Manila. She is particularly sensitive to El Shaddai's delicate and often contorted relationship with the Catholic Church, which accepts the movement reluctantly, fearful of losing the loyalty of millions of faithful Catholics. While anchored in the local realities of the Philippines, Investing in Miracles will be of great interest to readers elsewhere for its exploration of religious seduction and interpretation, the interface between religion and politics, and the relevance of religion for the urban disenfranchised.

Published just two years before José Rizal's national epic, Touch Me Not, Pedro A. Paterno's Nínay is a cultural novel that portrays Philippine society to an international non-Filipino audience. Considered to be the first novel published by a Native Filipino author, Nínay follows the life, love and death of a young woman named Antonina Milo y Buisan, or "Nínay" for short. Her story is told by a young man named Taric to an unknown narrator over the course of the nine-day vigil of Pasiyam. Recounting the passionate affair in the time of cholera between Nínay and the highly regarded Don Carlos Mabagsic, Taric explores the journey of two young lovers and the events that lead to their eventual separation. Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of Nínay is a reimagining of a Filipino classic for the modern reader.

The literary canon is one of the most lively areas of debate in contemporary literary studies. This set of essays is both timely and original in its focus on the canon in South-East Asian literatures, covering Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They vary in focus, from the broad panoramic survey of trends in a national literature to very specific discussions of the role of individuals in shaping a canon or the place of a particular text within a tradition, and from contemporary to traditional literature. They include discussions of the development of prose fiction, censorship and artistic freedom, the role of westerners in codifying indigenous literatures, the writing of literary history, the development of literary criticism and indigenous aesthetics.

Shortly after joining Aguinaldo’s army as a young medic, José R. Lugay greets his country’s independence from Spain with bright dreams of the future. He marries his childhood sweetheart. Only a few months later, the dogs of war rip his dreams to tatters. A harrowing year with the defenders in the Philippine-American War follows. After the war is lost, he spends five years seeking lucrative employment as a doctor in Manila, without much success. Did his refusal to pledge allegiance to the new colonizer affect his prospects? He accepts a post as a country doctor in Guiuan, Samar, a remote town in the country’s most depressed province. Ten years of a hardscrabble life there seem about to be followed by ten more. Then the Warays choose him to fill one of Samar’s three seats in the country’s House of Representatives. His return to Manila as a distinguished Congressman must be the peak of his career, but two terms as a legislator leave him wondering if it isn’t actually a diversion from his true calling. Should he stay in the House, or run for the Senate, or become the eminent Manila doctor he had once aspired to be?