Jinn Winn Chong

Abstract: As regional neighbours, Indonesia and Malaysia share common historical roots and cultural heritage. Disputes over cultural icons have lamentably been a frequent affair between the two countries. One of these recurring clashes was recently brought to the fore when a third party erroneously represented an Indonesian traditional dance as Malaysian. Based on this episode, this article analyses the multifaceted complexities embedded in disputes involving contested cultural heritage. It underscores the point that quarrels over ostensibly petty issues are often symptomatic of protracted undercurrents of political conflict between states. Drawing from the illustrations of the pendet example, it further demonstrates how failure to address these latent tensions could potentially result in destructive manifestations, even over seemingly trivial spats. By way of conclusion, the article proposes that examining these disputes within the broader context of the history and dynamics of the relationships of the various parties of the dispute becomes necessary and critical in engendering a sustainable resolution of disputes over shared cultural heritage.

Abstract: With digital equipment becoming increasingly networked, either on wired or wireless networks, for personal and professional use alike, distributed software systems have become a crucial element in information and communications technologies. The study of these systems forms the core of the ARLES' work, which is specifically concerned with defining new system software architectures, based on the use of emerging networking technologies. In this context, we concentrate on the study of distributed systems which bring to life the vision of ubiquitous computing systems, also known as ambient intelligence.