Written for both general readers and specialists, this book explores how modern, urban Southeast Asians view and manage their social life. By comparing the ways they live with their religious representations, with intimate and more distant others, and with their rapidly changing environment, the author demonstrates the marked similarities in the perception of individual and society in three civilizations along the inner littoral of Southeast Asia, irrespective of the great religious diversity that appears to characterize the region. "Mulder"s explorations into the individual and society are extremely perceptive...Altogether a fascinating little book...distinguished by straighforwardness and good sense."-- Bankok Post "Mulder dares to draw unorthodox parallels and is not afraid to make conclusions...that provide starting points to reflect on what it means to be a Southeast Asian." --Asiaweek "Niels Mulder has the rare ability to be both scholarly and entertaining." --Ian Buruma in God"s Dust