In fact, I officially started teaching in Taiwan as a full-time teacher in 2020, and I belong to a "very senior rookie". From my preliminary observations, Taiwanese Southeast Asian research and teaching cannot be said to have made no progress at all, but Taiwan's educational system has made little progress in the degree of attention and approach to Southeast Asian issues at the university level.
Even because the government company banner design actively promotes the implementation of the "New Southbound Policy", there have been many resource-driven phenomena, prompting schools and scholars to rely on Southeast Asia for international exchanges and research. However, how to promote sustainable development in the future deserves our continuous attention. There is still much to be done in Taiwan in promoting research and teaching in Southeast Asia. The most important thing is to invest resources to increase the number of full-time university chairs in Southeast Asian studies, and encourage scholars and students to invest in basic research in Southeast Asia for a long time. Although these are clichés, there is still no effective solution and practical improvement.
The crux of many problems actually comes from "low money", that is, insufficient investment or insufficient vision, rather than the "low birthrate" seen on the surface. In addition, it is also necessary to strengthen the efforts of academic, artistic and cultural exchanges with Southeast Asian countries. In this regard, the Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation has invested a lot and achieved remarkable results. There are many successful cases of art and cultural cooperation between Taiwan and Malaysia, and it is worth extending the relevant experience to other Southeast Asian countries.
