The Southeast Asian Mathematical Society

Founded in 1972


The Southeast Asian Mathematical Society was founded in 1972. It arose from a tour of Southeast Asia by Wong Yung Chow from the University of Hong Kong who became its first president. For detailed autobiographical information about Wong Yung Chow's life up to his becoming a professor, see THIS LINK.

For background concerning the political and social situation which was of great significance in all mathematical activities in this region, see THIS LINK.

The inaugural meeting of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society was held in Singapore in July 1972 and the Society, in addition to having an independent existence, acts as a uniting Society for the Malaysian Mathematical Society, the Singapore Mathematical Society, the Indonesian Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Society of the Philippines. The two main objectives of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society are:
(i) upgrading mathematics teaching in the region.

(ii) stimulating mathematical research in pure and applied fields.
Much of the information given below is taken from [1] which is the Presidential Address by Lee Peng Yee to the Sixth Biennial General Meeting of the Society at Manila on 5 June 1982. Now we noted that the first of the Society's conferences was held in Singapore in July 1972. The following General Meeting conferences were held: 1974 Penang; 1976 Bandung; 1978 Bangkok; 1980 Hong Kong; 1982 Manila; 1984 Thailand. These meeting were supported by foreign mathematicians, particularly those from France and Japan, who gave lectures. In addition to the biennial General Meeting, the Society holds several meetings and workshops each year.

The Society was also involved in the Southeast Asian Conference on Mathematics Education. The series came into existence due to a meeting between Yukiyoshi Kawada, Secretary of the International Congress on Mathematical Education from 1975 to 1978, and Lee Peng Yee, as the representative of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society. They met in Tokyo in 1976 and discussed setting up the Southeast Asian Conference on Mathematics Education and then, on his return journey, Lee Peng Yee met Bienvenido Nebres, the president of the Mathematical Society of the Philippines, in Manila and over a dinner they agreed to hold the Southeast Asian Conference on Mathematics Education in 1978 [1]:-
There were over one thousand teachers from the universities and schools participating in the conference. Most of then are from the Philippines. The impact was tremendous. It was not just the conference itself. It was also the amount of preparation that went into it before the conference and the number of projects following the conference afterwards.
This conference series continued, one being held every three years in a Southeast Asian country: 1981 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 1984 Hat Yai, Thailand; 1987 Singapore; 1990 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei; 1993 Surabaya, Indonesia; 1996 Hanoi, Vietnam; 1999 Manila, the Philippines; 2002 Singapore.

The 2002 conference merged with the East Asian Regional Conference on Mathematics Education and this merged conference continued to be held under the name of East Asian Regional Conference on Mathematics Education: 2005 Shanghai, China; 2007 Penang, Malaysia; 2010 Tokyo, Japan; 2013 Phuket, Thailand; 2015 Cebu, the Philippines.

The Southeast Asian Bulletin of Mathematics is journal of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society with bimonthly parts. It began publication in 1977 and continues to publish research papers in all areas of mathematics with the primary aim of disseminating original research from mathematicians in Southeast Asia to both the regional and international scientific community. The Southeast Asian Bulletin of Mathematics is also co-sponsored by the South China Normal University, Yunnan University and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Presidents of Southeast Asian Mathematical Society
1973-1974 Wong Yung Chow (University of Hong Kong)

1975-1976 Teh Hoon Heng (Nanyang University)

1977-1978 Bienvenido F Nebres (Ateneo de Manila University)

1979-1980 Tan Wang Seng (Universiti Sains Malaysia)

1981-1982 Lee Peng Yee (Nanyang University)

1983-1984 Virool Boonyasombat (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand)

1985-1987 Lim Chong Keang (University of Malaya)

1988-1989 Kar Ping Shum (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

1990-1991 MariJo Ruiz (Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines)

1992-1993 Modin Mokta (Malaysia)

1994-1995 Suwon Tangmanee (Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand)

1996-1997 Soeparna Darmawijaya (Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia)

1998-1999 Polly W Sy (University of the Philippines)

2000-2001 Do Long Van (Institute of Mathematics, Hanoi)

2002-2003 Kar Ping Shum (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

2004-2005 Tan Eng Chye (National University of Singapore)

2006-2007 Wanida Hemakul (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand)

2008-2009 Rosihan M. Ali (Universiti Sains Malaysia)

2010-2011 Fidel R Nemenzo (University of the Philippines)

2012-2013 Le Tuan Hoa (Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics)

2014-2015 Edy Tri Baskoro (Institut Teknologi Bandung)

2016-2017 San Ling (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

2018-2019 Jose Maria P Balmaceda (University of the Philippines Diliman)

Visit the society website.

References (show)

  1. P Y Lee, Ten years of SEAMS, Southeast Asian Bulletin of Mathematics 7 (1983), 10-15.
  2. P Y Lee, A glimpse of SEACME, ICMI Bulletin 33 (December 1992).
  3. P Y Lee, A memory of SEACME and EARCOME 1978-2013 (2015).
  4. P Y Lee, Mathematics education in Southeast Asia, in Alexander Karp and Gert Schubring (eds.), Handbook on the history of mathematics education (Springer New York, 2014), 384-388.
  5. S K Lim-Teo, ICMI Activities in East and Southeast Asia: Thirty Years of Academic Discourse and Deliberations (2007).
  6. Southeast Asian Bulletin of Mathematics website. http://www.seams-bull-math.ynu.edu.cn/

Last Updated February 2018