Epilogue

This chapter, an epilogue, provides a personal reflection on the research period, which ended in mid-1974, in the context of what came afterwards. Months later, a crackdown on protesters and student activists tamped down dissent and ushered in an era of sycophancy. Repression by the government claimed several of those interviewed under the Internal Security Act. The chapter concludes by observing that, from the vantage point of hindsight, it seems clear that the era before the clamp down, despite many existing restrictions, afforded intellectuals a precious but short-lived opportunity for flourishing debates and the flowering of ideas regarding national development, nation building, education, language, culture, and literature.