Cultures in ASEAN and the 21st Century: Family Values, Education and the Arts, gathers papers presented at the second of three consecutive meetings, a conference followed by two seminars, under the rubric 'ASEAN Cultures: Strategic Studies'. The undertaking grew out of the conviction that culture has a basal role when nations, especially former colonies emerging from broken histories, seek to repair, develop, modernise and prepare themselvesfor globalisation and the challenges it poses. The fact that they must do all these simultaneously is generally overlooked. This is a pity as it reduces the quantity and the quality of understanding. The ASEAN nations have been assiduously pursuing these goals with notable success until they were badly hit by the current financial and economic crisis.