With some trepidation I have accepted the invitation to become editor of this Bulletin. It is not easy to step on the trail blazed by such experienced predecessors as Drs. Van Steenis, Jacobs and Kalkman and then to maintain the same quality as you, the reader and user of this Bulletin, have come to expect. I am therefore very fortunate that the first has remained in charge of the bibliographic chapters which constitute such an important part of this series while Dr. H.P. Nooteboom has been found willing to take care of the chapter on conservation. They and the other colleagues of the Rijksherbarium have been of great assistance to collect the various tidbits that constitute the other chapters. Contrary to most editors of journals I would very much appreciate it if you would continue (or begin) to send in copy. Many of you live in Malesia, or go there on expeditions or conferences, or work on its flora and vegetation. All of us would very much like to remain aware of what is going on, so I entreat you to spend an hour or perhaps a few minutes to write down the details of your current activities, either in the form of the small notes taken up in the various chapters, or as short articles. As this is not a scientific journal it is much easier to let your hair down: information on your own, your Staff’s or students’ current research, your field trips (dates, localities, amounts collected, places of deposit, etc.), floristic records, books, articles, notes you have written or intend to write (be sure to send us copies for review or reprints, some publications take months if not years to reach us!), changes in position and especially of address (you may not get the next issue, or worse, someone else will), it is all gist for the mill. Not everything can be accepted, of course, and that which is evidently will not necessarily express the opinion of the Editor or the Rijksherbarium, but everything will be very welcome especially when you put some nice stamps on it. Not much will be changed in the present format. The main change is that from this issue (no. 37, vol. 9/1) on we will number the pages anew. The last one ended on page 4016 which seemed quite enough. As the index covers 4 issues these will have a continuous pagination, however, to facilitate the retrieval of data. There has also been some slight alteration in the numbering of the chapters.