Digital Commons Network^™

A Community Of Practice For Chinese Ngos, Reza Hasmath, Jennifer Yj Hsu

Reza Hasmath

A community of practice represents an important resource for the sharing of sector-specific knowledge. It is a mechanism for Chinese NGOs to learn from each other, and collaborate. Drawing upon original data elicited from over 100 NGOs, this article examines the organizational capacity for Chinese NGOs to cultivate a mature community of practice. We find that there are inherent headwinds that Chinese NGOs will have to navigate to accomplish this goal. On the one hand, the majority of NGOs in our sample do not see themselves as part of a community of experts, which presents a huge challenge for the …

Spill-Over Reputation: Comparative Study Of India & The United States, Srividhya Ragavan

Srividhya Ragavan

No abstract provided.

She Who Laughs Loudest: A Meditation On Zen Humor, Andrew Whitehead

Andrew K. Whitehead

Articulating a Zen Buddhist perspective on humor, this paper examines the Japanese Zen Buddhist response of humor in the face of the suffering of situated existence and the motivations for this response. The examination will take the school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism as its exemplar. I argue that in order to appreciate the function of humor in Zen a number of cultural and historical influences must be considered: correlative ontology; the Buddhist notion of emptiness; the impotence of language; sense and nonsense; and the senselessness of transgression.

Reviewer_Report.Pdf, Mark Reisinger

Mark Reisinger

Syllabus Inr 3227 (Rvc): International Relations Of South Asia (Fall 2019), Lukas K. Danner

Dr. Lukas K. Danner

No abstract provided.

Outsider Ethnic Minorities And Wage Determination In China, Andrew Macdonald, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

Occupation During And After The War (China), Lukas K. Danner

Dr. Lukas K. Danner

No abstract provided.

Faq#7: Why Were Chinese People So Angry About The Attempts To Seize The Torch In The International Torch Relay?, Susan Brownell

Susan Brownell

I have just returned from five days in the earthquake disaster zone in Sichuan province, where I was a member of the “People’s Olympic Education Promotion Team” that visited Deyang city to conduct “Youth Olympic Games Re-enactments” at six local primary and secondary schools. There I realized that for the people we encountered, The Torch is a sacred object. I call it The Torch because that is what they called it – 火炬 – as if there were only one, and no further adjectives were necessary.

The project expressed the mission of Donnie Pei, a professor at the Capital Institute …

The Olympics In East Asia: Nationalism, Regionalism, And Globalism On The Center Stage Of World Sports, William W. Kelly, Susan Brownell

Susan Brownell

Yale CEAS Occasional Publication Series - Volume 3

Ordinary 'Worthiness': Sex Work, Police Raids, And Human Rights Violence In Sonagachhi, Simanti Dasgupta

Simanti Dasgupta

Based upon ethnographic research with Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), a grass-roots sex workers organization in Sonagachhi, the iconic red light district in Kolkata, India, this paper explores the relationship between police raids and human rights violation. It especially focuses on the nature of violence initiated by the construction of “corrupt” evidence to justify a raid, which in this case is not solely a state initiative; the police usually work in tandem with other rescue missions such as the International Justice mission (IJM). The raid involves a practice and a narrative commonly referred to by both the police and the …

Workplace Dignity In A Total Institution: Examining The Experiences Of Foxconn’S Migrant Workforce, Kristen Lucas, Dongjing Kang, Zhou Li

Kristen Lucas

In 2010, a cluster of suicides at the electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn Technology Group sparked worldwide outcry about working conditions at its factories in China. Within a few short months, 14 young migrant workers jumped to their deaths from buildings on the Foxconn campus, an all-encompassing compound where they had worked, eaten, and slept. Even though the language of workplace dignity was invoked in official responses from Foxconn and its business partner Apple, neither of these parties directly examined workers’ dignity in their ensuing audits. Based on our analysis of media accounts of life at Foxconn, we argue that its …

The New Singapore Law On Antidumping And Countervailing Duties, Locknie Hsu

Locknie HSU

The Countervailing and Anti-dumping Duties Act 1996 ("the Act") came into effect on 1 November 1996.1 This legislation was enacted to bring Singapore's law in relation to countervailing duties, subsidies and antidumping into conformity with requirements of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements It also updates the law by repealing the outmoded Customs (Subsidies and Anti-dumping) Act. The new rules and procedures in the Act are meant to "give added assurance and certainty to the local and foreign parties concerned whenever an action is instituted."In addition to the Act, detailed regulations have also been passed. The Act follows the basic …

Inward Fdi In Singapore And Its Policy Context, Locknie Hsu

Locknie HSU

Inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) has long been an important feature of the Singapore economy, and Singapore remains an attractive host to FDI. Apart from a brief decline in 2002, FDI inflows have generally been strong in the decade 2000-2010. They reached a peak in 2007 at US$ 37 billion, just before the global financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009. In 2008, inflows declined sharply to US$ 8.6 billion, before rapidly rebounding to reach US$ 38 billion in 2010. Singapore has moved from an economy primarily involved in manufacturing consumer goods in labor-intensive industries in the 1960s, to one producing …

A Harmonized System Of International Commercial Arbitration Within The Aec And Beyond?, Locknie Hsu

Locknie HSU

No abstract provided.

A Political Theory Of Kulturkampf: Evidence From Imperial Prussia & Republican Turkey, Ioannis N. Grigoriadis, Theocharis Grigoriadis

Theocharis Grigoriadis

No abstract provided.

The Human Security Dimension Of China’S Belt And Road Initiative, Rosita Dellios, R. James Ferguson

R. James Ferguson

Despite the geopolitical calculations associated with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and how this will allow Beijing greater influence in transregional relations, the human security dimension goes to the heart of China’s wider regional strategy. The importance of development cannot be understated even as the “rise of China” attracts the headlines. How well Beijing can engage wider human security concerns will be crucial for the success of this megaproject. It is argued that the human security aspect of China’s Belt and Road Initiative requires a stronger ethical base—one which draws on China’s own Confucian heritage. This allows for both cultural …

The Human Security Dimension Of China’S Belt And Road Initiative, Rosita Dellios, R. James Ferguson

Rosita Dellios

Despite the geopolitical calculations associated with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and how this will allow Beijing greater influence in transregional relations, the human security dimension goes to the heart of China’s wider regional strategy. The importance of development cannot be understated even as the “rise of China” attracts the headlines. How well Beijing can engage wider human security concerns will be crucial for the success of this megaproject. It is argued that the human security aspect of China’s Belt and Road Initiative requires a stronger ethical base—one which draws on China’s own Confucian heritage. This allows for both cultural …

Departing From The Beaten Path: International Schools In China As Response To Discrimination And Academic Failure In The Chinese Educational System, Natalie Young

Natalie A.E. Young

Environmental Advocacy: Insights From East Asia, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

Modern Chinese Defence Strategy: Present Developments, Future Directions, Rosita Dellios

Rosita Dellios

The author argues that the Chinese believe in the strategy of "people's war under modern conditions", and are confident that middle-range technology and unconventional warfare and the combination of the "human" and "weapon" factors represent a successful application of the strategy. Extract: A new era in Chinese defence policy followed the ascent in 1977 of China's most powerful political and military leader since Mao. After being disgraced in 1966 and again in 1976, Deng Xiaoping (Teng Hsiao-ping) returned to the ruling ranks for the third time in July 1977. A decade of self-strengthening and reform would result. The objective of …

Silk Roads Of The Twenty-First Century: The Cultural Dimension, Rosita Dellios

Rosita Dellios

Much has been written about China’s grand project of the twenty-first century, the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road—or the Belt and Road Initiative. It is set to lift living standards through the provision of infrastructure and better connectivity where these are lacking. While economic re-sources are enumerated, and the maps of roads and corridors have been drafted, the cultural dimension is understudied. Beijing has not helped in this regard. Apart from vague slogans like ‘win–win cooperation’, ‘mutual respect’ and ‘community of common destiny’, there has been no concerted effort to showcase China’s thought culture …

College Application With Or Without Assistance Of An Education Agent: Experience Of International Chinese Undergraduates In The Us., Yi (Leaf) Zhang, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Using third-party education agents is a well-established practice in many countries. As a result, the number of international students placed by agents has grown considerably over the past years. However, in the US, the practice of using agents to increase international enrollment still carries a derogatory connotation in the educational community. Inexperience with agents coupled with incomplete knowledge about students’ experiences using agents may contribute to misunderstandings about agent recruitment practices that may lead to biased institutional decisions. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, this study provides a better understanding of the use of education agents and how they may …

The Little India Riot: Domestic And International Law Perspectives, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

A riot involving hundreds of foreign labourers broke out in Little India, Singapore, on 8 December 2013. Only the second riot to occur in more than 40 years in fairly tranquil Singapore, the damage was extensive as rioters destroyed police and emergency vehicles and even injured dozens of police and civil defence personnel. The authorities only needed a few days to complete the investigations and shortly after, some of the alleged rioters were arrested and charged, while some of them were repatriated. The swiftness of the entire process prompted harsh criticism from international and local human rights groups, who claimed …

The Prosecution's Duty Of Disclosure In Singapore: Muhammad Bin Kadar V Public Prosecutor [2011] 3 Slr 1205, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

The Court of Appeal (CA) judgment in Muhammad bin Kadar v Public Prosecutor created quite a stir in Singapore. The case pertained to a murder involving two suspects, and its resolution took almost six years, with many twists and turns as to the actual facts. The CA attributed the confusion in part to questionable practices adopted by the police and the prosecution at various points in the proceedings, and reserved strong words for them in its judgment. It also established new requirements for the prosecution regarding its duty to the court to disclose relevant material not favourable to the case …

The Unresolved Legality Of Online Gambling In Singapore, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

This article addresses what appears to be a hitherto (legislatively and judicially) unresolved issue in a country where gambling is an established sub-culture – the legality of online gambling. The existing legislation does not provide direct answers, and as a result, the courts have not been given the opportunity to answer the question directly either. The police have previously made a few statements to the press and the media, but what should we make of them? While placing bets with unauthorised bookies (including those who operate their own website or use others’ websites) is clearly outlawed, leaving the offender with …

The Regulation Of The Recreational Use Of “Drones” For Aerial Photography And Videography: Comparing Singapore’S Unmanned Aircraft Act With Other Legislation, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

In the last few years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of remote-controlled copters or “drones” by recreational users to capture aerial photographs and videos on an unprecedented scale. The convergence of cutting-edge technological developments in gyroscopic gimbals, long-range wireless transmissions, GPS-enabled stabilisation and flightpath-preprogramming, first-person-views, and compact digital imaging has led to the proliferation of these camera-carrying devices that even hobbyists can pilot with reasonable safety. However, there has been a consistent stream of public concern relating to issues of safety, privacy, and disruption of commercial interests. Lost in the paranoid cacophony is a question that …

Some Thoughts On A Record-Breaking 2014/15 Season For Singapore’S International Mooters, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

Singapore has an extremely proud tradition in international moot court competitions. The famous NUS’82 team which won Singapore’s first Jessup championship comprised members who have all gone on to become Senior Counsel; one is now a High Court Judge (Steven Chong) and another, the Attorney-General (VK Rajah). Videos of championship finals featuring Singapore mooters continue to be used as training tools by universities all over the world, especially the 2001 Jessup final featuring the first and only person to have ever won the two largest moots, the Jessup and the Vis. And in that same year (2001), NUS won arguably …

Revisiting The Similar Fact Rule In Singapore: Public Prosecutor V. Mas Swan Bin Adnan And Another, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

The similar fact rule in Singapore—as with the law on any evidence law doctrine that can be found in both our Evidence Act and the common law—has required clarification for some time. This note, which discusses the latest local decision on the similar fact rule, considers if that decision is compatible with the Evidence Act and the various conceptualisations underlying the doctrine.

The 2012 Amendments To Singapore's Evidence Act: More Questions Than Answers As Regards Expert Opionion Evidence?, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

Singapore amended the expert opinion evidence provisions in its Evidence Act (EA) in 2012. The criteria for admissibility have been broadened, but the courts are now also expressly given the discretion to exclude relevant expert opinion evidence if it is ‘in the interests of justice’. This article explains why the 2012 amendments have raised more questions than answered them. First, Parliament did not appear to have properly appreciated the distinction—as conceptualised by the EA—between legal and logical relevance and relevance and admissibility. Second, it did not appear to have appreciated the distinction between general and specific relevance. Third, the introduction …

The Division Of Matrimonial Assets: A Mathematical Methodology As A "Check"? Ajr V. Ajs, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

In a recent High Court decision concerning the division of matrimonial assets, the Judge developed an extensive (and somewhat mathematical) methodology “as a rough check” to his discretionary powers in determining a “just and equitable” division of the matrimonial assets. This introduced a new perspective to an exercise long considered to be impossible to be mathematically precise. This piece considers the extent of the utility of the new methodology.