Digital Commons Network^™

"Takings" And "Givings" In Singapore: Land Law And Policy In The Search For Justice, Rachel Phang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the United States and globally, cities are increasingly plagued by deepening housing crisis and widening economic inequality. In the face of these crises, this Article focuses on the potentially powerful role for land law and policy in the search for justice. Specifically, it does so by reference to two unusual yet illuminating choices of theory and application: the case study of Singapore, and the school of thought of Georgism, both of which accord inordinate and paramount importance to land. Singapore’s land law and policy have been characterized by extensive takings and givings of land. In consequence, the State owns …

Public Service Motivation And Job Satisfaction Amid Covid-19: Exploring The Effects Of Work Environment Changes, Seulki Lee, Chongmin Na

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought critical changes to job demands and resources, which in turn affect employee motivation and outcomes. This study explores how COVID-19–induced work intensity and COVID-19–related organizational support influence public service motivation (PSM) and job satisfaction. Using survey data from a nationally representative sample of 1,430 South Korean central government employees collected during the pandemic (May–June 2020), we find that COVID-19–induced work intensity is positively associated with PSM, which in turn has a positive association with job satisfaction. We also find that COVID-19–related organizational support has both direct and indirect associations with job satisfaction through PSM. These …

Afghanistan: What Now?, Rory Stewart

Perspectives@SMU

The troop surge that cost US$2 trillion and thousands of lives has only made things worse, says former UK Secretary of State for International Development Rory Stewart

The Future Of Policy Tools: Promises And Pitfalls, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee, Sarah Giest

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The study of policy tools has been undertaken for several decades. It has isolated and examined many different types of tools utilized by governments over the course of history and examined in detail how they are arranged into policy mixes or portfolios of tools. Recent developments in society and technology, however, have brought to the fore the possibility of using new or previously little-used tools such as platforms, co-production, nudges, as well as data-driven techniques, such as big data and artificial intelligence. These are added to the toolbox governments have at their disposal when designing policy responses to both new …

The South, The West, And The Meanings Of Humanitarian Intervention In History, Patrick Quinton-Brown

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As it has been written, the history of humanitarian intervention is all too Whiggish and all too white. By conceptualising humanitarian intervention in the way that they do, orthodox histories should be seen as entangled in debates about the origins of human rights but also, perhaps more crucially, debates about the various formations and reinventions of human rights. Alternative codifications of rights reveal the historical possibility of a Southern practice of what we would almost certainly call ‘humanitarian intervention’. The record of a radical Third World practice to save strangers from the atrocities of colonialism and extreme racism is also …

The Role Of The Arts In Placemaking Singapore, Su Fern Hoe

Social Space

Singapore is no exception. This is palpably evident in the recent disappearance of cherished spaces such as Rochor Centre, Sungei Road Flea Market and Pearl Bank Apartments. As Janadas Devan once aptly stated, “forgetting is the condition of Singapore.”

This leads one to wonder: in a cityscape where the only constant is change, how can we foster a sense of place and belonging? How and where do we develop social relations beyond our own homes? Are we still able to form meaningful experiences with others as well as our surroundings?

The Uses Of History In International Society: From The Paris Peace Conference To The Present, Margaret Macmillan, Patrick Quinton-Brown

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

History has been used—and abused—for centuries. Yet the more familiar notion of ‘history's lessons’—a notion which tends to make most historians uncomfortable, and which surely demands thoroughgoing skepticism—is far from exhaustive of history's uses in the practice and study of international relations. One important and timely subject is the more constitutive role of history in international deliberations over the creation, fragmentation and transformation of nation-states. What follows is a historical comparison of the changing ways in which the past has been used to frame the terms and content of such debates. While we will be exploring the uses of history …

Behavioral Instruments In Renewable Energy And The Role Of Big Data: A Policy Perspective, Sarah Giest, Ishani Mukherjee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There has been a surge in the application of behavioral insights for environmental policymaking. It is often presented as an easy and low-cost intervention to alter individual behavior. However, there is limited insight into the cost effectiveness of these attempts and the impact of inserting behavioral policy instruments into an existing mix of traditional tools in a particular policy sector. Furthermore, there has been little focus on the intersection of large behavioral datasets and how they could complement behavioral insights. We present a conceptual overview of how the intersection of big data and behavioral knowledge would work in the renewable …

Global Ambitions: Positioning Singapore As A Contemporary Arts Hub, Su Fern Hoe

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This chapter has two objectives. The first is to critically interrogate the state’s efforts in utilising the visual arts as a means to position Singapore as an international arts hub and marketplace. As Kwok Kian Woon and Low Kee-Hong have noted, “Singapore’s cultural policy has everything to do with staying on top as a focal node in the late-capitalist world system of the new millennium” (Kwok and Low, 2002, p. 154). This chapter offers an overview of the programmes and initiatives introduced by the state from the 1990s to the present in order to encourage the entry of international art …

The Arts And Culture Strategic Review Report: Harnessing The Arts For Community-Building, Su Fern Hoe

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Arts and Culture Strategic Review (ACSR) was initiated in 2010 to chart the next phase of cultural development in Singapore. The final report, which was released in 2012, appears to propose a paradigm shift in focus for arts and cultural policy making in Singapore: from the desire to manage the arts and cultural sectors into profitable creative industries to the utilisation of the arts and culture as expedient tools for social cohesion and community building in Singapore. This shift has resulted in government programmes placing (renewed) importance and emphasis on “community arts” as a cultural activity. This chapter critically …

Nurturing The Cultural Desert: The Role Of Museums In Singapore, Su Fern Hoe, Terence Chong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The absence of official platforms and institutions such as museums and visual arts spaces; while the artistic amateur scene was flourishing, there were no museums or national galleries where collections of the best local and regional artworks could be found, appreciated and studied by artists and citizens. This cultural desert was the result of the government’s attention to bread and butter issues. How, then, did Singapore transform from “cultural desert” of yesteryear to a city with 51 museums and 118 art galleries in 2013, as well as an arts scene that saw more than 3.2 million visitors to the national …

Pathologies Of Development Practice: Higher Order Obstacles To Governance Reform In The Pakistani Electrical Power Sector, Ijlal Naqvi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Development actors are regularly aware of the shortcomings of governance interventions before, during, and after development assistance is introduced, yet those programmes continue and are even revisited. Why? This paper uses the Pakistani experience with power sector reforms to illustrate how the donor-led reform agenda had readily apparent shortcomings. A new wave of development thinking responds to such failures by drawing on complexity theory and moving toward more local, iterative and experimental approaches. However, by highlighting how the awareness of problems with reforms isn't sufficient to avoid them, this paper points to a higher order of obstacles which remain unaddressed.

7 'Pc' Ways To Make People-Centric Policies, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

If asked to describe 2015 for Singapore, I would summarise it as "a people-centric year". For just about everyone - politicians, civil servants, community leaders, academics, journalists, social activists or the public itself - the attention was centred on issues that matter to the people. It may seem obvious that being people-centric should characterise how Singapore goes about things. But when people-centricity is driven by populist concerns or political correctness, the outcomes can be self-defeating at best and disastrous at worst. It is important that individuals, communities and the Government, who adopt the ideal of being people-centric, know what it …

Who Is A Stream? Epistemic Communities, Instrument Constituencies And Advocacy Coalitions In Public Policy-Making, Ishani Mukherjee, Michael Howlett

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

John Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) was articulated in order to better understand how issues entered onto policy agendas, using the concept of policy actors interacting over the course of sequences of events in what he referred to as the "problem", "policy" and "politics" "streams". However, it is not a priori certain who the agents are in this process and how they interact with each other. As was common at the time, in his study Kingdon used an undifferentiated concept of a ``policy subsystem{''} to group together and capture the activities of various policy actors involved in this process. However, …

Welfare-To-Work Reform And Intergenerational Support: Grandmothers' Response To The 1996 Prwora, Ho, Christine

Research Collection School Of Economics

The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA; Pub. L. 104-193) in the United States aimed at encouraging work among low-income mothers with children below age 18. In this study, the author used a sample of 2,843 intergenerational family observations from the Health and Retirement Study to estimate the effects of the reform on single grandmothers who are related to those mothers. The results suggest that the reform decreased time transfers but increased money transfers from grandmothers. The results are consistent with an intergenerational family support network where higher child care subsidies motivated the family to shift away …

A Paradoxical Approach To Policymaking, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan discussed the tensions between Singapore’s goals to become a global city and maintain national solidarity. Building on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s recent speech in London which emphasised that Singapore “must get the balance just right”, Professor Chan noted the limitations of adopting a “give-and-take” mindset to the city-country paradox. He suggested several strategic principles for dynamic balancing between city and country goals. He provided the example of building Singapore’s cultural capital and policy adaptations to illustrate the issues.

The New Capitalism: Asia And The Future Of Business, Government, And Society, Ann Florini, Bindu Sharma

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To have a conversation, the appropriate language is needed. The language is just starting to emerge in both Asia and the West for one of the most important conversations the world is now having—the discussion about the future of business and capitalism. Thailand’s King Bhumibol refers to the sufficiency economy. Harvard’s Michael Porter speaks of shared value. Ellen MacArthur’s eponymous foundation supports the transition to the circular economy. John Elkington proposes breakthrough capitalism. Bhutan’s call to measure progress by gross national happiness (GNH), rather than the narrow metric of gross domestic product (GDP), is now attracting attention around the globe. …

Strike The Right Balance To Make Singapore A "City In A Country", David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan discussed the tensions between Singapore’s goals to become a global city and maintain national solidarity. Building on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s recent speech in London which emphasised that Singapore “must get the balance just right”, Professor Chan noted the limitations of adopting a “give-and-take” mindset to the city-country paradox. He suggested several strategic principles for dynamic balancing between city and country goals. He provided the example of building Singapore’s cultural capital and policy adaptations to illustrate the issues.

Moving Forward With Great Expectations, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary article, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan discussed issues of public expectations. He explained the power of unmet expectations and two popular myths about public expectations. He then suggested several attitudes and approaches that help prevent or mitigate negative public reactions. Professor Chan concluded that both people and Government should and can improve the ways they calibrate, frame and manage public expectations.

The Public Roles Of The Private Sector In Asia: The Emerging Research Agenda, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It is no longer possible to understand public policy without focusing intensively on the public roles of the business sector. The world is awash in experimental private governance, from corporate codes of conduct, to demands for disclosure of private sector environmental and social impacts, to ‘social enterprises’ that aim to save the world the profitable way. Such experiments are emerging within Asia, changing the terms of the social licence to operate as society becomes more adept at making demands for good corporate citizenship and as the natural resource crisis begins to hit home. And as Asian corporations go global, they …

The Art Of Disagreeing - It Can Yield Some Good, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary, Director of the Behavioural Sciences Institute at SMU, Professor David Chan explained how a confirmatory bias influences the way people treat information that contradicts their existing beliefs, positions or actions. He suggested ways to react constructively to contrary information and applied the issues to managing disagreements between the Government and citizens or advocacy groups.

Global Companies And Global Society: The Evolving Social Contract, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Globalization, privatization, and CHANging ideas about the roles of business and government are transforming the social contract under which business is allowed to operate. Global companies are also policy-makers and public goods providers, governments seek profits through state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth funds, and everyone is trying to figure out how to partner with everyone else. As a result of global economic and social integration, more and more of the business-society interaction has played out at a transnational rather than purely national level, involving transnational corporations, transnational civil society networks and organizations, and inter-governmental organizations. Experiments with codes of conduct, …

Mapping Dissent: The Responsibility To Protect And Its State Critics, Patrick Quinton-Brown

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Addressing dissent, also known as ‘rejectionism’, will broaden and deepen the global consensus on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle. However, how should scholars understand the objections raised by state critics? To answer this question, I analyse R2P opposition as presented in official UN transcripts, voting records, and resolutions. The article reveals that six related themes of dissent exist with varying degrees of emphasis amongst opponents. Conventional depictions of R2P opposition, such as the absolute sovereignty or North vs. South explanations, are therefore inadequate representations of the diverse range of arguments employed by dissenters. Ultimately, I conclude that in order …

Cpf Life: Managing Longevity Risk As Singaporeans Live Longer, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

To combat the possibility that retirees might outlive their assets, Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) – the national compulsory savings and social security scheme – made the bold move of mandating annuitisation. This followed the findings of a 2007 government study examining how CPF might respond to an increasing life expectancy as the country's baby boomer generation enters retirement.

The Delicate (And Mammoth) Task Of Managing Expectations, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Assistant professor of law Eugene Tan comments on the need to manage the expectations of Singaporeans in the new political landscape.

Fighting Bureaucratic Dysfunction: Pursuing Citizen-Centric Public Innovation, Arre Zuurmond, Lobke Van Der Meulen, Jorrit De Jong

Social Space

Bureaucratic red tape is timeconsuming and places undue pressure on the citizen. Arre Zuurmond, Lobke van derMeulen and Jorrit de Jong have made it their mission to tackle this problem by placing citizens in the centre of the process, but realise that there is more than meets the eye.

From Clampdown To Limited Empowerment: Hard And Soft Law In The Calibration And Regulation Of Religious Conduct In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The focus of Singapore's response to terrorism post 9/11 has been to reach out to the “moderate, mainstream” Muslims as a bulwark against societal implosion. This article examines the broad-based endeavor toward “religious moderation.” While coercive draconian legislation remain the mainstay against extremists and radicals, the mobilization of soft law, aspirational norms, and values are consciously woven into the state's endeavors to enhance society's resilience and cohesion. They also seek to regulate religious conduct at a time when the state wishes to entrench secularism as a cornerstone of the governance of a multi-racial, multireligious society. Rights and regulation are not …

Of Government, Innovation And The Social Sector: An Interview With Ngiam Tong Dow, Tong Dow Ngiam

Social Space

With homelessness and unemployment looming large in the 1960s, the pioneer public service team turned the situation around within a span of 10 years. Veteran civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow shares his insights from the days of coming nose-to-nose with social breakdown – a time when creative resourcefulness was the only option. Retired and with the benefit of hindsight, he shares with Social Space his thoughts on innovation, government and the way forward for the social sector.

Growing Green Space, Geh Min

Social Space

Environmental groups: Saviours of the world or nutty nuisances? Dr Geh Min traces the evolution of the green movement in Singapore in the context of changing political, social and environmental values.

Overseas Giving: Should Charity Begin At Home?, Chi Chiu Tan

Social Space

In extending a hand overseas with developmental and humanitarian aid, is Singapore doing what is best for itself and the recipient communities? And what role does its government have to play in this arena? Dr Tan Chi Chiu weighs in.