Law Commons^™

A Clarion Call For Businesses To Do Right, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally on Sunday signalled a putative shift in the government's policy towards tackling workplace discrimination and supporting lower-wage workers. While the tripartite approach remains the bedrock in industrial relations, the government is prepared to adopt a more muscular approach through regulation by legislation. Businesses must recognise the concerns of workers amid the unpredictable arc of the global pandemic. It cannot be business as usual.

Tackling Singapore’S Terrorism Threat: Bringing The People Back In, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Eugene K B Tan, Associate Professor of Law at the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, considers Singapore’s response to the threat of terrorism following 9/11. This essay is based on an article published in the journal, Law and Policy (2009).

Cmio Holds Value For Minority Communities, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan discussed the intrinsic and symbolic value of the Chinese-Malay-Indian-Others (CMIO) classification, and explained how it matters to all communities, but more so for the minorities. He called for continual dialogue and meaningful engagement on race issues to nurture Singapore's civic identity while fully recognising its multiple roots, to strengthen the Singaporean identity and ethos.

How To Talk About Racism, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Assistant Professor of Law Benjamin Joshua Ong wrote that recent debates about race and race relations have reminded him that using a single word to describe something can lead to quibbles over the precise definition, while discussion of the thing itself is neglected. He believes that in addressing important questions related to race, we should not reduce the potentially rich discussion to a simplistic argument over whether the incidents are "racist" or not, but should keep an open mind when having difficult conversations.

Holding The Therapeutic State At Bay? Balancing Autonomy And Protection In Singapore's Vulnerable Adults Act, Wing Cheong Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Abuse, exploitation and neglect of adults raise complex issues on the freedom of the individual to choose for themselves versus the powers of the State to intervene. The law has traditionally limited the scope of compulsory intervention to extreme situations only which can frustrate social workers who deal with such cases. On the other hand, it would be unacceptable to allow intervention simply because it is assessed to be in the adults’ best interests. A balance therefore has to be struck between autonomy and protection. This paper examines how Singapore’s Vulnerable Adults Act identifies the point for intervention and embodies …

Soft Law And The Development Of Norms And Trust In Countering The Terrorist Threat: Engaging The Faith Communities In Post-9/11 Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

On July 6, 2010, Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD) announced that a “self-radicalized,” full-time national serviceman had been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) since April 4, 2010. Muhammad Fadil bin Abdul Hamid (Fadil), age 20, would be detained under the ISA for two years in the first instance. According to the media statement, Fadil had become convinced that “it was his religious duty to undertake armed jihad alongside fellow militants and strive for martyrdom.” According to local media reports, Fadil was the sixth known case of self-radicalization. Fadil was subsequently released on a Restriction Order on April 4, …

Labour Protection For The Vulnerable: An Evaluation Of The Salary And Injury Claims System For Migrant Workers In Singapore, Tamera Fillinger, Nicholas Harrigan, Stephanie Chok, Amirah Amirrudin, Patricia Meyer, Meera Rajah, Debbie Fordyce

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This research seeks to review and analyze the protections afforded to migrant workers in Singapore who bring salary and injury claims to the Ministry of Manpower for resolution. Our focus is male Work Permit holders from Bangladesh, China, and India who make up the majority of the workforce in Singapore’s construction and marine sectors. Work Permit holders are the lowest wage category of foreign workers and comprise nearly a third of the overall workforce. While these workers play an important role in building the nation, they face workplace issues that many would not associate with a modern economy.

Lucky To Be Singaporean, Ee-Ing Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Op-ed about being Singaporean, in our historic 2015 elections.

"In the midst of our historic elections, I would like to remind Singaporeans that there remains a wider world out there. That our concerns about CPF money, high housing prices, rising income inequality, foreign workers, transportation woes, and the AHPETC saga, while important, are nonetheless First World problems. We have the luxury of arguing about them because we don’t have to worry about the fundamental problems of survival. Literally.

Thus, as we consider what we would like our country to look like in the coming years, I suggest that we first …

Working Inclusiveness Into Society, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Treating the disabled as no different from able-bodied folks and holding them to the same standards are key

International Conventions And The Failure Of A Transnational Approach To Controlling Asian Crime Business, Mark Findlay, Nafis Hanif

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The paper argues that without a realistic understanding of criminal enterprise located against the commercial forces shaping contemporary Asian market contexts, then domestic, bi-lateral, regional and international control initiatives are not only likely to fail in their regulatory objectives, but the premises on which they are constructed may heighten the market conditions for crime business profitability.The international convention-based approach to regulating transnational and organized crime is the framework from which a critique of non-market centred law enforcement control concentrations is developed. This critique reveals the transposition of flawed normative control considerations from domestic to supra-national control contexts, and shows how …

Human Trafficking: An Ancient Trade With A Modern Face, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

If we believe that advances in science, health and human rights have led to a more civilised society than before, think again.

The Fundamental Question When Applying The Welfare Principle: "Who Will Be The Better Parent Or Guardian"?, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The welfare principle – that is, when making a custody-related decision, the best interests of the child form the first and paramount consideration – is probably one of the cardinal principles of family law in many common law jurisdictions. While the welfare principle is generally considered a wide concept with no exhaustive definition or list of factors, it is submitted that there is an important question – sometimes neglected or misunderstood – that should actually feature most prominently when applying the welfare principle, particularly when joint or no order custody orders seem impossible. The question is simply that of “who …

Asean And The Evolving State Of Human Rights, Hilary Stauffer

Social Space

What is it about human rights in Asia that has international governments so worked up? According to Hilary Stauffer, it is not necessarily about differences in culture and geography.

Sham Marriages, Ancillary Powers, And Moral Discourse: Toh Seok Kheng V. Huang Huiqun; Adp V. Adq, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Is marriage an institution (of public morality) or a contract (of private ordering)? In Toh Seok Kheng, the High Court concluded that it was unable to declare a “sham marriage” void just because the motives behind the marriage seemed improper. In ADP, the High Court held that since a void marriage meant there was no marriage to begin with, the “wife” was not entitled to maintenance, and there could not have been any “matrimonial assets” to be divided, unless she had a strong “moral” claim. This piece considers how the aforementioned moral-contractual dichotomy emerges in these cases.

Our Shared Stake, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

It's the time of the active citizen. Recent spurts of collective campaigning have mobilised surprising ground support. Eugene Tan analyses the coming age of civil society here through the passionate and visible advocacy of certain groups in recent events.

Prison’S Spoilt Identities: Racially Structured Realities Within And Beyond, Nafis Hanif

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article begins by seeking an explanation for the solidarity between Malay inmates and guards in perpetrating abusive and discriminatory treatment towards Malay transvestites. In the course of explaining an empirical phenomenon in the Singapore prison, this article has examined Singapore's history and ethnic demography, the ethnic Malay minority's lack of socio-economic development and modernisation vis-a-vis the ethnic Chinese majority, geo-politics, the ideology and strategic choices of the state's political elite and their implications for inter-ethnic interactions between Malays and Chinese. As this article will argue, prison culture, rather than being divorced from larger society, is in effect able to …

The Changes And Non-Changes Of China's Rural Land, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Redefining Marriage: Where To Draw The Line?, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Redefining Marriage: Where To Draw The Line?, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Multiracialism Engineered: The Limits Of Electoral And Spatial Integration In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines Singapore's innovations in electoral and spatial integration. In examining the Group Representation Constituency and the Ethnic Integration Policy, a critique is made of the official discourse that multiracialism is internalized and entrenched in Singapore's political psyche and electoral process. While the electoral and spatial integration policies are driven by the objective of enhancing multiracialism, their actual workings do not adequately advance the development of norms and values that would be truly supportive of the need for a multiracial legislature and an abiding commitment to multiracialism. The layering of the electoral system with other political objectives, such as …

It's All Right To Be Wrong, Sometimes, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Racist comments made by some youths have spawned many reactions from Singaporeans. This presents another interesting issue: Do these reactions themselves evince the kind of intolerance of a diversity of opinions which they are attacking? When and how can we differ without being intolerant and disrespectful?

It's All Right To Be Wrong, Sometimes, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Racist comments made by some youths have spawned many reactions from Singaporeans. This presents another interesting issue: Do these reactions themselves evince the kind of intolerance of a diversity of opinions which they are attacking? When and how can we differ without being intolerant and disrespectful?

No Vision? Youths Need Role Models, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Much recent talk about the vision (or lack thereof) of our young people has revolved around a search for solutions in the form of programmes that give them an opportunity to broaden their minds and, it is hoped, develop their characters.

No Vision? Youths Need Role Models, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Much recent talk about the vision (or lack thereof) of our young people has revolved around a search for solutions in the form of programmes that give them an opportunity to broaden their minds and, it is hoped, develop their characters.

Larger Issues At Stake In Unnatural Sex Debate, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The recent debate about the criminal prohibition of oral sex provides an occasion for considering larger, related issues. However prevalent the practice of oral sex and however archaic Section 377 of the Penal Code seems to those pushing for its repeal, the arguments offered have tended to take a piecemeal approach and display an ignorance of or disregard for the larger interests at stake.

Larger Issues At Stake In Unnatural Sex Debate, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The recent debate about the criminal prohibition of oral sex provides an occasion for considering larger, related issues. However prevalent the practice of oral sex and however archaic Section 377 of the Penal Code seems to those pushing for its repeal, the arguments offered have tended to take a piecemeal approach and display an ignorance of or disregard for the larger interests at stake.

Re-Engaging Chineseness: Political, Economic And Cultural Imperatives Of Nation-Building In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines the management of Chinese identity and culture since Singapore attained independence in 1965. Due to the delicate regional environment, ethnic Chinese identity has been closely managed by the ruling elites, which have been dominated by the English-educated Chinese. There is the evolution from a deliberate policy of maintaining a low-key ethnic Chinese profile to the recent effort to re-sinicize--in form--the majority ethnic group. The article examines the policy impulses and implications for such a landmark change in reconceptualizing the Chinese-Singapore identity, which can be attributed to the needs of regime maintenance buttressed by Confucian ethos as well …

The Globalisation Of Crime, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

As with many emergent themes in today's society, globalisation is simple and complex. Put simply, it is the collapsing of time and space; the process whereby through mass communication, multi-national commerce, internationalised politics, and transnational regulation we seem to be moving inexorably towards a single culture. The more complex interpretation of globalisation is as paradox - wherein there are as many pressures driving us in the direction of the common culture as those keeping us apart.

Organised Crime As Terrorism, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a somewhat belated incursion into the international debate about the threat of organised crime, Federal and State governments in Australia have chosen to represent the 'menace' as an attack on the institution of the state as much as a physical and financial danger to society. This is consistent with the approaches of governments in the United States and Italy in constructing the reality of the Mafia.

Positivism, Empiricism And Criminology Theory, Don Weatherburn, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The discipline of criminology has been dominated since the turn of the century by an explanatory paradigm' known as 'positivism'. The distinctive features of that paradigm have been both substantive and methodological. On the substantive side 'positivist criminology' has been marked by a commitment to the explanation of criminal behaviour (and deviance generally) in terms of characteristics of the individual. Thus positivist criminology has been notable for its explanations of criminal behaviour in terms of gross bodily features, patterns of child-rearing, genetic defect, and idiosyncratic personality traits. On the methodological side positivist criminology has been marked by a preference for …