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Articles 121 - 145 of 145
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
In Search Of Permanent Homes: Singapore's House Churches And The Politics Of Space, Lily Kong
In Search Of Permanent Homes: Singapore's House Churches And The Politics Of Space, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper focuses on one category of the 'unofficially sacred'-namely, those secular spaces which are used for worship and, in particular, residential spaces which are turned into 'house churches'. Using the case study of a house church in Singapore, the paper examines issues about the politics of religion in urban landscapes in a secular and simultaneously multireligious state. Contrary and in addition to current wisdoms about the politics of religious space, it is argued that various politics are observed: a politics of inclusion; a politics of hybridisation and in-betweenness; a politics of appropriation and nationalisation; and a politics of impermanence …
Attitudes As Barriers In Breast Screening: A Prospective Study Among Singapore Women, Paulin Tay Straughan, Adeline Seow
Attitudes As Barriers In Breast Screening: A Prospective Study Among Singapore Women, Paulin Tay Straughan, Adeline Seow
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Health care systems do not exist in isolation, but rather, as part of the larger social and cultural mosaic. In particular, perceived attitudes are major obstacles in health promotion exercises. This problem is especially true for non-white populations where little is known about the prevailing social and cultural perceptions towards western biomedical prescriptions. To further our understanding of Asian women's acceptance of mammograms, three attitudinal indexes are conceptualised, constructed and validated. Data fi om a prospective survey showed the significance of fatalistic attitudes, perceived barriers and perceived efficacy of early detection in predicting women's acceptance of a free mammogram at …
Cultural Policy In Singapore: Negotiating Economic And Socio-Cultural Agendas, Lily Kong
Cultural Policy In Singapore: Negotiating Economic And Socio-Cultural Agendas, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In this paper, I examine the role of cultural policy in a newly industrialised economy, which is at the same time a state with a short history and only nascent beginnings in nation-building and efforts to construct a distinctive cultural identity. Using Singapore as the site of analyses, develop an understanding of the intersection between the economic and socio-cultural agendas behind cultural development policies. I illustrate the hegemony of the economic, supported by the ideology and language of pragmatism and globalisation. At the same time, I explore the reception of and attempts to negotiate (and at times, contest) state policies …
Religion And Modernity: Ritual Transformations And The Reconstruction Of Space And Time, Chee Kiong Tong, Lily Kong
Religion And Modernity: Ritual Transformations And The Reconstruction Of Space And Time, Chee Kiong Tong, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In this paper, we use the case of Chinese religion in Singapore to examine the relationships between religion and modernity, and between social processes, on the one hand, and spatial conceptions, forms and structures and temporal practices, on the other. Specifically, we look at how traditional Chinese rituals are being modified, reinterpreted and invented to fit with modern living. Such ritual transformations entail reconstructed notions of space and time. Through such transformations, modernity does not simply lead to the demise of religious beliefs and practices but allows for a continued role for religion in providing a meaning system for Chinese …
Asian Higher Education And The Politics Of Identity, Lily Kong
Asian Higher Education And The Politics Of Identity, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
No abstract provided.
Globalisation And Singaporean Transmigration: Re-Imagining And Negotiating National Identity, Lily Kong
Globalisation And Singaporean Transmigration: Re-Imagining And Negotiating National Identity, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Within the context of globalisation that confronts the world today, I aim in this paper to illustrate one particular state's attempts at constructing a 'nation' amidst efforts to encourage its citizens to globalise, actions which are ostensibly, or at least, potentially, contradictory; and to analyse how these citizens who became transmigrants construct and negotiate their sense of 'nation' and national identity. Specifically, my empirical questions centre on Singaporean transmigrants working in China. I ask the following questions. What happens to the sense of national identity among Singaporeans and their relationship with the 'nation' when confronted with transnational conditions? What are …
Cemetaries And Columbaria, Memorials And Mausoleums: Narrative And Interpretation In The Study Of Deathscapes In Geography, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper reviews research on deathscapes, particularly by geographers in the last decade, and argues that many of the issues addressed reflect the concerns that have engaged cultural geographers during the same period. In particular, necrogeographical research reveals the relevance of deathscapes to theoretical arguments about the social constructedness of race, class, gender, nation and nature; the ideological underpinnings of landscapes, the contestation of space, the centrality of place and the multiplicity of meanings. This paper therefore highlights how the focus on one particular form of landscape reveals macro-cultural geographical research interests and trends.
The Construction And Experience Of Nature: Perspectives Of Urban Youths, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Navjot S. Sodhi, Clive Briffett
The Construction And Experience Of Nature: Perspectives Of Urban Youths, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Navjot S. Sodhi, Clive Briffett
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In this paper, we explore the ways in which young people in a highly urbanised setting experience and develop constructions of nature. We do so by using Singapore as our case study, an Asian context in which urbanisation is total (Singapore's population is totally urbanised), Based on focus group discussions, we conclude that young Singaporeans have little interest in and affinity for nature. This stems from a few factors: growing up in a highly urban environment in which contact with nature is limited; over-protective parents of two-children families who worry about the 'dangers' their children are exposed to when playing …
Exalting The Past: Nostalgia And The Construction Of Heritage In Children's Literature, Lily Kong, Lily Tay
Exalting The Past: Nostalgia And The Construction Of Heritage In Children's Literature, Lily Kong, Lily Tay
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In this paper, we analyse the portrayal of Singapore in local children's literature and seek to understand why such a portrayal was prominent, and to what effect. We argue that this literature is characterized by a nostalgic recollection of past times and places. This emergence of the past as an important concern in Singapore is not limited to the literary arena, but reflects a larger condition: a broader adult yearning to transcend the constrictions of present place and time. We suggest that this nostalgia has surfaced because of the phenomenal changes in Singapore, which have caused people to come face …
Refocusing On Qualitative Methods: Problems And Prospects For Research In A Specific Asian Context, Lily Kong
Refocusing On Qualitative Methods: Problems And Prospects For Research In A Specific Asian Context, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
A recent issue of Area (1996, Volume 28.2) devoted space to six papers on focus groups, attesting to their increasing importance as a means of obtaining qualitative data. The papers provided interesting insights into the use of focus groups in specific research and cultural contexts, and raised three main issues in my mind. The first is a continuing misunderstanding as to the nature of knowledge, which surfaces in discussions of, and approaches to, the use of qualitative methods such as focus groups. The second is the range of related techniques that are actually involved in the qualitative method, known as …
Popular Music In A Transnational World: The Construction Of Local Identities In Singapore, Lily Kong
Popular Music In A Transnational World: The Construction Of Local Identities In Singapore, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
As an area of geographical inquiry, popular music has not been explored to any large extent. Where writings exist, they have been somewhat divorced from recent theoretical and methodological questions that have rejuvenated social and cultural geography. In this paper, I focus on one arena which geographers can develop in their analysis of popular music, namely, the exploration of local influences and global forces in the production of music. In so doing, I wish to explore how local resources intersect with global ones in a process of transculturation. Using the example of English songs by one particular songwriter and artiste …
The Construction Of National Identity Through The Production Of Ritual And Spectacle: An Analysis Of National Day Parades In Singapore, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh
The Construction Of National Identity Through The Production Of Ritual And Spectacle: An Analysis Of National Day Parades In Singapore, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In this paper, we adopt the view that 'nation' and 'national identity' are social constructions, created to serve ideological ends. We discuss this in the specific empirical context of Singapore's National Day parades. By drawing on officially produced souvenir programmes and magazines, newspaper reports, and interviews with participants and spectators, we analyse the parades between 1965 and 1994, showing how, as an annual ritual and landscape spectacle, the parades succeed to a large extent in creating a sense of awe, wonderment and admiration. Discussion focuses on four aspects of the celebrations: the site of the parades, their display and theatricality, …
Public Housing In Singapore: Interpreting 'Quality' In The 1990s, Siew Eng Teo, Lily Kong
Public Housing In Singapore: Interpreting 'Quality' In The 1990s, Siew Eng Teo, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
While writings exist on various aspects of public housing in Singapore, recent developments in the 1990s have not yet been given any serious academic attention, Our intention in this paper is to focus on such developments, paying particular attention to the government's policy of providing quality housing, After setting the context of efforts at providing quality in the first three decades of public housing by the Housing and Development Board, we turn our attention specifically to the 1990s, focusing on three areas in which attempts are being made to improve quality, namely, the physical upgrading of older estates, the privatisation …
Nature And Nurture, Danger And Delight: Urban Women's Experiences Of The Natural World, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Clive Briffett, Navjot S. Sodhi
Nature And Nurture, Danger And Delight: Urban Women's Experiences Of The Natural World, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Clive Briffett, Navjot S. Sodhi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In this paper, we address a research lacuna in the area of human experience of, and interaction with, nature. We focus on women in an urbanized setting, exploring their actual and desired experiences of the natural world, using Singapore as a case study. Our intention is to contribute to both the evolving theoretical and empirical discussions on this subject. Based on data collected from focus group discussions and household questionnaires, we conclude that women's relationships with nature in Singapore are underscored by a strong inclination towards nurturing: teaching, tending and caring, in a way that is not as apparent in …
Singapore And The Experience Of Place In Old Age, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Peggy Teo
Singapore And The Experience Of Place In Old Age, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Peggy Teo
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Through case studies of two neighborhoods in Singapore with large concentrations of elderly residents-Tiong Bahru and Chinatown-we explore the relationship between the aged's emotional attachments to place and the sustenance of their personal identities, their continued participation in life, and their adaptation to changing circumstances. In particular, we examine their feelings of physical, social, and autobiographical insideness. We emphasize the rapidly changing physical conditions in Chinatown wrought by the government's conservation strategy and their implications for the elderly. In Tiong Bahru young people are moving to newer housing developments, leaving the aged behind in an essentially little-changed physical environment; we …
Ideology, Social Commentary And Resistance In Popular Music: A Case Study Of Singapore, Phua Siew Chye, Lily Kong
Ideology, Social Commentary And Resistance In Popular Music: A Case Study Of Singapore, Phua Siew Chye, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Popular music as a site of struggles over meaning is focused upon, where the social and political relations between different groups in Singapore society are mirrored. How ruling elites and everyday people make use of the same cultural form--popular music--for different purposes is examined.
Popular Music And A Sense Of Place In Singapore, Lily Kong
Popular Music And A Sense Of Place In Singapore, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper illustrates how popular music written, produced, and performed by Singaporeans provides a means through which the culture and society of Singapore may be understood. Music with English language text conveys a sense of place and reflects a distinctively Singaporean spirit and identity. The paper examines four themes: the portrayal of Singapore's multiracial population which reflects a unique cultural synthesis; the Singaporeans' concept of urbanity, manifested as the simultaneous attraction and repulsion towards the city and the desire for nature and the rustic; the distinctive social engineering in Singapore; and the way in which global issues are imported into …
Making "Music At The Margins"? A Social And Cultural Analysis Of Xinyao In Singapore, Lily Kong
Making "Music At The Margins"? A Social And Cultural Analysis Of Xinyao In Singapore, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Formalist critics and aestheticians have argued that music does not possess any kind of "extra-musical" significance, that there is no meaning beyond the form and structural relations of the notes. For them, music exemplifies the laws of mathematical harmony and proportion rather than the social and political contexts within which it is produced, reproduced and consumed. This view has been challenged by a number of social theorists: Max Weber, Theodor Adorno and Edward Said have all argued for an understanding of music within its social, cultural, economic and political contexts. Such analysis of popular music is now unquestioned. Indeed, it …
The Commercial Face Of God: Exploring The Nexus Between The Religious And The Material, Lily Kong
The Commercial Face Of God: Exploring The Nexus Between The Religious And The Material, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper explores the nexus between the cultural and the material by examining the ways in which religion and the economy are integrated in the context of economy-driven Singapore. The mutually constitutive relationships between the cultural and the material are explored through a discussion of the role of the state, capital and religious institutions in pulling together the sacred and the secular. Specifically, the analysis focuses on how the state harnesses religion ideologically in its economic development strategies; how capital harnesses the potential of religion in commercial enterprises in practical terms; and how religious institutions themselves behave as financial institutions. …
Music And Cultural Politics: Ideology And Resistance In Singapore, Lily Kong
Music And Cultural Politics: Ideology And Resistance In Singapore, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper focuses on popular music written and produced by Singaporeans to illustrate the nature of social relationships based on ideological hegemony and resistance. Analysis is based on two groups of music: 'national' songs supported by the government in the 'Sing Singapore' programme; and songs brought together in Not the Singapore song book. Interviews with local lyricists and analysis of video productions provide supplementary information. Music is used by the ruling elite to perpetuate certain ideologies aimed at political socialization and to inculcate a civil religion that directs favour and fervour towards the nation. Music is also a form of …
Urban Conservation In Singapore: A Survey Of State Policies And Popular Attitudes, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh
Urban Conservation In Singapore: A Survey Of State Policies And Popular Attitudes, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper focuses on the intersection of state policies and popular attitudes towards urban conservation in Singapore. It first reviews changing state policies which have shaped the built environment from slum clearance in the 1950s and 1960s to the conservation of the city's historic districts in the 1980s and 1990s. It then explores the degree of convergence between the state and the public in terms of the meaning and purposes of conservation, the question of whose heritage to conserve and which strategies are appropriate. While there is general agreement on the need for conservation and the benefits it confers on …
Reading Landscape Meanings: State Constructions And Lived Experiences In Singapore's Chinatown, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Lily Kong
Reading Landscape Meanings: State Constructions And Lived Experiences In Singapore's Chinatown, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The term 'landscape" embodies multiple levels of meaning: it articulates the ideological intent of the powerful who plan or shape the landscape in particular ways and at the same time reflects the everyday meanings implicit in the daily routines of ordinary people associated with the landscape. Through an analysis of four themes constituting the landscape of Singapore's Chinatown, we unpack two different but interdependent versions of landscape reality: the construction of social meanings from the state's perspective and those derived from the lived experiences of Chinatown's inhabitants. In our first theme, we explore the multiplicity of meanings invested in Chinatown's …
Negotiating Conceptions Of 'Sacred Space': A Case Study Of Religious Buildings In Singapore, Lily Kong
Negotiating Conceptions Of 'Sacred Space': A Case Study Of Religious Buildings In Singapore, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In this paper, I approach the study of religious place from a re-theorized cultural geographical stance. Using multi-religious Singapore as a case study, I examine the tensions which arise over the meanings and values associated with religious buildings because of the conflict between state hegemony on the one hand and the oppositional meanings and values of religious groups and individuals on the other. I also examine the ways in which individuals negotiate their conceptions of sacred space in order to cope with changes imposed on their religious places by the state. Primarily, my argument is that conflict is avoided because …
The Sacred And The Secular: Exploring Contemporary Meanings And Values For Religious Buildings In Singapore, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The study of human environmental experiences has engaged a range of disciplinary attention, with work deriving chiefly from environmental psychologists and geographers. However, most research has focused on the sensory aspects of environmental experience, while the intangible, immeasurable experiences of environments have been somewhat neglected. Certainly, the meanings and values that are invested in places, which form part of the interaction between humans and environments, have not been sufficiently researched. My intention in this paper is to address one aspect of this silence, namely the ways in which humans experience their religious environments, and more particularly, the symbolic meanings and …
Singapore, Kirpal Singh
Singapore, Kirpal Singh
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
No abstract provided.