Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Review Of The Singapore Companies Act: Consultation On Draft Legislative Changes To Companies Act, Wai Yee Wan

Wai Yee WAN

In October 2013, MOF and ACRA sought further public consultation (“Second Consultation”) on the second part of the Draft Companies (Amendment) Bill 2013 that covers legislative amendments relating to foreign companies and other aspects of the Companies Act, including those relating to enhancing the powers of the Registrar of Companies to strike off companies and to share buyback limits. This note discusses some of the more controversial, as well as the significant, changes that are proposed in the Second Consultation.

Coping With Growth Transitions: The Case Of Chinese Family Businesses In Singapore, Wee-Liang Tan, Siew Tong Fock

Wee Liang TAN

Families control more than half of the corporations in East Asia. The contribution of family businesses to Asia's economic growth is predicated upon successfully growing their businesses. Many family businesses in East Asia, spanning countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, are Chinese owned and managed. Some claim that these businesses will never develop into full-fledged multinational enterprises because of their cultural heritage (Redding, 1990). However, some Chinese family businesses have successfully made the transition.This paper presents an in-depth study of five Chinese family businesses in Singapore that have successfully made the transition in growth and size …

Singapore's New Discretionary Death Penalty For Drug Couriers: Public Prosecutor V Chum Tat Suan, Siyuan Chen

Siyuan CHEN

The article offers information on the history, evolution and significance of the new discretionary death penalty legislation for drug couriers in Singapore under the application of the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA). It discusses the judicial decision of the Singaporean High Court in the case of Public Prosecutor v. Chum Tat Suan in which the Court convicted the accused with chareges of importing of more than 94.96g of diamorphine into Singapore that was punishable under section 33 of the MDA.

Following English Footsteps? An Empirical Study Of Singapore's Reported Insurance Judgments And Disputes Between 1965 And 2012, Christopher Chao-Hung Chen

Christopher Chao-hung Chen

This article presents an empirical study of the development of Singapore’s insurance contract law in relation to English law. The gene of Singapore’s insurance law is very English. The empirical data show a lack of momentum in driving insurance law forward by case law. This may justify further legislative reform to address not only the known doctrinal issues inherited from English law but also the specific problems facing consumer insurance. Singapore’s competitiveness in the global insurance market will be an instrumental factor to determine how far Singapore continues to follow English law in the future.

Measuring The Transplantation Of English Commercial Law In A Small Jurisdiction: An Empirical Study Of Singapore’S Insurance Judgments Between 1965 And 2012, Christopher Chen

Christopher Chao-hung CHEN

This article seeks to measure the development of law after transplanting common law and statutes from another country by conducting an empirical study of the citation of precedents and demography of disputes of insurance cases in Singapore. This article recognizes that there are justifications for Singapore to transplant English insurance law. However, this research shows that the transplantation of English commercial law into a small jurisdiction, even within the common law family, may cause the law to be in a static state if courts do not have enough cases to maintain the development of law or to consider new development …

New A*Star-Smu Centre Combines High-Powered Computing And Behavioural Sciences To Study People-Centric Issues, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Singapore Management University (SMU) will establish a Centre for Technology and Social-Behavioural Insights (CTSBI) to tap on high performance computing technology, big data analytics and behavioural sciences to study people-centric issues and human behaviour including how people think, feel and act in different settings. Such information can be used to enhance planning and address issues in different areas such as retail, logistics, urban planning, education and community development.

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2014: Q1 Results, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

The Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) computes customer satisfaction scores at the national, sector, sub-sector, and company levels. The CSISG serves as a quantitative benchmark of the quality of goods and services produced by the Singapore economy over time and across countries. These Q1 results for the Retail and Infocommunications sectors begin the CSISG’s eighth year of measurement.

Evolving An Information Systems Capstone Course To Align With The Fast Changing Singapore Marketplace, Chris Boesch, Benjamin Kok Siew Gan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Every year, around fifty-five undergraduate teams of four to six students are required to complete a capstone course for the School of Information Systems at Singapore Management University. Each team spends approximately five months working with an industry sponsor using the latest tools and techniques. Students actively learn by implementing the system to solve a real world problem. In addition to delivering value to the local sponsor, our students learn specialized skills currently needed in the marketplace, which might not yet be incorporated into electives and core courses. In this paper, we discuss the tradeoffs of providing students and project …

Seeking Information About Climate Change: Effects Of Media Use In An Extended Prism, Shirley S. Ho, Benjamin H. Detenber, Sonny Rosenthal, Edmund W. J. Lee

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study replicates and extends the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM) in the context of impersonal risk by incorporating media use as an antecedent of risk information seeking intention. Results indicate that the model applies equally well to Singaporeans’ climate change information seeking intention as it does in the context of personal health information, suggesting that the model is generalizable across different risk and cultural contexts. Findings suggest that media use is an important source of perceived knowledge and, indirectly, sufficiency threshold, which clarifies the role of actual information seeking in risk perceptions and future information seeking.

Democracy Of Deeds And Voices, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan discussed the nature of a negativity mindset and how to foster positivity in Singapore. He suggested that Singapore should be a “democracy of deeds and voices” and build psychological capital as a core resource.

Tort Law, Kumaralingam Amirthalingam, Gary Kok Yew Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Teo Wei Hsin Lawrence (Zhang Weixin), Tin Yan Ying Geraldine (Cheng Yanying Geraldine) v Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No 1525 [2014] SGDC 350 involved a suit by the owners of a condominium unit (the plaintiffs) against the management corporation of the development (the defendant). Three months after purchasing the unit, the plaintiffs undertook renovation works which were completed after about five months. Prior to moving in, the plaintiffs discovered mould on the interior walls and on their new cabinets located at the rear end of the unit. As the unit was in the corner of the development, the outside …

Housing Policies In Singapore: Evaluation Of Recent Proposals And Recommendations For Reform, S Y Phang, David Lee, Alan Cheong, Kok-Fai Phoon, Karol Wee

PHANG Sock Yong

No abstract provided.

Social Sensing For Urban Crisis Management: The Case Of Singapore Haze, Philips Kokoh Prasetyo, Ming Gao, Ee Peng Lim, Christie N. Scollon

Ming Gao

Sensing social media for trends and events has become possible as increasing number of users rely on social media to share information. In the event of a major disaster or social event, one can therefore study the event quickly by gathering and analyzing social media data. One can also design appropriate responses such as allocating resources to the affected areas, sharing event related information, and managing public anxiety. Past research on social event studies using social media often focused on one type of data analysis (e.g., hashtag clusters, diffusion of events, influential users, etc.) on a single social media data …

Gender And Divorce In Contemporary Singapore, Shirley Hsiao-Li Sun

Shirley Hsiao-Li SUN

How do individuals perceive and experience divorce in a self-proclaimed Confucian state, but with a legal system based on the English common law system? Moreover, are there differences in the experiences between divorced women with professional careers and divorced men whose ex-wives are professional women? This paper attempts to address these questions in the context of Singapore, a city-state in Southeast Asia, where more than 70% of the citizenry is Singaporean Chinese. While most existing studies have examined women’s and men’s experiences with divorce separately, we compare and contrast these individuals’ experiences in the same cultural and legal context. We …

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2013: Full Year Overview, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

The Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) computes customer satisfaction scores at the national, sector, sub-sector, and company levels. Customer responses are derived from Singapore’s resident population and visiting tourists, primarily through face-to-face surveys. This study serves as a quantitative benchmark of the quality of goods and services produced by the Singapore economy over time and across countries. The fourth quarter results mark the end of measurement for CSISG 2013. Singapore’s 2013 national score is computed using the data collected during these four quarters.

Sutd And Smu Jointly Launch Inaugural Undergraduate Dual Degree Programme In Technology, Design And Management, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases

This May, the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and the Singapore Management University (SMU) will admit the first batch of dual degree undergraduate students. Up to 45 top achievers will have the unprecedented opportunity to pursue an engineering degree from SUTD and a business management degree from SMU concurrently. The four-year programme, aimed at producing graduates who will be highly effective in an increasingly complex globalised world, will prepare students to be technology and management-grounded leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Students will spend time at both campuses, and will take SUTD and SMU courses from the first academic year, …

Berita Autumn 2014, Timothy P. Daniels

Berita

Table of Contents

Chair’s Address ... 2

Editor’s Foreword...4

Members’ Updates...5

Prizes ... 8

Announcements...10

Malaysian Chinese Muslims in Search of an Identity...11

Brunei’s Syariah Penal Code and Secular Fundamentalism...14

A comparative analysis of online and print media during the 2013 Malaysian General Election: A Research Note...22

Book Review...36

Obituary...39

Civil Case Management In Singapore: Of Models, Measures And Justice, Chee Hock Foo, Eunice Chua, Louis Ng

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The goals of all ASEAN member states are to “accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development” and “promote peace and stability” in the region. To achieve these goals, the public will need to trust and respect the Judiciary. Such trust and respect can be lost if there are inefficient practices that result in delay in the courts. The Singapore Judiciary is presently lauded for “its efficiency, its technological sophistication, its accessibility and the confidence of Singapore’s citizens and businesses in the system.” The World Economic Forum has also ranked Singapore first (out of 142 countries) in recognition of Singapore’s …

Informal Banking And Early International Entrepreneurs: The Case Of The Chettiars, Jayarani Tan, Wee Liang Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

As moneylenders during nineteenth century colonial period the Chettiars were functioned as informal bankers in Asia. They began as communal entrepreneurs in their clan but grew beyond their domestic borders. Despite their smallness and resources, they were able to internationalize. This paper reports a study into their internationalization examining the manner they were able to successfully venture abroad. We found that external factors like the British protectorate and internal factors like their unique socio-cultural institutions and norms and values served as enabling factors for their internationalization. These include a family culture of training the sons for the business, embracing business …

Singapore Management University Report To Stakeholders 2013 - 2014, Singapore Management University

Report to Stakeholders

Ho Kwon Ping, together with our Board of Trustees and senior leaders, debated vigorously before endorsing a bold and exciting SMU Vision 2025. To achieve its objective of becoming a great university, it requires the institution to be a game-changer in education, a catalyst in cutting-edge research and an exemplar as a leading city university in Asia. Already, the transformative process is off to a quick start with several initiatives being launched (see “President’s State of the University Address 2014: Vision 2025 – Making it Real”). Research that is relevant and makes a positive impact on society is one of …

Gazing At Haw Par Villa: Cultural Tourism In Singapore, Voonchin Phua, Joseph W. Miller

Sociology Faculty Publications

Tourism is an important and growing industry in Singapore. Studies on Singapore cultural tourism have generally focused on three major sites: Chinatown, Little India and the Malay Village. The Haw Par Villa tourist site has not been examined in recent years. The case study of Haw Par Villa offered here demonstrates how changing times in Singapore have affected the popularity of tourist sites in an island nation. This article discusses the decline and potential rebirth of Singapore’s Haw Par Villa theme park in the context of cultural tourism, placing a special emphasis on Urry’s concept of the ‘tourist gaze’. Multiple …

Agency And Partnership Law [2013], Pearlie M. C. Koh, Stephen Noel Henry Bull

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The laws relating to the creation of an agency, implied authority, holding out and apparent authority, duties of the agent in relation to Agency law are discussed. The laws relating to partnership law and issues such as relationship of partners to third parties, relationships of partners between themselves and capacity to be a partner are highlighted.

Milestones For Animal Welfare: Public Prosecutor V. Ling Chung Yee Roy, Alvin W. L. See

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Animal law is a little-known subject in Singapore. However, the increase in public awareness and concern about animal welfare issues demand that more attention is directed at the legal aspects of such issues. An opportunity to examine this area of the law arose in the case of Ling Chung Yee Roy. The District Court, presided by District Judge Ng Peng Hong, had to decide whether the accused was guilty of an animal cruelty offence under s. 42(1)(e) of the Animals and Birds Act. The majority of animal cruelty complaints were against pet owners, of which a significant number concerned the …

Measuring The Transplantation Of English Commercial Law In A Small Jurisdiction: An Empirical Study Of Singapore’S Insurance Judgments Between 1965 And 2012, Christopher Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article seeks to measure the development of law after transplanting common law and statutes from another country by conducting an empirical study of the citation of precedents and demography of disputes of insurance cases in Singapore. This article recognizes that there are justifications for Singapore to transplant English insurance law. However, this research shows that the transplantation of English commercial law into a small jurisdiction, even within the common law family, may cause the law to be in a static state if courts do not have enough cases to maintain the development of law or to consider new development …

Adapting To Change: The State Of Singapore Private Enterprise In China, Wilfred How, Caroline Yeoh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

One of the most affluent and developed nations in its region, the city-state of Singapore relies largely on tapping global resources for economic growth, to ameliorate its tiny land area and accompanying lack of natural resources. Its current prominence is to a great degree owing to an early recognition of the need for such, and a well-documented stratagem of expanding its foreign direct investments (FDIs) as a means to stimulate economic development (Huff, 1995; Murray and Pereira, 1995) and strengthen the city-state’s ‘external economy’ - one which saw the island progress through a number of distinct phases of overseas investment …