Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Oceans Of Space, Stephanie Steinbrecher '16

EnviroLab Asia

"Oceans of Space" relates my observations of the 2016 EnviroLab Asia Clinic Trip to Singapore and Sarawak, Malaysia. In this meditation, the concept of space serves as a lens to examine assumptions of geopolitical, historical, and philosophical positioning—regionally and globally. At the center of my inquiry is EnviroLab's connection to the Dayak communities in Baram, Sarawak. This region is experiencing dramatic social and ecological change as a result of industrial development. By triangulating my subjective impressions of this space, various knowledge systems, and the qualitative data EnviroLab gathered in Southeast Asia, I aim to untangle some paradoxes that complicate the …

Ajit Singh [Malyasia, Asean Secretary-General, Diplomat], Ajit Singh

Digital Narratives of Asia

After thirty years as a career diplomat, Malaysia's first ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh, sees his five-year term as the most productive, golden years of his life. He speaks to DNA about the challenges he faced with admitting Myanmar to ASEAN, and the visionary ASEAN leadership. He also expounds on the differences in impacts of work between an ambassador and a bureaucrat.

Malaysian Development Planning, David Lim

Prof. David Lim

Development planning has been described as "a deliberate governmental attempt to coordinate economic decision-making over the long-run and to influence, direct and, in some cases, even control the level and growth of a nation's principal economic variables (income, comsumption, employment, investment, saving, exports, imports, etc.) in order to achieve a pre-determined set of development objectives." One set of reasons for planning centres round the operation of the market system. Thus, market prices are often distorted and can result in a misallocation of scarce resources. Another set revolves round the need to have a rallying point for local and foreign interests …

Another Look At The Effect Of Capital Subsidies On Capital-Intensity, David Lim

Prof. David Lim

In an earlier paper in this journal, I examined the effect that the provision of capital subsidies, in the form of tax holidays whose duration depends on the level of capital investment, had on the capital-intensity of manufacturing in Peninsular Malaysia. The following basic equations were estimated, by ordinary least squares, for twelve industry-groups for 1972...

Do Foreign Companies Pay Higher Wages Than Their Local Counterparts In Malaysian Manufacturing?, David Lim

Prof. David Lim

This paper shows that foreign companies pay higher wages than their local counterparts in Malaysian manufacturing. Step-wise regression analysis shows that this is due to two factors. The first, and perhaps the more important, is the greater capital intensity of the production processes used by foreign companies. The second is their tendency to pay wages that they consider, or that are considered to be, commensurate with the wages that they pay in their home countries. This may be called the demonstration effect of wage remuneration in less developed countries.

East Malaysia In Malaysian Development Planning, David Lim

Prof. David Lim

Malaysia consists of Peninsular Malaysia and the two East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Development planning in Peninsular Malaysia began as early as 1950, while the first plan for the whole of the Malaysian federation founded in 1963 was published in 1966. Have the two East Malaysian states been integrated properly into the various Malaysian plans? Or have they, with their somewhat different economic, political and social backgrounds, been treated as a nuisance element and appeared in the plans only as an afterthought? In any case, is the planning experience of Peninsular Malaysia relevant for solving the problems of …

Capital Utilisation Of Local And Foreign Establishments In Malaysian Manufacturing, David Lim

Prof. David Lim

It is often argued that foreign firms operating in less developed countries have greater X-efficiency than their local counterparts. However, little empirical evidence has been presented to substantiate this claim. This paper attempts to fill part of this gap, first, by presenting data on the level of capital utilisation in Malaysian and foreign firms in Malaysian manufacturing and, second, by testing the importance of X-efficiency in determining differences in the utilisation levels of the two categories of firms...

"Sweat Labor" And Wages In Malaysian Manufacturing, David Lim

Prof. David Lim

References have often been made to the presence of "sweat labor" in manufacturing in less developed countries (LDCs) and of the need to introduce minimum-wage legislation to protect the interests of such employees. However, the data on the wages paid to such workers are almost nonexistent, and the discussion so far has been couched in general terms. I shall attempt to provide some of the empirical basis for the discussion in Malaysia.

Grab Taxi: Navigating New Frontiers, Mei Lin, Christopher Dula

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In mid-2016, Anthony Tan, the CEO of Grab, an on-demand transportation-app company serving Southeast Asia, was locked in a high stakes struggle to win the hearts and minds of drivers, passengers and regulators alike. Valued at an estimated US$1.5 billion, Grab (known among consumers as ‘GrabTaxi’) had become one of Asia’s most successful start-ups.

Berita Autumn 2016, Eric C. Thompson

Berita

Table of Contents

Chair’s Address ... 2

Editor’s Foreword ... 4

John A. Lent Prize ... 5

“After Decolonization” – A Panel Report ... 6

Association for Asian Studies 2017 (Toronto) – Panels with Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei Content ... 8

Malaysia's Transitional Moment? : Democratic Transition Theory And The Problem Of Malaysian Exceptionalism., Jason P. Abbott

Jason Abbott

Many theorists of democratization transition have, either explicitly or implicitly, a teleological concept of political progress, liberalization and reform. For such theorists, countries such as Malaysia are therefore in transition towards substantive 'full' liberal democracy. Taken in this light, the significant advances by opposition political parties in the 2008 federal and state elections in Malaysia represent a major advance towards this end goal. While many have highlighted that Malaysia may in fact be an exception to this rule, this paper contends instead that the Malaysian case study challenges the central tenets of democratic transition more profoundly. Indeed, since independence the …

An Economic Justification For The Development And Establishment Of Seascapes In The Coral Triangle, Sorina Seeley

Working Papers

Spanning six counties and over six million square kilometers, the Coral Triangle is home to 75% of the world’s coral species, 37% of the world’s coral reef fish, 6 out of 7 of the world’s marine turtle species and an array of pelagic fish and cetaceans. In addition to its outstanding biodiversity, the Coral Triangle provides economic, social, and cultural benefits to over 396 million people and directly supports the livelihoods of over 130 million inhabitants. It is also one of the fastest growing regions of the world. The same economic opportunities driving the region’s growth are also putting enormous …

Restitution Of Non-Gratuitously Conferred Benefit In Malaysia: A Case For Sowing The Unjust Enrichment Seed, Alvin W. L. See

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article draws on the common law of unjust enrichment to rationalize and develop the right to recover a non-gratuitously conferred benefit set out in section 71 of Malaysia’s Contracts Act 1950. This attempt at legal transplant and modern restatement is made in the hope of injecting principle and clarity into the antique section with the eventual goal of reviving it for practical and modern use.

Marina Mahathir [Malaysia, Activist], Marina Mahathir

Digital Narratives of Asia

Daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister and socio-political activist Marina Mahathir, shares with DNA on her schooling days, her views on censorship, education system, leadership crisis, and religious movements. Her work in helping HIV-infected women has led her to seek larger democratic space for everyone.