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Articles 1 - 21 of 21
Full-Text Articles in Asian Studies
Ajit Singh [Malyasia, Asean Secretary-General, Diplomat], Ajit Singh
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.
The History Problem: The Politics Of War Commemoration In East Asia, Hiro Saito
The History Problem: The Politics Of War Commemoration In East Asia, Hiro Saito
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Seventy years have passed since the end of the Asia-Pacific War, yet Japan remains embroiled in controversy with its neighbors over the war’s commemoration. Among the many points of contention between Japan, China, and South Korea are interpretations of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, apologies and compensation for foreign victims of Japanese aggression, prime ministerial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, and the war’s portrayal in textbooks. Collectively, these controversies have come to be called the “history problem.” But why has the problem become so intractable? Can it ever be resolved, and if so, how? To answer these questions, the author …
Getting Town Councils To Raise Their Game, Tan K. B. Eugene
Getting Town Councils To Raise Their Game, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Given that about 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in public housing estates, town councils are an integral part of Singapore life. Last month, the Ministry of National Development (MND) initiated a public consultation on the proposed amendments to the Town Councils Act (TCA), which was first enacted in 1988 to empower elected Members of Parliament and unelected town councillors to run public housing estates
What Do Chinese Really Think About Democracy And India?, Devin K. Joshi, Yizhe Xu
What Do Chinese Really Think About Democracy And India?, Devin K. Joshi, Yizhe Xu
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
There has been much speculation about whether China will democratize and avoid conflict with India in the twenty-first century. Yet, few studies have investigated how contemporary Chinese view India and its democracy. Addressing this gap in the literature, the authors examined Chinese media coverage of India’s two-month long April–May 2014 parliamentary election, the largest election in world history, through systematic analysis of over 500 articles from ten major mass media outlets and over 27,000 messages transmitted on Sina Weibo social media. As might be expected, Chinese mass media generally portrayed India and its elections in a condescending fashion while avoiding …
’A Beautiful Bridge’: Chinese Indonesian Associations, Social Capital And Strategic Identification In A New Era Of China Indonesia Relations, Charlotte Setijadi
’A Beautiful Bridge’: Chinese Indonesian Associations, Social Capital And Strategic Identification In A New Era Of China Indonesia Relations, Charlotte Setijadi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In Indonesia, Chinese voluntary associations took on a new level of importance after the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime in 1998 that ushered in a revival of Chinese identity politics. At the same time, Sino-Indonesian relations are blossoming, and the rise of China as a global power means that Indonesia can only benefit from stronger ties with China in the future. In this new atmosphere of cooperation, I argue that Chinese Indonesian individuals and voluntary organizations play a crucial function as trade and cultural intermediaries. Drawing on both empirical and qualitative fieldwork data, in this paper, I examine how …
Small Infrastructure Has Big Impact In China, John A. Donaldson
Small Infrastructure Has Big Impact In China, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
It is a familiar dilemma to policymakers around Asia: How much infrastructure, and what kind, is enough? How should developing economies prioritize when the needs are so great? China’s experience offers a surprising answer. While large-scale infrastructure sometimes generates GDP growth (it often does not), smaller is often better for poverty reduction.
Human-Scale Economics: Economic Growth And Poverty Reduction In Northeastern Thailand, Joel D. Moore, John A. Donaldson
Human-Scale Economics: Economic Growth And Poverty Reduction In Northeastern Thailand, Joel D. Moore, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Under what conditions does economic growth benefit the poor? One way to answer this question is to identify and compare positive and negative outlier areas, those that experience greater and lesser poverty reduction, respectively, compared to what was anticipated given their levels of economic growth. The more similar these areas, the more leverage there is to unearth the factors that allow the poor to benefit from growth. In this paper, we employ an inductive approach to glean possible pathways out of poverty from two highly similar underdeveloped neighboring provinces in northeastern Thailand. Using extensive fieldwork and interviews, we explore factors …
How Agribusiness Can Win In Partnership With Small Farms, John A. Donaldson
How Agribusiness Can Win In Partnership With Small Farms, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Can large-scale agribusiness reduce costs and obtain less-expensive food while also reducing poverty and inequality by engaging small-scale farmers? Many conclude that such an attractive outcome is unimaginable, but innovative pilot projects hold promise that such a reality is within reach and replicable.
Introduction: The Umbrella Movement And Liberation Theology, Justin Kh Tse
Introduction: The Umbrella Movement And Liberation Theology, Justin Kh Tse
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
September 28, 2014, is usually considered the day that the theological landscape in Hong Kong changed. For 79 days, hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong citizens occupied key political and economic sites in the Hong Kong districts of Admiralty, Causeway Bay, and Mong Kok, resisting the government’s attempts to clear them out until court injunctions were handed down in early December. Captured on social media and live television, the images of police in Hong Kong throwing 87 volleys of tear gas and pepper-spraying students writhing in agony have been imprinted onto the popular imagination around the world. Using the image …
Epilogue: Conscientization In The Aftermath Of The Umbrella Movement, Justin Kh Tse
Epilogue: Conscientization In The Aftermath Of The Umbrella Movement, Justin Kh Tse
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The essays in this volume have demonstrated that the Umbrella Movement brought about a new theological moment in Hong Kong. As discussed in the introduction, theological actors in Hong Kong can be described as having followed the see-judge-act process of liberation theology. Indeed, the seeing and judging of Hong Kong’s situation that began with Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) in 2013 culminated unexpectedly with the action of the 2014 protests, transcending the wildest imaginations of the seers and the judges. In turn, the authors of this book have seen the 2014 protests and have also judged them theologically. …
Singapore's Elected President: An Office That Is Still Evolving, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Singapore's Elected President: An Office That Is Still Evolving, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Constitutional changes effected to Singapore's Constitution in 1991 transformed the office of President from a purely ceremonial one chosen by the Parliament, to one directly elected by the people exercising certain discretionary powers. Among other things, the President may now veto attempts by the Government to deplete the nation's past financial reserves, and to effect unsuitable appointments to or dismissals of key public officers. Now, the Government is proposing to tweak the system further.
The Umbrella Movement And The Political Apparatus: Understanding "One Country, Two Systems", Justin Kh Tse
The Umbrella Movement And The Political Apparatus: Understanding "One Country, Two Systems", Justin Kh Tse
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Prior to the Umbrella Movement, there was little reason for people who were not from Hong Kong to care much about its politics, unless, of course, one were a devoted reader of The Economist, which did cover Hong Kong as a former British colony. Alas, my experience in the academy corroborates the former sentiment: when I began studying Christian involvement in Hong Kong’s politics in the late 2000s, nobody was interested. “You have to study Christianity in China,” one advisor said, “because that’s where the jobs are.” The growth of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), especially the explosion of …
Joseph Conceicao [Singapore, Diplomat, Member Of Parliament], Joseph Conceicao
Joseph Conceicao [Singapore, Diplomat, Member Of Parliament], Joseph Conceicao
Digital Narratives of Asia
Joseph Conceicao was a diplomat and served as Member of Parliament for Katong for 16 years. He shares with DNA what it was like working with Singapore's founding leaders, as well as how he manoeuvred through the tricky situations in his career.
Bandung, 1955: Asian-African Conference And Human Rights In Online Atlas On The History Of Humanitarianism And Human Rights, Patrick Quinton-Brown
Bandung, 1955: Asian-African Conference And Human Rights In Online Atlas On The History Of Humanitarianism And Human Rights, Patrick Quinton-Brown
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The 1955 Asian-African Conference (also known as the “Bandung Conference”), took place on April 18–24 in Bandung, Indonesia. The conference, co-sponsored by Burma, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, brought together 29 newly independent nations of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The states in attendance comprised almost half of the UN membership and collectively represented about 1.5 billion people. They came together to discuss common concerns surrounding anticolonial nationalism, self-determination, non-interference, and Great Power dominance over international affairs. The conference also marked a major turning point in the history of universal human rights in that its framing of self-determination …
Understanding The Failure Of China’S Specialized Cooperatives In China, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson
Understanding The Failure Of China’S Specialized Cooperatives In China, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
At first blush, contemporary China seems ripe for the rapid development of agricultural cooperatives. After all, cooperatives have not only enjoyed a long history in China, but the country’s recent experience with agricultural communes should make it more amenable to the reestablishment of joint production and spontaneous bottom-up cooperation. Agricultural cooperatives in China date to the 1930s, as Rural Reconstruction Movement advocates promoted cooperatives as a “third road” between capitalism and socialism. Although Mao’s regime disbanded most bottom-up cooperatives, rural cooperatives began to reemerge in rural China by the end of the 20th century, particularly after 1998, when farmer cooperatives …
Thailand’S Political Impasse, Singapore Management University
Thailand’S Political Impasse, Singapore Management University
Perspectives@SMU
Thai farmers’ productivity – or the lack thereof – has left the country and its political future in limbo
Interpreting China’S New Urban Spaces: State, Market, And Society In Action, Shenjing He, Lily Kong, George C. S. Lin
Interpreting China’S New Urban Spaces: State, Market, And Society In Action, Shenjing He, Lily Kong, George C. S. Lin
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Chinese urbanism has long historical roots and has profoundly influenced world civilizations. Yet, the Chinese city has not, until very recently, attracted sustained or intense global attention. In the post-reform era, especially after 1992, the scale and speed of China’s urbanization, and the intricacy of its dynamics and socio-spatial consequences have dwarfed those of other countries in the world. The latest reform era of urban China is characterized by a renewed and thriving urbanism, which manifests itself in the sheer scale of new urban space (re)production and the intricate interrelationships among the state, market, and society. The proliferation of new …
The Thai Military, Coups, And The False Hope Of Professionalism, Jacob Ricks
The Thai Military, Coups, And The False Hope Of Professionalism, Jacob Ricks
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Thailand is one of the most coup-prone countries in the world, having experienced no less than 19 coup attempts since 1932. The prevalence of military interventions casts doubt on whether Thai politicians will ever be able to reign in their armed counterparts. One prominent response to this concern claims that through increasing the level of military professionalism, or expertise, social responsibility, and organizational unity, Thai troops could be tamed and the Army’s propensity to intervene in politics curbed. This, though, is a false hope.
Ong Keng Yong [Singapore, Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Civil Service], Keng Yong Ong
Ong Keng Yong [Singapore, Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Civil Service], Keng Yong Ong
Digital Narratives of Asia
Ong Keng Yong, a law graduate who worked in MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) specialising in Middle East, recalls his initial years working under S. Rajaratnam, and SR Nathan. Having served as the Secretary General of ASEAN, he shares with DNA the strategic contributions of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) to Singapore, highlighting the uniqueness of ASEAN socialisation at the leadership level.
Ideas, Interests And Practical Authority In Reform Politics: Decentralization Reform In South Korea In The 2000s, Yooil Bae
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper explains the reason why the hitherto statist country, Korea, has carried out significant decentralization since the 2000s. In explaining the motivation for decentralization, extant literature has focused on the role of parties, bureaucratic politics, democratization, or territorial interests. Yet there is still limited explanation of how the decentralization laws in Korea could be successfully passed in the 2000s, while cental stakeholders still persisted. By tracing the process of decentralization reform in the 2000s, this article demonstrates how structural factors created favourable circumstances and discursive background for institutional change, and how the idea of decentralization, through the idea diffusion …
Weighing The Possible Changes To Singapore’S Political System, Tan K. B. Eugene
Weighing The Possible Changes To Singapore’S Political System, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan shared his views on the key issues outlined by President Tony Tan Keng Yam during his opening address at the first session of the 13th Parliament. Associate Prof Tan noted that President Tan had emphasised that our political system must be refreshed from time to time, as our circumstances change, and that the Government will study this matter carefully, to see whether and how we should improve our political system so that we can be assured of clean, effective, and accountable government over the long term. Associate Prof Tan said …