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Full-Text Articles in Asian Studies

Providing Rural Public Services Through Land Commodification: Policy Innovations And Rural-Urban Integration In Chengdu, Qian Forrest Zhang, Jianling Wu Dec 2016

Providing Rural Public Services Through Land Commodification: Policy Innovations And Rural-Urban Integration In Chengdu, Qian Forrest Zhang, Jianling Wu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Zhang and Wu offer a detailed account of the innovative local policies in Chengdu, China, where a national land-use policy that has created widespread problems in other trial areas has been turned into a positive, transformative force in rural reconstruction. There are three key innovations in this so-called ‘Chengdu model’: First, leveraging on the most important resource in rural area, land, and through the commodification of land development rights, creating a financial source that can fund rural public services provision; second, transforming traditional rural residential patterns and concentrating the rural population in newly built residential communities; and, finally, using both …


The History Problem: The Politics Of War Commemoration In East Asia, Hiro Saito Dec 2016

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 …


The Cultural Pragmatics Of Political Apology, Hiro Saito Dec 2016

The Cultural Pragmatics Of Political Apology, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In recent decades, research on ‘political apology’, wherein the state apologizes to victims of its past wrongs, has multiplied, as redress movements based on human rights have proliferated around the world. Since most of this research has been conducted by political philosophers, however, analyses of political apologies tend to adopt formal and normative perspectives. To propose an alternative, empirically-grounded approach, in this paper, I develop the ‘cultural pragmatics’ of political apology. To this end, I first conceptualize political apology as a social performance aimed to ‘re-fuse’ an impaired relationship between the perpetrator state and the victim individual. This conceptual move …


’A Beautiful Bridge’: Chinese Indonesian Associations, Social Capital And Strategic Identification In A New Era Of China Indonesia Relations, Charlotte Setijadi Nov 2016

’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 …


Inventing The ‘Authentic’ Self: American Television And Chinese Audiences In Global Beijing, Yang Gao Nov 2016

Inventing The ‘Authentic’ Self: American Television And Chinese Audiences In Global Beijing, Yang Gao

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the ways educated urban Chinese youths engage American television fiction as part of their identity work. Drawing on theories of modern reflexive identity, and based on 29 interviews with US TV fans among university students in Beijing, I found these youths are drawn to this television primarily because they perceive the American way of life portrayed on it as more ‘authentic’. This perception of authenticity must be examined within the socio-cultural milieu these students inhabit. Specifically, torn between China’s ingrained collectivist culture and its recent neoliberal emphasis on the individual self, my respondents glean from US TV …


Mimicking Religion As Coping Strategy: The Emergence Of The Bell-Curve God In Singapore, Lily Kong Oct 2016

Mimicking Religion As Coping Strategy: The Emergence Of The Bell-Curve God In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The importance placed on education and, relatedly, examinations, in many Asian societies is well known. The means adopted to cope with the stresses that come along with such intensity are myriad. It is in such contexts that the emergence of a “Bell Curve God” in Singapore must be understood.


Climate Change And Vulnerability To Poverty: An Empirical Investigation In Rural Indonesia, Tomoki Fujii Sep 2016

Climate Change And Vulnerability To Poverty: An Empirical Investigation In Rural Indonesia, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

Scientists estimate that anthropogenic climate change leads to increased surface temperature, sea-level rise, more frequent and significant extreme weather and climate events, among others. In this study, we investigate how climate change can potentially change the vulnerability to poverty using a panel data set in Indonesia. We focus on the effect of drought and flood, two of the commonly observed disasters there. Our simulation results indicate that vulnerability to poverty may increase substantially as a result of climate change in Indonesia.


Concepts And Measurement Of Vulnerability To Poverty And Other Issues: A Review Of Literature, Tomoki Fujii Sep 2016

Concepts And Measurement Of Vulnerability To Poverty And Other Issues: A Review Of Literature, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper reviews the growing body of literature on vulnerability. We first provide a survey of existing studies on the concepts and measurements of vulnerability to poverty by classifying them into welfarist, expected poverty, and axiomatic approaches. We then review a number of empirical studies on vulnerability to poverty in Asia and elsewhere. This review shows that poverty and vulnerability are related, but different, and that key determinants of vulnerability often include education and location. We also briefly review other areas of vulnerability analysis such as vulnerability to climate change and offer various policy implications arising from vulnerability analysis.


Human-Scale Economics: Economic Growth And Poverty Reduction In Northeastern Thailand, Joel D. Moore, John A. Donaldson Sep 2016

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 Sep 2016

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.


Addressing The Implementation Gap: An Integrated Approach To Identifying Barriers And Facilitators To Flexi Work Arrangements In Singapore, Paulin Tay Straughan, Mindy E Tadai Sep 2016

Addressing The Implementation Gap: An Integrated Approach To Identifying Barriers And Facilitators To Flexi Work Arrangements In Singapore, Paulin Tay Straughan, Mindy E Tadai

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article addresses the implementation gap in the provision of work—life policies in Singapore. While both employers and government in principle endorse the ideology of flexibility in the work place, this has not yet translated into widely adopted policies. This study examines barriers and facilitators to part-time work, and highlights organisational and managerial factors contributing to the implementation gap. It is imperative in ageing societies with declining fertility rates that flexibility be mainstreamed to encourage optimum labour force participation. For both married women with childcare responsibilities and older adults, flexiwork is central to their continued economic participation. In particular, part-time …


Manila Water: Delivering Water And Sustainable Growth, Singapore Management University Jul 2016

Manila Water: Delivering Water And Sustainable Growth, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The privatisation of Metro Manila’s water and sanitation services is a case for the importance of Tri-Sector collaboration


Pathologies Of Development Practice: Higher Order Obstacles To Governance Reform In The Pakistani Electrical Power Sector, Ijlal Naqvi Jul 2016

Pathologies Of Development Practice: Higher Order Obstacles To Governance Reform In The Pakistani Electrical Power Sector, Ijlal Naqvi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Development actors are regularly aware of the shortcomings of governance interventions before, during, and after development assistance is introduced, yet those programmes continue and are even revisited. Why? This paper uses the Pakistani experience with power sector reforms to illustrate how the donor-led reform agenda had readily apparent shortcomings. A new wave of development thinking responds to such failures by drawing on complexity theory and moving toward more local, iterative and experimental approaches. However, by highlighting how the awareness of problems with reforms isn't sufficient to avoid them, this paper points to a higher order of obstacles which remain unaddressed.


Embracing "The Silver Tsunami" - Future Of Mature Working Adults, Singapore Management University Jun 2016

Embracing "The Silver Tsunami" - Future Of Mature Working Adults, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The government, employers and employees must work together to maximise the skills and experience that older workers can offer beyond retirement age


Religious Aspirations Among Urban Christians In Contemporary Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon May 2016

Religious Aspirations Among Urban Christians In Contemporary Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Recognizing that the Christians in Indonesia are not a homogeneous group, this article examines the various contested spiritual, social, and political aspirations of urban Christians in the contexts of the historical trajectory of Indonesian modernity, forces of globalization and urbanization, the role of capital, and the development of Islam - the indispensable religious 'Other' to this minority religion in contemporary Indonesia. It sheds light on the ways in which this minority exercises agency in using political participation and social activism as a counterbalance to the growing Islamization of Indonesia, and how they strategically utilize their extensive economic, social, and political …


Mapping Chineseness On The Landscape Of Christian Churches In Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon Apr 2016

Mapping Chineseness On The Landscape Of Christian Churches In Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Scholarship on the Chinese Indonesian community has largely been concerned with the tensions between the community and the majority non-Chinese (or pribumi). The fault lines were usually examined against the background of Suharto’s assimilation policy, the 1998 anti-Chinese riots, the stark imbalance of the nation’s wealth within this minority group, and Chinese loyalty – or chauvinism – in the time of nation-building, and in the face of the rise of modern China. Little attention has been given to Christianity as offering a shelter for the inconspicuous propagation of Chineseness; particularly in terms of the conduct of services in Chinese, the …


Understanding The Failure Of China’S Specialized Cooperatives In China, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Apr 2016

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 …


Social Impact Of Alcoholism In The Singaporean Environment, Singapore Management University Mar 2016

Social Impact Of Alcoholism In The Singaporean Environment, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Alcohol addiction is treatable; strong community and familial support is key


Scenario-Based Simulation Game For Hospital Beds Capacity Planning In Singapore, Cheong, Michelle L. F., Li Siong Lim Mar 2016

Scenario-Based Simulation Game For Hospital Beds Capacity Planning In Singapore, Cheong, Michelle L. F., Li Siong Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

A complete learning object with scenario-based simulation game and accompanying materials, which allows self-directed learners to learn and apply the theory, concepts and calculations for capacity planning, in the hospital beds capacity planning scenario in Singapore, was designed, developed and immplemented. It guides the learners through the key considerations for capacity planning, the computation of actual capacity needed, deciding the time for capacity increments, as well as the economies and diseconomies of scale when adding capacity. All the learnings are applied in a scenario where the learners make decision on how much and when to add hospital beds to existing …


Caring For Thai Older Persons With Long-Term Care Needs, John Knodel, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Wiraporn Pothisiri Mar 2016

Caring For Thai Older Persons With Long-Term Care Needs, John Knodel, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Wiraporn Pothisiri

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Thailand is experiencing more acute population aging than most developing Asian countries. Its population aged 60 and older is anticipated to grow from 10% in 2000 to 38% by 2050. Meanwhile, the oldest-old population that is most likely to require long-term care (LTC) is estimated to increase tenfold during the first half of the 21st century. Family has remained a linchpin of support for Thai elders with LTC needs. Given population aging and other demographic trends such as smaller family size, migration of adult children, and lengthening survival at older ages, policy makers are concerned how such socio-demographic changes may …


Long-Term Care Needs In The Context Of Poverty And Population Aging: The Case Of Older Persons In Myanmar, Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan, John Knodel Mar 2016

Long-Term Care Needs In The Context Of Poverty And Population Aging: The Case Of Older Persons In Myanmar, Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan, John Knodel

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Myanmar is one of the poorest and least healthy countries in Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, population aging is taking place. Myanmar's policy makers have only begun to pay attention to the implications of population aging for its economy and society, including the health system. There is virtually no official policy or program in place to provide long-term care (LTC) for older persons. Family has thus been the mainstay of financial and instrumental support for elderly with LTC needs. Myanmar's demographic transitions likely challenge the current form of family caregiving for frail older persons, especially in the coming decades. This study aims …


Shinta Kamdani: Opportunity And Empowering Women, Singapore Management University Feb 2016

Shinta Kamdani: Opportunity And Empowering Women, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

A third-generation entrepreneur, Shinta Kamdani is CEO of her family's Sintesa Group, an Indonesian conglomerate with 6000 employees across 17 companies. Sintesa is a national leader in consumer goods distribution, with other interests in prefab concrete, energy production, steel manufacturing and real estate. Kamdani spoke to Julian Lorkin in Jakarta for BusinessThink.


Zainul Abidin Rasheed [Malaysia, Minister Of State For Foreign Affairs], Zainul Abidin Rasheed Jan 2016

Zainul Abidin Rasheed [Malaysia, Minister Of State For Foreign Affairs], Zainul Abidin Rasheed

Digital Narratives of Asia

Former editor of Berita Harian, who rose to become head of Mendaki, and then Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zainul Abidin Rasheed, tells DNA how his experiences during the 1964 racial riots had shaped his political views. He recalls how Lee Kuan Yew retracted from closing down Nanyang University, and Mr Goh Chok Tong's consensual style that welcomes the contributions of the Association of Muslim Professionals.


Education As The Weakest Institutional Link In Japan's Nuclear Regulation, Hiro Saito Jan 2016

Education As The Weakest Institutional Link In Japan's Nuclear Regulation, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Debates over the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster pointed to a set of institutional and organizational failures in Japan’s nuclear regulation as a primary cause of the disaster. While the Japanese government has implemented reforms to strengthen nuclear regulation, I argue that these reforms have largely left out the education system as a key institution that produces and distributes expertise necessary for nuclear regulation. First, the Japanese education system has traditionally produced only a small number of experts in the fields related to nuclear regulation, aligned top-ranked experts with the pro-nuclear government, and weakened the civil society’s capacity to mobilize counter-experts. …