Asian Studies Commons^™

Oral History Interview With Tan Chin Tiong: Conceptualising Smu, Chin Tiong Tan

Oral History Collection

The interview covered: first involvement with SMU, changes to concept plan, research, private university, faculty recruitment, challenges, marketing, advertising campaign, autonomous universities, collaboration with Wharton School, schools in SMU, change agent for education landscape, differentiating SMU, SMU students.

Biography:

Provost, SMU, 1999–2008, and Deputy President, SMU, 2007–2009

Member of SMU start-up team

In 1998 Professor Tan Chin Tiong was one of the first three faculty members who joined the start-up team to create what would become Singapore’s third university, SMU. Among his many responsibilities during the planning phase of SMU, he oversaw faculty recruitment, public relations and marketing, and the …

Religion In The Abortion Discourse In Singapore: A Case Study Of The Relevance Of Religious Arguments In Law-Making In Multi-Religious Democracies, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The article discusses the social issue on religion in the abortion discourse in Singapore. It mentions the relevance of religious arguments in law-making in multi-religious democracies. It notes that laws on abortion vary across different jurisdictions, like prohibiting abortion under all circumstances to freely allowing it without restriction as to reason.

Two Contrasting Approaches In The Interpretation Of Outdated Statutory Provisions, Yihan Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Some statutes in operation today were passed a long time ago. Inevitably, through the passage of time, social norms at the time of enactment may now be unrecognizable. Two recent cases show contrasting approaches towards the interpretation of outdated statutory provisions. The first approach is seen in the Singapore High Court case of WX v.WW. That case concerned the interpretation of section 114 of the Evidence Act, a decidedly ancient statutory provision. The second approach was adopted by the Singapore Court of Appeal in AAG v. Estate of AAH, deceased. In that case, the Court of Appeal had to interpret …

Need Singapore Fear Floating? A Dsge-Var Approach, Hwee Kwan Chow, Paul D. Mcnelis

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper uses a DSGE-VAR model to examine the managed exchange-rate system at work in Singapore and asks if the country has any reason to fear floating the exchange rate with a Taylor rule inflation-targeting mechanism that uses the short term interest rate instead of the exchange rate as the benchmark monetary policy instrument. Our simulation results show that the use of a more flexible exchange rate system will reduce volatility in inflation and investment but consumption volatility will increase. Overall, there are neither signi…cant welfare gains or losses in the regime shift. Given the highly open and trade …

Micro-Level Estimation Of Child Undernutrition Indicators In Cambodia, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

One major limitation to addressing child undernutrition is a lack of the information required to target resources. This article extends the small-area estimation technique of Elbers, Lanjouw, and Lanjouw (2002, 2003) to jointly estimate multiple equations while allowing for individual-specific random errors across equations (in addition to cluster- and household-specific random errors). Estimates of the prevalence of stunting and underweight for children under age 5 in Cambodia from 17 Demographic and Health Survey strata are disaggregated into 1,594 communes by combining the Demographic and Health Survey data. The estimates are consistent with the surveyonly estimates at the aggregate and primary …

From Peasants To Farmers: Peasant Differentiation, Labor Regimes, And Land-Rights Institutions In China's Agrarian Transition, Q. Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The development of factor markets has opened Chinese agriculture for the penetration of capitalism. This new round of rural transformation—China’s agrarian transition— raises the agrarian question in the Chinese context. This study investigates how capitalist forms and relations of production transform agricultural production and the peasantry class in rural China. The authors identify six forms of nonpeasant agricultural production, compare the labor regimes and direct producers’ socioeconomic statuses across these forms, and evaluate the role of China’s land-rights institution in shaping these forms. The empirical investigation presents three main findings: (1) Peasant differentiation : capitalist forms of agricultural production differentiate …

How Communist Is North Korea?: From The Birth To The Death Of Marxist Ideas Of Human Rights, Jiyoung Song

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article focuses on the Marxist characteristics of North Korea in its interpretation of human rights. The author's main argument is that many Marxist features pre-existed in Korea. Complying with Marxist orthodoxy, North Korea is fundamentally hostile to the notion of human rights in capitalist society, which existed in the pre-modern Donghak (Eastern Learning) ideology. Rights are strictly contingent upon one's class status in North Korea. However, the peasants' rebellion in pre-modern Korea was based on class consciousness against the ruling class. The supremacy of collective interests sees individual claims for human rights as selfish egoism, which was prevalent in …

Mapping 'Chinese' Christian Schools In Indonesia: Ethnicity, Class And Religion, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Schools are not ‘‘innocent’’ sites of cultural transmission. They play an active and significant role in transmitting values and inculcating culture. Schools also serve as a site for the maintenance of boundaries and for the construction of identities. Previous studies have recognized the relationship between education and identity. Building on existing literature, this study examines the ways in which Christian schools can be a site for the construction and maintenance of religious, ethnic and class identities of the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. The study surveys four prestigious ‘‘Chinese’’ Christian schools in Jakarta. Through a brief but thorough profiling of the …

China's Development Of International Economic Law And Wto Legal Capacity Building, Pasha L. Hsieh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines legal and institutional aspects of the evolution of China’s approach to the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It begins by analyzing the impact of China’s changing attitude toward international law on the escalation of international economic law research. In particular, the article provides the first detailed examination of China’s efforts to strengthen public–private cooperation in building its WTO legal capacity. China established think tanks to bridge the information and communication gaps between the government and industries. To develop its WTO lawyers, the Chinese government has consistently required international law firms to collaborate with …

Oral History Interview With Khoo Teng Aun: Conceptualising Smu, Teng Aun Khoo

Oral History Collection

The interview covered: concept for new university, university library, first admissions exercise, student reaction to SMU, achievements of SMU.

Biography:

Associate Professor of Accounting, SMU, 2000–present

Member of SMU start-up team

Professor Khoo Teng Aun was one of the SMU ‘pioneers’, the faculty who formed the start-up team for Singapore’s third university. He joined the start-up team in 1999. Today he is a faculty member of the School of Accountancy and teaches corporate reporting and taxation. His research interests include internet financial reporting, multinational companies, cost and management accounting systems, taxation, and entrepreneurial studies. He also teaches in SMU’s master …

Oral History Interview With Low Kee Yang: Conceptualising Smu, Kee Yang Low

Oral History Collection

The interview covered: first involvement with SMU, university education in Singapore, curriculum, CIRCLE values, private university, logo, teaching pedagogy, interview students for admissions, legal aspects, incorporation of SMU, first day of class, law school, challenges, student recruitment, law internships, Juris Doctor programme, challenges.

Biography:

Associate Professor of Law, SMU, 2000–present

Member of SMU start-up team

Professor Low Kee Yang joined the start-up team for SMU in 1998; one of his responsibilities was supervising legal matters. He served as deputy dean of the business school from 1999 to 2002 and chaired the organising committee for the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business …

Oral History Interview With John Yip Soon Kwong: Conceptualising Smu, Soon Kwong John Yip

Oral History Collection

The interview covered: first involvement with SMU, future needs of university education in Singapore, business education, third university, Singapore Institute of Management, achievements.

Biography:

Executive Director and CEO, Singapore Institute of Management, 1997–2003
Director of Education, MOE, 1987–1996

Dr John Yip Soon Kwong played a major role in developing the concept for Singapore’s third university, Singapore Management University. With his first-hand knowledge of international universities as well as his knowledge of Singapore’s education system, he was part of the early effort to define the scope of Singapore’s third university and to identify an overseas university partner for this new institution. …

E C Investment Holding Pte Ltd V Ridout Residence Pte Ltd And Another (Orion Oil Limited And Another, Interveners), Yihan Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The High Court decision of E C Investment Holding Pte Ltd v Ridout Residence Pte Ltd and another (Orion Oil Limited and another, Interveners) [2010] SGHC 270 (“E C Investment”) raises several contractual issues, chief amongst which – and the focus of this note – concern duress. This note discusses three points of the judgment relating to duress: (a) the reaffirmation of economic duress as a vitiating factor; (b) the status of lawful threats; and (c) the burden of proof in economic duress cases.

A 30-Per-Cent Deviation Is Too Wide, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Following Prime Minister Lee's recent announcement that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) had been convened, SMU Assistant Professor Eugene Tan opined that the 30-per-cent deviation rule, of which the EBRC operates on, is too wide and ?overly-generous? in small and compact Singapore. Professor Tan also commented that the committee's redrawing of electoral boundaries should avoid being seen as gerrymandering.

The Impact Of Firm Strategy And Foreign Ownership On Executive Bonus Compensation In Japanese Firms, Toru Yoshikawa, Abdul A. Rasheed, Esther B. Del Brio

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Building on information-processing perspectives and the Japanese contextual factors, this study investigates the relationships between firm strategy and executive bonus pay as well as the moderating role of foreign ownership on the strategy–compensation relationship in Japanese firms. We focus on R&D investment and product diversification as strategy variables and investigate their direct effects on executive bonus pay. Further, we examine the moderating effects of foreign ownership on the strategy–pay sensitivity. The results, based on a sample of the 148 largest industrial firms in Japan for the 1990–1997 period, show that both R&D investment and product diversification are positively related to …

Oral History Interview With Tsui Kai Chong: Conceptualising Smu, Kai Chong Tsui

Oral History Collection

The interview covered: first involvement with SMU, roles and responsibilities, overseas visits, information technology, dean of School of Business, planning, undergraduate programme, Wharton curriculum, first admissions exercise, opening day, teaching pedagogy, students, case competition, postgraduate programmes, Masters of Applied Finance, achievements.

Biography:

Founding Dean, School of Business, SMU, 1999–2003

Member of SMU start-up team

Professor Tsui Kai Chong was an SMU ‘pioneer’, a member of the start-up team for Singapore’s third university, and he oversaw planning for communications and information technology. He was appointed as the first dean of the School of Business in 1999, became vice provost of undergraduate …

Oral History Interview With Hwang Soo Chiat: Conceptualising Smu, Soo Chiat Hwang

Oral History Collection

The interview with Hwang Soo Chiat covered:first involvement with SMU, roles and responsibilities, first classes, teaching pedagogy, pioneer students, student interaction, student recruitment, parent interaction, commencement, milestones.

Biography:

Associate Professor of Accounting, SMU, 2000–present

Member of SMU start-up team

Professor Hwang Soo Chiat is one of the SMU ‘pioneers’, a member of the start-up team for Singapore’s third university. Today he is an associate professor of accounting at SMU. In December 2005, he was named Outstanding Teacher in the School of Accountancy. His research interests are in the use of accounting ratios for prediction of bankruptcy of companies, corporate governance, …

Making A Cantonese-Christian Family: Quotidian Habits Of Language And Background In A Transnational Hongkonger Church, Justin K. H. Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Studies of the Hong Kong‐Vancouver transnational migration network seldom pay close attention to religion in the everyday lives of Hongkonger migrants. Based on 9 months of ethnographic fieldwork at St. Matthew's Church, a Hong Kong church in Metro Vancouver, this paper examines the tacit assumptions and taken‐for‐granted quotidian practices through which a Hongkonger church is made. I argue that St. Matthew's Church has been constructed as a Hong Kong Cantonese‐Christian family space through the everyday use of language and invocations of a common educational background. This argument extends the literature on Hongkonger migration to Metro Vancouver by grounding it in …

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2010: Q3 Results, Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2010: Full Year Overview

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence

Following the release of CSISG results for the Retail, InfoCommunications, Transportation & Logistics, and Education sectors in the first two quarters of 2010, the current third quarter release of results are of the Food & Beverage (F&B) and Tourism, Hotels & Accommodation Services (THAS) sectors. CSISG results of the final two economic sectors for 2010, the Finance and Healthcare sectors, is scheduled to be released in January 2011, together with the 2010 national score. CSISG company scores are based on face-to-face interviews with end users of companies’ products and services. Sub-sector scores are derived as a weighted average of company …

Sun Yat Sen, A S’Pore Icon? Hardly, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Assistant Professor of Law Eugene Tan discusses if we are unwittingly overemphasising the role of the ethnic Chinese in Singapore's path to nationhood.

Learning To Belong, Lyn Parker, Raihani Raihani, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Educational efforts are being made around the country to enable minorities to feel they belong and to teach majorities that they should value the diversity of Indonesia. The cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity of Indonesia is famed around the world and accepted within Indonesia. The national motto of ‘Unity in Diversity’ places diversity at the centre of the nation-state. But despite significant progress in democratisation, decentralisation and regional autonomy in post-Suharto Indonesia, old fears of federalism, separatism and disunity remain. Multiculturalism and pluralism are still often viewed with suspicion and paranoia is spread by extremists for their own ends.

Affirming Difference, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Elite Christian schools in Indonesia can become places where religious, ethnic and class identities are heightened, particularly in relation to the nation’s ethnic Chinese. Exceptional academic performance, faith education, strict discipline and a safe environment are some of the factors that attract ethnic Chinese to enrol their children into elite Christian schools in Indonesia. In fact, these schools have become a thriving business across major cities, generating handsome profits from the provision of high quality education. They are generally attended by Chinese Indonesian students from a middle and upper class background. The schools are equipped with much better facilities than …

Stories For Today: A Contemporary Artist Brings New Life To A Moribund Indonesian Theatre Genre, Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Dani Iswardana is single-minded about his mission to inject new life into wayang beber, perhaps the oldest form of Indonesian narrative theatre, but now described as a dying art. The intensity of his purpose buoys Dani through long stretches of painting when food is forgotten and his work, fuelled by coffee and cigarettes, is all that he cares for. However Dani has gone for years without producing anything, because he will work only when the creative spirit possesses him. Painting for money means nothing to him, and the everyday demands of making a living have no place in his creative …

Iftikhar Chaudhry’S Options: Can The Courts Remake Pakistani Democracy?, Shubhankar Dam

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Fiats: Presidential Legislation In India's Parliamentary Democracy, Shubhankar Dam

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The article presents information on the presidential legislation of the parliamentary democracies, India and Pakistan. It discusses the role of the President acting as the Council of Ministers for the enactment of legislations as ordinances without the consent of the Parliament. Information on the legal interpretation of the ordinances and its interaction with the principles of the parliamentary system of the government is also presented.

Labor Supply Responses To The 1990s Japanese Tax Reforms, Ken Yamada

Research Collection School Of Economics

The consumption-leisure choice model implies that an exogenous change in tax rates will induce a change in labor supply. This implication is expected to be important to labor supplied by secondary earners under a progressive tax system when spousal income alters effective marginal tax rates. This paper examines labor supply responses to the income tax changes associated with Japanese tax reforms during the 1990s. The results indicate that the hours-of-work elasticity with respect to the net-of-tax rate is 0.8 for married women.

China And Geography In The 21st Century: A Cultural (Geographical) Revolution?, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A noted Singapore-based cultural geographer and specialist on Asia reviews the recent emergence of cultural geographic research on and within China and the implications of China's rise for the study of 21st century cultural geography more broadly. She identifies six major issues modern China is confronting that, when addressed from a cultural geographical perspective, may both enhance an understanding of the country and reshape the practice of cultural geography as a subdiscipline: agricultural reform, economic reform, urban change, rural-urban migration and related social inequalities, the changing family structure, and environmental change. The author argues that if China's cultural geography is …

Introduction: Contested Landscapes, Asian Cities, Lily Kong, Lisa Law

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A decade and a half after Cosgrove and Jackson (1987) wrote their seminal piece on ‘new’ cultural geography, the discipline of geography has experienced a ‘cultural’ turn. Economic geography, for instance, has been infleected through perspectives that take on board cultural retheorisations (see Thrift and Olds, 1996; Thrift, 2000). Within urban studies, the acknowledgement of culture’s powers is not new (see, for example, Agnew et al., 1984). Yet, geographers scrutinising urban landscapes have moved the field, using some of the retheorised perspectives that Cosgrove and Jackson (1987) encapsulated. Of most pertinence to this volume is the retheorised notion of culture …

Discharge Of A Contract Where Both Parties Are In Breach: Alliance Concrete Singapore Pte Ltd V Comfort Resources Pte Ltd, Chee Ho Tham

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This case note examines the most recent attempt by the Court of Appeal to provide further guidance on: (a) how the doctrine of discharge of contract by breach operates when both parties are in breach of their contract obligations; and (b) when a promisee is entitled to rely on an alternate basis to justify its election to discharge a contract for the promisor’s breach when the basis originally relied upon and communicated to the promisor is ultimately found to be legally insufficient.

The Division Of Matrimonial Assets: A Mathematical Methodology As A "Check"? Ajr V. Ajs, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a recent High Court decision concerning the division of matrimonial assets, the Judge developed an extensive (and somewhat mathematical) methodology “as a rough check” to his discretionary powers in determining a “just and equitable” division of the matrimonial assets. This introduced a new perspective to an exercise long considered to be impossible to be mathematically precise. This piece considers the extent of the utility of the new methodology.