Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Singapore Management University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 9121 - 9150 of 9281

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Public Housing In Singapore: Interpreting 'Quality' In The 1990s, Siew Eng Teo, Lily Kong Mar 1997

Public Housing In Singapore: Interpreting 'Quality' In The 1990s, Siew Eng Teo, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

While writings exist on various aspects of public housing in Singapore, recent developments in the 1990s have not yet been given any serious academic attention, Our intention in this paper is to focus on such developments, paying particular attention to the government's policy of providing quality housing, After setting the context of efforts at providing quality in the first three decades of public housing by the Housing and Development Board, we turn our attention specifically to the 1990s, focusing on three areas in which attempts are being made to improve quality, namely, the physical upgrading of older estates, the privatisation …

Go to article

The Construction Of National Identity Through The Production Of Ritual And Spectacle: An Analysis Of National Day Parades In Singapore, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh Mar 1997

The Construction Of National Identity Through The Production Of Ritual And Spectacle: An Analysis Of National Day Parades In Singapore, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we adopt the view that 'nation' and 'national identity' are social constructions, created to serve ideological ends. We discuss this in the specific empirical context of Singapore's National Day parades. By drawing on officially produced souvenir programmes and magazines, newspaper reports, and interviews with participants and spectators, we analyse the parades between 1965 and 1994, showing how, as an annual ritual and landscape spectacle, the parades succeed to a large extent in creating a sense of awe, wonderment and admiration. Discussion focuses on four aspects of the celebrations: the site of the parades, their display and theatricality, …

Go to article

Moderating Effects Of Tolerance For Ambiguity And Risktaking Propensity On The Role Conflict-Perceived Performance Relationship: Evidence From Singapore Entrepreneurs, Hai Yap Teoh, See Liang Foo Jan 1997

Moderating Effects Of Tolerance For Ambiguity And Risktaking Propensity On The Role Conflict-Perceived Performance Relationship: Evidence From Singapore Entrepreneurs, Hai Yap Teoh, See Liang Foo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study investigates the effects of tolerance for ambiguity and risktaking propensity in mediating the relationships between role conflict and perceived performance among 70 entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized businesses in Singapore. Entrepreneurial activity has been widely recognized as a major factor driving Singapore's economic development. Further insights therefore can be gained by this study, which addresses the above issues from the perspective of Singaporean entrepreneurs. As founders of their enterprises, entrepreneurs are often involved with many aspects of activities that create a high potential for conflict, having to play multiple roles, coping with competing and conflicting demands, and overcoming …

Go to article

Hong Kong In United States-China Relations: The International Politics Of Hong Kong's Reversion To Chinese Sovereignty, James T. H. Tang Jan 1997

Hong Kong In United States-China Relations: The International Politics Of Hong Kong's Reversion To Chinese Sovereignty, James T. H. Tang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the implications of the political transition of Hong Kong onUS-China relations in strategic, political and economic dimensions. It evaluates the impactof Hong Kong's changing status in the context of the engagement-containment debate onChina policy in the US. It suggests that US concerns over questions such as democracy andhuman rights and China's rejection of foreign interference' in Hong Kong would turn theterritory into a source of political conflict between the US and China. Finally it points outthat any major trade confrontation between the two countries would have serious implicationsfor the territory. The article concludes by arguing that if …

Go to article

Culture And Capital In Urban Change: The Constitutive Relationship Between Development Imperatives And Symbolic Values In Singapore's Built Environment, Lily Kong Jan 1997

Culture And Capital In Urban Change: The Constitutive Relationship Between Development Imperatives And Symbolic Values In Singapore's Built Environment, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Over the last three decades, Singapore has undergone tremendous urban change. These changes have been premised on the logic and rationality of economic planning, in which development goals have taken precedence over other symbolic values, be they historic, cultural, sacred, personal, social or aesthetic. In recent years, however, there has been tangible evidence that parts of the urban fabric are being retained, a reflection perhaps of increasing appreciation of the cultural and historical values of these built forms. Given this scenario, my intention in this paper is to explore the interconnections between symbolic values in the urban landscape, on the …

Go to article

Nature And Nurture, Danger And Delight: Urban Women's Experiences Of The Natural World, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Clive Briffett, Navjot S. Sodhi Jan 1997

Nature And Nurture, Danger And Delight: Urban Women's Experiences Of The Natural World, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Clive Briffett, Navjot S. Sodhi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we address a research lacuna in the area of human experience of, and interaction with, nature. We focus on women in an urbanized setting, exploring their actual and desired experiences of the natural world, using Singapore as a case study. Our intention is to contribute to both the evolving theoretical and empirical discussions on this subject. Based on data collected from focus group discussions and household questionnaires, we conclude that women's relationships with nature in Singapore are underscored by a strong inclination towards nurturing: teaching, tending and caring, in a way that is not as apparent in …

Go to article

A Preview Of Ei And Ezi: Programs For Ecological Inference, Kenneth Benoit, Gary King Dec 1996

A Preview Of Ei And Ezi: Programs For Ecological Inference, Kenneth Benoit, Gary King

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Ecological inference, as traditionally defined, is the process of using aggregate (i.e., ecological) data to infer discrete individual-level relationships of interest when individual-level data are not available. Existing methods of ecological inference generate very inaccurate conclusions about the empirical world- which thus gives rise to the ecological inference problem. Most scholars who analyze aggregate data routinely encounter some form of this problem. EI (by Gary King) and EzI (by Kenneth Benoit and Gary King) are freely available software that implement the statistical and graphical methods detailed in Gary King's book A Solution to the Ecological Inference Problem. These methods make …

Go to article

Democracies Really Are More Pacific (In General): Reexamining Regime Type And War Involvement, Kenneth Benoit Dec 1996

Democracies Really Are More Pacific (In General): Reexamining Regime Type And War Involvement, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Current consensus in the field of democratic peace research holds that democratic states go to war in general no less than nondemocratic states. The author challenges this consensus by reevaluating the main empirical studies on which it rests, using information that previous studies ignored and statistical techniques unused or even unknown at the time. The results indicate that from 1960 to 1980, democratic nations were less involved in military conflict than other regime types. Estimates of this relationship are robust to different operational definitions of both war and democracy, to the addition of control variables for other possible correlates of …

Go to article

Economic Development And The Distribution Of Land Rents In Singapore: A Georgist Implementation, Sock-Yong Phang Oct 1996

Economic Development And The Distribution Of Land Rents In Singapore: A Georgist Implementation, Sock-Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

Independent Singapore, which has a tradition of free trade, has implemented large doses of Henry George's prescriptions. It has successfully captured land rents for redistribution through its land acquisition, public housing and other programs. These policies have been instrumental in the successful economic development of the island city state. Industrial estates on state-owned land were leased to foreign multinationals for export-oriented manufacturing which created the bulk of jobs in the sector. Commercial developments are built by the program. Affordable 99-year leasehold housing, built by the state, provided added economic incentives for employment, and helped keep inflation and wages down. Private …

Go to article

Singapore And The Experience Of Place In Old Age, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Peggy Teo Oct 1996

Singapore And The Experience Of Place In Old Age, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Peggy Teo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Through case studies of two neighborhoods in Singapore with large concentrations of elderly residents-Tiong Bahru and Chinatown-we explore the relationship between the aged's emotional attachments to place and the sustenance of their personal identities, their continued participation in life, and their adaptation to changing circumstances. In particular, we examine their feelings of physical, social, and autobiographical insideness. We emphasize the rapidly changing physical conditions in Chinatown wrought by the government's conservation strategy and their implications for the elderly. In Tiong Bahru young people are moving to newer housing developments, leaving the aged behind in an essentially little-changed physical environment; we …

Go to article

Singapore's Experience With Car Quotas: Issues And Policy Processes, Sock-Yong Phang, Wing-Keung Wong, Ngee-Choon Chia Oct 1996

Singapore's Experience With Car Quotas: Issues And Policy Processes, Sock-Yong Phang, Wing-Keung Wong, Ngee-Choon Chia

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper examines the policy processes behind Singapore's car quotas. The policy, when filtered through the market mechanism, had a number of unintended consequences. The public's unhappiness with certain features and [`]loopholes' of the system resulted in many changes to the rules. The effects of recent measures to curb speculation on quota premiums are evaluated. Problems with Singapore's Weekend Car Scheme are also discussed. The lesson for transport policy makers elsewhere is that in attempting to deal with the road congestion problem through car ownership policies, an asset market for vehicles should be taken into account.

Go to article

The Evolution Of International Norms, Ann Florini Sep 1996

The Evolution Of International Norms, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article puts forward a theoretical explanation for why norms of international behavior change over time. It argues that the mainstream neorealist and neoliberal arguments on the static nature of state interests are implausible, as the recent empirical work of the growing constructivist school has convincingly shown. But the constructivists have not yet provided a theoretical basis for understanding why one norm rather than another becomes institutionalized, nor has learning theory yet provided an adequate explanation. An evolutionary approach that draws its hypotheses from an analogy to population genetics offers a promising alternative. This article briefly outlines the constructivist critique …

Go to article

Social Constructions Of Nature In Urban Singapore, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh Sep 1996

Social Constructions Of Nature In Urban Singapore, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Wilderness was increasingly evaluated either as a resource to be exploited or a resource to be protected. Those who urged the protection of wilderness viewed it as a place for outdoor recreation and safe enough for the family; others saw it as a museum of natural curiosities, a tourist attraction; while the high minded revered it as nature's cathedral. [Yi-Fu Tuan 1971: 38]

Go to article

Libsearch: A Window-Based Frontend To Remote Bibliographic Databases On The Internet, Ee Peng Lim, Soo-Yin Cheng Jul 1996

Libsearch: A Window-Based Frontend To Remote Bibliographic Databases On The Internet, Ee Peng Lim, Soo-Yin Cheng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Over the past several years, a number of wide-area information navigation and discovery tools have been introduced, including WAIS[1], Gopher[2], World-Wide Web[3], etc. In this paper, we describe a graphical query interface to remote bibliographic databases that can be found on the internet. A library query client, called LibSearch, has been designed and implemented using a set of APIs based on Z39.50 protocol standard[4]. Z39.50 is an application-layer protocol within the OSI reference model designed to allow library users to remotely access the bibliographic records in the library systems. As increasing number of OPAC systems are being established as Z39.50 …

Go to article

The Notion Of Place In The Construction Of History, Nostalgia And Heritage In Singapore, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Lily Kong Jun 1996

The Notion Of Place In The Construction Of History, Nostalgia And Heritage In Singapore, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we investigate the links between place and time, and the intersections between the geographical imagination and the historical mind. These issues are explored in the context of Singapore by looking at the links between place and three concepts usually associated with the temporal sense - history, nostalgia and heritage. We argue that the two imaginations can be simultaneously engaged by means of a focus on the concept of place. The making of a place is closely intertwined with individual biographies and collective histories; at the same time, place does not record history in an unproblematic way. We …

Go to article

Ideology, Social Commentary And Resistance In Popular Music: A Case Study Of Singapore, Phua Siew Chye, Lily Kong Jun 1996

Ideology, Social Commentary And Resistance In Popular Music: A Case Study Of Singapore, Phua Siew Chye, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Popular music as a site of struggles over meaning is focused upon, where the social and political relations between different groups in Singapore society are mirrored. How ruling elites and everyday people make use of the same cultural form--popular music--for different purposes is examined.

Go to article

Trading Networks Of Chinese Entrepreneurs In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Chalmers E. Labig Apr 1996

Trading Networks Of Chinese Entrepreneurs In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Chalmers E. Labig

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The entrenchment of entrepreneurs in local, regional, or global business networks based on kinship, clanship, territorial, or ethnic ties has often been cited as characteristic of Chinese business communities in Southeast Asia. Qualitative interviews with Singaporean Chinese merchant-exporters were conducted in order to examine this thesis. The findings reveal that there is a strong tendency among Chinese entrepreneurs in Singapore to rely on external commercial relationships with ‘outsiders’ and ‘friends’ rather with those related by blood or marriage. It is suggested that kinship reciprocity may under some circumstances curb the autonomy and freedom of the transacting actors, thus limiting their …

Go to article

Vote-Buying In The Thai Northeast: The July 1995 General Election, William A. Callahan Apr 1996

Vote-Buying In The Thai Northeast: The July 1995 General Election, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The argument that Thailand was a bureaucratic polity characterized by limited popular participation has been challenged in recent years by the manifest rise of civil society. At the same time, business interests have assumed growing political importance, challenging the traditional pre-eminence of government officials and military officers. In particular, politics in provincial areas have come to be strongly influenced by a rising business elite. One effect of this changing landscape has been growing commercialization of the electoral process, as was clearly seen in the July 2, 1995, general election. Vote-buying and other abuses were widespread, especially in provincial areas. This …

Go to article

Against The Communitarian Republic, Chandran Kukathas Apr 1996

Against The Communitarian Republic, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Communitarianism has risen to prominence in recent debates in political philosophy largely on the strength of its criticisms of liberalism. Among its more important criticisms is the charge that liberal political thinking does not properly appreciate the value of community. At a deeper level, communitarian ism asserts that liberalism is infected by confusions about the nature of community, thinking?mistakenly?that it is no more than an associa tion of separate, isolated, 'atomistic' individuals. Communitarians thus advance not only certain claims about value but also other claims about how the human world should be understood.

Go to article

Pluralism, Multiculturalism And Group Rights, Chandran Kukathas Apr 1996

Pluralism, Multiculturalism And Group Rights, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

However prevalent may have been the longing for homogeneity, or at least social unity, in political thinking, the fundamental point which must be recognized is that cultural diversity or pluralism has been the most notable feature of society in the history of human set tlement. "Marginality and pluralism were and are the norm of civi lized existence."1 There are several reasons why this is the pattern revealed by history.2 The first has to do with the ubiquity of military conflict. Even among barbarians ethnic political unity was fragile because military conquests resulted in the mixing of peoples. But throughout history …

Go to article

Organization Structure And Structural Change In European Manufacturing Organisations, Derek Pugh, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark, Geoff Mallory Jan 1996

Organization Structure And Structural Change In European Manufacturing Organisations, Derek Pugh, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark, Geoff Mallory

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The paper considers two approaches to thestudy of the impact of national cultures on thestructure of organizations; viz: culture free andculture bound approaches. Af ter a discussionof the problems of obtaining comparable datain cross-cultural research, the preliminary results of a comparative study of large manufacturing organizations in six countries in Europeare presented. The results suggest that whileformal organizational authority structures appear to be culture free reflecting the impact ofstrategic contingencies, use of coordinationtechniques, such as regular top managementmeetings and task forces, is more affected bycultural factors.

Go to article

Remedies Available For Breach Of Contract Under The Un Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods, Locknie Hsu Jan 1996

Remedies Available For Breach Of Contract Under The Un Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods, Locknie Hsu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article, which is complementary to the previous one [(1996) 8 SAcLJ 104], examines in detail the remedies available under the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, which recently came into force in Singapore. Where appropriate, brief comparisons are made with the remedies available under the Sale of Goods Act.

Go to article

Medical Investigation Of Suspects By The Police, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee Jan 1996

Medical Investigation Of Suspects By The Police, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Although medical examinations and samples taken from suspects' bodies in the course of police inquiries often lead to the discovery of important evidence, Singapore criminal procedure does not appear to empower the police to carry out such medical investigations. Neither does it safeguard the interests of suspects. It is submitted that the Criminal Procedure Code and other statutes should be brought up to date with modern science.

Go to article

Popular Music And A Sense Of Place In Singapore, Lily Kong Jan 1996

Popular Music And A Sense Of Place In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper illustrates how popular music written, produced, and performed by Singaporeans provides a means through which the culture and society of Singapore may be understood. Music with English language text conveys a sense of place and reflects a distinctively Singaporean spirit and identity. The paper examines four themes: the portrayal of Singapore's multiracial population which reflects a unique cultural synthesis; the Singaporeans' concept of urbanity, manifested as the simultaneous attraction and repulsion towards the city and the desire for nature and the rustic; the distinctive social engineering in Singapore; and the way in which global issues are imported into …

Go to article

Tourism Growth In Singapore: An Optimal Target, Habibullah Khan, Sock-Yong Phang, Rex S. Toh Jan 1996

Tourism Growth In Singapore: An Optimal Target, Habibullah Khan, Sock-Yong Phang, Rex S. Toh

Research Collection School Of Economics

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Making "Music At The Margins"? A Social And Cultural Analysis Of Xinyao In Singapore, Lily Kong Jan 1996

Making "Music At The Margins"? A Social And Cultural Analysis Of Xinyao In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Formalist critics and aestheticians have argued that music does not possess any kind of "extra-musical" significance, that there is no meaning beyond the form and structural relations of the notes. For them, music exemplifies the laws of mathematical harmony and proportion rather than the social and political contexts within which it is produced, reproduced and consumed. This view has been challenged by a number of social theorists: Max Weber, Theodor Adorno and Edward Said have all argued for an understanding of music within its social, cultural, economic and political contexts. Such analysis of popular music is now unquestioned. Indeed, it …

Go to article

The Commercial Face Of God: Exploring The Nexus Between The Religious And The Material, Lily Kong Jan 1996

The Commercial Face Of God: Exploring The Nexus Between The Religious And The Material, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores the nexus between the cultural and the material by examining the ways in which religion and the economy are integrated in the context of economy-driven Singapore. The mutually constitutive relationships between the cultural and the material are explored through a discussion of the role of the state, capital and religious institutions in pulling together the sacred and the secular. Specifically, the analysis focuses on how the state harnesses religion ideologically in its economic development strategies; how capital harnesses the potential of religion in commercial enterprises in practical terms; and how religious institutions themselves behave as financial institutions. …

Go to article

Temporary Equililibrium Dynamics With Learning: The Stability Of Random Walk Beliefs, Shurojit Chatterji Jan 1996

Temporary Equililibrium Dynamics With Learning: The Stability Of Random Walk Beliefs, Shurojit Chatterji

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper examines the stability of deterministic steady-states with a one dimensional state-variable and a smooth, recursive updating rule. It is shown that the only possibly stable steady states are those associated with random walk beliefs, provided there is motion on a center manifold, which is the case when a key parameter is non-zero; In the extant literature, there is no motion on the center manifold (the parameter is zero), a consequence of the specific assumption that the expected value of the state variable next period determines its current value. The stability properties are seen to be robust with respect …

Go to article

Temporary Equilibrium Dynamics With Bayesian Learning, Shurojit Chatterji Dec 1995

Temporary Equilibrium Dynamics With Bayesian Learning, Shurojit Chatterji

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper examines the stability of deterministic steady states in a class of economies where the state variable is one dimensional and where agents use Bayesian techniques to form expectations. The dynamics with learning are locally convergent if the prior mean is close to a stable perfect-foresight root having modulus less than 1 and if the prior beliefs are held with enough confidence. The dynamics are, however, divergent if the prior mean or the variance of the prior distribution is sufficiently large

Go to article

Spurious Regression In Forecast-Encompassing Tests, Peter C. B. Phillips Dec 1995

Spurious Regression In Forecast-Encompassing Tests, Peter C. B. Phillips

Research Collection School Of Economics

No abstract provided.

Go to article

First Prev Next Last