International and Area Studies Commons^™

Commentary: How Effectively Can Singapore Adapt To Sea Level Rise?, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Even as Singapore strives to adapt to rising sea levels, let’s not win that battle yet end up losing the larger war against climate change, says the Singapore Management University’s Winston Chow.

The Peripheral Experiences And Positionalities Of Korean New Zealander Returnees: Skilled Return Migrants And Knowledge Transfer, Jane Yeonjae Lee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the peripheral experiences of skilled return migrants in their homeland and the wider social implications of global knowledge transfer. Through a case study of Korean New Zealander returnees, I argue that the process of skill transfer is not easy, as shown by the returnees’ difficulties and social alienation. Korean New Zealander returnees have a more alienated experience than Koreans of similar backgrounds returning from other Western countries.

Informativeness Of The Expanded Audit Report: Evidence From China, Beng Wee Goh, Jimmy Lee, Dan Li, Muzhi Wang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study investigates whether the expanded audit report is informative to investors in the setting of an emerging economy. Using the recent staggered adoption of the expanded audit report for A+H and A share firms in China, we find robust evidence that abnormal trading volume and earnings response coefficients are higher, and stock price synchronicity are lower, in the post-adoption periods than in the pre-adoption periods. In additional tests, we find that the expanded audit report is more informative for non-State Owned Enterprises and for firms with higher information asymmetry. Overall, our study documents systematic evidence that the expanded audit …

Amid Uncertainties, An Uplifting Reminder On Importance Of Resilience And Resolve For Singapore, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan opined that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally (NDR) speech is an uplifting reminder on the importance of having resilience and resolve for Singapore, amid uncertainties such as the slowing economy and Sino-American rivalry. He pointed out that the one common thread across the three speeches is the forging of a unique Singapore identity and ethos and the centrality of staying united even as external forces are buffeting Singapore relentlessly. Assoc Prof Tan believed that the themes from the NDR will continue to resonate from now to next …

Drug Trafficking, State Capacity, And The Post-Soviet Condition In The Kyrgyz Republic, Christopher George Cowan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly independent states of Central Asia faced numerous challenges. These included cultivating new national identities and state capacity, managing new borders, and addressing issues of conflict and political violence. Converging with these challenges – a booming trade in opium and heroin originating in neighboring Afghanistan. Central Asia quickly became a key route for opiates originating in Afghanistan and transiting to Russia and Europe. The Kyrgyz Republic lies at the southeastern corner of this region, along one of the world’s busiest drug trafficking routes.

This thesis examines state and societal responses to narcotics …

Archive And Repertoire Of The Esala Perahera Performance In Sri Lanka, Hashintha Jayasinghe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project examines the archive and the repertoire of the Esala Perahera in Sri Lanka and charts the ideological and cultural implications of the performance. The archival analysis begins with the interrogation of the historical chronicles and the recorded history of the performance in the Sinhala and English texts. Thereafter, travel literature and the dissemination of cultural knowledge on the Perahera are discussed. The study of the repertoire and the photographic archive explores key performances in the Esala Perahera in 2016 and 2017. Postcolonial theory, theories on cultural anthropology, and performance theory are used to analyze the archive and the …

Becoming A Superpower: China’S Rise And The Belt And Road Initiative In Latin America, Garrett Bullock

History Summer Fellows

Is China a Superpower? Will it become one? After half a century of establishing a strong international military presence, thriving economic growth, domestic/international political authority, and considerable cultural “soft power”, the PRC has emerged as a hegemon capable of competing in international geopolitics. Nevertheless, these questions remain unanswered. For this reason, this research explores what it means to be a superpower, whether China is or will be a superpower, and, importantly, what impact China’s rise has on the world. To do this, this research explores existing debates surrounding China’s current global status, the historical emergence of the PRC as a …

How China’S Ageing Population Will Impact On The Rest Of Us, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The world’s second largest economy is getting old before it gets rich

How ‘Status’ Considerations Affect China’S Un Votes, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Beijing’s desire to align with both powerful peers and less influential states leads to a diplomatic balancing act

Virtual Trees In The Real World, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Ant Forest made reforestation fun in China. Can the carbon reduction effort go global? How should it?

Berita Summer 2019, Dominik M. Müller

Berita

Letter from the Chair ... 2

Announcement ... 3

Prizes: John A. Lent Prize 2019 Commendation & Ronald Provencher Grant ... 3–4

Panel Reports: AAS Annual Conference 2019 (Denver, CO) ... 5–12

Article: “To Harmonize or Not Harmonize? Shariah Criminal Law in Malaysia” (Kerstin Steiner) ... 12–14

Article: “Reflections from the Field: On a Quest to Save the Poor: a Day in a “Zakat Camp” (Tímea Gréta Biró) ... 14–17

Article: “A Contemporary Ghost Story: The Tale of the Pontianak” (Rosalia N. Engchuan) ... 17–19

Book Review: Through Turbulent Terrain: Trade of the Straits Port of Penang (Loh, Wei Leng …

Sac Newsletter 2019, South Asia Center

Newsletters from the South Asia Center

No abstract provided.

School Of Law Annual Report 2018: Embracing Change In An Evolving World, Singapore Management University

SMU Corporate Reports

The Annual Report highlights the School of Law’s modest achievements and developments over the past year, as well as the substantive impact of these initiatives.

Corporate Governance Of Innovation In Singapore Chinese Family Business, Geok Chwee Ong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Despite the large number of research publications on innovation management matters, there is still a gap in the understanding of effective innovation governance at corporate levels. The mechanisms that drive effective governance at firm level to ensure the “alignment of goals, allocation of resources and assignment of decision-making authority for innovation across the company, and with external parties” (Deschamps, 2013) remain unclear. Given the importance of family firms in Asia (and beyond), there is an urgent need to examine those family factors that influence the effectiveness of corporate governance of innovation in Asian enterprise. Against this background, this study attempts …

Innovating Today To Build A Sustainable Tomorrow, Daryl Ng

Asian Management Insights

Daryl Ng, Deputy Chairman of Hong Kong-based real estate property developer Sino Group, speaks about his ideas and ideals on the built environment, sustainability, and how business and innovation can be a force for good.

Political Economy Of Pragmatic Refugee Policies In Indonesia As A Transit Country, Yanuar Sumarlan

Asian Review

After some influence by the Australian government through the Bali Process, Indonesia—out of its typical pragmatismcum-flexibility type of approach to refugee issues—began obviously to apply a more securitization-based refugee and asylum-seeker policy in the early 2000s. This paper asks a simple question, “Has Indonesia been truly capable of (1) restricting refugees and asylum seekers’ movement and (2) to processing the refugees’ and asylum seekers’ claims to concluding parts?” This paper argues that the alleged securitization-based policy on refugees or asylum-seekers has had little impact on refugee rights such as freedom of movement and the right to get a claim processed. …

An Analysis Of The Constraining Factors On Greater Mekong Subregion Cooperation: A Case Study Of The Kunming-Bangkok Channel, Zhao Shulan

Asian Review

Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) cooperation from the perspective of regional development is restricted by political, economic and cultural factors in the process of promotion. The Kunming-Bangkok corridor is the central line of the GMS SouthNorth Economic Corridor, which was jointly launched by the Asian Development Bank and China to connect China and ASEAN Countries. But as soon as the Corridor was built in 2013, it was found to be diffi cult to break through the bottleneck of development. Th is can be seen as a common point in diff erent aspects of GMS cooperation. Moreover, the diff erent demands and …

Discourse "Eat Boys, Become Immortal": The Reflection Of Conflicts Between Thai Women And Thai Social Values, Somprasong Saeng-In

Asian Review

This research aims at studying the discourses from various genres on the Internet containing the sentence 'กินเด็ก เป็นอมตะ" (eat boys, become immortal) or the same meaning in order discover the conflicts between Thai women and social values. By using Critical Discourse Analysis in all examples, the following conflicts were found: A Thai woman should not love a younger man; Thai women should not be single; Thai women are not equal to men; Thai women can overpower men but it is inappropriate; Love between Thai women and younger men is materialistic and temporary; The discourses reflect the conflict of love in …

The Urban Development Of Phnom Penh: "A Happy Garden With An Ever-Bright Sun", Christina Warning

Asian Review

Phnom Penh has been one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing cities. Throughout the past decades the urban development processes throughout Southeast Asia have led to evictions, many of which have been violent. In many countries, evictions and the violent removal of entire communities has become a defining feature of modern urban development. Phnom Penh is no exception. This paper provides a condensed account of some of the essential urban policy decisions over the past four decades that help to understand the conflicts and fault lines that have shaped the contemporary urban landscape of Phnom Penh. Using the example of an …

Asean In The Brave New World: Rising China And Southeast Asia In The Post-Cold War, Wasana Wongsurawat

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

At The Hands Of Fate: The Political Economy Of Islamic Insurance In Indonesia, Malaysia, And Pakistan, C. 1980 To The Present, Muhammad S. Rahman

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Why have Islamic insurance systems developed well in some countries, but not in others? Malaysia is considered as Islamic insurance elite due to its relatively large number of operators it houses as well as the sustained growth of Islamic insurance sales within the country, while Indonesia and Pakistan are still in early stages of development. Analyzing the political and social history of Islamization of insurance systems in these three Muslim majority countries in Asia since 1980s, this dissertation demonstrates the development gap between these countries on Islamic insurance results from; firstly, complex bargains made between various groups within each country …

Volumetric Optimization Of Freight Cargo Loading: Case Study Of A Smu Forwarder, Tristan Lim, Michael Ser Chong Ping, Mark Goh, Shi Ying Jacelyn Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Purpose: Freight forwarders faces a challenging environment of high market volatility and margin compression risks. Hence, strategic consideration is given to undertaking capacity management and transport asset ownership to achieve longer term cost leadership. Doing so will also help to address management issues, such as better control of potential transport disruptions, improve scheduling flexibility and efficiency, and provide service level enhancement.Design/methodology/approach: The case company currently hastruck resource which is unprofitable, and the firm’s schedulers are having difficulty optimizing the loading capacity. We apply Genetic Algorithm (GA) to undertake volumetric optimization of truckcapacity and to build an easy-to-use platform to help …

Why And How Public Trust Matters, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To build high trust cities, governments need to better understand the relationships linking people, leaders and the cities they inhabit. Behavioural scientist Professor David Chan explains the psychology of public trust.

Singapore, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Singapore Government recognises and is committed to legal aid as an integral part of access to justice. Sixty years ago in 1958, Singapore was the first country in Southeast Asia to enact a legal aid scheme, which provided for the establishment of the Legal Aid Bureau (LAB) to provide civil legal aid to persons of limited means. Over the course of independent Singapore’s history, legal aid as part of the overall access to justice has broadened significantly. Members of Parliament make regular calls for more people to qualify and receive government-funded legal aid. The government regards access to justice …

Directors' Duties In Singapore: Law And Perceptions, Pearlie M. C. Koh, Hwee Hoon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

It is trite that the law on directors' duties is an important part of corporate governance. It is therefore unsurprising that a large part of extant research in the area is focused on understanding what the law requires, and how it applies or should apply in any particular situation. Such research is however largely reactive. In our research, we set out to look at duties from the perspective of the directors, with a view to appreciating how Singapore directors understand the law as it applies to them. The impetus for this is three-fold: First, to assess the depth of awareness …

Compensating Regulation Of Land: Uk And Singapore Compared, Seng Wei, Edward Ti

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The paper aims to analyse and compare how UK and Singapore deal with compensation with respect to regulation of land (short of a physical taking). The purpose is to determine whether the non-compensation in each jurisdiction is justified. A comparative method using case law, statutes and secondary material across both jurisdictions (as well as some US case law) is adopted. Both the UK and Singapore do not provide compensation when land is affected by regulation, so long as a physical taking has not occurred. Partly because of the abolition of development rights in the UK since 1947, this position may …

A Short History Of The Transformation Of Ethnic Chinese Organizations In Thailand: From Seditious Secret Societies To Patriotic Cultural Ngos, Zhang Ying Ying, Wasana Wongsurawat

Asian Review

Ethnic Chinese organizations in Thailand were transformed and developed through the past century and a half of the modern era in three major phases. In the early-19th century, an influx of Chinese labor migrants followed the tradition of establishing fi ctive kinship networks in their host country through sworn brotherhoods and secret societies. Towards the end of the 19th century, however, the modernization and nation-building processes of the Thai state came into confl ict with the culture and lifestyle of Chinese secret societies and they became criminalized. Consequently, the ethnic Chinese community in Thailand entered the second phase of registering …

Changing Asia, Jirayudh Sinthuphan

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

Vulnerability To Poverty Of Rural Farm Households In Thailand, Thitiwan Sricharoen

Asian Review

This research intends to estimate vulnerability to poverty, specify vulnerable groups and identify strategies that households use to address the exposure to risk of rural farm households in Northeastern and Northern Thailand. This study was conducted in four provinces of Thailand in the Northeastern region (Kalasin and Buri Ram provinces) and the Northern region (Chiangmai and Nan provinces). Data on a total of 1,400 households was collected in the year 2014. The research methodology applied was the feasible generalized least square (FGLS) method, which was employed to determine how log consumption impacts the welfare status of households. The result on …

Administrative Reform For Public Administration Capacity In Bangladesh, Muhammad Azizuddin

Asian Review

This paper aims to understand the reform-led administrative capacity for service delivery in Bangladesh. It also explores the links between administrative reform and service delivery capacity in the context of local administration relating to MDGs universal primary education. It represents a qualitative empirical study with gleaned data and seeks to answer the question of whether the Bangladeshi administration is sufficiently capable of delivering public services. Findings show that the capacity is limited and not up to the standard of a contemporary public service ethos. In addition, the management of local administration is conservative in their approach. The research implies an …