International and Area Studies Commons^™

Thailand's 2019 Vote: The General's Election, Jacob Ricks

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Thailand’s March 2019 ballot was the first for the country since 2011, and for many it signaled the potential end of the military junta’s five-year rule. But was it truly a return to democracy? This essay argues that the election was far from a democratization event. Instead, it was a highly orchestrated exercise to ensure authoritarian longevity. The junta employed techniques of institutional engineering as well as managing the election’s outcomes in an effort to extend the premiership of Prayuth Chan-ocha despite increasing pressure for a return to civilian rule. The results of the election suggest that Thai society continues …

Oral History Interview With Timothy Clark, Timothy Clark

Oral History Collection

The interview covered:

• Starting at SMU
• Concepts and Value
• Challenges and Future
• Teaching and Curriculum
• Campus - Prinsep Street going forward
• Faculty
• Advice for Students

South Korea: Building Ties In Southeast Asia, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Seoul looks south to build a more resilient economy amidst rising trade tensions. Singapore plays a key part

How To Address The Ai Governance Discussion? What Can We Learn From Singapore’S Ai Strategy?, Nydia Remolina Leon, Josephine Seah

Centre for AI & Data Governance (2019-2025)

The following research piece explores how Singapore is addressing the AI Governance discussion. First, the document broadly provides some background to the Singapore’s AI strategy; second, it explains exactly what the Model AI Governance Framework is and how Singapore is addressing the AI Governance discussion; third, it compares Singapore’s approach with other jurisdictions’ and how important it is to contribute to the international debate on AI governance; and fourth, the document mentions some challenges ahead and observations on what is missing from current conversations about AI.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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?

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.

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 …

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 …

The “Lessons” Of Britain’S Counterinsurgency In Malaya: An American Obsession, Wen-Qing (Wei Wenqing) Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This essay examines how US preoccupation with British counterinsurgency in Malaya exerted a profound impact on US Cold War policy in Vietnam and the Global South, and continues to have consequences for American interventions in the present.

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.

Glocalised Constitution-Making In The Twenty-First Century: Evidence From Asia, Maartje De Visser, Bui Ngoc Son

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

How have Asian nations conducted, or how are they conducting, constitution-making in the face of pressures associated with globalization, and how do they balance those forces with domestic interests and realities? This article aims to develop an analytical framework that can capture this global-local interplay. It introduces the concept of “glocalized constitution-making” to denote the co-existence and relationship between the two governance levels as manifested in the forces, actors and norms pertaining to the process of drafting a new constitution as well as its substance. Glocalization permeates the entirety of a constitution-making episode, from the impetus to initiate the process, …

The (Re)Introduction Of Dual-Class Share Structures In Hong Kong: A Historical And Comparative Analysis, Hui Robin Huang, Wei Zhang, Siu Cheung Kelvin Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In April 2018, Hong Kong issued new listing rules to introduce the dual-class share structure, also known as weighted voting rights (WVR), under which a special class of shareholders’ voting rights are conferred disproportionately with respect to their equity interest. The WVR was used in Hong Kong in the 1980s but was banned in 1989. The debate on the WVR was rekindled by the Alibaba event in 2013. The WVR structure has benefits and costs. Thus, Hong Kong lays down relevant supporting mechanisms, including entry requirements, disclosure requirements and safeguard requirements. The WVR regime in Hong Kong appears to be …

Imperiled Destinies: The Daoist Quest For Deliverance In Medieval China, Alan Kam Leung Chan

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This is a work of considerable erudition, reflecting decades of research into the Daoist tradition. Imperiled Destinies offers a close reading of “the evolution of Daoist beliefs about human liability and redemption, and procedures for rescuing an ill-starred destiny” (p. 324), from the second century CE to the tenth century. More specifically, it focuses on three main phases of development in Daoist redemptive rituals. Divided into three parts, of four chapters each, it discusses in turn the “petition” (zhang) rituals in Heavenly Master Daoism (Tianshi dao), the “retreat” (zhai) rituals in Lingbao (Sacred Jewel) Daoism that gained currency during the …

Catching Up With The ‘Core’: The Nature Of The Agricultural Machinery Sector And Challenges For Chinese Manufacturers, M. T. Safdar, Terry Van Gevelt

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The current era of globalisation has been accompanied by China’s rise as a major economic actor. Chinese firms are expanding their presence globally and are seeking to ‘catch-up’ with firms in developed countries across different sectors. This paper uses China’s agricultural machinery sector as a vehicle to examine the challenges faced by firms from developing countries in their effort to catch-up with ‘core firms’. Chinese firms operating in the sector struggle to compete with a small number of dominant core firms based in developed countries. These core firms are sectoral leaders with a global presence. They are continuously strengthening their …

Vietnamese Pre-Schoolers’ Tablet Use And Early Childhood Learning: An Ecological Investigation, Becky Pham, Sun Sun Lim

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

As Vietnam’s economic growth and consumer demands continue to accelerate, more Vietnamese families are now able to acquire portable touchscreen devices such as iPads. Previous research has shown that the use of touchscreen devices can benefit preschoolers’ learning, especially within school and home settings. However, little is known about the broader sociocultural environment within which such technology adoption by families with preschoolers takes place, especially in the Global South. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecology of human development, this research investigates the ecology of tablet use and early childhood learning by pre-schoolers in Vietnam through an ethnographic investigation of 42 mother-child dyads. …

Responsible And Sustainable Business, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The Tanoto Foundation builds on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for a win-win solution

Building Indonesia, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Business families of Southeast Asia’s largest economy look ahead to building for future success and generations

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2019: Q1 Results, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

The Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) computes customer satisfaction scores at the national, sector, sub-sector, and company levels. The CSISG serves as a quantitative benchmark of the quality of goods and services produced by the Singapore economy over time. 2019 marks the 13th year of measurement for the CSISG national study.

Singapore's Latest Efforts At Regulating Online Hate Speech, Siyuan Chen, Chen Wei Chia

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The introduction of the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) has been generating considerable debate and feedback. Some of the concerns raised include whether the bill unduly restricts the freedom of expression. In focusing on the hate speech provisions of the POFMA, this legislation comment situates the criticisms within the larger framework of international human rights law and international practices and proposes some ways forward to improve the regulatory framework for online hate speech.

What An Election Poster Can Tell Us About Thai Election Campaigns, Jacob I. Ricks

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In the runup to Thailand’s 2019 national elections, the country has been awash with election posters. This simple form of campaign communication remains a staple of Thai campaigns, despite the advent of various Internet platforms and communication devices. But although election posters are often discussed by journalists and the general public, they are rarely analyzed in academic research. This is surprising and unfortunate, since their wealth of textual and visual information can tell us a lot about campaigns.