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Articles 61 - 90 of 746
Full-Text Articles in Asian Studies
What Does Singapore Need From Its Next Generation?, Lily Kong
What Does Singapore Need From Its Next Generation?, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong, who is also a Public Service Commission member, emphasised the critical need for a cultural shift among Singapore's youth to ensure the nation's sustained prosperity. Prof Kong advocated for fostering independence of thought, creativity, and interpersonal skills alongside academic excellence, stressing the importance of moving beyond complacency. She urged intentional efforts to instil qualities such as curiosity, resilience, and a growth mindset, exemplified by SMU's initiative to make global exposure a graduation requirement. Prof Kong emphasised the necessity for the younger generation to think critically, challenge norms, and connect ideas across different …
Educational Assortative Mating And Motherhood Penalty In China, Cheng Cheng, Yang Zhou
Educational Assortative Mating And Motherhood Penalty In China, Cheng Cheng, Yang Zhou
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Mothers earn less than comparable childless women, and such motherhood penalty differs in magnitude by women’s socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Prior research, however, has rarely considered how the effect of parenthood on women’s income may also depend on the characteristics of their partners. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies 2010–2018, we examine how the effects of motherhood on women’s earnings and within-couple income inequality vary by couples’ educational pairings in China. A large educational gap between spouses–hypergamy or hypogamy–exacerbates the motherhood penalty on a woman’s individual income and her share of the couple’s combined income. However, when the …
Profiles Of Activity Engagement And Depression Trajectories As Covid-19 Restrictions Were Relaxed, Jonathan L. Chia, Andree Hartanto, William Tov
Profiles Of Activity Engagement And Depression Trajectories As Covid-19 Restrictions Were Relaxed, Jonathan L. Chia, Andree Hartanto, William Tov
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Given elevated depression rates since the onset of the pandemic and potential downstream implications, this research examined the association between activity engagement and depression among middle-aged and older adults postlockdown. This study aimed to (a) identify activity engagement profiles among middle-aged and older adults, (b) understand factors associated with profile memberships, and (c) compare depression trajectories across profiles as COVID-19 restrictions eased over 16 months in Singapore. This longitudinal study involved 6,568 middle-aged and older adults. Latent growth analysis was first conducted to obtain estimates of depression trajectories for each individual. Latent profile analysis was then conducted to identify different …
Smallholders In Capitalist Agriculture: Persistence And Challenges, Qian Forrest Zhang
Smallholders In Capitalist Agriculture: Persistence And Challenges, Qian Forrest Zhang
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper posits that the majority of “smallholders” in contemporary China are commodity producers who must engage in various commodity exchanges to carry out agricultural production and accomplish their social reproduction. Consequently, “smallholder” refers to a family-based economic operation model, rather than a social identity or psychological identification. Within this framework, the study focuses on the intricate relationships between smallholders, various commodity markets, and other market participants. Specifically, it examines two aspects: the relationship between smallholders and capitalized large-scale producers and other agriculture-related capital entities, and the relationship between smallholders and the commodified labor force. The paper argues that the …
Confucian Family Ideal And Same-Sex Marriage: A Feminist Confucian Perspective, Sor-Hoon Tan
Confucian Family Ideal And Same-Sex Marriage: A Feminist Confucian Perspective, Sor-Hoon Tan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This article engages the views of PRC Confucian scholars who responded to the United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's citing of Confucius in his majority opinion on same-sex marriage in 2015. It questions their separation of tolerance for homosexuality from legalization of same-sex marriage and argue that tolerance is not enough. The arguments in the mainland Confucian discourse about same-sex marriage highlights the historical and persistent entanglement of Confucianism with patriarchy. Instead of reviving traditional patriarchal society, further entrenching and increasing gender inequality, contemporary Confucianism could shape its own unique modern society that aspires to (and hopefully one day …
Merit And Inequality: Confucian And Communitarian Perspectives On Singapore's Meritocracy, Sor-Hoon Tan
Merit And Inequality: Confucian And Communitarian Perspectives On Singapore's Meritocracy, Sor-Hoon Tan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper compares criticisms of Singapore’s meritocracy, especially against its impact on income disparities and class divisions, with Michael Sandel’s critique of the meritocratic ethic in the United States. Despite significant differences in their history and politics, meritocracy has similar dysfunctions in both societies, allowing us to draw theoretical conclusions about meritocracy as an ideal of governance. It then contrasts Sandel’s communitarian critique of meritocracy with recent Confucian promotion of political meritocracy and meritocratic justice and argues that the Confucian principle of “promoting the virtuous and talented” is different from the contemporary conception of meritocracy. Textual evidence indicates that a …
Lion City Zoopolis: Urban Crittizenship In Biophilic Singapore, George Wong
Lion City Zoopolis: Urban Crittizenship In Biophilic Singapore, George Wong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
A central theme of Singapore’s “City in Nature” vision is framed through biophilic urbanism, or efforts to harmonize biodiversity and urban development through built, social, and political design. The central discourses of Singapore’s biophilic urbanism have revolved around flora-centric paradigms, including habitat conservation, greening spaces, and access to natural capital. This paper detours from conventions of Singapore’s urban ecological futures and instead explores the governance of fauna co- existence in the city–state through the concept of “urban crittizenship.” Defined as a more-than-human denization framework that interrogates urban wildlife governance, urban crittizenship interrogates the politics of urban wildlife’s rights to the …
Neoliberal Shifts And Strategies Of Religious Adaptation In Post-War Sri Lanka, Orlando Woods
Neoliberal Shifts And Strategies Of Religious Adaptation In Post-War Sri Lanka, Orlando Woods
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Neoliberal shifts have brought about a centring of market logics, and a new focus on the individual as consumer. Some religious groups are better able to adapt to these shifts than others, which reveals the changing role of religion in people’s daily lives. This paper explores how the adaptive strategies of religious groups in response to neoliberalisation can trigger a reimagination of the role and value of religion in/to society. I illustrate these ideas through a comparative exploration of how Buddhist elites and evangelical Christians engage with theology, tradition, and the market in Sri Lanka. Whilst Buddhist elites struggle to …
“Fly Buddha To Mars”: The Co-Production Between Religiosity And Science & Technology At Longquan Monastery, Beijing, Han Zhang, Junxi Qian, Lily Kong
“Fly Buddha To Mars”: The Co-Production Between Religiosity And Science & Technology At Longquan Monastery, Beijing, Han Zhang, Junxi Qian, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This article attempts at a re-theorization towards the symbiosis and co-production of religion, modern science and technology, inspired by theoretical thinking within geographies of religion and science and technology studies (STS). Recent scholarship on the geographies of religion has made substantive advancements in discerning the convergence of religion and secular modernity. However, science and technology (S&T), as an essential condition and driving force of secular modernity, remain peripheral to this ongoing theoretical agenda, yet to be fully incorporated into the analytical framework about the co-constitution of religion and secular modernity, arguably because of the entrench divide between the rationalism of …
Challenges Of Ethnic Party Adaptation In Power-Sharing Systems: Evidence From Malaysia, Sebastian Carl Dettman
Challenges Of Ethnic Party Adaptation In Power-Sharing Systems: Evidence From Malaysia, Sebastian Carl Dettman
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In authoritarian systems, ethnic power-sharing arrangements include important ethnic groups in government and decision-making while putting restraints on political competition. However, under conditions of democratization, we might expect power-sharing arrangements to fragment as political parties seize opportunities to expand their base and appeal across ethnic lines. This article draws from the case of Malaysia, where multiethnic coalitions built around ethnic parties ruled for 61 years but where increasing electoral competitiveness has destabilized coalition politics. I focus on the Democratic Action Party (DAP), one of the country's most successful parties, which has sought to build a more multiethnic support base. I …
When Social Status Gets In The Way Of Mating: The Incompatibility Between Social Status And Reproductive Goals In Modern Contexts, Jose C. Yong, Amy J. Y. Lim, Norman P. Li
When Social Status Gets In The Way Of Mating: The Incompatibility Between Social Status And Reproductive Goals In Modern Contexts, Jose C. Yong, Amy J. Y. Lim, Norman P. Li
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Low fertility is a growing concern in modern societies. While economic and structural explanations of reproductive hindrances have been informative to some extent, they do not address the fundamental motives that underlie reproductive decisions and are inadequate to explain why East Asian countries, in particular, have such low fertility rates. The current paper advances a novel account of low fertility in modern contexts by describing how modern environments produce a mismatch between our evolved mechanisms and the inputs they were designed to process, leading to preoccupations with social status that get in the way of mating and reproductive outcomes. We …
Singapore's Hawker Culture At A Crossroads, Lily Kong
Singapore's Hawker Culture At A Crossroads, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In a commentary, SMU President and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences Lily Kong discussed how Singapore’s hawker culture – which has been a key part of life in Singapore – has developed over the years. She also noted the anxieties over the long-term sustainability of hawker culture, but cited the 2021 National Environment Agency Hawker Perception Survey which offered cause for optimism as the overall experiences of and attitudes towards hawker centres were positive. Prof Kong noted the efforts made in encouraging young Singaporeans to enter the hawker trade and ensure recipes were inherited, but concluded only …
Why Do Farmers’ Cooperatives Fail In A Market Economy? Rediscovering Chayanov With The Chinese Experience, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson
Why Do Farmers’ Cooperatives Fail In A Market Economy? Rediscovering Chayanov With The Chinese Experience, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In The Theory of Peasant Cooperatives, Chayanov develops the theories of differential optima and vertical integration, which stress the vulnerability of peasant farming in capitalist markets, and argues that cooperatives can support smallholders only if they operate as ‘a cooperative movement’, are buttressed by a strong ‘cooperative culture’, and achieve ‘vertical integration’. Based on extensive fieldwork in China, we identify six major obstacles that explain the failure of most cooperatives. Chayanov’s arguments caution us to not only the vital importance of cooperatives to the resilience of peasant farming, but also the apparently insurmountable obstacles that cooperatives face in market economies.
Motivations, Policies And Performance: A Review Of China’S Culture ‘Going Out’ Strategy, Jihua Yang, David Ocon
Motivations, Policies And Performance: A Review Of China’S Culture ‘Going Out’ Strategy, Jihua Yang, David Ocon
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Few countries have advanced their culture globally as China has done in the last two decades with its culture ‘going out’ strategy. Promoting cultural goods and services overseas and fostering cultural exchanges, the strategy is also part of the country’s efforts to advance its soft power abroad. Broadly, there are two contrasting perspectives on the strategy’s performance. Because of its stability and financial muscle, local analysts generally praise it, while the overarching official involvement provokes suspicion in some international contexts. This article provides a neutral assessment of the implementation, achievements, and impact of China’s culture ‘going out’ strategy, investigating its …
The Partial Secularisms Of Singapore's Muslim Minorities: Arbitraging Model Citizenship And (In)Complete Selves At The Margins, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong
The Partial Secularisms Of Singapore's Muslim Minorities: Arbitraging Model Citizenship And (In)Complete Selves At The Margins, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This article argues that the secular should be understood as a partial construct that is selectively deployed by individuals to structure everyday encounters with difference. The partiality of the secular is pronounced in Muslim minority contexts, in which Muslims must negotiate varying degrees of ontological incompatibility between their religious and nonreligious selves. How religious and secular understandings of “model” citizenship are negotiated throughout the spaces and aspirations of everyday life can provide insight into the partiality of the secular, and how such partiality can create difference where there might otherwise be unity. We illustrate these ideas through an empirical exploration …
Visualizing Affective Democracy: Learning Community In China And Taiwan Through Images Of Foreigners, William A. Callahan
Visualizing Affective Democracy: Learning Community In China And Taiwan Through Images Of Foreigners, William A. Callahan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In the past few years, cross-strait relations have been in the news again, especially in terms of China’s hard power reunification strategy and its sharp power influence operations. Indeed, much ink has been spilled about what lessons Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has for a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Taiwan’s presidential election in January 2024 has also led to increased analysis on Beijing’s use disinformation, misinformation, and other influence operations to favor candidates more friendly to the PRC. Indeed, Chinese military’s daily testing of Taiwan’s air and sea defense is both a hard power and a sharp power strategy because …
Faith-Based Fissures Take Many Forms, Lily Kong
Faith-Based Fissures Take Many Forms, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong discussed why religion continues to be a source of contestation over space the world over. She noted that it is important to recognise that conflicts and contestations do not just occur between religions, or between the religious and the secular, but within religions as well, and called for religious leaders to be mindful of the dynamics within their organisations and to consider how to manage potential tensions and conflicts.
Acceptance Of Communication Technology, Emotional Support And Subjective Well-Being For Chinese Older Adults Living Alone During Covid-19: A Moderated Mediation Model, Ze Ling Nai, Woan Shin Tan, William Tov
Acceptance Of Communication Technology, Emotional Support And Subjective Well-Being For Chinese Older Adults Living Alone During Covid-19: A Moderated Mediation Model, Ze Ling Nai, Woan Shin Tan, William Tov
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Stringent social distancing measures implemented to control the spread of COVID-19 affected older adults living alone by limiting their social interaction beyond their households. During these restrictions, interactions beyond the household could be facilitated by communication technology (CT) such as voice calls, instant messages. Our study provides evidence on how CT acceptance could influence the emotional support and in turn, subjective well-being (SWB) of older adults living alone. We did a cross-sectional survey with 293 community-dwelling Chinese older adults. Participants were surveyed from September to November 2020 and had completed measures on CT acceptance (competency), emotional support, and SWB. PROCESS …
Princely Adventures In The Sulalat Al-Salatin (The Genealogy Of Kings), Emily Soon
Princely Adventures In The Sulalat Al-Salatin (The Genealogy Of Kings), Emily Soon
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
No abstract provided.
Demographic Structure And Voting Behaviour During Democratization: Evidence From Malaysia's 2022 Election, Sebastian Carl Dettman, Thomas B. Pepinsky
Demographic Structure And Voting Behaviour During Democratization: Evidence From Malaysia's 2022 Election, Sebastian Carl Dettman, Thomas B. Pepinsky
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Malaysia’s fifteenth general election (GE15) was a milestone in the country’s democratization process, with new parties and political movements competing with established political coalitions. In this paper, we investigate how Malaysia’s cleavage structure—a central feature of Malaysia’s prior authoritarian regime—shapes electoral competition in a newly competitive political environment. We find that the “race paradigm” (Milner, Embong, and Tham 2014) remains central to explaining party strategy and coalition behavior in GE15, but that more democratic competition has increased the salience of regional differences—both between peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, and within peninsular Malaysia itself. Our analysis reveals the structural foundations of …
Chinese Visions Of Self And Other: The International Politics Of Noses, William A. Callahan
Chinese Visions Of Self And Other: The International Politics Of Noses, William A. Callahan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
How does China view the world? While much has been written about how China's international relations are best seen as intercultural relations that do not exclude the Other, this article examines how self/Other relations are visualized in terms of the human face in China, in particular through iconic images that construct the Chinese self with and against foreigners with large noses. It employs interpretivist methods to consider the interplay of social relations and international relations in order to see how ‘external appearance’ and ‘external relations’ inform each other in Chinese theory and practice. It mobilizes the classical Chinese concept ‘deep-set …
Mobilizing For Elections: Patronage And Political Machines In Southeast Asia, Sebastian Carl Dettman
Mobilizing For Elections: Patronage And Political Machines In Southeast Asia, Sebastian Carl Dettman
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Mobilizing for Elections is an exciting and ambitious mapping of the contours of modern patronage in the region. The book provides a conceptual framework to understand patronage in the context of electoral mobilization and answers a variety of questions about the mechanics and patterns of patronage in Southeast Asia: what kinds of patronage are distributed and how, the response of voters to patronage, and variation within and across the cases they consider. The authors examine patterns of what they call “electoral mobilization regimes” in three primary cases: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, with additional evidence provided from Singapore, Thailand, and …
Time To Rethink Higher Education In Singapore And Set Our Own Agenda, Lily Kong
Time To Rethink Higher Education In Singapore And Set Our Own Agenda, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong discussed the need to rethink higher education in Singapore and set an impact agenda for Singapore and the region, instead of benchmarking achievements against universities elsewhere. She called for institutes of higher learning to start focusing on research and partnerships that can make a difference to the region.
Islamic Political Parties And Election Campaigns In Indonesia, Colm A. Fox, Jeremy Menchik
Islamic Political Parties And Election Campaigns In Indonesia, Colm A. Fox, Jeremy Menchik
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Islamist political parties are a structural feature of politics across the Muslim world, raising persisting questions for scholars of democracy. Under what conditions will Islamists moderate to support democracy and pluralism? Under what conditions will they adopt more exclusive behavior? Taking a fresh approach, we focus on electoral competition and the conditions under which Islamic party candidates campaign using either inclusive nationalist appeals or exclusively Islamic appeals. Using a unique data source, we coded the appeals contained on the campaign posters of 572 Islamic party candidates in Indonesia. We found that demographics, urban–rural differences, and the level of government office …
Integration Taxes And Gestural Integration: Access And Limits To Integration Through New Citizens’ Participation In State-Sponsored Grassroots Volunteerism In Singapore, George Wong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Integration is a contested topic in Singapore’s public discourse. One such area is integration through state-sponsored grassroots community volunteerism. Little is however known about such experiences of grassroots volunteerism to integration outcomes. This paper addresses the gap by exploring how new citizen and permanent resident grassroots volunteers make sense of their experiences through ‘integration taxes' and ‘gestural integration'. In doing so, this paper argues that while grassroots volunteerism offers lower barriers to entry for new citizens, it constraints the diversity of integration by and through new citizen volunteers due to discrimination, marginalisation and staged integration faced in grassroots work.
Multigenerational Coresidence And Parental Time In Developmental Childcare In China, Cheng Cheng, Menghan Zhao
Multigenerational Coresidence And Parental Time In Developmental Childcare In China, Cheng Cheng, Menghan Zhao
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Previous literature has examined how multigenerational coresidence changes parental time in primary childcare. However, much less is known about how coresidence may affect the amount of time parents invest in developmental childcare, which is crucial for children’s education and life chances. Using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies 2010-2018, we examine how parental time investment in developmental childcare varies by household structure and parental and grandparental education. Results suggest that coresidence with maternal grandparents increases mothers’ time in developmental childcare among children with high-educated parents. Moreover, the positive effect of matrilocal residence on maternal time investment is greatest …
Chinese Global Orders: Socialism, Tradition, And Nation In China-Russia Relations, William A. Callahan
Chinese Global Orders: Socialism, Tradition, And Nation In China-Russia Relations, William A. Callahan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
While many use rational IR theory to explain Chinese foreign policy behavior, this paper follows global IR to employ interpretivist theory to examine how Chinese elites understand their country’s role in the world. In particular, it explores the Chinese global order ideas of socialism, tradition, and nation through a comparative analysis of how they work in China–Russia relations, especially after China’s 20th Communist Party Congress in 2022. The first section presents a critical analysis of the realist understanding of the China–Russia–U.S. strategic triangle. It argues that the socialist concept of “united front work” better explains Chinese (and Russian) policy in …
Understanding The Dilemma Of Chinese Farmers' Cooperatives: A Chayanov Perspective, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson
Understanding The Dilemma Of Chinese Farmers' Cooperatives: A Chayanov Perspective, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Chayanov’s The Theory of Peasant Cooperatives has been read as a work advocating the viability and even superiority of peasant cooperatives as compared to capitalist farming, we contend that it actually provides the strongest analysis of why most peasant cooperatives are doomed to fail. Chayanov identified five major obstacles peasant cooperatives face, and those obstacles push cooperatives into a vicious circle. Without powerful state support, it is nearly impossible to break the vicious circle. Based on 65 typical cooperatives from 20 provinces, this paper illustrates how these obstacles that Chayanov identified are precisely the reasons why almost all the cooperatives …
Monoracials’ Perceptions Of Biracials In Singapore, Sheila Xi Rui Wee, Chi-Ying Cheng
Monoracials’ Perceptions Of Biracials In Singapore, Sheila Xi Rui Wee, Chi-Ying Cheng
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Objectives: Drawing on social identity theory, present research examined the effects of overlapping racial membership on monoracials’ categorization of biracials as in-/out-group members, as well as its impact on monoracials’ social perceptions of biracials in Singapore. Within Singapore, it is hypothesized that biracials who share racial membership with monoracials would be rated more as monoracials’ racial in-group and be evaluated more positively. Furthermore, monoracials’ positive perceptions of biracials with (vs. without) shared racial membership would be less influenced by biracials’ confrontation of racial prejudice. Method: Studies 1 (N = 242) and 2 (N = 153) sampled Chinese Singaporeans to assess …
Kiasu (Fear Of Losing Out): An Indigenous Psychological Construct In Singapore And Its Impact, Chi-Ying Cheng, Sheila X. R. Wee
Kiasu (Fear Of Losing Out): An Indigenous Psychological Construct In Singapore And Its Impact, Chi-Ying Cheng, Sheila X. R. Wee
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
“Kiasu,” a Hokkien term, which directly translates as the “fear of losing out” is synonymous with the Singapore identity. Yet, there has been little empirical research investigating this indigenous psychological construct in Singapore. This paper first delves into Singapore’s Kiasu culture and existing research of Kiasu, which diverges on the operationalization and measurement of Kiasu as a psychological construct. While early research conceptualized Kiasu as a behavioral tendency, more recent investigations have begun to construe Kiasu as a mindset. Next, we review Kiasu-related outcomes in four domains: academic performance, learning strategies, well-being, and creativity. Finally, we propose a new theoretical …