Asian Studies Commons^™

Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey 2022, Paulin Straughan, Mathews Mathew

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Singapore Management University undertook the fifth wave of the Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey (PCSS) with 2,020 Singapore residents providing responses to the survey from July to October 2022, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2022 wave of the PCSS continued to reflect an overall satisfaction with public cleanliness in Singapore, similar to the last PCSS in 2021. Majority of survey respondents (92%) were satisfied with the cleanliness of public spaces that they had recently visited, with no change from 2021. Satisfaction with the cleanliness of food outlets saw the largest decrease (by 2.1%) among all location types, to 82.7%. Nevertheless, …

Dyadic Positive And Negative Religious Coping Among Older Singaporean Couples And Marital Satisfaction, Gloria J. Lai, Kenneth Tan, Micah Tan, Grace Cheong, Cheng Cheng, Mathews Mathew

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Difficulties faced in life can affect marital relationships and such troubles may be dealt with in a multitude of ways, including coping religiously. The present study examined how religious coping, either in a positive or negative manner, may have an impact on marital satisfaction. Importantly, this association was studied dyadically in a sample of religiously diverse (Buddhists, 32.3%; Taoists, 17.6%; protestant Christians, 14.1%; and others who did not identify with a specific religion, 19.1%), married older Singaporean adults (N = 1928; 964 couples). Using actor-partner interdependence modeling, we found significant actor, partner, and combined actor-partner effects for positive and negative …

Continuity, History, And Identity: Why Bongbong Marcos Won The 2022 Philippine Presidential Election, Dean C. Dulay, Allen Hicken, Anil Menon, Ronald Holmes

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In May of 2022, Bongbong Marcos won a commanding 59 percent of the vote to become president of the Philippines. His victory was, on some level, shocking to scholars and analysts of Philippine politics. As a result, a plethora of different theories have been proposed, in an attempt to explain why Marcos won. In this paper, we use nationally representative survey data to explore which factors predict (and do not predict) voting intention for Marcos. We find that, a) support for former President Rodrigo Duterte, b) positive perceptions of the late President Ferdinand Marcos and martial law, and c) ethnic …

The Effects Of Ses, Social Support, And Resilience On Older Adults’ Well-Being During Covid-19: Evidence From Singapore, Mindy Eiko Tadai, Paulin Tay Straughan, Grace Cheong, Rachel Wen Yi Ngu, Yan Er Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic has rendered visible many socioeconomic inequalities and the lengthy period of dis- ruption to everyday life had disproportionate effects on the most vulnerable groups in Singapore and across the world. Utilizing data from the Singapore Life Panel ® (SLP) collected in September 2021, this study examined a sample of 6667 older adults to assess the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on well-being, and the mechanisms through which social support and resilience may mediate its influence. Overall, our results suggest significant direct and indirect effects of SES on well-being and provide evidence for the pivotal role that social …

The Health And Social Impacts Of An Ageing Population In Singapore, And Why It Matters, Paulin Tay Straughan, Chongsheng, Micah (Chen Chongsheng) Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Singapore’s population is ageing rapidly, with the National Population and Talent Division estimating that about one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above by 2030 (National Population and Talent Division 2022). It is anticipated that these demographic changes will have wide-reaching implications for the country that will span all sectors and dimensions of society. In this article, we focus in on two specific dimensions of the impact that an ageing population will have for society; health and social impacts. Using data from the Singapore Life Panel® (SLP) that has been running for the past seven years at the …

The Persistence Of Ethnopopulist Support: The Case Of Rodrigo Duterte's Philippines, Dean C. Dulay, Allen Hicken, Ronald Holmes

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The past few years have seen an emergence of populist leaders around the world, who have not only accrued but also maintained support despite rampant criticism, governance failures, and the ongoing COVID pandemic. The Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte is the best illustration of this trend, with approval ratings rarely dipping below 80 percent. What explains his high levels of robust public support? We argue that Duterte is an ethnopopulist who uses ethnic appeals in combination with insider vs. outsider rhetoric to garner and maintain public support. Moreover, we argue that ethnic affiliation is a main driver of support for Duterte, and …

The Political Ecology Of Death: Chinese Religion And The Affective Tensions Of Secularised Burial Rituals In Singapore, Quan Gao, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores the political ecology of death and the affective tensions of secularised burial rituals in Singapore. Although scholars have recently acknowledged the roles of biopower and affect in shaping environmental politics, religion and death as socio-affective forces have not been substantively engaged with by political ecologists. We argue that death is inherently both a spiritual and ecological phenomenon, as it exposes not only the spiritual geographies that structure how people see the natural world, but also the affective tensions and struggles over what counts as a “proper” form of burial in relation to religion and nature. First, we …

The Demands Of (Dis)Placement, The Micro-Aggressions Of Multiculturalism: Performing An Idea Of "Indianness" In Singapore, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores the ways in which state-defined discourses of multiculturalism can unintentionally create a framework through which micro-aggressions are enacted against those interpreted as “other”. These definitions cascade down from the state to majority and then minority ethno- national groups, who leverage positions of relative dominance to establish the terms of acceptance and integration into society. By negotiating these terms, ethnicity becomes a performative construct through which difference is asserted and reified. We illustrate these ideas through an empirical analysis of Singapore’s minority Indian community, and how Singaporean Indians perform an idea of “Indianness” in response to their Singaporean …

‘We Are People Of The Islands’: Translocal Belonging Among The Ethnic Chinese Of The Riau Islands, Charlotte Setijadi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Riau Islands Chinese are an anomaly in the study of Chinese Indonesians. For one, while many of their ethnic Chinese counterparts in other parts of Indonesia can no longer speak Chinese due to the New Order regime’s assimilation policy, Chinese languages are alive and well in the Riau Islands. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2017–2018, this paper seeks to understand the Riau Islands Chinese’s cultural resilience and sense of belonging as a borderland ethnic minority. I argue that long-standing inter-Island and cross-border mobilities and cultural flows with Singapore have been central to the maintenance of Riau Islands Chinese …

Public Policy Education In India: Promises And Pitfalls Of An Emerging Disciplinary Identity, Ishani Mukherjee, Dayashankar Maurya

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Despite the surge in global demand over the last few decades, the supply and design of public policy education has been notably concentrated within western and developed country contexts. The same era has not seen a comparable rise in public policy education and accreditation emerging from developing countries that are still unable to fully meet the existing domestic needs for these skills. In India, core public policy education is in its emerging, albeit promising stages. Drawing on several rounds of discussions with academic and administrative Heads of the Department for public policy in tertiary education institutes of India, this paper …

China’S Global Strategy As Science Fiction, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Xi Jinping is leading China in a new direction, but how are we to understand the PRC’s global strategy? To understand domestic and international politics in most countries, we would look for clues in authoritative sources—leaders’ speeches, official documents and statistics, elite interviews and essays, and public opinion surveys. In the 2000s this method worked well to probe Chinese politics. But since civil society and independent thought have been severely restricted over the past decade under Xi, it’s necessary to go beyond such “factual” sources. To understand China’s global strategy, it’s best to read fiction, especially Chinese science fiction.

Deconstruction Of A Dialogue: Creative Interpretation In Comparative Philosophy, Steven Burik

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It is common knowledge that Martin Heidegger’s attempts at engaging non-Western philosophy are very much a construct of his own making. This article in no way seeks to disagree with those observations, but argues two things: first, that Heidegger’s “dialogue” with his two main other sources of inspiration, the ancient Greek thinkers and the German poets, is not different in kind or in principle from his engagement with East Asia. One can of course quite easily argue that Heidegger’s main interest was the ancient Greek thinkers, and then the poets, and only lastly Asia. But this hierarchy in preference does …

Covid-19 Stress And Cognitive Failures In Daily Life: A Multilevel Examination Of Within- And Between-Persons Patterns, Nadyanna M. Majeed, K. T. A. Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna, Mingyao Li, Jonathan L. Chia, Verity Y. Q. Lua, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed an extremely high number of lives worldwide, causing widespread panic and stress. The current research examined whether COVID-19 stress was associated with everyday cognitive failures, using data from a seven-day daily diary study of 253 young adults in Singapore. Multilevel modeling revealed that COVID-19 stress was significantly associated with cognitive failures even after adjusting for demographic factors, both at the within-person and between-persons levels. Specifically, individuals experienced more cognitive failures on days they experienced more COVID-19 stress (as compared to their own average levels of COVID-19 stress), and individuals who experienced more COVID-19 stress overall …

The Impact Of Having Foreign Domestic Workers On Informal Caregivers Of Persons With Dementia: Findings From A Multi-Method Research In Singapore, Qi Yuan, Yunjue Zhang, Ellaisha Samari, Anitha Jeyagurunathan, Tee Hng Tan, Fiona Devi, Peizhi Wang, Harish Magadi, Richard Goveas, Li Ling Ng, Mythily Subramaniam

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Background: Informal caregivers of persons with dementia (PWDs) sometimes engage foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to support their caregiving journey. However, there has not been much research to establish if this is really beneficial. The current study aims to investigate whether engaging FDWs specifically for caregiving of PWDs truly moderates caregiver stress and to explore caregivers’ experiences of engaging FDWs. Methods: A multi-method study design with a quantitative and qualitative sub-study was adopted. For the quantitative sub-study, 282 informal caregivers of PWDs were recruited. Propensity score matching analysis was used. For the qualitative sub-study, 15 informal caregivers with FDWs were interviewed. …

The Search For Spices And Souls: Catholic Missions As Colonial State In The Philippines, Dean C. Dulay

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A growing literature posits that colonial Christian missions brought schooling to the colonies, improving human capital in ways that persist to this day. But in some places they did much more. This paper argues that colonial Catholic missions in the Philippines functioned as state-builders, establishing law and order and building fiscal and infrastructural capacities in territories they controlled. The mission-as-state was the result of a bargain between the Catholic missions and the Spanish colonial government: missionaries converted the population and engaged in state-building, whereas the colonial government reaped the benefits of state expansion while staying in the capital. Exposure to …

British Neo-Colonialism In Malaya And Singapore, And U.S. Empire In The Pacific, Wen-Qing Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This essay places the Vietnam War upon the larger canvas of Southeast and East Asian history by studying the long shadow that Britain’s Empire cast over U.S. entanglements across the region. It shows how British officials in Malaya and Singapore directly contributed to the expansion of US involvement in post-1945 Southeast Asia, as well as the overall pro-US trajectory of the region well before the Americanization of the Vietnam conflict.

Toxic Effect Of Fear Of Losing Out On Self-Esteem: A Moderated Mediation Model Of Conformity And Need For Cognitive Closure In Singapore, Sheila Xi Rui Wee, Chi-Ying Cheng, Haelim Choi, Ciping Goh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Kiasu (fear of losing out, FoLO) is considered the single most defining adjective that captures Singapore identity, and it is well-observed in other Asian cultures as well. Despite the widespread endorsement of kiasu in Singapore, there is limited empirical research on the theoretical conception of kiasu as a psychological construct. To empirically investigate kiasu, we validated the construct and measurement of the FoLO mindset in Study 1. In Study 2, we hypothesized and found a negative association between FoLO and Singaporeans’ self-esteem, which was mediated by a higher tendency of conformity. In addition, we hypothesized and found that individuals’ need …

How Do Filipinos Remember Their History? A Descriptive Account Of Filipino Historical Memory, Dean C. Dulay, Allen Hicken, Anil Menon, Ronald Holmes

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

How do Filipinos remember their history? To date this question still has no systematic answer. This article provides quantitative, descriptive results from two nationally representative surveys that show how Filipinos view three of the country's major historical events: the Spanish colonization of the Philippines; martial law under President Ferdinand Marcos; and the 1986 People Power Revolution. The descriptive results include several takeaways, including: first, the modal response towards all three events was indifference (versus positive or negative feelings); second, positive feelings towards martial law were highest among those who were alive at that time; third, the distribution of feelings towards …

Choreographing Neutrality: Dance In Cambodia’S Cold War Diplomacy In Asia, 1953-1970, Darlene Machell Espena

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the role of dance in Cambodia’s Cold War diplomacy in Asia from 1953 up until the establishment of the Khmer Republic in 1970. It explores how Sihanouk leveraged Cambodian dances to enact Cambodia’s neutral stance during the Cold War and forge cordial relations with other Asian states. Through an examination of the myriad of dance performances of the Royal Ballet and other Khmer dance troupes within the context of Cambodia’s diplomatic relations in Asia, this paper demonstrates how dance afforded a space for Inter-Asia referencing amidst the Cold War tension in the region. Premised on an interdisciplinary …

Understanding South Korean Middle Power Diplomacy Discourses Through The Concept Of Sadae (Serving The Great), Young Chul Cho, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study aims to examine South Korean middle power diplomacy discourses using premodern Korea’s diplomatic thinking-cum-practice of sadae (serving the great) as a heuristic device. It is argued that current discourses of South Korea as a middle power resonate with sadae because they strive to secure the existing liberal international order led by the West and the United States. It also argues that it is both necessary and healthy for South Korean middle power diplomacy studies to denaturalize its self-evident faith in the existing liberal international order—a not universal but particular order among several possible others in history—with South Korea …

Infrastructure's (Supra)Sacralizing Effects: Contesting Littoral Spaces Of Fishing, Faith, And Futurity Along Sri Lanka's Western Coastline, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores the ways in which infrastructural development can cause the sacred to become a source of political legitimacy, and sacred authority to become a politically charged construct. For resource-dependent communities, the ecological damage caused by infrastructural development can cause ostensibly profane issues to be imbued with sacred meaning and value. With sacralization comes the expectation that figures of sacred authority will campaign for justice on behalf of the communities that they represent. However, when the authority evoked comes from outside the boundaries of institutionalized religion, processes of suprasacralization come into play. By exploring infrastructure’s (supra)sacralizing effects, I demonstrate …

Politically Speaking: Ethnic Language And Audience Opinion In Southeast Asia, Jacob I. Ricks

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Language is one of the quintessential markers of ethnicity. It allows co-ethnics to easily identify one another and underscores in-group and out-group boundaries. Recognizing this, politicians frequently employ ethnic tongues to enhance their political appeal. To what extent does this shape the opinions of their audiences? Utilizing a survey experiment, I test the impact of an ethnic tongue against that of the common political language among the Javanese in Indonesia, the Tagalog in the Philippines, and the Isan people in Thailand. The experiment demonstrates that the ethnic language has a significant impact in both Thailand and Indonesia, but there appears …

Young Singaporeans Abroad And Their Misguided Sense Of Superiority Towards S-E Asia, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences Lily Kong –whose research has focused over the decades on social and cultural change in Asian cities – discussed why young Singaporeans can have a misguided sense of superiority towards South-east Asia when they venture abroad. She explained how this could blind them to their neighbours’ hidden strengths. Prof Kong also shared that SMU has sought to actively vest in its students a sound appreciation of growth in Asia. To support this endeavour, the University is launching a series of overseas centres in selected South-east Asian …

Looking Beyond The 'Middle Class' For Other Chinas, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There are high hopes for China’s middle class. Thanks to their rising disposable income, this group of Chinese is expected to unleash a consumer revolution in the domestic market. However, I argue that the ‘middle class’ as a concept provides at best a partial understanding of the Chinese consumer population; at worst, it can even provide a misleading perspective that brings us to erroneous conclusions about its profile and size. Instead, I propose the notion of ‘three Chinas’ as an alternative way to make sense of China’s consumers. ‘First China’ comprises residents in medium and large-sized cities, ‘Second China’ consists …

Property In Whose Name? Intrahousehold Bargaining Over Homeownership In China, Jia Yu, Cheng Cheng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Previous research typically examined homeownership inequality across individuals or households, overlooking the intrahousehold allocation of homeownership. Using couple-level data of the 2016 China Family Panel Studies, our study addresses the gap by examining the bargaining over homeownership between husbands and wives in China. Descriptive results reveal a large gender gap in homeownership: only about one-quarter of couples listed the wife as an owner on the Housing Ownership Certificate, whereas about 92% listed the husband. The gender gap in ownership, however, has narrowed among couples married after 2000. Multivariate analyses show that economic autonomy, relative resources, housing purchase conditions, and modernization …

Visualizing Politics In Indonesia: The Design And Distribution Of Election Posters, Colm A. Fox

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Where studies have shown that visuals are the primary means of political communication, research continues to focus largely on text-based information. To add to our understanding of visual-political communications, this article analyses Indonesian election posters since the 1950s. Drawing on historical materials and on a content analysis of 4,000 election posters, it asks why election posters have been designed and distributed in particular ways. Findings indicate that in the past, posters used singular, though powerful, social symbols to mobilize demographic groups behind political parties. However, contemporary posters are more visually complex and more candidate-centered, making arguments as to what the …

Exhibiting Transnationalism After Vietnam: The Alpha Gallery In Pursuit Of An Authentic Southeast Asian Art Form, Wen-Qing (Wei Wenqing) Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This essay examines how the Alpha Gallery, an independent artists cooperative established by Malaysians and Singaporeans, curated and staged art shows in the 1970s that advanced its project to unearth and promote an intrinsically Southeast Asian aesthetic. The cooperative pursuit a transnational vision of inter-regional connections between the Bengali Art Renaissance of the early twentieth century and Balinese folk art. It also harbored ambitions of sparking a cultural renaissance in Southeast Asia, though these were ultimately unfulfilled. Importantly, as this essay shows, the cooperative’s transnational vision mirrored the racist thinking and paternalism of Euro-American colonial discourses about civilizing the region’s …

The Impact Of Fear Of Losing Out (Folo) On College Students’ Performance Goal Orientations And Learning Strategies Insingapore, Haelim Choi, Chi-Ying Cheng, Sheila Xi Rui Wee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The current research investigated the influence of the Fear of Losing Out (FoLO) mindset on learning strategy via performance goal orientation and its interaction with social comparison amongst Singaporean college students. In Study 1, a positive relationship between FoLO and performance goal orientations (i.e., avoidance and approach) was found. Study 2 replicated this finding and further revealed a downstream effect of FoLO on surface learning via performance goal orientations. In addition, social comparison moderated the link between performance goal orientation and surface learning in the mediation model. Specifically, in downward social comparison conditions, FoLO facilitated high performance-avoidance goal orientation, which …

Access To Power: Electricity And The Infrastructural State In Pakistan, Ijlal Naqvi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Pakistan would desperately like to produce enough electricity, but it usually doesn’t. This is the rare issue on which government and private sector can unite, and it is the cause of suffering for rich and poor alike across the entirety of the country. Despite prioritization by successive governments, targeted reforms shaped by international development actors, and featuring prominently in Chinese Belt and Road Investments, the Pakistani power sector still stifles economic and social life across the country. This book explores state capacity in Pakistan by following the material infrastructure of electricity across the provinces and down into cities and homes. …

The Imaginary And Epistemology Of Disaster Preparedness: The Case Of Japan's Nuclear Safety Failure, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Fukushima nuclear disaster was profoundly a man-made one, resulting from the organizational failure of nuclear emergency preparedness. To fully understand the cause of this disaster, I propose to extend an organizational perspective on disasters into a macro-institutional perspective on disaster preparedness. To this end, I borrow from science and technology studies the concepts of "sociotechnical imaginary" and "civic epistemology" to probe the deepest layers of meaning-making constitutive of disaster preparedness. I then apply these concepts to the history of nuclear energy in postwar Japan that was centered on the developmental state pursuing industrial transformation. Specifically, I illustrate how the …