Asian Studies Commons^™

A Bankable Future, Jonathan Henry Chang

Asian Management Insights

Efforts to promote financialinclusion in Cambodia arepaying dividends economically,and unlocking opportunity.

Audit Committees And Financial Reporting Quality In Singapore, Yuanto Kusnadi, Kwong Sin Leong, Themin Suwardy, Jiwei Wang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine three characteristics (independence, expertise, and overlapping membership) of audit committees and their impact on the financial reporting quality for Singapore-listed companies. The main finding is that financial reporting quality will be higher if audit committees have mixed expertise in accounting, finance, and/or supervisory. In addition, we do not find evidence that incremental independence of audit committees enhances financial reporting quality because audit committees already consist of a majority of independent directors. Finally, we fail to find any impact of overlapping membership on audit and remuneration committees on financial reporting quality. Overall, the results have policy implications on improving …

Ueber-Brands: How To Make Your Brand Priceless?, J. P. Kuehlwein, Wolf Schaefer

Asian Management Insights

Ueber-Brands—brands that are valued beyond their price and esteemed beyond their size. These brands are unique in that they have captured not just the wallet but also the hearts of a huge, loyal and growing customer base.

Getting Town Councils To Raise Their Game, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Given that about 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in public housing estates, town councils are an integral part of Singapore life. Last month, the Ministry of National Development (MND) initiated a public consultation on the proposed amendments to the Town Councils Act (TCA), which was first enacted in 1988 to empower elected Members of Parliament and unelected town councillors to run public housing estates

The Tpp: Threat Or Treat To China, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The conclusion of the TPP has raised many challenges for China, especially on rules issues. This article discusses the possible responses by China, as well as how this may lead to a window of opportunity for mutual cooperation between the US and China.

Smu Is First Asian University To Offer Master’S Degree Accredited By International Professional Hr Body Cipd, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

The Singapore Management University (SMU) has become the first university in Asia to offer a master’s degree accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). SMU joins prestigious universities such as the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Kings College London to deliver the CIPD’s premier level accredited qualifications. SMU’s Master of Human Capital Leadership (MHCL) has been designed in partnership with the CIPD, the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI), and the Wharton Centre for Human Resources (USA), resulting in a market-leading study programme that provides unparalleled professional qualifications, business acumen and academic knowledge.

Can Asians Be Creative?, Chua, Roy Y. J., Jerry Zremski

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A crotchety American named Henry Ford invented a modern, fast and efficient way to manufacture automobiles and a Japanese man named Eiji Toyoda refined and perfected it. A series of innovators across the western world developed the television - and the tech specialists at Sony, Toshiba and a host of other Asian companies found ways to make TVs better, cheaper, faster. And an idiosyncratic Californian named Steve Jobs invented a company that made a smart phone for the masses - and then outsourced the manufacturing to China. If you detect a pattern here, you are not alone. Asia may be …

Invitation Strategy For Cutting Edge Industries Through Mncs And Global Talents: The Case Of Singapore, Kim Song Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

Singapore presents an interesting case of how a country achieves dynamic economic development and innovation through the "invitation" strategy of a business hub. Despite being a small city-state with limited domestic market size and no meaningful hinterland or natural resources to speak of, Singapore has managed to transform its economy dramatically over the past 50 years by leveraging the strengths of other economies. Specifically, it has been able to attract (or "invite") various types of productive resources, including foreign capital, foreign technology and foreign workers (both skilled and unskilled) to make up for what it lacks. This has helped Singapore …

Inventing The ‘Authentic’ Self: American Television And Chinese Audiences In Global Beijing, Yang Gao

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the ways educated urban Chinese youths engage American television fiction as part of their identity work. Drawing on theories of modern reflexive identity, and based on 29 interviews with US TV fans among university students in Beijing, I found these youths are drawn to this television primarily because they perceive the American way of life portrayed on it as more ‘authentic’. This perception of authenticity must be examined within the socio-cultural milieu these students inhabit. Specifically, torn between China’s ingrained collectivist culture and its recent neoliberal emphasis on the individual self, my respondents glean from US TV …

Small Infrastructure Has Big Impact In China, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It is a familiar dilemma to policymakers around Asia: How much infrastructure, and what kind, is enough? How should developing economies prioritize when the needs are so great? China’s experience offers a surprising answer. While large-scale infrastructure sometimes generates GDP growth (it often does not), smaller is often better for poverty reduction.

What Do Chinese Really Think About Democracy And India?, Devin K. Joshi, Yizhe Xu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There has been much speculation about whether China will democratize and avoid conflict with India in the twenty-first century. Yet, few studies have investigated how contemporary Chinese view India and its democracy. Addressing this gap in the literature, the authors examined Chinese media coverage of India’s two-month long April–May 2014 parliamentary election, the largest election in world history, through systematic analysis of over 500 articles from ten major mass media outlets and over 27,000 messages transmitted on Sina Weibo social media. As might be expected, Chinese mass media generally portrayed India and its elections in a condescending fashion while avoiding …

The Tpp: Threat Or Treat To China, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The conclusion of the TPP has raised many challenges for China, especially on rules issues. This article discusses the possible responses by China, as well as how this may lead to a window of opportunity for mutual cooperation between the US and China.

’A Beautiful Bridge’: Chinese Indonesian Associations, Social Capital And Strategic Identification In A New Era Of China Indonesia Relations, Charlotte Setijadi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In Indonesia, Chinese voluntary associations took on a new level of importance after the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime in 1998 that ushered in a revival of Chinese identity politics. At the same time, Sino-Indonesian relations are blossoming, and the rise of China as a global power means that Indonesia can only benefit from stronger ties with China in the future. In this new atmosphere of cooperation, I argue that Chinese Indonesian individuals and voluntary organizations play a crucial function as trade and cultural intermediaries. Drawing on both empirical and qualitative fieldwork data, in this paper, I examine how …

Grab Taxi: Navigating New Frontiers, Mei Lin, Christopher Dula

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In mid-2016, Anthony Tan, the CEO of Grab, an on-demand transportation-app company serving Southeast Asia, was locked in a high stakes struggle to win the hearts and minds of drivers, passengers and regulators alike. Valued at an estimated US$1.5 billion, Grab (known among consumers as ‘GrabTaxi’) had become one of Asia’s most successful start-ups.

Women In The Shadows : Gender, Puppets, And The Power Of Tradition In Bali, Jennifer Goodlander

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Wayang kulit, or shadow puppetry, connects a mythic past to the present through public ritual performance and is one of most important performance traditions in Bali. The dalang, or puppeteer, is revered in Balinese society as a teacher and spiritual leader. Recently, women have begun to study and perform in this traditionally male role, an innovation that has triggered resistance and controversy.
In Women in the Shadows, Jennifer Goodlander draws on her own experience training as a dalang as well as interviews with early women dalang and leading artists to upend the usual assessments of such gender role shifts. She …

Geopolitical Implications Of The Sino-Japanese East China Sea Dispute For The U.S., Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This presentation updates the article "Geopolitical Implications of the Sino-East China Sea Dispute for the U.S." published in Geopolitics, History, and International Relations which is already available in epubs.

A Study Of Defensive Mechanisms Employed By Two Species Of Nudibranchs Using Toxicity And Unpalatability Analyses, Sean Youn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nudibranchs are marine invertebrates that have developed an intriguing defense mechanism, including warning coloration and the use of chemicals accumulated through their sponge diet. The goal of this study was to determine whether the strength of chemical defenses differs between dietary and accumulated secondary metabolites for two species: Glossodoris vespa and Ceratosoma brevicaudatum. First, NMR spectroscopy was used to not only identify specific compounds in the mantle (outer covering) and the viscera (gut) but also to analyze the possibility of nudibranch species transporting more toxic compounds for defensive purposes. Next, toxicity (brine shrimp) and palatability (Palaemon shrimp) assays were used …

Rebalancing China, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

China’s shift towards a consumption-led economy presents threats and opportunities for Asian economies

Leader Of The Pack: What Makes The Alibaba Group So Successful, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The 'people's platform' sells more than eBay and Amazon combined

Catalyst Asia Issue 04, Institute For Societal Leadership

Catalyst Asia

STORIES FROM THE GROUND

Toiling Away on Land Issues

Leading the Blind

A Leading Secret

The Road Less Travelled

Migrant Rights' Fighter

Power of Youth

A Ground-up Initiative Picking Up The Pieces A Friend to Farmers Four Dollars, Well Spent Bottom-Up Revolution

IN THE HOT SEAT

The Heart of an Uncommon Leader

Help For The Exploited

When Social Revolutions Begin with #Hashtags

Lending His Magical Touch

Fighting Malaria

PERSPECTIVES FROM THE TOP

Steward Leadership

Understanding Societal Leadership

Reflections from A Work Stint with a Difference

Making It Work: Supporting Contemporary Artists In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Michael Curran

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Following the country’s political transition to democracy in the 1990s, a generation of Mongolian artists constructed an art movement rooted in the issues of the new society: transitional national identity, corrupt political and economic systems, and a growingly complex relationship with nature. The liberalization of the economy, however, hasn’t nurtured sustainable creative resources or helped artists reach domestic or international markets, pressuring them to find alternative ways to create livelihoods out of their craft. This study considers how emerging multidisciplinary artists sustain themselves through both formal and informal means, and the motivations behind their creative lifestyles.

Central to the study …

An Interpersonal Exploration Of Zen Buddhism: A Case Study Of Thiền Viện Trúc Lâm, Yuwen Michelson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Through ethnographic research, I plan to examine the institution of Zen Buddhist education. I study how the applied socio-cultural meanings of what it means to be a “Buddhist” affect individual and shared meanings of Zen Buddhism. I focus on how pedagogy and practice of Zen Buddhism influences personal interpretations of Buddhist thought and tradition.

Over the years, many Buddhist scholars have brought to light several methodological issues with the study of Buddhism via examination of the canon. These concerns range from issues of objectivity and intention to interpretation and creativity; while also including other complications regarding politics and power. Scholars …

Continuing Efforts To Alleviate "Orange Pain" An Internship With The Da Nang Association Of Victims Of Agent Orange/Dioxin, Loan Heilner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This year marked the 55th anniversary of Vietnam’s Agent Orange Disaster. Decades after the end of the war, Vietnamese people are still largely being affected by the remnants of the United States’ Agent Orange herbicide sprays. Dioxin chemical has now been confirmed detrimental to human and environmental well-being, but unfortunately it still remains in high concentrations in certain areas of Vietnam. Dioxin chemical is passed on through genetics to new generations, but one of the leading causes of dioxin-related health defects today are due to environmental residue. In Da Nang, Agent Orange was stored and loaded at the local airbase …

Street Art In Kathmandu As A Tool For Activism And Social Change, Madison Minchin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In recent years street art has become a popular platform for activism and social commentary in Kathmandu. Both local Nepalis and visiting foreign artists have transformed the streets of the city into their new canvas for art and changemaking. The effectiveness of this unique intersection of art and activism has narrowly been examined through an academic lens. This research intends to understand the specific intentions of street artists and their art in Kathmandu. The effectiveness of this street art as a platform for social change is measured in this research through qualitative interviews and observational techniques. Analysis of the dynamics …

The Influence Of Ajanta On Indian Modern Art, Nolan Hawkins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The artwork of the Ajanta cave temples has had a major impact on the definition of Indian artistic identity and upon the modern art movement in India. This paper describes the history and construction of the caves and their specific stylistic and ideological influence of and interpretation by various key figures of the modern art movement. The first major projects to produce copies of the Ajanta frescoes (those by Major Robert Gill, John Griffiths and his students, and Lady Herringham and Abanindranath Tagore's students) are surveyed and put in context. Various early art-historians and critics are examined with respect to …

Actually, Let’S Not Talk About Sex: The Value-Laden Sex Education Received By China’S Young Women, Allyson Tsu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research explored China’s sex education and the values it imparts to China’s young women. Findings indicate that although young women wish to learn about safe sex and sexuality from both schools and parents, communication is restricted by both parties embarrassment, lack of preparation, and fear that open dialogue on such topics will promote sexual activity.

The study found that while sex education classes were informative on physiological topics, in participants' perceptions, they lacked information on safe sex (i.e. use of contraceptives) by sticking to the abstinence narrative, and assuming—or pretending—that China’s young people are not engaging in sex. Although …

The Transgender Community In Bangalore: Health Issues And Factors Negatively Affecting Outcomes, Zayahary Ortiz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Despite their long history in India, transgenders continue being pushed aside depriving them of their basic needs, human rights, and their right to health. The present study aims to discuss the current health issues and factors affecting the health outcomes of the transgender community. This was accomplished through an investigation of social, economical, and political exclusions and behavioral patterns impacting and affecting health outcomes in the transgender (TG) community. The study was completed in Bangalore, Karnataka under the guidance of Swatantra, a rights-based organization seeking to empower the transgender working-class through the access to rights, education, employment, family acceptance, and …

Illuminating Infertility: An Exploration Of The Socioreligious Implications Of Infertility In Bali, Michaela Schwartz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this paper, I will examine infertility in Bali in a socioreligious context. I will use background research and interviews with infertile women and couples to draw connections between the customs, rituals, and traditions of Bali and the way people experience infertility. I hope to illuminate how Balinese religion and social structures affect the lived experiences of couples who cannot have children, both positively, negatively, and neutrally. Overall, my study aims to generate better understanding of the specificity of life in Bali for those who are unable to have children.

Sugar And Spice, Not Everything's Nice: Changing Dietary Habits In Bali, Harry Teplow

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this paper, I will explore the ways in which locals interact with new food options on the island of Bali. Specifically, I will explore dietary behaviors surrounding pre-­‐ packaged snacks and ‘fast-­‐food’ chains and determine whether the presence of these food options is affecting the Balinese’s relationship with more traditional cuisine. I will use everyday observations and conversations with locals to analyze dietary habits and the various food items that are being consumed while examining the potential dietary differentiation between two age groups. I will also consider health outcomes in Bali and discuss how changing dietary habits may be …

Smu Enhances Curriculum And Expands Offering To Prepare Undergraduates For The Digital Age, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

Demand for infocomm professionals in Singapore is outpacing supply with 30,000 new infocomm jobs expected by 2020. The Infocomm Media 2025 masterplan has identified salient trends that are significant for the next decade, these include Big Data & Analytics, Internet of Things and Cybersecurity. The masterplan also highlighted future key infocomm job areas: Software Development, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, and Network Infrastructure. In response to these industry trends and demand, SMU has strengthened its undergraduate curriculum in three schools to contribute to the 'future-proofing' of Singapore. The School of Information Systems (SIS) has revised its undergraduate curriculum in response to changes …