Asian Studies Commons^™

After The Flood: Fish Farming And Climate Change Adaptation In Chitwan, Nepal, Signe Stroming

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Last summer, Nepal’s Terai region experienced some of the worst flooding in recent memory. Climate change is expected to increase the number of natural disasters that Nepal experiences in coming years, and more vulnerable demographics will be more adversely affected. Fish farming is a highly profitable and slowly growing industry based primarily in the Terai, that many believe is less vulnerable to climate-related risks than conventional forms of agriculture, and thus a possible livelihood adaptation strategy. In this study, I conducted semi-structured interviews with ten farmers in Madi, Chitwan, to understand the daily challenges and threats to fish farming, the …

From Kipat To Kathmandu: A Failed Integration Of Limbu People Into The Nepali State In Biblate, Ilam, Andrew Blunt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In eastern Nepal, a territory historically known as Limbuwan, the Limbu people make up just under 400,000. Historically, this region and its people were accompanied by the practice of kipat, a system of land tenure and management as well as one of community and cultural governance. In 2021 (1964) the Land Act formally ended the practice of the kipat system and transferred all lands to the state held raikar form of tenure. With the end of the practice of kipat came the attempted integration of the Limbu people from their traditional governing systems into the burgeoning Nepali democracy. A combination …

Losing Faith: An Exploration Of Village Ponds In The Thar Desert, Pentti Hanlon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The intention of this study is to provide a holistic look at the Naadi: a rain-fed common property resource used for drinking water collection in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan. A sustainer of human life in the Thar, Naadis have decided how and where residents of the Thar lived. This study examines both current and historical naadi use in the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. The format of the study is a compilation and analysis of 15 field visits, a series of interviews, and investigation of recent alternatives to naadis. The success of a naadi is a function of geology, geography, and …

Women Of Leh Town, Ladakh: An Overview Of Perceptions Of Health, Health-Seeking Behaviors, And Access To Health Care, Sophia Marion

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following study seeks to investigate access to health care services and perceptions of health care among women residing in traditional farming communities around the Ladakh region, and to analyze perspectives on health, health-seeking behavior, and access to health care. This project was prompted by the fact that health care in this region is understudied. This study also focuses on marginalized communities including local women and immigrant women. Methods used for the collection of data were qualitative interviews conducted with 24 women, as well as an amchi worker, doctors, and informal and formal conversations with people from different nongovernmental Organizations …

When Knowledge Flows: A Case Study Of Village Health Workers’ Motivations In Jamkhed, Selaem Hadera

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Across the field of global health, there have been many attempts to cater to the health needs of the most marginalized populations. Community health workers (CHWs) are individuals that live in the communities they serve and are typically low-­‐income women with little to no formal education. After a period of training by their program, they enter their communities equipped as a bridge between the community and the health system. Although CHWs do play a substantial role in health delivery and education, the structure of CHW programs varies widely, but a common characteristic of these programs is that the CHWs are …

Shaped By Changing Space: Exploring Gender And The Discourse Of Empowerment In Sikles, Nepal, Rachel Yanover

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Development work as it relates to women in Nepal is an ongoing topic of debate and discussion that may never have a concrete end. In the late 1970’s Indian women took a stand in defending their livelihood against commercial logging operations with authorities. This event was known as the Chipko movement and is often cited within the history of women and development as it caused people to “engage the question of gender and gendered livelihoods in the Himalayas” (Gurarani and Berry, 2015). It was women who served as the backbone of this movement in organizing nonviolent demonstrations against commercial deforestation. …

Optimized Organic Waste Treatment System An Assessment Of Composting And Biogas Potential At Santos Organics, Abbie Winter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Food waste holds incredible environmental degradation implications due to its ability to produce and emit potent greenhouse gases, as well as allow for the resources initially used to produce it to go to waste. When in a gloabal crisis of environmental degradation as well as food security, it is a shame to see food be wasted when other more optimal outlets are available.

This study utilizes the Triple Bottom Line to assess the ideal systems with which the three branches of Santos Organics should manage their food waste to optimize its lifecycle in order to further promote the business’ status …

The Shifting Roles Of Dai Maas: An Intersection Of Healthcare And Female Empowerment In Rural Udaipur, Julie Morel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), known as dais in an Indian context, have historically served as women’s primary caregivers throughout their pregnancies and during childbirth in rural regions where access to formal healthcare institutions is nearly impossible. With a heavy reliance on traditional knowledge passed down through generations, dais have aided with home deliveries for millennia. Approximately 15 years ago, however, groups such as WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, and the UN began addressing India’s high maternal mortality rate (MMR), thereby instigating the discouragement of home deliveries in favor of the encouragement of institutional deliveries. Infrastructural changes were established to improve accessibility …

Understanding Sanitation Preferences: An Exploratory Study In The Sirohi District Of Rajasthan, Karen Mac

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Of all the countries in the world, India has the highest number of people practicing open defecation, causing adverse health outcomes from the unconfined spread of faecal matter. The Government of India is ambitiously aiming to end this practice through the construction of 12 million toilets by 2019, but historically, many toilets across India have gone unused. This study focused on understanding: (1) the reasons why people continue to openly defecate despite having toilets and (2) the requirements of a toilet that rural households would be willing to use. Along with 36 observations of household toilets, semi-structured group (n=8) and …

The Relentless Pursuit Of University Rankings Is Creating A Two-Track System, Eng Fong Pang, Linda Lim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Global university rankings constructed mainly by Western commercial media outlets,like this week’s Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings, seem to be a perennial sourceof interest in Singapore.Yet, rankings have well-known limitations.The Ministry of Education (MOE) and university leaders frequently deny that they motivate policy orare a basis for institutional evaluation. But they do provide a convenient way to ascertain ifuniversities meet our aspirations for world-class status.At the same time, because rankings tend to emphasise research publications of global significance,there is some skepticism among academics and the general public everywhere of their value to localcommunities.

Board Independence As A Panacea To Tunneling? An Empirical Study Of Related Party Transactions In Hong Kong And Singapore, Christopher C. H. Chen, Wai Yee Wan, Wei Zhang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines the effect of imposing higher board independence requirements on private benefit extraction by corporate management or controlling shareholders in Hong Kong and Singapore. This article shows that higher board independence negatively correlates with fewer related-party transactions (RPT), though in a nonlinear relationship with the marginal effect of higher board independence diminished. However, we find no clear causal effect of Hong Kong's imposition of a minimum board independence threshold in 2012 on reducing tunneling. Our data also show that higher concentration of ownership might not be associated with more tunneling by RPTs. Overall, this research lends support to …

Artificial Intelligence Research In Singapore: Assisting The Development Of A Smart Nation, Pradeep Varakantham, Bo An, Bryan Low, Jie Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Artificial Intelligence (AI) research in Singapore is focused on accelerating the country’s development into a Smart Nation. Specifically, AI has been employed extensively in either augmenting the intelligence of humans or in developing automated methods and systems to improve quality of life in Singapore.

The Perceived Mental Health Effects Of China’S One-Child Policy, Avery Rasmussen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study looked at the perceived impacts of China’s 30 year One-Child Policy (OCP). Previous studies suggested the OCP affected Chinese culture and society in a number of ways, however no studies (to the knowledge of the principal investigator) had looked at perceptions of the effects of the OCP on anxiety levels and other mental health issues of students in China. This study sought to fill the aforementioned knowledge gap and aimed to determine perceptions about the mental health effects of the OCP on students. Specifically, this study endeavored to gain a better understanding of perceptions of the effects of …

A Comparative Study Of The Barriers To Hiv Self-Management Among Myanmar Migrant And Han Chinese Women In Yunnan, China, Anna Gaden

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

HIV has transitioned from high-risk populations to the general population through sexual transmission – now the primary mode of transmission in China – and is currently the biggest public health crisis in China. Those who are not directly involved with commercial sex work (CSW) or intravenous drug use (IDU) are now vulnerable to contraction. Han Chinese women, especially young women, are generally more vulnerable to transmission than their male counterparts, both physically and socially, and the virus affects their lives more deeply. Myanmar migrant women are even more vulnerable, as their migrant status leaves them without support structures or protections …

Asean And The South China Sea: Approaches To Resolving The Conflict, Jennifer Jie Li

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In recent years, tensions have escalated between actors in the South China Sea, one of which is the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the region’s primary intergovernmental organization. The purpose of this report is to determine the effectiveness of ASEAN in resolving the South China Sea disputes and to clarify how geopolitical factors have impacted the organization’s actions. Through an analysis of evolving maritime claims and the current state of affairs, this paper suggests that ASEAN must be involved in any attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully. Acknowledging the importance of the diplomatic channels that ASEAN has created to …

An Abbreviated Leap: The Geopolitical And Geoeconomic Significance Of The China – Pakistan Economic Corridor To The New Silk Road, Emma Nichols

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this analysis is to reveal the geopolitical and geoeconomic significance of the China – Pakistan Economic Corridor of the Belt and Road Initiative to its major stakeholders; Pakistan and China. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled one of the most ambitious international infrastructure plans in modern history. The plan, in its earliest stages, is currently underway with its first portion, the China – Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Through careful preliminary analysis of the greater Belt and Road Initiative, the China – Pakistan Economic Corridor, and history of Sino-Pak relations, the motivations of the collaborating nations are …

Lord Denning’S Influence On Contract Formation In Singapore: An Overdue Demise?, Chia Ming Lee, Kenny Chng

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a series of inconsistent decisions by the Singapore courts on contract formation in continuing negotiations cases, Lord Denning’s broad approach—which does away with the traditional offer and acceptance analysis—appears to have been simultaneously adopted and rejected. This article suggests that the continued uncertainty in Singapore regarding the scope of application of the traditional approach and Lord Denning’s approach arises from a conflation of both as being substantially similar. This article further argues that both approaches are conceptually and practically distinct. A better way forward for Singapore law in the area of contract formation in continuing negotiations cases, having regard …

Board Independence As A Panacea To Tunneling? An Empirical Study Of Related Party Transactions In Hong Kong And Singapore, Christopher C. H. Chen, Wai Yee Wan, Wei Zhang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines the effect of imposing higher board independence requirements on private benefit extraction by corporate management or controlling shareholders in Hong Kong and Singapore. This article shows that higher board independence negatively correlates with fewer related-party transactions (RPT), though in a nonlinear relationship with the marginal effect of higher board independence diminished. However, we find no clear causal effect of Hong Kong's imposition of a minimum board independence threshold in 2012 on reducing tunneling. Our data also show that higher concentration of ownership might not be associated with more tunneling by RPTs. Overall, this research lends support to …

Transshipment Hub Selection From A Shipper’S And Freight Forwarder’S Perspective, Gang Chen, Waiman Cheung, Sung-Chi Chu, Liang Xu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Transshipment hub selection becomes increasingly important to the global logistics community. From the perspectives of shippers and freight forwarders, a selection must align with cost control strategy and sustain service reliability across cooperative service providers. This paper assesses the selection with the options of both sea and air transports, and from the influence of country of origin of the company. Critical factors of transshipment hub selection, both qualitative and quantitative, are identified through focus group discussions. Relative importance of these factors is determined based on collective views of logistics stakeholders. The competitiveness of transshipment hubs is then assessed using an …

A Resilient Society For A Global Singapore, Arnoud Cyriel Leo De Meyer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

I was intrigued by the theme of this conference about the social futures of Singapore. I believe that Singapore is at a tipping point of thinking about its future. This is not because it was Singapore’s 50 years of independence last year and we are now looking at the next 50 years. It is simply because Singapore has become a very mature and rich society. It probably has to start thinking in a very different way about its future. I had, at other occasions, mentioned my belief that Singapore’s resilience will be one of the key requirements for it to …

The Essence Of Luxury: An Asian Perspective: Lvmh-Smu Luxury Research Conference 2016, Srinivas K. Reddy, Jin K. Han

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A number of developments in the luxury market have been attributed to the arrival of luxury products in Asian markets. The modernisation of Japan some decades back paved the way for a growing trend towards imbibing western lifestyles in Asia. Japan’s economic success after the Second World War was a key factor responsible for the introduction of luxury marketing in Asia. In the 1970’s, Japanese tourist-shoppers became a noticeable phenomenon in Europe. The European luxury houses were quick to recognise the opportunity and began setting up branches and luxury outlets in Japan. The Japanese were not only the driving force …

Singapore’S First Reserved Presidential Election: More Haste, Less Speed, And A Missed Opportunity?, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

After much hype and anticipation that preceded it, Singapore’s sixth presidential election in September 2017 quickly reached an anti-climatic end when the Presidential Elections Committee in pre-qualifying three presidential hopefuls determined that only one person, Madam Halimah Yacob, was eligible to contest.

Community Engagement As A Form Of Participatory Governance, Ijlal Naqvi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Singapore government increasingly conducts a wide-rangingvariety of community engagement, which involve some degree ofpublic participation in government decision-making. These range fromOur Singapore Conversation, a wide-ranging discussion of whatSingaporeans want for their future, to the Colour Your Busescampaign in which citizens could vote on whether public buses shouldbe red or green. While these engagement processes typically informand consult, or occasionally involve deliberation and co-creation, theyrarely — if ever — empower citizens to make consequential decisionsin the manner of Archon Fung and Erik Olin Wright’s concept ofEmpowered Participatory Governance (2003).

The Rcep And Its Investment Rules: Learning From Past Chinese Ftas, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

China’s free trade agreements (FTAs) reveal malleability as the most striking feature. The paper analyzes the following questions: what is the trend of China’s fta approach to investment concerning malleability? Is China a rule follower, shaker or maker? How may China approach the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) regarding investment? It argues first that the malleability will probably expand from investment protection to investment liberalization. China converges with deep ftas regarding investment protection and may incrementally move to investment liberalization. Second, increased malleability of China’s ftas exists in regulatory autonomy and investor-state dispute settlement. Third, China is likely to be …

Trust Needed To Ensure Our Resilience, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan shared his views on the crucial role of civil society in Singapore’s fight against terrorism. He believed that “confidence-building and trust are needed to ensure Singapore and Singaporeans build its stock of adequate social capital and resilience to withstand threats to its social fabric.” Associate Prof Tan noted that it is important that top-down and bottom-up approaches be taken to ensure continuous dialogue and engagement in order to promote such trust. “The role of civil society is crucial. Civil society can be meaningfully inducted to enhance a society's capacity to …

Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey [2017], Paulin Straughan, Mathews Mathew

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The authors undertook the Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey. The survey was completed in March 2017 and was made possible through funds from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. The survey was carried out by the research company, Blackbox Research. The survey sample is representative of the demographics of the Singapore population. In particular, we sought the views of 2000 Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents aged 21 years and above. A response rate of about 70% of eligible households was obtained. In general, we found that there was a high level of satisfaction on the cleanliness of public spaces …

China’S Growth Story: Plenty To Come, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The Middle Kingdom has lots of room to grow if it could sort out economic distortions and optimise capital allocation. The tweaking of the one-child policy might also help

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2017: Q2 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 and across countries. This is the CSISG’s eleventh year of measurement.

A Guide To The Singapore Presidency, Smu Apolitical, Wenqi Ng

Student Publications

Singapore adopted the Westminster Parliamentary system of government from the United Kingdom. Under this system, the head of state and head of government are distinct roles that are held by different people. The head of state of Singapore is the President, and in the United Kingdom it is the monarch who holds that responsibility. The head of government in both countries is the Prime Minister. Before 1991, the President was “elected” (essentially appointed) by Parliament. The role of the President was entirely ceremonial. Singapore’s first President, Yusof Ishak, who was also the last Yang di-Pertuan Negara, interacted with various communities …

Parental Influence On Second Generation Chinese-American Youth’S Career Choice And Development, Yingli Huang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A large body of literature supports the claim that the role of parents in shaping Asian-American youth's career development is significant (Leong & Serafica, 1995; Leong & Hardin, 2002; Yuan, 2012; Sandhu, 2017; Qin, 2011). When considering the family impact on Asian-Americans’ vocational choices, researchers should examine the phenomena through culturally specific lens so that variables that are more cultural relevant are captured. This is a pilot study with the goal to provide a preliminary understanding of the ways in which first-generation Chinese immigrant parents influence the choice and development of a career to their second-generation young adult children. In …