Asian Studies Commons^™

Asian Higher Education And The Politics Of Identity, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Selection Of Expatriates For Regional Business Operations In Asia: A Study Of Mne Managers In Singapore, A. Ahad M. Osman-Gani, Wee Liang Tan, Thian Ser Toh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The recent interest for regionalization of business operations in Asia underscores the demand for expatriates. While much has been written on expatriation, very little was documented on expatriates assigned in Asian countries. In this respect, American, German, Japanese and Korean MNEs have been found to take active interests in regional expansion of business in Asia. Expatriation is a significant international management issue for them. The high costs of expatriation and the risks for expatriate failures also underscore this importance. As such, selecting the right candidate for expatriation success is a crucial issue for these MNEs. This paper presents the findings …

Globalisation And Singaporean Transmigration: Re-Imagining And Negotiating National Identity, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Within the context of globalisation that confronts the world today, I aim in this paper to illustrate one particular state's attempts at constructing a 'nation' amidst efforts to encourage its citizens to globalise, actions which are ostensibly, or at least, potentially, contradictory; and to analyse how these citizens who became transmigrants construct and negotiate their sense of 'nation' and national identity. Specifically, my empirical questions centre on Singaporean transmigrants working in China. I ask the following questions. What happens to the sense of national identity among Singaporeans and their relationship with the 'nation' when confronted with transnational conditions? What are …

Cemetaries And Columbaria, Memorials And Mausoleums: Narrative And Interpretation In The Study Of Deathscapes In Geography, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper reviews research on deathscapes, particularly by geographers in the last decade, and argues that many of the issues addressed reflect the concerns that have engaged cultural geographers during the same period. In particular, necrogeographical research reveals the relevance of deathscapes to theoretical arguments about the social constructedness of race, class, gender, nation and nature; the ideological underpinnings of landscapes, the contestation of space, the centrality of place and the multiplicity of meanings. This paper therefore highlights how the focus on one particular form of landscape reveals macro-cultural geographical research interests and trends.

Berita Volume Xxiv, Number 4 (Winter 1999), John A. Lent

Berita

Table of Contents

Periodicals... 2

Books... 3

Conferences... 5

MSB Studies Group Meeting Announcement... 5

Amnesty International Issues Malaysia Report... 6

K.S. Jomo on the Situation in Malaysia... 7

Subscription Form & Prospectus... 13

Graduate Student Survey (repeat)... 14

Workplace Sexual Harassment In Singapore: The Legal Challenge, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines the nature and prevalence of sexual harassment in the work environment, and compares civil and criminal law in Singapore to the approaches taken by various jurisdictions in dealing with the problem. It is submitted that legislation is needed to protect employees, as Singapore law currently does not present any clear and coherent means for victims to seek redress for workplace sexual harassment.

The Construction And Experience Of Nature: Perspectives Of Urban Youths, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Navjot S. Sodhi, Clive Briffett

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we explore the ways in which young people in a highly urbanised setting experience and develop constructions of nature. We do so by using Singapore as our case study, an Asian context in which urbanisation is total (Singapore's population is totally urbanised), Based on focus group discussions, we conclude that young Singaporeans have little interest in and affinity for nature. This stems from a few factors: growing up in a highly urban environment in which contact with nature is limited; over-protective parents of two-children families who worry about the 'dangers' their children are exposed to when playing …

Berita Volume Xxiv, Number 3 (Fall 1998), John A. Lent

Berita

Table of Contents

A Message from the M/S/B Studies Group Chair, by Don Nonini ... 2

Requiem for an Unbending Singaporean: J.B. Jeyaretnam and His Political Party, The Worker's Party, by C.V. Devan Nir ... 4

Periodicals... 6

Books... 9

Graduate Student Survey, by Audrey E. Mouser... 12

Asian Expatriate Development: A Comparative Study Of Japanese, Korean And Singaporean Expatriates, A. Ahad M. Osman-Gani, Wee Liang Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Owing to rapid internationalization of business activity, human resource development (HRD) has become increasingly important in recent years. This is especially true when domestic human resource management takes on international dimensions as it deals more with multicultural workforce. International HRD, much of it embodied in cross-cultural training, has been proposed by many scholars as a means of facilitating more effective interaction among managers, employees and customers from different national-cultural backgrounds. Despite the need for cross-cultural skills and the shortage of managers who possess these skills, most human resource decision-makers do nothing in terms of cross-cultural training for their employees. Studies …

Berita Volume Xxiv, Number 1-2 (Spring/Summer 1998), John A. Lent

Berita

Table of Contents Ron Provencher: Reflections on a Career by Sue Russel l... 2

Books ... 5

Attention Grad Students by A. E. Mouser ... 8

Hard Times for Public Intellectuals: Jomo Sued Over Asian Wall Street Journal Article, Chandra Dismissed by Universiti Malaya, by Kit Machado... 9

Periodicals ... 10

Speaking the Truth to Power, by Jomo K ... 14

Pottery Sites Sought by Leedom Lefferts ... 15

Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei Study Group Minutes, by Diane K. Mauzy ... 16

M/S/B Online ... 17

H-SEASIA ... 17

Exalting The Past: Nostalgia And The Construction Of Heritage In Children's Literature, Lily Kong, Lily Tay

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we analyse the portrayal of Singapore in local children's literature and seek to understand why such a portrayal was prominent, and to what effect. We argue that this literature is characterized by a nostalgic recollection of past times and places. This emergence of the past as an important concern in Singapore is not limited to the literary arena, but reflects a larger condition: a broader adult yearning to transcend the constrictions of present place and time. We suggest that this nostalgia has surfaced because of the phenomenal changes in Singapore, which have caused people to come face …

Refocusing On Qualitative Methods: Problems And Prospects For Research In A Specific Asian Context, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A recent issue of Area (1996, Volume 28.2) devoted space to six papers on focus groups, attesting to their increasing importance as a means of obtaining qualitative data. The papers provided interesting insights into the use of focus groups in specific research and cultural contexts, and raised three main issues in my mind. The first is a continuing misunderstanding as to the nature of knowledge, which surfaces in discussions of, and approaches to, the use of qualitative methods such as focus groups. The second is the range of related techniques that are actually involved in the qualitative method, known as …

From Manual To Electronic Road Congestion Pricing: The Singapore Experience And Experiment, Sock-Yong Phang, Rex S. Toh

Research Collection School Of Economics

This study reviews the efforts of Singapore to curb road congestion through restraints on motor vehicle ownership as well as user fees. In particular, it traces the history of the famous Area Licensing Scheme (ALS), and then discusses its shortcomings, also the need for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), its advantages and disadvantages and the technology involved in this state of the art system. This paper identifies important research questions to be addressed in connection with the first full-scale adoption of ERP.

Popular Music In A Transnational World: The Construction Of Local Identities In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As an area of geographical inquiry, popular music has not been explored to any large extent. Where writings exist, they have been somewhat divorced from recent theoretical and methodological questions that have rejuvenated social and cultural geography. In this paper, I focus on one arena which geographers can develop in their analysis of popular music, namely, the exploration of local influences and global forces in the production of music. In so doing, I wish to explore how local resources intersect with global ones in a process of transculturation. Using the example of English songs by one particular songwriter and artiste …

Public Housing In Singapore: Interpreting 'Quality' In The 1990s, Siew Eng Teo, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

While writings exist on various aspects of public housing in Singapore, recent developments in the 1990s have not yet been given any serious academic attention, Our intention in this paper is to focus on such developments, paying particular attention to the government's policy of providing quality housing, After setting the context of efforts at providing quality in the first three decades of public housing by the Housing and Development Board, we turn our attention specifically to the 1990s, focusing on three areas in which attempts are being made to improve quality, namely, the physical upgrading of older estates, the privatisation …

The Construction Of National Identity Through The Production Of Ritual And Spectacle: An Analysis Of National Day Parades In Singapore, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we adopt the view that 'nation' and 'national identity' are social constructions, created to serve ideological ends. We discuss this in the specific empirical context of Singapore's National Day parades. By drawing on officially produced souvenir programmes and magazines, newspaper reports, and interviews with participants and spectators, we analyse the parades between 1965 and 1994, showing how, as an annual ritual and landscape spectacle, the parades succeed to a large extent in creating a sense of awe, wonderment and admiration. Discussion focuses on four aspects of the celebrations: the site of the parades, their display and theatricality, …

Nature And Nurture, Danger And Delight: Urban Women's Experiences Of The Natural World, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Clive Briffett, Navjot S. Sodhi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we address a research lacuna in the area of human experience of, and interaction with, nature. We focus on women in an urbanized setting, exploring their actual and desired experiences of the natural world, using Singapore as a case study. Our intention is to contribute to both the evolving theoretical and empirical discussions on this subject. Based on data collected from focus group discussions and household questionnaires, we conclude that women's relationships with nature in Singapore are underscored by a strong inclination towards nurturing: teaching, tending and caring, in a way that is not as apparent in …

Singapore And The Experience Of Place In Old Age, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Peggy Teo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Through case studies of two neighborhoods in Singapore with large concentrations of elderly residents-Tiong Bahru and Chinatown-we explore the relationship between the aged's emotional attachments to place and the sustenance of their personal identities, their continued participation in life, and their adaptation to changing circumstances. In particular, we examine their feelings of physical, social, and autobiographical insideness. We emphasize the rapidly changing physical conditions in Chinatown wrought by the government's conservation strategy and their implications for the elderly. In Tiong Bahru young people are moving to newer housing developments, leaving the aged behind in an essentially little-changed physical environment; we …

Singapore's Experience With Car Quotas: Issues And Policy Processes, Sock-Yong Phang, Wing-Keung Wong, Ngee-Choon Chia

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper examines the policy processes behind Singapore's car quotas. The policy, when filtered through the market mechanism, had a number of unintended consequences. The public's unhappiness with certain features and [`]loopholes' of the system resulted in many changes to the rules. The effects of recent measures to curb speculation on quota premiums are evaluated. Problems with Singapore's Weekend Car Scheme are also discussed. The lesson for transport policy makers elsewhere is that in attempting to deal with the road congestion problem through car ownership policies, an asset market for vehicles should be taken into account.

Ideology, Social Commentary And Resistance In Popular Music: A Case Study Of Singapore, Phua Siew Chye, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Popular music as a site of struggles over meaning is focused upon, where the social and political relations between different groups in Singapore society are mirrored. How ruling elites and everyday people make use of the same cultural form--popular music--for different purposes is examined.

Trading Networks Of Chinese Entrepreneurs In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Chalmers E. Labig

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The entrenchment of entrepreneurs in local, regional, or global business networks based on kinship, clanship, territorial, or ethnic ties has often been cited as characteristic of Chinese business communities in Southeast Asia. Qualitative interviews with Singaporean Chinese merchant-exporters were conducted in order to examine this thesis. The findings reveal that there is a strong tendency among Chinese entrepreneurs in Singapore to rely on external commercial relationships with ‘outsiders’ and ‘friends’ rather with those related by blood or marriage. It is suggested that kinship reciprocity may under some circumstances curb the autonomy and freedom of the transacting actors, thus limiting their …

Popular Music And A Sense Of Place In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper illustrates how popular music written, produced, and performed by Singaporeans provides a means through which the culture and society of Singapore may be understood. Music with English language text conveys a sense of place and reflects a distinctively Singaporean spirit and identity. The paper examines four themes: the portrayal of Singapore's multiracial population which reflects a unique cultural synthesis; the Singaporeans' concept of urbanity, manifested as the simultaneous attraction and repulsion towards the city and the desire for nature and the rustic; the distinctive social engineering in Singapore; and the way in which global issues are imported into …

Tourism Growth In Singapore: An Optimal Target, Habibullah Khan, Sock-Yong Phang, Rex S. Toh

Research Collection School Of Economics

No abstract provided.

Making "Music At The Margins"? A Social And Cultural Analysis Of Xinyao In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Formalist critics and aestheticians have argued that music does not possess any kind of "extra-musical" significance, that there is no meaning beyond the form and structural relations of the notes. For them, music exemplifies the laws of mathematical harmony and proportion rather than the social and political contexts within which it is produced, reproduced and consumed. This view has been challenged by a number of social theorists: Max Weber, Theodor Adorno and Edward Said have all argued for an understanding of music within its social, cultural, economic and political contexts. Such analysis of popular music is now unquestioned. Indeed, it …

The Commercial Face Of God: Exploring The Nexus Between The Religious And The Material, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores the nexus between the cultural and the material by examining the ways in which religion and the economy are integrated in the context of economy-driven Singapore. The mutually constitutive relationships between the cultural and the material are explored through a discussion of the role of the state, capital and religious institutions in pulling together the sacred and the secular. Specifically, the analysis focuses on how the state harnesses religion ideologically in its economic development strategies; how capital harnesses the potential of religion in commercial enterprises in practical terms; and how religious institutions themselves behave as financial institutions. …

The Multiplier Effect: Singapore's Hospitality Industry, Habibullah Khan, Sock-Yong Phang, Rex S. Toh

Research Collection School Of Economics

Tourism's contribution to Singapore's economy has increased over time. Tourism contributed 11.9% to Singapore's GDP in 1992, about half of that from direct revenues. Indirect and induced sources contributed about equally to the other half. While the direct effect of tourist expenditures on the Singapore economy are predominant, the indirect and induced effects are also significant, indicating strong sectoral linkages within the local economy, especially with respect to the hospitality industry.

Vertrauen Und Chinesisches Wirtschaftshandeln In Singapur: Zur Kulturellen Und Sozialstrukturellen Bedingtheit Von Vertrauensbildung Und Kooperation In Chinesischen Geschäftsbeziehungen, Thomas Menkhoff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Based on in-depth interviews with Chinese merchant exporters in Singapore, the article explores why personal forms of trust (the Chinese translation is xinyong) are key elements in the complex web of business and associated social relationships.

Towards An Understanding Of Chinese Business Networks In Asia-Pacific: The Singapore Case, Thomas Menkhoff, Chalmers Labig

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The embeddedness of entrepreneurs in local, regional or global business networks based on kinship, clanship, territorial or ethnic ties and solidarities has often been cited as characteristic of the Chinese business community in Southeast Asia. Qualitative interviews with Singaporean Chinese merchant-exporters were conducted in order to examine this thesis and shed light on the various "guanxi bases" of their international trading networks. The findings suggest that there is a strong tendency among these Singaporean entrepreneurs towards external commercial transactions with "outsiders" and "friends" rather than with "kin" whether by blood, marriage, or ascription. Kinship reciprocity may curb the autonomy and …

Music And Cultural Politics: Ideology And Resistance In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper focuses on popular music written and produced by Singaporeans to illustrate the nature of social relationships based on ideological hegemony and resistance. Analysis is based on two groups of music: 'national' songs supported by the government in the 'Sing Singapore' programme; and songs brought together in Not the Singapore song book. Interviews with local lyricists and analysis of video productions provide supplementary information. Music is used by the ruling elite to perpetuate certain ideologies aimed at political socialization and to inculcate a civil religion that directs favour and fervour towards the nation. Music is also a form of …

An Examination Of The Antecedents Of Subjective Career Success Among A Managerial Sample In Singapore, Samuel Aryee, Yue Wah Chay, Hwee Hoon Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Antecedents of subjective career success are examined using data obtained with a questionnaire instrument from managerial employees in Singapore. The choice of antecedents was informed by recent calls to place research on career issues in the context of an individual's life roles. Confirmatory factor analysis (LISREL VII) was used to examine the one-factor and three-factor models hypothesized to underlie the subjective career success data. The results revealed a 3-factor model to have adequate fit statistics - financial and hierarchical success, and career satisfaction. The antecedent sets of human capital, work values, family and structural or work variables accounted for over …