Asian Studies Commons^™

Troublesome Women And The Nanny State: Drawing Boundaries And Legislating Bifurcated Belonging In Patriarchal Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore was and remains an immigrant society. The immigration of newcitizens and temporary workers has become the primary means by which thepopulation is replenished and right-sized for its economic and demographicrequirements. More than one in three persons (or 38.6 percent) living inSingapore are foreigners (non-citizens, including permanent residents) in2013.[2] Of the 3.45 million working population in Singapore, about 38 percent(or about 1,296,800 persons are foreigners.[3] The vast majority of theseforeigners are transient workers (migrant workers) on short-term work permits.Of these, about 211,000—all women—are employed as domestic help (or ‘maids’ inlocal parlance) as of June 2013.

The Domino Logic Of The Darkest Moment: The Fall Of Singapore, The Atlantic Echo Chamber, And 'Chinese Penetration' In Us Cold War Policy Toward Southeast Asia, Wen-Qing Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This essay argues that Anglo-American memories of Japan's victory in Singapore in 1942, which British Prime Minister Winston Churchill labeled Britain's "darkest moment" in World War II, soon would underpin the domino logic within US Cold War strategy. For both American and British policymakers, Japan's war machine had fused together in interconnected insecurity the bastions of Euro-American colonial power. In Southeast Asia, it had imposed the condition that one state's vulnerabilities impinged upon the stability of its neighbor. This vision of Southeast Asia's interconnected insecurity was central to the domino logic within US Cold War policy. US policymakers' preoccupation with …

Do Venture Capitalists Play A Monitoring Role In An Emerging Market: Evidence From The Pay-Performance Relationship Of Chinese Entrepreneurial Firms?, Jerry X. Cao, Qigui Liu, Gary G. Tian

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper investigates venture capitalists’ monitoring of managerial behaviour by examining their impact on CEO pay-performance sensitivity across various controlling structures in Chinese firms. We find that the effectiveness of venture capitalists' monitoring depends on different types of agency conflict. In particular, we find that venture capital (VC) monitoring is hampered in firms that experience severe controlling-minority agency problems caused by disproportionate ownership structures. We provide further evidence that VC is more likely to exert close monitoring in firms that have greater managerial agency conflict, and thus require more direct monitoring. However, controlling-minority agency problems have a greater impact on …

Housing Policies In Singapore: Evaluation Of Recent Proposals And Recommendations For Reform, Sock Yong Phang, David K. C. Lee, Alan Cheong, Kok Fai Phoon, Karol Wee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The Singapore housing market is unusual in its high homeownership rate, the dominance of HDB housing, and the extensive intervention of the government in regulating housing supply and demand in both the HDB and private housing sectors. Recent rapid population increases in a low interest rate and high global liquidity environment has resulted in accelerated house prices increases in Singapore. Earlier this year, the government launched “Our Singapore Conversation” of which discussion on housing policies constitutes one major component. This “conversation” comes in the wake of several consecutive rounds of measures to stabilize housing prices using various instruments. This paper …

The Protection From Harassment Act 2014: Legislative Comment, Yihan Goh, Man Yip

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Protection from Harassment Act 2014 (“Act”) was passed by Parliament on 13 March 2014 following its Second Reading. The Act is a culmination of a concerted ministerial effort to bring about legislative change to the laws governing harassment. Bringing together the background to the Act, its general structure and its specific provisions, this article aims to add to the undoubted long list of commentaries on the Act and, it is hoped, contribute to the understanding and enforcement of the Act.

The Role Of The International Monetary Funds (Imf) In The East Asian Debt Crisis Of 1997, Yaro Sadek Tahirou

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

During the East Asian Financial crisis in particular, the IMF has been criticized of promoting international cooperation because of the supervised enforcement of its rules. The purpose of this research is to find out how the IMF responded to the East Asian debt crisis and whether or not its responses were the best possible responses to this crisis. Through my research, I talked about the causes of the East Asian financial crisis, the role of the IMF in the international monetary system, and if the IMF responses to Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia were the best responses or not. After …

The Rise Of The Gen Y Workforce In India, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Technology, education, and demographics make the Indian Gen Y a force to be reckoned with

The Standard Deviation: Attitude Transference And Perceptions Of Deviant Behavior, Candace Forbes Bright

Dissertations

This dissertation uses a three-article dissertation model to 1) compare how deviance is defined and what is considered deviant comparing the United States to South Korea using content analysis, 2) test socio-demographic and social network variables in the development of one’s approval of deviance using eleven ordinary least squared regression models, and 3) examine the association between social networks and approval of deviant behaviors using social network analysis. All three articles use data from a survey on perceptions of deviant behavior. The survey was conducted in English and Korean. The first article provides comparisons on how deviance is defined and …

Smu In Partnership With Tax Academy Of Singapore Launches New Centre For Excellence In Taxation, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

In collaboration with the Tax Academy of Singapore, and with the support of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Management University has launched the SMU-TA Centre for Excellence in Taxation (SMU-TA CET) today. The SMU-TA CET represents a major new initiative in research addressing international and regional tax issues and taxation policies. It is the first research centre of its kind in Singapore. The aim of the Centre is to produce highly robust research in international and regional tax issues for policy-development and engagement of the international tax community.

U.S. - Asean Organized Crime Cooperation As Part Of Washington's Rebalancing Policy Toward The Asia-Pacific, Tuan Anh Luc

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This research addresses the reasons why the United States of America (U.S.) has been involving in the effort of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to combat transnational organized crime. The author argues that Washington has been doing so because: first, it wants to prevent and suppress negative influences of Southeast Asian organized crime and protect national interests; second, it wants to increase regional capabilities, sometimes at the Association's request, and narrow differences so as to effectively deal with transnational organized crime; and third, it wants to justify its presence in the region and pave the way …

Wage A Measured Battle Against The Bottle, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law and Nominated Member of Parliament Eugene Tan believed that there are legitimate and pressing concerns to justify the close scrutiny of the existing regime on alcohol sale and consumption. He felt that the authorities could leverage market research data to understand the drinking culture and norms here and generate nuanced regulatory responses to alcohol sale and consumption. The insights gleaned from such research could aid our understanding of the dynamics of the drinking culture here. Associate Prof Tan added that the key policy challenge in the review process is to tackle the …

Integrated Casino Resort Plan In Korea: The Perception Of Korean Government Representatives, Donghwa Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Asian casino market has been rapidly expanding in recent years as evidenced by the success of recently built integrated resorts (IR) in Macau. In light of the successes in Macau, the Korean government has decided to allow an IR to be built near the Incheon International Airport in Korea. The airport, with its great number of transient passengers, provides ample potential customers for the proposed IR. Combining the two factors of Asian casino market growth, and the high number of potential customers, the Incheon IR has a great chance for success.

The Korean government entertained bids from two different …

How To Boost Spain’S Business Presence In Singapore: Opportunities In The Wake Of The Free Trade Agreement With The Eu, Maria Garcia, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The recently signed Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Singapore opens up new business opportunities for Spanish companies on the island, which is already Spain’s top trading partner in South-East Asia. One highlight of the accord is the elimination of restrictions on the percentage of foreign investment in financial services and sectors such telecommunications, engineering and shipping. At the same time, the possibility of being able to bid on more government contracts can help companies involved in environmental protection and construction firms. The food industry will benefit from the novel creation of a registry of geographical indications.

The Worship Of Semar: A Claim To "Jus Primordialis", Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

An ethnography of Paguyuban Cahya Buwana (PCB, The Community of the Light of the Universe) at Gunong Srandil, Central Java, a group dedicated to the worship of Semar. The study reveals how a community of Chinese in Central Java has moved beyond limiting ethnic notions such as Peranakan (Chinese born in Indonesia and adopting Indonesian language) and Totok (“newly-arrived” and retaining the Chinese language) to become entirely Javanese through entry into Kejawen (“Javanism”). This entry has been effected through their worship of Semar who has been described as the “father” of the Javanese.

Appealing To The Masses Understanding Ethnic Politics And Elections In Indonesia (Doctoral Dissertation), Colm A. Fox

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The mobilization of ethnic groups during elections is seen by many as one of the greatest threats to democracy in ethnically diverse societies. Two important questions are: Why does ethnicity become politicized in some elections, but not in others? and Why do particular ethnic categories become politicized, while others do not? Two arguments in the literature offer explanations. The first argument posits that groups are mobilized along ethnic lines when voters have strong emotional allegiances to their ethnic group; in effect, the ethnic politicization of elections is viewed as a reflection of societal ethnic cleavages. A second argument focuses on …

Overview Of The Impending Changes In The Family Justice Landscape, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore’s family justice landscape is set to witness a sea-change when the key features of the new Family Justice Act, as well as recommendations from the Committee for Family Justice (chaired by the Senior Minister of State for Law and Education, Justice VK Rajah, and Justice Andrew Phang), materialise in the months ahead.

Assessing Food Policy Options In Asia To Reduce Price Volatility Of Rice Market, Ranjitsinh Mane

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice is a staple food in Asia and its prices at national and international levels are largely influenced by different policy actions of trading countries. The consequence of the 2008 food crisis was food riots and rationing of rice in many nations. The ASEAN Plus Three (APT) countries have adopted an institutional framework called ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserves (APTERR) to address food security concerns of ASEAN countries that may arise due to climate change, supply chain disruptions or price speculation in the regional rice market. The RICEFLOW model is used to study the effectiveness of the strategic grain …

Challenges In The Enforcement Of Animal Protection Laws In Singapore, Alvin W. L. See

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore has fairly powerful animal protection laws. In practice, however, these laws are only powerful to the extent that they are actually enforced. In Singapore, the low number of prosecutions for animal cruelty is a cause for serious concern. While there can be a myriad of reasons for this phenomenon, this paper argues that one primary cause is the insufficient understanding of what amounts, or may amount, to cruelty at law. This results in an unsound enforcement policy which reduces the protection afforded to animals. By highlighting this problem, this paper hopes to draw attention to the importance of the …

Mediated Postnuptial Agreements And Ancillary Matters, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

When the parties in a divorce have, with the benefit of legal counsel, gone through mediation and negotiated an agreement to settle the ancillary issues of maintenance and the division of matrimonial assets, is there any reason for the court to exercise its statutorily conferred discretion to ignore such an agreement or should it seek to uphold it despite objections from one of the parties? Whereas the High Court in this case declined to follow all of the terms in the agreement on the ground that some of them were not just and equitable, the Court of Appeal held that …

An Overview Of The Impending Changes In The Family Justice Landscape, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore’s family justice landscape is set to witness a sea-change when the key features of the new Family Justice Act, as well as recommendations from the Committee for Family Justice (chaired by the Senior Minister of State for Law and Education, Justice VK Rajah, and Justice Andrew Phang), materialise in the months ahead.