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Socioeconomic Development in Asia

Works Count: 36158

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This cluster of papers explores the intersection of multiculturalism, authoritarianism, and social control in Singapore. It delves into the country's education policy, state intervention, and the impact of globalization on cultural identity and social cohesion.

Keywords

Singapore; multiculturalism; authoritarianism; education policy; globalization; citizenship education; ethnic diversity; state intervention; cultural identity; social cohesion

The modern spirit of Asia: the spiritual and the secular in China and India

2014-05-22

Peter van der Veer

Preface ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Spirituality in Modern Society 35 Chapter 3 The Making of Oriental Religion 63 Chapter 4 Conversion to Indian and Chinese Modernities 90 … Preface ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Spirituality in Modern Society 35 Chapter 3 The Making of Oriental Religion 63 Chapter 4 Conversion to Indian and Chinese Modernities 90 Chapter 5 Secularism's Magic 115 Chapter 6 Smash Temples, Build Schools: Comparing Secularism in India and China 140 Chapter 7 The Spiritual Body 168 Chapter 8 Muslims in India and China 193 Chapter 9 Conclusion 214 Notes 231 Bibliography 253 Index 271

Singapore Politics Under the People's Action Party

2002-09-11

Diane K. Mauzy , R. S. Milne

A comprehensive overview of politics in Singapore since self-governance. The authors examine how this tiny island has developed into a global financial centre and an economic and social success under … A comprehensive overview of politics in Singapore since self-governance. The authors examine how this tiny island has developed into a global financial centre and an economic and social success under the leadership of the People's Action Party which has ruled continuously since 1959. The authors explore the nature of the Singaporean government, as well as major issues such as ethnicity, human rights and the development of civil society.

The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew

1999-01-01

Lucian W. Pye , Lee Kuan Yew

A question of class: Capital, the state, and uneven development in Malaya

1988-08-01

K. S. Jomo

China and the Chinese overseas

1991-01-01

賡武王

A compilation of self-contained essays, lectures and papers, chronologically arranged, this book provides insight into a complex issue - the true identity of the overseas Chinese. Part I traces the … A compilation of self-contained essays, lectures and papers, chronologically arranged, this book provides insight into a complex issue - the true identity of the overseas Chinese. Part I traces the history of Chinese migration, focusing upon particular types of immigrants, migrant communities in Southeast Asia and migration patterns. It explores the ways in which the overseas Chinese have been portrayed in history, how they conducted their business and extended their trading connections. Their relations with the ruling dynasties of their homeland, attitudes toward ancient Chinese values, involvement in politics, and allegiances to foreigners are also among the topics discussed. Part II concentrates on contemporary issues such as the degree of integration with indigenous populations; conflicting loyalties, real or imagined, between 'local' nationalism and Chinese communism; and the different types of evolution experienced by the overseas communities in various host countries. The essays constitute an absorbing study and significantly contribute to the study of the identity of the overseas Chinese, study which is likely to become increasingly important in the emerging global political and economic order.

From Third World to First: The Singapore Story, 1965-2000

2001-01-01

Lucian W. Pye , Lee Kuan Yew

City life from Jakarta to Dakar: movements at the crossroads

2010-10-01

AbdouMaliq Simone

City Life from Jakarta to Dakar focuses on the incumbent to this process – an anticipatory politics – that encompasses a wide range of practices, calculations and economies. As such, … City Life from Jakarta to Dakar focuses on the incumbent to this process – an anticipatory politics – that encompasses a wide range of practices, calculations and economies. As such, the book is not a collection of case studies on a specific theme, not a review of developmental problems, nor does it marshal the focal cities as evidence of particular urban trends. Rather, it examines how possibilities, perhaps inherent in these cities all along, are materialized through the everyday projects of residents situated in the city and the larger world in very different ways.

Tourism, Ethnicity and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies

1998-09-01

Charles Keyes

Tourism, Ethnicity and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies. Michel Picard and Robert E. Wood .eds.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997.260 pp. Tourism, Ethnicity and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies. Michel Picard and Robert E. Wood .eds.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997.260 pp.

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The City and the Bottom Line: Urban Megaprojects and the Privatization of Planning in Southeast Asia

2007-03-30

Gavin Shatkin

Prevailing perspectives on the impacts of globalization on urban form in large, globalizing cities in Asia hold that these cities are experiencing an inexorable process of ‘Westernization’ or ‘Americanization’. Yet … Prevailing perspectives on the impacts of globalization on urban form in large, globalizing cities in Asia hold that these cities are experiencing an inexorable process of ‘Westernization’ or ‘Americanization’. Yet this focus on convergence distracts us from the task of analyzing urban change and its causes, leading to analytical muddiness and awkward planning and policy implications. The author presents an alternative framework that focuses on actor-centered analysis, and the importance of understanding historical context. This framework is employed in a case study of recent trends in urban development in Metro Manila, based on interviews, government, private sector, and nonprofit sector documents, and newspapers. It is concluded that, in Metro Manila, a defining characteristic of contemporary urban development is the unprecedented privatization of urban and regional planning. Large developers have conceived of urban development plans on a metrowide scale, and begun to implement these with the assistance of government. This phenomenon has its roots in the historical development of social groups in the Philippines and their shifting interests with the globalization of the Philippine economy. The author concludes that the privatization of planning raises distinct issues for urban planning theory and practice.

Business and Government in Industrializing Asia.

1997-01-01

Kit G. Machado , Andrew MacIntyre

AbbreviationsPrefaceContributorsMap1 Business, Government and Development: Northeast and Southeast Asian ComparisonsAndrew MacIntyre2 Strategic Trade Policy: the Northeast Asian ExperienceTrevor Matthews and John Ravenhill3 Between the State and the Market: the Case … AbbreviationsPrefaceContributorsMap1 Business, Government and Development: Northeast and Southeast Asian ComparisonsAndrew MacIntyre2 Strategic Trade Policy: the Northeast Asian ExperienceTrevor Matthews and John Ravenhill3 Between the State and the Market: the Case for Eclectic Neoclassical Political EconomyIyanatul Islam4 The Realignment of Business-Government Relations and Regime Transition in TaiwanYun-han Chu5 Changing Patterns of Business-Government Relations in South KoreaChung-in Moon6 The Dynamics of Business-Government Relations in Industrialising MalaysiaAlasdair Bowie7 From Clientelism to Partnership: Business-Government Relations in ThailandAnek Laothamatas8 Booty Capitalism: Business-Government Relations in the PhilippinesPaul HutchcroftPower, Prosperity and Patrimonialism: Business and Government in IndonesiaAndrew MacIntyre10 Business, Politics and Policy in Northeast and Southeast Asia<

Meritocracy and Elitism in a Global City: Ideological Shifts in Singapore

2008-01-01

Kenneth Paul Tan

The concept of meritocracy is unstable as its constituent ideas are potentially contradictory. The egalitarian aspects of meritocracy, for example, can come into conflict with its focus on talent allocation, … The concept of meritocracy is unstable as its constituent ideas are potentially contradictory. The egalitarian aspects of meritocracy, for example, can come into conflict with its focus on talent allocation, competition, and reward. In practice, meritocracy is often transformed into an ideology of inequality and elitism. In Singapore, meritocracy has been the main ideological resource for justifying authoritarian government and its pro-capitalist orientations. Through competitive scholarships, stringent selection criteria for party candidacy, and high ministerial salaries, the ruling People's Action Party has been able to co-opt talent to form a “technocratic” government for an “administrative state.” However, as Singapore becomes more embedded in the processes of globalization, it will experience new forms of national crisis, alternative worldviews through global communications technology, and a widening income gap, all of which will force its ideology of meritocracy to unravel.

The Four Little Dragons: The Spread of Industrialization in East Asia

1992-01-01

Donald S. Zagoria , Ezra F. Vogel

Preface 1. A New Wave of Industrialization 2. Taiwan 3. South Korea 4. Hong Kong and Singapore 5. Toward an Explanation Notes Index Preface 1. A New Wave of Industrialization 2. Taiwan 3. South Korea 4. Hong Kong and Singapore 5. Toward an Explanation Notes Index

Can the East Asian model of development be generalized?

1982-02-01

William R. Cline

Qualitative methods: touchy, feely, look-see?

2003-08-01

Mike Crang

This paper follows the case of one city that has deliberately fashioned itself as a regional, indeed global, hub for the information age. Singapore has shaped itself into a global … This paper follows the case of one city that has deliberately fashioned itself as a regional, indeed global, hub for the information age. Singapore has shaped itself into a global hub in what is often seen as a global information space that depends upon key. The state conceived of the island’s development through a vocabulary of networks and hubs in a space of global flows. This paper follows the Singapore government’s efforts to embrace the new possibilities of being a global hub while coping with the ramifications of changing social and spatial relationships at a range of scales from the local to the global. The paper focuses upon the initiative to create a so-called Intelligent Island and the SingaporeONE project to create a pervasive networked environment. These two linked initiatives aimed to allow Singaporeans to exploit digital technology but also reconfigured the relationship of Singapore to the outside world. The paper will examine the material and discursive consequences of these plans – suggesting that the rhetorical and discursive effects are probably as significant as many of the alleged benefits through information processing. These initiatives are set in the context of a range of other flows – of people and things – to raise issues about the city state as, on the one hand, a purposive actors shaping the environment and, on the other, being pushed by forces that destabilise the linkage of people and place upon which the state relied.

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Transnational elites in global cities: British expatriates in Singapore's financial district

2002-10-10

Jonathan V. Beaverstock

The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore

1994-01-01

Christopher Tremewan

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Transnational families and their children's education: China's 'study mothers' in Singapore

2005-10-01

Shirlena Huang , Brenda S. A. Yeoh

Abstract For many middle-income Asian families from the region's less developed countries, the education of children in a more developed country has become a major 'project' requiring the transnational relocation … Abstract For many middle-income Asian families from the region's less developed countries, the education of children in a more developed country has become a major 'project' requiring the transnational relocation of one or more members of the family. As an aspiring global education hub, Singapore has been a recipient of many international students. In our article we examine the case of 'study mothers' from the People's Republic of China who accompany their children to Singapore during the course of the latter's study, while leaving their spouses at home. In the analysis we demonstrate that the transnational 'project of education' for these young Asian children hinges crucially on the notion and realization of the 'sacrificial mother'. Unlike the women in elite Chinese transnational families who enter western countries as potential citizens and are able to regain their relatively privileged lifestyles after a period of transition, the study mothers are admitted to, and remain in, Singapore as transient sojourners whose lives are characterized by continuing challenges and fluidity.

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Linguistic Instrumentalism in Singapore

2003-03-01

Lionel Wee

Abstract The need to participate in a globalised economy creates a situation where 'the ability to cross boundaries' and the 'construction of new global, international norms' are especially important, and … Abstract The need to participate in a globalised economy creates a situation where 'the ability to cross boundaries' and the 'construction of new global, international norms' are especially important, and this has led to the 'old politics of identity' being increasingly abandoned 'in favour of a new pragmatic position' where language and culture are valued as commodifiable resources (Heller, 1999a: 5). In Singapore, this move towards a more pragmatic view of language can be seen in the Government's attempt to assert the economic value of the local languages, officially known as 'mother tongues'. The mother tongues originally contrast with English in a narrative where they are treated primarily as repositories of cultural values, and thus assigned to a domain (the traditional and cultural) that is distinct from that assigned to the latter (the economic and technological). This paper explores the factors motivating the Government's shift towards a discourse of linguistic instrumentalism, as well as its consequences, and ends by suggesting some possible general features of linguistic instrumentalism. Keywords: IDENTITYLANGUAGE POLICYMODERNITYPOLITICAL DISCOURSESINGAPORE

Kaisha: the japanese corporation

1986-06-01

James C. Abegglen

Opening the Black Box of Migration: Brokers, the Organization of Transnational Mobility and the Changing Political Economy in Asia

2012-02-20

Johan Lindquist , Biao Xiang , Brenda S. A. Yeoh

This special issue takes the migrant broker as a starting point for investigating contemporary regimes of transnational migration across Asia.The articles, which span large parts of Asia-including China, Indonesia, Laos, … This special issue takes the migrant broker as a starting point for investigating contemporary regimes of transnational migration across Asia.The articles, which span large parts of Asia-including China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as New Zealand-show that marriage migration, student migration and various forms of unskilled labour migration, including predominantly male plantation and construction work and female domestic, entertainment and sex work, are all mediated by brokers.Although much is known about why migrants leave home and what happens to them upon arrival, considerably less is known about the forms of infrastructure that condition their mobility.A focus on brokers is one productive way of opening this "black box" of migration research.The articles in this issue are thus not primarily concerned with the experiences of migrants or in mapping migrant networks per se, but rather in considering how mobility is made possible and organized by brokers, most notably in the process of recruitment and documentation.Drawing from this evidence, we argue that in contrast to the social network approach, a focus on the migrant broker offers 1

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Catch-up strategies and the latecomer effect in industrial development

2006-08-16

John A. Mathews

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size This paper is dedicated to the late Sanjaya Lall, whose influence permeates every page. The paper was drafted initially at the … Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size This paper is dedicated to the late Sanjaya Lall, whose influence permeates every page. The paper was drafted initially at the Rockefeller Foundation Study Center at Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio, Italy, where I was a visiting scholar during the month of September 2004. I wish to thank in particular Robert Wade, Mark Dodgson and the late Sanjaya Lall for their ideas that have fed into this paper and for their support. Notes 1. See Paul N. Rosenstein-Rodan, 'Problems of Industrialisation of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe', The Economic Journal, Vol. 53, No. 210/211 (1943), pp. 202–11; and Albert O. Hirschman, Strategy of Economic Development (Yale University Press, 1958). 2. See Alexander Gerschenkron, 'Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective', in Bert F. Hoselitz (ed.), The Progress of Underdeveloped Areas (University of Chicago Press, 1952); and Alexander Gerschenkron, Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1962). 3. For the application of the concept of latecomer to firms, see Mike Hobday, 'East Asian Latecomer Firms: Learning the Technology of Electronics', World Development, Vol. 23, No. 7 (1995), pp. 1171–93; and John A. Mathews, 'Competitive Advantages of the Latecomer Firm: A Resource-Based Account of Industrial Catch-up Strategies', Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 19, No. 4 (2002), pp. 467–88. 4. See Lin-su Kim, Imitation to Innovation: The Dynamics of Korea's Technological Learning (Harvard Business School Press, 1997). 5. See, for example, the discussion of 'resource leverage' as a strategy for making do with little, and making up for lack of resources by seeking to engage others in a way that makes their resources available, in C. K. Prahalad & Gary Hamel, 'The core competence of the corporation', Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68, No. 3 (1990), pp. 79–91. Of course, the influence of development thinking has also been felt in the business and strategy literature, as in the notion of unbalanced development of the economy complementing the unbalanced development of the Penrosean firm. See Edith Penrose, The Theory of the Development of the Firm (Oxford University Press, 1959). 6. For an application of these ideas of linkage and leverage, see UNIDO, Industrial Development Report 2002/2003: Competing through Innovation and Learning (United Nations Industrial Development Organization, 2002). 7. See Adrian Leftwich, 'Politics in Command: Development Studies and the Rediscovery of Social Science', New Political Economy, Vol. 10, No. 4 (2005), pp. 573–607, for a bold statement of the role of the social sciences in general in tackling the multi-faceted problems of development. 8. I am indebted to the late Sanjaya Lall and UNIDO for these figures. 9. Of course, not all activities in electronics can be described as 'high-tech'; many parts such as back-end assembly are labour-intensive and low- or medium-technology, but they provide a pathway of upgrading that leads to the more knowledge-intensive activities that are the real breakthrough in industrialisation. 10. For further elaboration on these historical antecedents, see John A. Mathews, 'The Intellectual Roots of Latecomer Industrial Development', International Journal of Technology and Globalisation, Vol. 1, No. 3/4 (2005), pp. 433–50. 11. In a review of Gerschenkron's work by one of his foremost students, Albert Fishlow summarises Gerschenkron's approach as follows: 'The central notion is the positive role of relative economic backwardness in inducing systematic substitution for supposed prerequisites for industrial growth. State intervention could, and did, compensate for the inadequate supplies of capital, skilled labor, entrepreneurship and technological capacity encountered in follower countries seeking to modernise. England, the locus of the Industrial Revolution, could advance with free market guidance along the lines of Adam Smith. France, beginning later, would need greater intervention to compensate for its limitations. In Germany, the key innovation would be the formation of large banks to provide access to needed capital for industrialisation, even as greater Russian backwardness required a larger and more direct state compensatory role.' See Albert Fishlow, 'Alexander Gerschenkron: A Latecomer Who Emerged Victorious', Economic History Services, 14 February 2003, p. 3, http://www.eh.net/bookreviews/fishlow.shtml 12. Rostow's ideas are outlined in popular form in Walt W. Rostow, The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto (Cambridge University Press, 1960) and in more scholarly fashion in Walt W. Rostow, 'The Stages of Economic Growth', The Economic History Review, Vol. 12. No. 1 (1959), pp. 1–16. 13. Hobday treats the matter thus: 'Gerschenkron argued that there were no automatic stages of development and that countries did not and could not pass through the same stages of development that others had passed through before them, precisely because others had passed through them.' See Mike Hobday, 'Innovation in Asian Industrialization: A Gerschenkronian Perspective', Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3 (2003), pp. 293–314. 14. See Hobday, 'East Asian Latecomer Firms', and Mathews, 'Competitive Advantages' for a discussion of firm strategies from the distinctive perspective of latecomer firms. 15. Kaname Akamatsu, 'A Historical Pattern of Economic Growth in Developing Countries', The Developing Economies, Vol. 1 (1962), pp. 3–25. Such a vision also informs the more advanced studies of the Japanese economy and its development, such as Miyohei Shinohara, Industrial Growth, Trade and Dynamic Patterns in the Japanese Economy (Tokyo University Press, 1982). Balassa's step-ladder model is another instance of flying geese thinking; see Bela Balassa, Development Strategies in Semi-Industrialized Economies (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982). 16. Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) is here defined simply by the ratio of share in exports/share in gross domestic product (GDP). 17. See An-Chi Tung, 'Beyond Flying Geese: The Expansion of East Asia's Electronics Trade', German Economic Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2003), pp. 35–51, for a discussion of this point. For a Japanese perspective on the flying geese framework, see Terutomo Ozawa, 'The "Hidden" Side of the "Flying Geese" Catch-up Model: Japan's Dirigiste Institutional Setup and a Deepening Financial Morass', Journal of Asian Economics, Vol. 12, No. 4 (2001), pp. 471–91; and Terutomo Ozawa, 'Pax Americana-led Macro-Clustering and Flying Geese-style Catch-up in East Asia: Mechanisms of Regionalized Endogenous Growth', Journal of Asian Economics, Vol. 13, No. 6 (2003), pp. 699–713. 18. While Figure 6 is couched in terms of trade data (imports, exports and RCA), there is no reason why investment flows should not be analysed from the same perspective, taking flows of FDI to the industry level. 19. See UNIDO, Industrial Development Report 2002/03, especially ch. 6, for a discussion of their potential for latecomers. 20. The recent World Bank report on East Asian integration refers to this as 'growth of trade in components or partly assembled goods' or 'production networks' and 'production sharing arrangements'. See Francis Ng & Alexander Yeats, East Asia Integrates: A Trade Policy Agenda for Shared Growth (The World Bank, 2003), pp. 3, 60. 21. In this sense I part company with scholars such as Mitchell Bernard & John Ravenhill, 'Beyond Product Cycles and Flying Geese: Regionalization, Hierarchy, and the Industrialization of East Asia', World Politics, Vol. 47 (1995), pp. 171–209, who make the same point, namely that regional production networks have overtaken the MNC- and trade-related frameworks first formulated by Akamatsu and Vernon, and conclude that the flying geese paradigm is therefore exhausted. On the contrary, I view the updated flying geese paradigm as providing the best intellectual framework for understanding latecomer industrial dynamics, and the one best suited to frame urgently needed empirical investigation of the process of industry creation in China, India and the South-east Asian countries today – by UN agencies such as UNCTAD and UNIDO, public sector research institutions and private research foundations. 22. See Rosenstein-Rodan, 'Problems of Industrialisation'; Hirschman, Strategy of Economic Development; Gunnar Myrdal, Economic Theory and Under-developed Regions (Duckworth, 1957); Gunnar Myrdal, Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations (Twentieth Century Fund, 1968) 23. I am indebted to a referee for pointing out that Nathan Rosenberg's classic history of the US machine tool industry in the 19th century is an industry-specific case of the stimulating consequences of disequilibria; see Nathan Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics (Cambridge University Press, 1981). 24. There is a considerable literature on this topic, as reviewed in Geoffrey R. D. Underhill & Xiaoke Zhang, 'The Changing State–Market Condominium in East Asia: Rethinking the Political Underpinnings of Development', New Political Economy, Vol. 10, No. 1 (2005), pp. 1–24. See also Linda Weiss, The Myth of the Powerless State: Governing the Economy in a Global Era (Cornell University Press, 1998), who provides an arresting discussion in the context of a continuing role for state agencies in the process of development. 25. On the Washington Consensus, see John Williamson, 'Democracy and the "Washington Consensus"', World Development, Vol. 21, No. 8 (1993), pp. 1329–36. 26. World Bank, The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy (The World Bank, 1993). For critiques and discussion, see Alice Amsden, 'Why Isn't the Whole World Experimenting with the East Asian Model to Develop? Review of the East Asian Miracle', World Development, Vol. 22, No. 4 (1994), pp. 627–34, and Robert Hunter Wade, 'The World Bank and the Art of Paradigm Maintenance: The East Asian Miracle in Political Perspective', New Left Review, No. 217 (1996), pp. 3–36, for insights into this process of paradigm maintenance by the Bretton Woods institutions. 27. See Prahalad & Hamel, 'The Core Competence of the Corporation', for the canonical description. 28. The flagship UNIDO, Industrial Development Reports contain discussions of such leverage strategies, as in the 2002 and 2005 reports. 29. On the workings of Li and Fung, see the interview with co-founder Victor Fung, in Joan Magretta, 'Fast, Global and Entrepreneurial: Supply Chain Management, Hong Kong Style. An Interview with Victor Fung', Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76, No. 5 (1988), pp. 102–14. 30. For a recent study of a set of clusters in Latin America, see Carlo Pietrobelli & Roberta Rabellotti, 'Upgrading in Clusters and Value Chains in Latin America: The Role of Policies', MSM-124, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Division, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, DC, 2004, where clear policy implications are drawn for the Inter-American Bank. 31. On the shift to 'full package' production in Mexican textile districts, see for example Jennifer Bair & Gary Gereffi, 'Local Clusters in Global Chains: The Causes and Consequences of Export Dynamism in Torreon's Blue Jeans Industry', World Development, Vol. 29, No. 11 (2001), pp. 1885–903. 32. This is the terminology utilised by Charles Gore, 'The Rise And Fall of the Washington Consensus as a Paradigm for Developing Countries', World Development, Vol. 28, No. 5 (2000), pp. 789–804, in an insightful review of development strategies and alternatives to the 'Washington Consensus'. Gore identifies five strands of such a developmental alternative to the Washington Consensus, namely: (1) that a process of growth and structural change is best achieved through a contingent linkage of the national economy with the international economy, for example, through regulated inflows of FDI; (2) that growth and structural change may best be promoted through a combination of macroeconomic stability with 'productive development policy' covering such matters as technology and industry policy; (3) the success of such an approach calls for government–business cooperation within the framework of a developmental state (through agencies created to guide investment and exports, for example); (4) distributional dimensions of the process are managed to ensure its legitimacy; and (5) regional integration and cooperation policies are pursued as an important element of wider strategic integration, such as through promotion of regional production chains. 33. See successive issues of UNCTAD's Trade and Development Report in the 1990s for discussion of such starting points, or more recently the new flagship report of UNIDO, the Industrial Development Report. 34. The tracking of such movements of industries from country to country, as comparative and competitive advantages change, is one of the most important – but neglected – functions of the international development agencies. This could be a prime responsibility of UNCTAD, for example, consistent with the views of its recent Director-General; see Ricardo Ricupero, 'Nine Years at UNCTAD: A Personal Testimony', in Shigehasa Kasahara & Charles Gore (eds), Beyond Conventional Wisdom in Development Policy: An Intellectual History of UNCTAD 1964–2004 (United Nations, 2004). 35. Brazil's resource-led economic boom, which has had few spillover benefits for the rest of the economy, stands as a prime example. For a discussion of this case, and the lessons learnt, see Bradford L. Barham & Oliver T. Coomes, Prosperity's Promise: The Amazon Rubber Boom and Distorted Economic Development (Westview Press, 1996). 36. The issue of insertion in global value chains places the national development process firmly within the setting of global industrial processes, which is where it properly belongs. The literature on value chains itself has featured an interesting evolution from an early emphasis of production and commodity chains as an expression of underdevelopment (see Gary Gereffi, 'Contending Paradigms for Cross-Regional Comparison: Development Strategies and Commodity Chains in East Asia and Latin America', in Peter H. Smith (ed.), Latin America in Comparative Perspective: New Approaches to Methods and Analysis (Westview Press, 1995)) to value chains as a source of potential technology upgrading and integration (see Bair & Gereffi, 'Local Clusters in Global Chains'). For a recent overview, see Timothy J. Sturgeon, 'How Do We Define Value Chains and Production Networks?' IDS Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 3 (2001), pp. 9–18; and likewise John Humphrey & Hubert Schmitz, 'How Does Insertion in Global Value Chains Affect Upgrading in Industrial Clusters?' Regional Studies, Vol. 9 (2002), pp. 1017–27. For an up to date overview on global value chains, see the IDS webpage: www.ids.ac.uk/valuechains. 37. This is not to say that the process will always succeed; in fact it is more a case of surprise accompanying success. For unsuccessful efforts by Taiwan to enter the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) industry, for example, see David G. McKendrick, Richard F. Doner & Stephan Haggard, From Silicon Valley to Singapore: Location and Competitive Advantage in the Hard Disk Drive Industry (Stanford University Press, 2000). But this case is interesting because failure in the HDD industry was followed by success in the optical disk drive industry, such as in CD-ROMs. 38. As new sectors are successfully established, so they create new growth poles, or clusters, where the key to development is the identification of 'gaps' that need to be filled, and 'inputs' that need to be replaced by local initiative. This is an endless process that the Taiwanese describe as 'import replacement' but which would more accurately be described as 'gap-filling' and 'input-replacing' collective entrepreneurship – to use the suggestive language of Harvey Leibenstein, 'Entrepreneurship and Development', American Economic Review, Vol. 58, No. 2 (1968), pp. 72–83. 39. The barriers placed in the way of enterprise formation and entrepreneurial initiatives by developing countries through various kinds of bureaucratic impediments are now legion. These appear to be a product of arrested development; they are not found in the performance-focused success cases of East Asia. For an insightful discussion of such barriers, see Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (Basic Books, 2000). 40. Dahmén developed his ideas concerning development blocks during his studies of the Swedish economy, in the 1950s; for a later elaboration, see Erik Dahmén, 'Development Blocks in Industrial Economics', in B. Carlsson (ed.), Industrial Dynamics (Kluwer Academic, 1989). 41. For an informed discussion of upgrading strategies in Taiwan where a judicious blend of IS and EO is emphasised, see Alice H. Amsden & Wan-wen Chu, Beyond Late Development: Taiwan's Upgrading Policies (MIT Press, 2002). 42. For positive and negative examples of these processes, see Sanjaya Lall, Learning to Industrialize: The Acquisition of Technological Capability by India (Macmillan, 1997); Sanjaya Lall & Carlo Pietrobelli, Failing to Compete: Technology Development and Technology Systems in Africa (Edward Elgar, 2002); John A. Mathews, 'National Systems of Economic Learning: the Case of Technology Diffusion Management in East Asia', International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 22, No. 5/6 (2001), pp. 455–79; and John A. Mathews, 'Understanding the "how to" of technological change: The case of electronics in Taiwan', MGSM Working Paper 2004-21, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Sydney, 2004. 43. Development blocs, growth poles and industrial clusters are all expressions of the unbalanced trajectory that development necessarily takes. They are concepts that have no place in the tidy conceptual universe of the neoclassical economic synthesis, which is a victory of deductive economic logic over historical, empirical and inductive reasoning from example. 44. On such MNCs from developing countries, see for example John A. Mathews, Dragon Multinational: A New Model of Global Growth (Oxford University Press, 2002), and John A. Mathews, 'Dragon Multinationals: New Players in 21st Century Globalization', Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 23 (2006), pp. 5–27), where the terminology 'Dragon MNEs' is utilised. Globalisation has ushered in a set of opportunities where such MNEs can accelerate their internationalisation; they are 'Second wave' MNEs as opposed to the First wave MNEs from the Third World that had to struggle to internationalise. 45. Institutions involving intellectual property protection will have to be created, for example, and firms will have to pay more attention to patenting as a means of building competitive advantage; for an overview of the East Asian experience, and the creation of East Asian 'innovative capacity', see Mei-Chih Hu & John A. Mathews, 'National Innovative Capacity in East Asia', Research Policy, Vol. 34 (2005), pp. 1322–49. 46. Latecomers will recognise that industrial development is a decades-long process that will require the inputs of many agencies, firms and individuals, but a sense of purpose needs to be maintained through this changing cast of participants, and this is best secured through institutional continuity and through generating a clear national ideology grounded in development. As Gerschenkron noted, the later the country comes to its development task, the more powerful has to be its ideology of development to act as cohesive force ensuring that policies pursued across disparate domains, such as housing, transport or infrastructure, are consistent with catch-up development goals. In this sense, institutions are the weapon of the latecomer.

BIFURCATED LABOUR: THE UNEQUAL INCORPORATION OF TRANSMIGRANTS IN SINGAPORE

2006-02-01

Brenda S. A. Yeoh

Following a brief background on Singapore's development from a product of overlapping diasporas to a multiracial nation, this paper gives attention to the dynamics of renewed streams of transnational labour … Following a brief background on Singapore's development from a product of overlapping diasporas to a multiracial nation, this paper gives attention to the dynamics of renewed streams of transnational labour flows in the current decade in the shaping of the global city. It examines the bifurcated nature of Singapore's foreign labour policies and how the transience/permanence divide is predicated on 'skill'. On the one hand, structural (non)incorporation of contract workers as they are inscribed into (and simultaneously proscribed by) the host society results in vulnerability among what are already heavily marginalised and 'flexibilised' workers with little job security and no opportunities for social advancement within the host society. On the other hand, building a nation in the image of globalisation also requires selectively inclusionist projects to entice foreign talent – highly skilled professional workers, technopreneurs, entrepreneurs and investors – in order to keep Singapore in the global race. These differential politics of inclusion and exclusion lock transmigrants into two structurally determined sectors of society and the economy, with, currently, no possibility of interpenetration.

Place/Culture/Representation

1995-01-01

Greg Wassmansdorf , Scott Duncan , David Ley

1. Introduction: Representing Place of Culture Part 1. On Representation in Cultural Geography 2. Author and Authority: Writing New Cultural Geography 3. Sites of Representation: Place, Time and Discourse of … 1. Introduction: Representing Place of Culture Part 1. On Representation in Cultural Geography 2. Author and Authority: Writing New Cultural Geography 3. Sites of Representation: Place, Time and Discourse of Other 4. Spectacle and Text: Landscape Metaphors in Cultural Geography 5. The Lie that Blinds: Destabilizing Text of Landscape Part 2. On Representing Residential Landscapes 6. Re-Valuing House 7. Public Housing in Single-Industry Towns: Changing Landscapes of Paternalism 8. Co-Operative Housing as a Moral Landscape: Re-examining the Postmodern City 9. Myths and Meanings of Gentrification Part 3. On Representing Institutional Cultures 10. This Heaven Gives Me Migraines: The Problems and Promise of Landscapes of Leisure 11. The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development: Culture Building Process within an Institution 12. Multiculturalism: Representing a Canadian Institution 13. Representing Power: The Politics and Poetics of Urban Form in Kandyan Kingdom Part 4. On Representing Cultural Geography 14. Representing Space: Space, Scale and Culture in Social Science 15. Interventions in Historical Geography of Modernity: Social Theory, Spatiality and Politics of Representation 16. Reading, Community and a Sense of Place 17. Epilogue

Globalisation, the Singapore developmental state and education policy: a thesis revisited

2007-02-20

S. Gopinathan

In this article I revisit and extend arguments made in 1996 and 1997 about the relationship between globalisation, the state and education policy. I was particularly concerned then to see … In this article I revisit and extend arguments made in 1996 and 1997 about the relationship between globalisation, the state and education policy. I was particularly concerned then to see how a small but strong state, Singapore, was responding in the education arena to globalisation. I also wished to draw attention to the literature on the high rates of economic growth achieved by the East Asian 'tigers' in which education, training and capital–labour accommodation played a large part; in all these countries the state was strong, being in the market as well as managing it. But with globalisation and neo‐liberal economic policies growing in strength, the havoc caused by the 1997 Asian economic crisis and the new geopolitical and security environment following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, there is a need to reconsider some of the arguments and to review the policy responses, especially in education. Is there evidence of the state weakening? Are more pro‐market policies changing governance and funding of education thereby altering the nature and purposes of schooling? I begin with a consideration of the broader phenomena of globalisation and then review the claims that call into question the continued relevance of the East Asian developmental state model and its education and training infrastructures.

Negotiating Public Space: Strategies and Styles of Migrant Female Domestic Workers in Singapore

1998-03-01

Brenda S. A. Yeoh , Shirlena Huang

This paper investigates migrant domestic workers as a marginalised group in Singapore's urban landscape by examining the ways in which their social maps are structured and negotiated in relation to … This paper investigates migrant domestic workers as a marginalised group in Singapore's urban landscape by examining the ways in which their social maps are structured and negotiated in relation to public space. It argues that the phenomenon of the 'divided city' evident in capitalist societies which reflects and reinforces the sexual division of labour in general is even more salient in the lived experiences of migrant female domestic workers who must contend not simply with the spatial expressions of patriarchy, but also with racialisation and other means of segregation. However, it is clear that these women are not entirely passive recipients of dominant practices and ideas, but are capable of different styles and strategies in the use, colonisation and even contestation of public domains.

The Strength to Concede: Ruling Parties and Democratization in Developmental Asia

2013-09-01

Dan Slater , Joseph Wong

Authoritarian ruling parties are expected to be exceptionally resistant to democratization. Yet some of the strongest authoritarian parties in the world have not resisted democratization, but have embraced it. This … Authoritarian ruling parties are expected to be exceptionally resistant to democratization. Yet some of the strongest authoritarian parties in the world have not resisted democratization, but have embraced it. This is because their raison d'etre is to continue ruling, not necessarily to remain authoritarian. Democratization requires that ruling parties hold free and fair elections, but not that they lose them. Authoritarian ruling parties can thus be incentivized to concede democratization from a position of exceptional strength as well as extreme weakness. This “conceding-to-thrive” scenario is most likely to unfold when regimes (1) possess substantial antecedent political strengths and resource advantages, (2) suffer ominous setbacks signaling that they have passed their apex of domination, and (3) pursue new legitimation strategies to arrest their incipient decline. We illustrate this heretofore neglected alternative democratization pathway through a comparative-historical analysis of three Asian developmental states where ruling parties have democratized from varying positions of considerable strength: Taiwan, South Korea, and Indonesia. We then consider the implications of our analysis for three “candidate cases” in developmental Asia where ruling parties have not yet conceded democratization despite being well-positioned to thrive were they to do so: Singapore, Malaysia, and the world's most populous dictatorship, China.

Institutions and growth in East Asia

2004-12-01

Stephan Haggard

SURPLUS POSSIBILITIES: POSTDEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY ECONOMIES

2005-03-01

Katherine Gibson

Multiculturalism in Singapore: An Instrument of Social Control

2003-01-01

Chua Beng Huat

Dans cet article, l'A se penche sur la signification du multiculturalisme a Singapour. L'A compare ici Singapour, Canada et Australie, trois anciennes colonnies britanniques, pour analyser la composition ethnique et … Dans cet article, l'A se penche sur la signification du multiculturalisme a Singapour. L'A compare ici Singapour, Canada et Australie, trois anciennes colonnies britanniques, pour analyser la composition ethnique et le discours politique des autoritees de Singapour. L'A souligne l'importance de la segregation socio-culturelle comme instrument de controle social sous couvert d'une politique raciale harmonieuse

The developmental state, government, and Singapore's economic development since 1960

1995-08-01

W. G. Huff

Creative destruction: Singapore’s Speak Good English movement

2001-11-01

Rani Rubdy

The increasing use of Singlish in the media, in early schooling and other everyday domains reflects its growing importance as a symbol of social identity and cohesion in Singapore. However, … The increasing use of Singlish in the media, in early schooling and other everyday domains reflects its growing importance as a symbol of social identity and cohesion in Singapore. However, this trend runs counter to the country’s avowed economical goals of becoming a knowledge hub in the region, which it seeks to achieve by developing a highly skilled service sector that is proficient in (Standard) English. Thus, paradoxically, despite a new policy initiative to loosen their traditional tight grip on society in the interest of developing a nation of creative risk‐takers, the authorities have recently launched the Speak Good English movement, spawning a slew of editorials, cartoons, skits and commercials in a vigorous attempt at generating awareness among the public of the need to promote the use of Standard English. This paper attempts to show that this move to stem the popularity of Singlish is yet another manifestation of the notion of “creative destruction,” currently being proposed as a strategy to improve the efficiency of corporate and industrial businesses in the country. “Creative destruction” entails the partial destruction of existing economic ideas and structures which rapidly obsolesce with the emergence of new ones. Drawing a parallel with the Speak Mandarin campaign, which has successfully resulted in the dispersal of the local Chinese dialects, the paper argues that this attempt to replace Singlish by Standard English, while throwing up valid issues of social identity and cohesiveness, which are prone to get subsumed by the more urgent pragmatic and economic rationalizations proffered, can then be seen as a triumph of the relentless, hegemonic forces of globalization.

The Politics of Nation Building and Citizenship in Singapore

2010-02-16

Michael Hill , Lian Kwen Fee

Since independence in 1965 Singapore has strengthened its own national identity through a conscious process of nation-building and promoting the active role of the citizen within society. Singapore is a … Since independence in 1965 Singapore has strengthened its own national identity through a conscious process of nation-building and promoting the active role of the citizen within society. Singapore is a state that has firmly rejected welfarism but whose political leaders have maintained that collective values, instead of those of autonomous individuals, are essential to its very survival.The book begins by examining basic concepts of citizenship, nationality and the state in the context of Singapore's arrival at independence. The theme of nation-building is explored and how the creation of a national identity, through building new institutions, has been a central feature of political and social life in Singapore. Of great importance has been education, and a system of multilingual education that is part of a broader government strategy of multiculturalism and multiracialism; both have served the purpose of building a new national identity. Other areas covered by the authors include family planning, housing policy, the creation of parapolitical structures and the imporatnce of shared `Asian values' amongst Singapore's citizens.

Globalization and Urban Change

2001-03-15

Kris Olds

Abstract This book provides a grounded analysis of globalization and urban change in the late 20th century. Drawing upon multi-locale field work in Vancouver, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris, and London, … Abstract This book provides a grounded analysis of globalization and urban change in the late 20th century. Drawing upon multi-locale field work in Vancouver, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris, and London, the author highlights the role of two transnational cultures - ethnic Chinese property developers and ‘brand name’ architects - in the planning and development of urban mega-projects. Case studies from Vancouver and Shanghai are used to analyse the nature of the transnational practices and networks that facilitate the production of new urban spaces in the Pacific Rim. This reflexive, situated, and interdisciplinary account affairs an alternative perspective to the abstract and economistic analyses that dominate our understanding of globalization and urban change. It will be of value to human geographers, urban planners, sociologists, anthropologists, architects, economists, and political scientists; all with an interest in the processes that reshape the modern city.

Asian business systems: institutional comparison, clusters and implications for varieties of capitalism and business systems theory

2013-02-14

Michael A. Witt , Gordon Redding

We present an institutional comparison of 13 major Asian business systems—China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam—with one another and five … We present an institutional comparison of 13 major Asian business systems—China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam—with one another and five major Western economies—France, Germany, Sweden, the UK and the USA. We find five major types of business systems in Asia: (post-)socialist, advanced city, emerging Southeast Asian, advanced Northeast Asian and Japanese. With the exception of Japan, all Asian forms of capitalism are fundamentally distinct from Western types of capitalism. We conclude that the Varieties of Capitalism (VOC) dichotomy is not applicable to Asia; that none of the existing major frameworks capture all Asian types of capitalism; and that Asian business systems (except Japan) cannot be understood through categories identified in the West. Our analysis further suggests a need for the field to invest in further research on social capital, culture, informality and multiplexity.

Smart cities

1999-02-01

Mahizhnan Arun

Imperialist Nostalgia

1989-01-01

Renato Rosaldo

Imperialist Nostalgia

1989-04-01

Renato Rosaldo

Consumer Behaviour in Asia

1998-01-01

Hellmut Schütte , Deanna Ciarlante

The Chinese overseas : from earthbound China to the quest for autonomy

2000-01-01

賡武王

1. Seaward Sweep: The Chinese in Southeast Asia 2. The Sojourners' Way 3. The Multicultural Quest for Autonomy Notes Index 1. Seaward Sweep: The Chinese in Southeast Asia 2. The Sojourners' Way 3. The Multicultural Quest for Autonomy Notes Index

The bamboo network: how expatriate Chinese entrepreneurs are creating a new economic superpower in Asia

1996-09-01

Murray L Weidenbaum , Samuel C. Hughes

This work shows how a remarkable group of ethnic Chinese families is transforming Mainland China. These enterprising leaders fled the mainland after the communist take-over and built extensive business empires … This work shows how a remarkable group of ethnic Chinese families is transforming Mainland China. These enterprising leaders fled the mainland after the communist take-over and built extensive business empires throughout Southeast Asia. Thanks to the powerful ties of language and culture, these entrepreneurs are often seen as the most desirable partners for joint ventures in China, and they are responsible for much of the industrialization and modernization of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the booming costal zone of China. In the process, they are creating the fastest-growing and most competitive economy in the world, a region that will soon rival the United States and Western Europe as an economic power and compete with Japan for the number two slot in the world economy. Despite the serious domestic problems likely to arise in one or more countries within the region, overseas Chinese business families will continue to take advantage of changing threats and opportunities. Whether as friends or rivals of the bamboo network, it will be wise for businesses throughout the world to learn more about this exotic sector of the global marketplace.

The Key to the Asian Miracle: Making Shared Growth Credible

1996-01-01

Richard N. Cooper , José Edgardo Campos , Hilton L. Root

Easily the most informed and comprehensive analysis to date on how and why Asian countries have achieved sustained high economic growth rates, [this book] substantially advances our understanding of the … Easily the most informed and comprehensive analysis to date on how and why Asian countries have achieved sustained high economic growth rates, [this book] substantially advances our understanding of the key interactions between the governors and governed in the development process. Students and practitioners alike will be referring to Campos and Root's series of excellent case studies for years to come. Richard L. Wilson, The Asia Foundation Eight countries in Asia--Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia--have become known as the East Asian miracle because of their economies' dramatic growth. In these eight countries real per capita GDP rose twice as fast as in any other regional grouping between 1965 and 1990. Even more impressive is their simultaneous significant reduction in poverty and income inequality. Their success is frequently attributed to economic policies, but the authors of this book argue that those economic policies would not have worked unless the leaders of the countries made them credible to their business communities and citizens. Jose Edgardo Campos and Hilton Root challenge the popular belief that Asia's high performers grew rapidly because they were ruled by authoritarian leaders. They show that these leaders had to collaborate with various sectors of their population to create an environment that was conducive to sustained growth. This required them to persuade the business community that their investments would not be expropriated and to convince the broader population that their short-term sacrifices would be rewarded in the future. Many of the countries achieved business cooperation by creating consultative groups, which the authors call deliberation councils, to enhance accountability and stability. They also obtained popular support through a variety of wealth-sharing measures such as land reform, worker cooperatives, and wider access to education. Finally, to inhibit favoritism and corruption that would benefit narrow interest groups at the expense of broad-based development, these countries' leaders constructed a competent bureaucracy that balanced autonomy with accountability to serve all interests, including the poor. This important book provides useful lessons about how developing and newly industrialized countries can build institutions to implement growth-promoting policies.

On not speaking Chinese: living between Asia and the West

2002-09-01

Ien Ang

In this major new book, leading cultural thinker Ien Ang engages with urgent questions of identity in an age of globalisation and diaspora. The starting point for Ang's discussion is … In this major new book, leading cultural thinker Ien Ang engages with urgent questions of identity in an age of globalisation and diaspora. The starting point for Ang's discussion is the experience of visiting Taiwan. Ang, a person of Chinese descent, born in Indonesia and raised in the Netherlands, found herself faced with an almost insurmountable difficulty - surrounded by people who expected her to speak to them in She writes: It was the beginning of an almost decade-long engagement with the predicaments of `Chineseness' in diaspora. In Taiwan I was different because I couldn't speak Chinese; in the West I was different because I looked Chinese. From this autobiographical beginning, Ang goes on to reflect upon tensions between `Asia' and `the West' at a national and global level, and to consider the disparate meanings of `Chineseness' in the contemporary world. She offers a critique of the increasingly aggressive construction of a global Chineseness, and challenges Western tendencies to equate `Chinese' with `Asian' identity. Ang then turns to `the West', exploring the paradox of Australia's identity as a `Western' country in the Asian region, and tracing Australia's uneasy relationship with its Asian neighbours, from the White Australia policy to contemporary multicultural society. Finally, Ang draws together her discussion of `Asia' and `the West' to consider the social and intellectual space of the `in-between', arguing for a theorising not of `difference' but of `togetherness' in contemporary societies.

Neoliberalism as Exception

2006-01-01

Aihwa Ong

Neoliberalism is commonly viewed as an economic doctrine that seeks to limit the scope of government. Some consider it a form of predatory capitalism with adverse effects on the Global … Neoliberalism is commonly viewed as an economic doctrine that seeks to limit the scope of government. Some consider it a form of predatory capitalism with adverse effects on the Global South. In this groundbreaking work, Aihwa Ong offers an alternative view of neoliberalism as an extraordinarily malleable technology of governing that is taken up in different ways by different regimes, be they authoritarian, democratic, or communist. Ong shows how East and Southeast Asian states are making exceptions to their usual practices of governing in order to position themselves to compete in the global economy. As she demonstrates, a variety of neoliberal strategies of governing are re-engineering political spaces and populations. Ong’s ethnographic case studies illuminate experiments and developments such as China’s creation of special market zones within its socialist economy; pro-capitalist Islam and women’s rights in Malaysia; Singapore’s repositioning as a hub of scientific expertise; and flexible labor and knowledge regimes that span the Pacific. Ong traces how these and other neoliberal exceptions to business as usual are reconfiguring relationships between governing and the governed, power and knowledge, and sovereignty and territoriality. She argues that an interactive mode of citizenship is emerging, one that organizes people—and distributes rights and benefits to them—according to their marketable skills rather than according to their membership within nation-states. Those whose knowledge and skills are not assigned significant market value—such as migrant women working as domestic maids in many Asian cities—are denied citizenship. Nevertheless, Ong suggests that as the seam between sovereignty and citizenship is pried apart, a new space is emerging for NGOs to advocate for the human rights of those excluded by neoliberal measures of human worthiness.

Defining the halata: The social construction of the “obvious gay” in the Filipino Facebook group Samahan ng mga Halata

2025-06-25

Jethro Bryan AndradaAndrada | Plaridel

Othering within the queer dating scene has become prevalent in recent years (Labor, et al., 2023), encapsulated by the phrase “pass sa halata,” which indicates one’s rejection of someone who … Othering within the queer dating scene has become prevalent in recent years (Labor, et al., 2023), encapsulated by the phrase “pass sa halata,” which indicates one’s rejection of someone who is “obviously” gay. Yet the very definition of halata [obviously gay], and by extension kabaklaan [gayness], within the Philippine context is ever-changing. Through a symbolic interactionist lens, this study elucidates how the concept of the halata is being conceived and (re)defined in the Facebook group Samahan ng mga Halata [Association of the Obvious Gays], an online community which features gender-based content. From a textual analysis of 257 photos and videos posted from January to June 2024, the study’s results outline the halata’s core characteristics. The findings also indicate that while the age-old gay stereotypes of flamboyant behavior and preference for traditional masculinity persist, these become enmeshed with new and emerging definitions of queerness in the digital age, including tech-facilitated promiscuity and political awareness, thereby producing a novel image of gayness that is suspended between past and present notions of kabaklaan and is thus characterized by contradictory behavior.

A Multiracialised National Identity: Singaporean Multiracialism and National Identity

2025-06-24

Soon How Loh | Journal of Intercultural Studies

Singapore upon the Korea Strait? Cyberlibertarian Desires and Anxious Regulation in Busan's Blockchain Regulation Free Zone

2025-06-22

Jamie Doucette , Seung‐Ook Lee | Antipode

Abstract This article examines the intersection of Asia's blockchain industry and special economic zones (SEZs). SEZs have been promoted to localise blockchain technology by disparate actors from cyberlibertarian figures to … Abstract This article examines the intersection of Asia's blockchain industry and special economic zones (SEZs). SEZs have been promoted to localise blockchain technology by disparate actors from cyberlibertarian figures to Asian blockchain firms, national policymakers, and local politicians. This convergence raises questions about what activities are imagined for Asian blockchain zones and what mutations of sovereignty, markets, and democracy they involve? To answer, this article surveys how zones have been imagined for blockchain and examines the case of Korea's Busan Blockchain Regulation‐Free Zone (BBRFZ). We discuss competing imaginaries that shape the project, from the laissez‐faire fantasy of Busan as a cryptocurrency hub to more “developmentalist” ideas for the zone. We argue that despite its invocation of freedom, the BBRFZ is animated by an anxious regulatory dynamic: one that seeks to promote blockchain as a means for regional development but remains conflicted due to the risks that cyberlibertarian logics of exception might bring.

Water on cross-border screens, Hong Kong water tales from the 1960s

2025-06-20

Zimu Zhang | Journal of Chinese Cinemas

An Ecosystemic Approach to Digital Christianity: How Faith and Identity Formation Evolve Among Youth in Singapore

2025-06-20

Wayne Wen Tai Choong | Deleted Journal

This sociological and ethnographic study develops and employs an ecosystemic approach to examine the effects of digitalization on religious beliefs and practices among young Christians in a Pentecostal megachurch in … This sociological and ethnographic study develops and employs an ecosystemic approach to examine the effects of digitalization on religious beliefs and practices among young Christians in a Pentecostal megachurch in Singapore. Through extensive fieldwork and qualitative data analysis, this paper uncovers how the religious identity of young Christians evolves within a dynamic ecosystem shaped by indirect and direct digitalization. It outlines how Christian beliefs and practices transform indirectly through the digitalization of faith-based communities and religious authorities, and directly through individual engagement with social media and communication apps. This research contributes to understanding the interplay between religion and digitalization in the lives of young Christians in Southeast Asia, which calls for further exploration in this diverse cultural context. Conceptually, this paper proposes a framework for a more systematic and comprehensive study of the blended nature of online and offline religion, digital religion.

Ambition, devotion, and surrender

2025-06-18

Sarah K. Paul | Philosophical Psychology

Understanding Singapore’s “Multicultural White Supremacists”

2025-06-18

| WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks

Keeping Singapore Safe: The Story of the Internal Security Department

2025-06-18

| WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks

Immigration without Diversity: The Invisible Second Generation in Singapore

2025-06-18

Laavanya Kathiravelu | Routledge eBooks

Mega Asian Cities

2025-06-16

Nigel C. Lewis | Routledge eBooks

Book Review: Globalization: Perak’s Rise, Relative Decline, and Regeneration

2025-06-15

Hwok‐Aun Lee | Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies

Sultan Nazrin Shah (2024). Globalization: Perak’s Rise, Relative Decline, and Regeneration. Oxford University Press. Sultan Nazrin Shah (2024). Globalization: Perak’s Rise, Relative Decline, and Regeneration. Oxford University Press.

Surviving the forest: ethnography of new haven’s tent city

2025-06-14

Andrew Udelsman | Science Education and Innovations in the Context of Modern Problems

<i>Listen and Design: On Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises</i>

2025-06-12

Elif Pardiansyah , Jhon Firman Fau , Rah Adi Fahmi Ginanjar | Journal of Education for Business

Hong Kong and Singapore

2025-06-12

Hans Tjio | Oxford University Press eBooks

Abstract This chapter examines the prospectus rules and liability for their breach in Singapore and Hong Kong. It contrasts the capital markets and regulatory framework in the two countries and … Abstract This chapter examines the prospectus rules and liability for their breach in Singapore and Hong Kong. It contrasts the capital markets and regulatory framework in the two countries and finds that the large differences in size of their equity markets cannot be explained by regulation alone. The rules in both countries are not dissimilar in that enforcement is largely by the state due to the absence of class action procedures, in Singapore through criminal sanction and civil penalties, while in Hong Kong by regulators who are also able to bring civil penalties and actions on behalf of investors. Both countries are ‘market-dominant small jurisdictions’ focusing on different aspects of traditional finance but also competing on newer developments, such as derivatives, dual class share structures, special purpose acquisition vehicles, and digital assets. As such, there may be a greater focus on regulating the secondary market trading instead of primary market fundraising.

Banking failure and regulatory reform on the periphery: The Kwong Yik Bank in the British Straits Settlements

2025-06-10

Jeremy Goh | Business History

Cold War, Hong Kong and the Self-exiled Chinese Intellectuals in the 1950s and 1960s: a Study of the Exiles’ Cultural and Political Endeavours in the British Colony

2025-06-09

Kenneth Kai-chung Yung | Cold War History

Beyond Borders: The Role of the Indonesian Student Diaspora in Egypt in the Pursuit of Independence

2025-06-06

Imam Rasikh Islami , Erasiah Erasiah | Journal of Islamic History

Abstract This article aims to explain the contribution/role of the Indonesian student diaspora in Egypt as national ambassadors to bilateral relations between Indonesia and Egypt, especially for Indonesian Independence. The … Abstract This article aims to explain the contribution/role of the Indonesian student diaspora in Egypt as national ambassadors to bilateral relations between Indonesia and Egypt, especially for Indonesian Independence. The Indonesian student diaspora in Egypt has an important role in seeking the support of Arab countries, especially Egypt; this effort was made long before Indonesia's Independence. The spirit of renewal of Indonesian students was also influenced by the idea of renewal raised by Muhammad Abduh and his students. So that, since 1920. Approaching 1945, the student political movement was increasingly active, and efforts to approach soft diplomacy had been made, introducing Indonesia as a Muslim country that needed help from other fellow Muslims. This effort paid off with the Egyptian State officially declaring Indonesia's Independence, followed by other Arab countries. Keywords: diaspora, contribution, egypt, indonesian students REFERENCES Cairo, K. (n.d.). Indonesia-Egypt Bilateral Consultation 2019: Indonesia-Egypt Agreed to Increase Economic Cooperation between the Two Countries. Indonesian Diplomacy. (n.d.). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. Fachir, A. (2009). Portrait of Indonesia - Egypt Relations (A. . Fachir (Ed.)). Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia Cairo. Fernando, J., Marta, R. F., & Hidayati, R. K. (2020). Reactualization of Indonesian diaspora students in maintaining the nation's cultural identity on the Australian Continent. Journal of Communication Studies, 8. Haris, A. H., & Othman, M. R. (2013). Contributions of Egypt Alumni in Education and Literature in Malaya and Indonesia, 1920s-1970s. International Journal of West Asian Studies, 5. https://doi.org/10.5895 Haris, A. H., & Othman, M. R. (2015). The Activities of Malay Students in Cairo 1920s to 1960s. Bachelor, 30. Hassan, Z. (1980). Diplomacy of the Indonesian Revolution Abroad. Bulan Bintang. Huda, N., & Afrita, J. (2023). The Importance of Arabic in Diplomacy and International Relations Education. Indonesian Journal of Education, 4. Laffan, M. (2004). An Indonesian Community in Cairo: Continuity and Change in a Cosmopolitan Islamic Milieu. Indonesia, 77, 1-26. Muqoyyidin, A. W. (2013). ISLAMIC EDUCATION UPDATE ACCORDING TO MUHAMMAD ABDUH. Journal of Islamic Education, 18. Rahman, S. A. (2007). Indonesian Diplomacy in Egypt and Arab Countries in 1947. Discourse, 9. Roff, W. R. (1970). Indonesian and Malay Students in Cairo in the 1920s. Indonesia, 9, 73. https://doi.org/10.2307/3350623 Sani, A. (2021). AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY OF EGYPT AND POLITICS. AAl-Kaffah 9. Sari, A. M. (2024). Ambassador Lutfi encourages increased exports of Indonesian products to the Egyptian market. Antara: Indonesian News Agency. SD, H. A. (2017). Diaspora as Indonesia's Multi Track Diplomacy to Realize the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development. Proyeksi - Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 22. Shinta, A. (2019). Improving Diaspora's Understanding of Archipelago Concept as an Effort to Make the 2019 General Election Successful. Journal of Lemhannas RI Studies. Syafitria, F., Andayani, P., & Emayanti, E. (2023). THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE INDONESIAN DIASPORA TO ECONOMIC COOPERATION, UMKM, IMPORT AND EXPORT, AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. WELFARE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCE, 4. Tunggal, A. R. (2019). Indonesia-Egypt Diplomacy: Darussalam Gontor and Al-Azhar University. Islamic World and Politics, 4. Widodo, Y. (2017). Indonesian Student Diaspora Media: Existence, Role, and Indonesian Spirit. Journal of Communication Science, 14. Wilandra, S. S. (2019). The Role of Indonesian Youth in Egypt in the Independence Revolution: A Case Study of Harun Nasution. الشرقاوي, م. (n.d.). اندونيسيا المعاصرة. مكتبة الانجلو المعاصرة.

Nusantara as Spectacular Fix: Urbanism, Power, and Exemplary Exception

2025-06-03

Umar Al Faruq | Antipode

Abstract Nusantara, Indonesia's new capital, has entered its second phase of construction under a new president. Despite the promise of economic distribution across the archipelago, the project has gained criticism … Abstract Nusantara, Indonesia's new capital, has entered its second phase of construction under a new president. Despite the promise of economic distribution across the archipelago, the project has gained criticism and resistance alike, thus some degree of popular and elite consent needs to be achieved. To this end, what kinds of moves does the state make? This article argues that Nusantara is deployed as a spectacular fix : a spectacular urbanist project which doubles as a socioecological fix. Through the production of (i) a new exemplary centre and (ii) new state spaces of exception, Nusantara gets exemplified, which takes other urban experiments to emulate but also from which other cities can take inspiration. Concomitantly, it becomes exceptionalised through new state spaces; a process in which the legal, state bureaucracy, and territorial elements surrounding Nusantara is made exceptional. This dyad of example and exception ultimately work to reproduce state power and legitimacy.

Chang-Rae Lee’s On Such a Full Sea as a Global Industrial Novel

2025-06-01

Sushmita Sircar | Modern fiction studies

Abstract: This essay reads Chang-Rae Lee’s On Such a Full Sea as an industrial novel. I show how Lee’s visit to the factory towns of Shenzhen informs the industrial labor … Abstract: This essay reads Chang-Rae Lee’s On Such a Full Sea as an industrial novel. I show how Lee’s visit to the factory towns of Shenzhen informs the industrial labor described in the novel’s B-Mor, placing the novel in continuity with industrial novels of the mid-twentieth century. I then read the murals which appear in the novel as an overlooked form of artistic resistance, comparing them to the protest art of the Arab Spring, feminist art forms in Pakistan, and the Hong Kong protests, to show how the contemporary novel might register the emergent global proletariat.

Decolonizing Common Law

2025-06-01

Laikwan Pang | Social Text

Abstract A recent judgment of the Privy Council on a relatively minor incitement charge in Trinidad and Tobago surprisingly impacts a decisive seditious trial in Hong Kong — both places … Abstract A recent judgment of the Privy Council on a relatively minor incitement charge in Trinidad and Tobago surprisingly impacts a decisive seditious trial in Hong Kong — both places were former colonies of the British Crown and have adopted common law. While common law is a colonial heritage in both places, it also proves to be capable of providing some protection to dissident subjects in their postcolonial times, particularly in Hong Kong, where the National Security Law recently enacted by the PRC now reigns supreme. The international history of common law was largely a sprawling attempt of the British Crown to maintain its power in an ever-expanding empire. But during the process, common law also gained a powerful life. This article also discusses the theorization of intention by GEM Anscombe to demonstrate how the idea of intention reveals the interrogative nature of common law, which constantly looks back at the past to provide guidance to navigate the present. This visit of Anscombe's ideas also helps us investigate the assumption of the right-bearing individuals in Western jurisdiction. Examining some of the postcolonial discussions that sprang from the Caribbean conditions and the current predicaments of Hong Kong, this article provides a unique angle to understand common law as both a governing tool of British colonialism and a valuable means to interrogate power. This analysis also offers a decolonial politics that acknowledges critically the colonial attachment found in many postcolonial communities, as well as the need to collectivize the legal subject.

Singapore Unveiled

2025-06-01

| WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks

A Sustainable City: A Parallel Diplomacy Study of Bandung towards Kawasaki in Handling Carbons Emissions

2025-05-31

Rosania Laoli , Windy Dermawan | Intermestic Journal of International Studies

Perubahan iklim global telah meningkatkan suhu bumi dan emisi karbon, termasuk di Kota Bandung yang kini memiliki kualitas udara sedang. Menanggapi hal ini, Pemerintah Kota Bandung berupaya mengurangi emisi karbon … Perubahan iklim global telah meningkatkan suhu bumi dan emisi karbon, termasuk di Kota Bandung yang kini memiliki kualitas udara sedang. Menanggapi hal ini, Pemerintah Kota Bandung berupaya mengurangi emisi karbon melalui berbagai langkah, salah satunya diplomasi paralel dengan pihak internasional seperti Kota Kawasaki. Penelitian ini menggunakan konsep diplomasi paralel dan pendekatan pada metode kualitatif berupa metode analisis deskriptif. Hasil riset menunjukkan bahwa emisi karbon di Kota Bandung cukup tinggi dalam lima tahun terakhir. Upaya penanganan dilakukan dengan melibatkan kerja sama luar negeri, khususnya dengan Kota Kawasaki, yang telah terjalin cukup lama melalui berbagai program lingkungan, termasuk pengurangan emisi karbon. Namun dalam pelaksanaannya, diplomasi paralel Kota Bandung tetap mengacu pada hukum Indonesia. Kesimpulannya, diplomasi paralel Bandung-Kawasaki berjalan cukup baik dengan melibatkan banyak aktor, meski terdapat tantangan akibat perbedaan struktur dan tahapan tata kelola diplomasi kedua kota.

The Coming of Age of Hong Kong:

2025-05-29

Enoch Yee-lok Tam | Amsterdam University Press eBooks

Heritage and a Community of Belonging in Singapore

2025-05-29

Steve Ferzacca | Amsterdam University Press eBooks

Acculturation of Immigrants in Marvel Films

2025-05-28

Cheongyi Park | Korea Jouranl of Communication Studies

The making of Keung To Bay

2025-05-28

Lucetta Y. L. Kam , C. Y. Chow | Routledge eBooks

Seoul in India

2025-05-27

Bruce Williams

EXPLORING MULTIDIMENSIONAL DRIVERS OF REVISIT INTENTIONS: THE CASE OF BANGKOKIAN MILLENNIALS AND JAPAN

2025-05-27

Chayapoj Lee-Anant

This study investigates the multifaceted factors influencing revisit intentions among Bangkokian millennial tourists to Japan. Expanding traditional frameworks, the research incorporates nine key constructs - perceived destination image, travel motivation, … This study investigates the multifaceted factors influencing revisit intentions among Bangkokian millennial tourists to Japan. Expanding traditional frameworks, the research incorporates nine key constructs - perceived destination image, travel motivation, travel cost, social influence, destination accessibility, cultural familiarity, emotional attachment, environmental factors, and service quality - to capture the intricate interplay of cognitive, emotional, and practical dimensions. Using a quantitative research design, data were collected from 400 respondents and analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), uncovering critical insights into millennial travel behavior. The findings reveal that emotional attachment, service quality, and destination accessibility are the strongest predictors of revisit intentions, emphasizing the importance of pers onal connections, seamless travel experiences, and exceptional hospitality. Constructs such as cultural familiarity, perceived destination image, and environmental factors further enhance revisit intentions, while travel cost exerts a moderate negative influence, reflecting the cost-conscious nature of millennials. The study highlights the pivotal mediating roles of emotional attachment and cultural familiarity, illustrating how these constructs amplify the effects of destination attributes on loyalty. This research offers theoretical contributions by integrating emotional and cultural dimensions into the push-pull framework, providing a holistic perspective on tourist decision-making. Practical implications include strategies for tourism stakeholders to enhance loyalty through value-driven packages, emotional resonance campaigns, and sustainability-focused initiatives. By addressing the unique preferences of Thai millennials, this study delivers actionable insights for positioning Japan as a premier repeat destination. These findings not only advance tourism theory but also provide a blueprint for sustainable and loyalty-driven tourism strategies, ensuring long-term growth in an increasingly competitive global market.

Interior Design and Commercial Signage Analysis of Muslim-Friendly Restaurants in the Capital Town and the Only City of Sultan Kudarat, Philippines

2025-05-23

Mildred F. Accad , Jaad-Alhaq Bua

Architectural structure and interior designs of commercial establishments are significant factors in considering a Muslim -friendly tourism destination. The practice of Halal food is centred on Mindanao Island to address … Architectural structure and interior designs of commercial establishments are significant factors in considering a Muslim -friendly tourism destination. The practice of Halal food is centred on Mindanao Island to address the community's needs, like looking for safer food and temporary shelter. The strict observance of Halal practices is expected. However, there are misconceptions about Halal in the community. This study determined the common interior designs of establishments with the Halal logo on their signages. Another focus is the floor plan, furniture and fixtures and their arrangement. It also analyses the commercial signs on the establishments as to the common colours, font styles and other special features and the implication of the Halal logo printed on the signage to customers' eyes. Descriptive quantitative and qualitative content analysis elicited information from the owners, customers and crews. The small and medium-scale food service providers with Halal logos posted in the signages are covered in this study. There are limited locations that offer Muslim-friendly food. It is usually cooked indoors or at home and displayed on the stalls. The eating and handwashing areas are also in limited space. Hence, the public market food stalls with Halal logos used temporary commercial signages like tarpaulin posted on the façade. The Halal logo is printed on the right side of the monotone or the green and white colour with simple font styles. Muslim customers are confident about eating food offered at Muslim -friendly establishments; however, non-Muslim passers-by searching for food disregard logo and their relevance to food safety practices. Thus, there is a need to massively disseminate information about the importance of Halal practices in the area.