Singapore

This article is a preliminary observation of the recently established Buddhist College of Singapore (BCS). It seeks to propose, building on Kuah Khun Eng's notion of "Reformist Buddhism", that the college can be seen as a product of the Reformist Buddhist movement in Singapore. By positioning the BCS within this larger context of Reformist Buddhist movement, this article argues that Reformist Buddhism has legitimized the process of rationalization and bureaucratization of the Buddhist institutions in the country. This has, to a large extent, contributed to the organizational and educational structure of the BCS.

Video gaming is an increasingly popular activity among young people
worldwide. The rapid evolution of video games has heightened concerns about their
negative effects on children, and placed tremendous strain on parents to manage their
children’s video game play. Whereas previous research has identified parental mediation
of video gaming as comprising active, restrictive and co-playing strategies, this paper
seeks to show that parental mediation is a fluid process, where parents employ mixed
methods depending on different conditions. As such, this study argues that assessing the
effectiveness of parental mediation’s necessitates an extension beyond the current
analytical approach of observing monolithic categories. This study proposes the use of
parenting style, among the most influential and well-studied theories in parenting
literature, as a heuristic device to assess parental mediation’s effectiveness. Parenting
style literature claims authoritative and neglectful parenting as the most and least optimal
parenting style respectively.
While prior studies adopted correlational analyses of parental mediation strategies with
their outcomes and/or antecedents, this study sought to use independent samples t test to
describe effective parental mediation by comparing the differences between two groups
of parent-child dyads. Through the use of two established instruments (Pathological
Video Game Use scale and Parenting Style scale) in the video game use and parenting
literature, we define two dyadic groups – authoritative parents and their non-pathological
gaming children (GofAN), with neglectful parents and their pathological gaming children
(GofNP). Through online surveys with 433 parent-child dyads, our study explored the
differences in antecedents and outcomes of parental mediation between the two dyadic
groups. Our study found that the parents in the GofAN group had more negative
perceptions of video games, higher achievement values for their children, and practiced
the full range of mediation strategies more. Moreover, the children in the GofAN group
were found to be more obedient towards parental requirements, to play less video games,
and, to have higher English academic scores.

ASRIE Association of Studies, Research and Internationalization in Eurasia and Africa
Il ruolo geopolitico di Singapore-ASRIE Geopolitical Report Vol 3/2019  pag 67-76

Abstract in English
In a brief time, Singapore became one of the main economic-financial centres of southeast Asia and today the City-State of Singapore aspires to play a decisive geopolitical role in the international and Asian chess boards maintaining its diplomatic independence to avoid taking sides in the China-US dispute. The Singaporean military force makes it a significant regional actor; aware of an Asian chessboard that is seeing the Chinese economic ascent, Singapore understands that to make Beijing desist from possible diplomatic pressure must keep an efficient war device. The role of Singapore in the strategic area of the Strait of Malacca is well understood in international chancelleries, this role determines the diplomatic actions of Singapore in the geopolitical chessboard of the Asian continent.

Abstract in Italiano
Divenuta in poco tempo una delle principali piazze economico-finanziarie del sud-est asiatico e dell'Asia, oggi la Città-Stato di Singapore ambisce a ricoprire un ruolo geopolitico determinante nello scacchiere internazionale e quello asiatico, mantenendo una sua indipendenza diplomatica per evitare di schierarsi nella contesa Cina-USA. La forza militare singaporiana la rende un attore regionale significativo; conscia di uno scacchiere asiatico che sta assistendo all'ascesa economica cinese, Singapore comprende che per far desistere Pechino da possibili pressioni diplomatiche deve mantenere un efficiente dispositivo bellico. Il ruolo di Singapore nella zona strategica dello Stretto di Malacca è ben compreso nelle cancellerie internazionali, questo ruolo determina le azioni diplomatiche di Singapore nello scacchiere geopolitico del continente asiatico.

To describe the prevalence of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and its risk factors in a multi-ethnic Asian population. This population-based study of 10,033 participants (75.7% response rate) included Chinese, Indian and Malay persons aged 40 years and older. A comprehensive ophthalmic examination, standardized interviews and laboratory blood tests were performed. Digital fundus photographs were assessed for presence of RVO following the definitions used in the Blue Mountains Eye Study. Regression analysis models were constructed to study the relationship between ocular and systemic factors and RVO. Age-specific prevalence rates of RVO were applied to project the number of people affected in Asia from 2013 to 2040. The overall crude prevalence of RVO was 0.72% (n = 71; 95% confidence interval, CI, 0.54-0.87%). The crude prevalence of RVO was similar in Chinese, Indian and Malay participants (p = 0.865). In multivariable regression models, significant risk factors of RVO included increa...

Intellectual disability is known to be associated with a high incidence of psychiatric co-morbidity and problem behaviours. However, there are many challenges in trying to meet the mental health needs of people with an intellectual disability, and these are often not adequately addressed in Singapore's current healthcare system. This article outlines the present service provisions for this area in the country and details the importance of, as well as difficulties in the integration of health and social care measures in service development and delivery.

Singapore's status as a trading hub is probably as old as the settlement itself. In earlier times its history was tightly knit to the development and prosperity of its port. Today's global trading hub, however, is broadly conditioned by its position within a global communications regime that includes various modes of transportation by sea, land and air, as well as electronic forms of communication such as telephony and the internet. Transport and telecommunications infrastructure are certainly prerequisites for success, but Singapore's rapid rise in becoming a global trading hub cannot be explained by these factors alone: the hub is backed by an array of industries that directly or indirectly support transport and trade at large, ranging from warehousing to finance and trade. All these activities, moreover, are regulated and driven by policies that have been carefully formulated and put into place over the past five decades. Then there is Singapore's greatest asset today: its people. In the context of this introduction, it is of course impossible to give a detailed or even comprehensive overview of the historical developments that have evolved and today underpin the global trading hub. What is possible, however, is to single out some of the developmental highlights as well as explain their historic relevance and interdependence. In the following sections I shall do so with an eye cast on history and chronological development as well as moving from the larger picture to the particular. As the SG50 celebrations move into the past, the Republic will begin to look toward 2019, the bicentennial of the British colonial settlement's founding. Like SG50, the bicentennial will offer a unique opportunity to look back and take stock, though the time horizon taken on during the bicentennial will be rolled back well beyond 1965 to the beginning of the 19 th century or perhaps even before. There will be a fresh, vigorous debate about what makes Singapore a special place. One question is likely to feature prominently: Just how much of Singapore's historic success is locationally pre-conditioned?

Four orange-pigmented isolates, L7-456, L7-484T, L9-479 and L9-753T, originating from surface-sterilized leaf tissues of Jatropha curcas L. cultivars were characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that all four isolates belong to the genus Aureimonas . In these analyses, strain L7-484T appeared to be most closely related to Aureimonas ureilytica 5715S-12T (95.7 % sequence identity). The 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains L7-456, L9-479 and L9-753T were found to be identical and also shared the highest similarity with A. ureilytica 5715S-12T (97.5 %). Both L7-484T and L9-753T contained Q-10 and Q-9 as predominant ubiquinones and diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine, sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol and an aminophospholipid as the major polar lipids. C18 : 1ω7c and C16 : 0 were the major fa...

The Singapore government has traditionally invested heavily in, and focused on, the development of the hard sciences since gaining independence in 1965. This bode well for the fate of sustainability studies as the state, in the initial decades, focused heavily on performance legitimacy, emphasising issues of survivability and economic progress. With the country now at the top of global charts on many rankings on economic prosperity, the city-state has steadily begun to examine issues of nation-building rather than state-building. This can be attributed, in part, to the paradox of soft authoritarian regimes that invest heavily in human capital, because in the long run, an educated electorate will want, as active and informed citizens, to participate effectively in politics. The social sciences are slowly evolving to look at the Singapore model from a comparative perspective, moving away from the dominant narrative of “Singaporean exceptionalism”, which overstates the uniqueness of the city-state.

To explore the collaboration experiences of junior physicians and nurses in the general ward setting. Junior physicians and nurses do not always work collaboratively and this could affect the quality of patient care. The understanding of the issues affecting junior physicians and nurses working together is needed to inform strategies to improve interprofessional collaboration. Nineteen junior physicians and nurses were interviewed in 2012 and 2013. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Junior physicians and nurses acknowledged the importance of working collaboratively to achieve better patient care, but they are struggling to cope due to heavy clinical workload, organisational constraints and differing power relationships. Nurses have to take on more responsibilities in the decision-making process of patients' care to foster effective interprofessional collaboration. The study calls for educational and organisational strategies to improve interprofess...

This study sought to explore the job satisfaction level of migrant nurses working in a multicultural society and, more specifically, the relationship between their job satisfaction levels, work environment, their intentions to leave and the predictors of their intentions to leave. Nursing shortages have led to the increasing trend of employing migrant nurses, which necessitated studies examining nurses' migration. A cross-sectional, correlational design using a stratified random sample was conducted on 495 migrant nurses working in a tertiary public-funded hospital in Singapore. The results showed that migrant nurses were satisfied with their jobs; with job satisfaction negatively correlated with work environment. Interestingly, pre-existing groups of Chinese migrant nurses did not help newly arrived Chinese migrant nurses to assimilate better. Predictors of migrant nurses' intentions to leave included having supportive nurse managers and nursing practice environment. The pr...

By systematically examining six diverse countries, The Early Advantage 1 sheds light on new and exciting approaches to early childhood education and care. Brimming with fresh insights, the text provides concrete examples of successfully implemented strategies and methods that warrant attention from other countries wishing to improve their early childhood services. The Lion City (or Singapura) presents a fascinating story of rapid transformation and success. This holds true whether speaking about the economy, the well-being of the citizenry, the nature of the overall services provided, or the evolution of early childhood care and education (ECEC). This chapter unveils how such progress came to be achieved in ECEC, delineating the challenges that such success evokes. Ultimately, it is a story of carefully hewn harmonization and balance.

The youth’s state of mental health and related high rates of depression worldwide is a growing concern, and Singapore is not an exception (National Youth Council, 2018; World Health Organization, 2018a). These emotional disorders not only affect the everyday functioning of the youths, but also impair their development into healthy adults. Some populations however, seem to be more vulnerable than others; and this is the case with Polytechnics students in Singapore who certainly need psychological support, mentoring and intervention. The PERMA theoretical model of well-being (Seligman, 2011), when translated into positive education interventions (Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009), is known to foster the overall psychological well-being of individuals and to contribute to their flourishing (Hoare, Bott, & Robinson, 2017; Norrish, Williams, O’Connor, & Robinson, 2013). This quasi-experimental study tested the effects of a 10-week mentoring programme for a group of Polytechnic students with the aims of enhancing their happiness, well-being and school life satisfaction. The participating students were recruited amongst the full-time students of a Polytechnic in Singapore. The participants self-selected themselves in either the experimental (n = 20) or the control group (n = 14) depending on their availability and desire to partake in the 10-week Positive Psychology Interventions. While there were no significant differences between the experimental and control groups, there were significant differences within each group. The results of paired t-tests showed more significant statistical improvements in the variables of Engagement, Meaning, Accomplishment and Student Life Satisfaction within the experimental group, as compared to the control group. The results of this study seemed to imply that the Positive Psychology Interventions need to be strengthened in terms of duration and reinforcement for the effects to be more visible and sustainable.

Existing migration research has framed ‘middling migrants’ mainly in terms of transnational fluidity and flexibility, thus overlooking the issue of integration. This article adds to a burgeoning scholarship advocating a more locally embedded perspective (e.g. Meier, 2015b. Migrant Professionals in the City: Local Encounters, Identities, and Inequalities. New York and London: Routledge) by investigating the integration of immigrant teachers working in mainstream primary and secondary schools in the Asian city–state of Singapore. It is found that these immigrant teachers faced differentiated formal inclusion with respect to legal settlement, whereas their professional integration experiences also diverged between those who embodied certain ‘mainstream’ characteristics and those who did not. In negotiating professional integration, ‘non-mainstream’ immigrant teachers adopted a spectrum of strategies, but on the whole prioritised the pragmatic imperative to ‘fit in’, resulting in what may be termed muted diversification. In terms of broader ethnic and migration scholarship, this account serves to highlight the ways in which locally specific institutional and sociocultural conditions differentially shape middling migrants’ experiences in respect to settlement and work. With regard to the Singaporean context, this article fills an empirical gap in migration research while also reflecting on the accommodation and management of diversity in education.

This is a republish of the NASSCOM Emerge blog: A Macro economy view point by Shrikrishna Prakash, Saravu prior to September 2008 market collapse & USD 700B bailout. It has played out.

Scenario
Around 80% of foreign exchange/trade transactions is denominated in US dollars(USD) and a majority of these in crude oil import export. Crude being a lever to control USD flow (back to US), its rise impacts balance of payment for net crude oil importers, inflation and increase in cost of capital for business. Hence stocks discovering its prices to the re-adjusted EPS. In December 2007 realized time was not far off for business to chase funds and Private Equity (PE) and not the other way round.

Wall Street Outcomes
The heady day’s perceived profits in instruments, are now ill-liquid assets. To improve liquidity, earlier banks sought petro USD’s, some consolidated within Wall Street and others are filing for bankruptcy. About USD 450 billion of illiquid assets from various banks crept into Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae. Freddie & Fannie had to be bailed out by the US Federal Reserve(Fed). Fed released more than USD 250 billion in emergency funding. Fed has to clean up its balance sheet. New laws are being enacted giving treasury powers to create market for ill-liquid assets, buy and sell assets to tune of USD 700 billion.

OTC USD derivatives as an enabler ?
Most of USD’s are derivative positions and are traded on secretive OTC. As one of the steps to arrest the USD decline, central banks led by Fed in a synchronized manner went long on USD to the point of triggering short covering and shoring up USD. Central banks long positions were/are in the money. Globally, institutional investors who went long USD post the short squeeze upsurge, will feel the long squeeze when the intervention impact reduces and USD starts depreciating. This will make them square off and take on losses. (Read from central banks, as the coordinated entities would have booked profits at USD highs and positioned to buy at lower levels).

USA’s borrowings are denominated in home currency and the above process will assist in shoring up current assets in Fed’s balance sheet helping even out the ill-liquid assets. The reduction in OTC leveraged USD and a better Fed balance sheet enables printing USD in large quantity, controlling inflationary pressures- strategic in the world order. The consumption story will continue.

Possibilities
As the effect of coordinated intervention reduces, the USD is expected to weaken. If countries consume more USD’s, it will help ease the equation, else crude will continue to remain as a lever.

If Fed’s balance sheet gets cleaned up with no great inflationary effect, USD could get stronger. However to reach that state, the implementation of new monetary framework will have the affect of a “Manthan”, a sanskrit word for churning of the ocean to obtain nectar, when consumed attains immortality.

India over the next 18–24 months is expected to reduce crude import to an extent of 40%, a result of increasing production from KG-D6 block. On this materializing, equivalent USD’s will find its way back, assuming India’s orders for importing nuclear reactors & ancillaries will not off-set the reduction. Industrialist Mr. Godrej believes India has the potential to be a net exporter aswell. All these means the RBI may build USD reserves helping maintain USD 80–20 balance. The rupee’s (INR) movement depends on above equation, ECB, FII money flows and the existing flow dynamics.

Closing Comments
USA on its part will manoeuvre back to maintain world order and invent new “alpha seeking opportunities”. “Manthan’s” impact on India, its domestic story in healthcare, materials, industrial’s, infrastructure, financial services and software product space will be keenly watched.

Disclaimer: Views expressed here are personal.

The Tiger Balm Gardens or Haw Par Villa, built in the 1930s by overseas Chinese pharmaceuticals tycoon Aw Boon Haw, has been and remains a symbol of the positioning of Singapore’s Chineseness. In the colonial era, it marked the success not only of one man but also of the Chinese migrant community. In the later period of nation-building, it was initially considered as a challenge to multiracialism and nationhood. However, as state policy shifted towards an ethnicized cultural identity as prompted by the rise of Asia as a major economic force, especially China, the Villa was renovated first into an orientalized theme park and then resuscitated as the repository of diasporic Chinese entrepreneurship. Amidst these state initiatives, the history of the Villa and its founder were sidelined.

The now accepted doubling of the Third World urban population – with a tripling of the urban footprint by 2030 – has offered a frightening urban future. In 30 years the same amount of urban land will be demanded as has been generated throughout history in the previous 6,000 years. Moreover, this growth is projected to be predominately low-rise with a largely poor population. The specter of massive squatter fringe settlements by the informal squatter sector as in the past would devastate cities as we know them. Speed and scale are the new challenges. Lacking are viable proactive approaches for housing the low income, and predictions for the future are grim if no innovative approaches are found and adopted. Environmental concerns now enter and make the urban future even more problematic. We must develop powerful proactive strategies, which demands considerable creativity if we are to avoid an unthinkable future.

HDB flats in Singapore are available for rent either directly in the Housing and Development Board (HDB), or from the open market. People who choose to rent throughout the HDB will have to face several eligibility conditions, and this alternative is only open to Singapore citizens.

A collection of 42 articles about Malay culture and heritage, lifestyle and personas, customs and practices, including controversial issues such as circumcision, supernatural beings, determining of virginity, and the infamous ‘$50-Malay-wedding’ remark that triggered a heated debate on racism in Singapore in October 2012.

ISBN: 978-981-09-1051-8

- - - - - - - -
2016 International Book Awards (IBA)
'Malay Weddings don’t cost $50 and Other Facts about Malay Culture' is one of the two finalists of the IBA in the Multicultural Non-Fiction category.

As population demographics change and economic crises spread and deepen, welfare reform has become an urgent problem in many developed countries. As elsewhere in East Asia, the state in Singapore has in recent years stepped up its efforts to deal with issues of healthcare, education, support for care, retirement and even unemployment. Much of this has been in response to demographic shifts, economic trends and, importantly, political pressures. This article evaluates the possibilities and limits of recent reforms. It looks at some promising aspects of reform, such as increases in spending in certain areas, before examining the limitations of the reforms. These include the fact that most resources have been directed toward supporting businesses, while increases in direct spending on citizens have been limited and conditional
rather than universal; furthermore, little or no attention has been paid to the issue of women’s underemployment. These features suggest constraints within the logic and principles of welfare, which continue to define citizens as having limited rights and entitlements, and citizenship as entailing regular
employment and heavy obligations toward the family. The analysis of reforms sheds light on how the appearance of expansion can mask continuing limitations. The case of Singapore illustrates the importance of looking not just at expenditure but also at the principles and logics in which welfare reforms are embedded, in a variety of national contexts.

The Changi story is synonymous with suffering, hardship, and the Australian prisoner-of-war experience in the Second World War. It is also one of ingenuity, resourcefulness, and survival. Combining prisoners’ cartoons, paintings, photographs, and essays, The Changi Book provides a unique view of life in the camp: medical innovation; machinery and tools made from spare parts and scrap; black markets; sports and gambling; entertainment; a library and university. Seventy years after its planned publication, material for The Changi book was rediscovered in the Australian War Memorial archives and appears here for the first time along with insights from the Memorial’s experts, providing unique historical insights into some of the stories and characters behind its rich Changi collection.

Current practices and available resources for nutrition therapy in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the Asia Pacific-Middle East region are expected to differ from western countries. Existing guidelines for nutrition management in critically ill children may not be directly applicable in this region. This paper outlines consensus statements developed by the Asia Pacific-Middle East Consensus Working Group on Nutrition Therapy in the Paediatric Critical Care Environment. Challenges and recommendations unique to the region are described. Following a systematic literature search from 2004-2014, consensus statements were developed for key areas of nutrient delivery in the PICU. This review focused on evidence applicable to the Asia Pacific-Middle East region. Quality of evidence and strength of recommendations were rated according to the Grading of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Enteral nutrition (EN) is the preferred mode of nutritional suppor...

An Insanity Defence precludes criminal liability, as the defendant was rendered incapable of understanding the consequences of the action. Due to the global relevance of the Indian Penal Code and the fact that "insanity is probably best suited for universal adoption since [it is] common to all human societies," this paper compares Singapore and India in how each state incorporates mental illness into its criminal law. While India and Singapore both adhere strictly to the common law M’Naghten Rules, Singaporean law through the concept of diminished responsibility has included provisions that nuance the role of mental illness in the commission of crimes. Although judges are not medical professionals, significant progress has been made in reliably diagnosing impulse control disorders, and making room for irresistible impulses in both criminal laws is thus long overdue.

In our first report in Skills Next, we look at top research and skills training programs that are succeeding internationally, and highlight for Canadian policymakers key features driving success. The future of work will disrupt traditional labour employer-worker relations in five distinct ways. So by looking at skills training programs around the globe, what can be learned about developing digital tools for citizens, building innovation hubs, effective public-private partnerships, responsible public spending, and legal reforms that policymakers can use at home?