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 This is an extensively referenced exploration of the influence outside the United States of the ideas of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), the country's first Secretary to the Treasury. The economic policies in Germany of Bismarck (1815-1895) are reviewed and related to the Hamiltonian ideas. Similarly the 20th-century economic development of Japan above all in the post-1945 era. Hamilton's central principle that the state's governance must include authority over financial and market activity in "free market economies" is seen to be very relevant to future prosperity in both the United States and Japan, and also very relevant in the ongoing 2007-2009 financial crises. With tabulated data, appended documents, bibliography and index.  The current financial crisis provides a valuable occasion for the world to re-examine the grand statements of wisdom which dominate the financial world. The impact is extremely serious as a result of the convergence of a number of factors such as huge current account deficits of the United States, globalisation, deregulation, loose monetary policy, and excessive liquidity. This book seeks to address the critical issues in deregulation, derivatives, leveraging, remuneration systems, and rating agencies.
This book also examines Asia's response and why Asian economies have been less affected by the global financial crisis. Are corporate governance, culture, management styles or even a state-led model the main reasons? Would the Asian sovereign funds help to be the last line of defense against the excesses of the crisis? Is the US$80 billion Asian crisis fund envisaged as the first instance of a coordinated East Asian response to the crisis and would this truly underpin the creation of an East Asian regional order? This book reaffirms the need for banks and financial institutions to provide value-adding services, exercise prudence and due diligence and pay due regard for societal interest.  Southeast Asia is one of the world's most diverse and complex regions. At times it has been a beacon of hope for the developing world, at other times it has been synonymous with insecurity and economic failure. The second edition of this text has been extensively revised throughout - seven new chapters have been included - and provides up-to-date coverage of the forces and dynamics that are shaping the region at both national and regional levels.  The author's four main objectives in writing this book are: to create a resource book for Thai specialists; to provide an update on the nature of relations between the central Thai state and its Malay-Muslim periphery through the optic of Islamic education; to explore the nature of relationships within the Malay-Muslim community of that region; and to chart out the transnational links and networks, both formal and informal, between Islamic education institutions and scholars of southern Thailand and the wider Muslim community. With this volume, he has illuminated "general and specific tendencies in Islamic education in South Thailand".  This book traces the beginning of the process of nation-formation, the struggle for independence, the hopeful beginning of the new nation-state of Indonesia only to be followed by hard and difficult ways to remain true to the ideals of independence. In the process Indonesia with its sprawling archipelago and its multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation has to undergo various types of crisis and internal conflicts, but the ideals that have been nurtured since the beginning when a new nation began to be visualized remain intact. Some changes in the interpretation may have taken place and some deviations here and there can be noticed but the literal meaning of the ideals continues to be the guiding light. In short this is a history of a nation in the continuing effort to retain the ideals of its existence.  A description and explanation of Malaysia's foreign policy from 1981-2003 when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed's views and idiosyncrasies were always of course a very influential factor. Seven foreign policy initiatives are identified and set into local and regional contexts: Buy British last; Look East; Third World spokesmanship; Regional engagement; Islamic "posturing"; and Commercial and developmental diplomacy. External factors related to Japan, Singapore and China are also discussed and also linkages with domestic political pressures. References, bibliography and index.  This substantial study of Islam in Southeast Asia highlights its political context and ethos in various periods in the countries of the region. Part 1 looks at Islam's origins, early years and the Colonial period. Part 2 deals with the struggles of the religion's development. Part 3 is on the rise of Islamic resurgence and Global Jihad. Part 4 looks at separation movements in Moro areas, Pattani and Aceh. Part 5 explores some of the political-religious issues being faced by Muslims and Islamists in contemporary Southeast Asia. With glossary, bibliography and index.  This book addresses terrorism threats in South and Southeast Asia at the international, regional and national levels. Contributors from both regions believe in the importance of state effectiveness and good governance that provides sound legal regimes, and efficient, credible and transparent judicial systems; effective local police forces trained for counter-terrorist operations. Ideally the police and intelligence services should lead this fight but where the use of the military is unavoidable, care should be taken not to over-militarise responses which could result in innocent civilian casualties. They also agree on the need to contest and defeat extremist ideology, best done by Muslim communities themselves, and better regional and international cooperation, particularly at the operations level.  This major text sets out for the first time in one volume the principles and policies of judicial sentencing in Singapore. A wealth of case material is incorporated in the exposition of general and specific sentencing consideration options, legislative sanctions, and the delivery and alteration of decisions. This new major resource for legal professionals will also be relevant in other circles. Indexes and case references.  Coming off massive growth from the past several years, the Asian life insurance industry has suffered greatly, along with the rest of the financial industry, in the 2008 financial crisis. Most life insurers across Asia have lost tremendous value in the wake of the crisis; a few are in significant distress. However, fuelled by macroeconomic factors such as the emergence of the middle class, high savings rates, and the growing need to save and invest for retirement, Asia's life insurance market is expected to grow at double the rate of the US and European market over the next decade. This book analyses the life insurance landscape in Asia, including traditional life insurance, bancassurance, etc. It comprehensively overviews the Asian insurance industry, based on extensive research provided by the authors on business opportunities and key success factors.  This study of Chinese family business in Singapore looks at their managerial patterns and common beliefs about their appropriateness and/or restrictiveness in today's global economy. After setting the scene there are case studies of five major groups: Eu Yang Sang International; the Hour Glass; Hong Leong Group; Qian Hu Corporation; and Popular Holdings. The last chapter discusses and evaluates the different ways family and outsider management and direction are combined. With pointers for research, bibliography and index.  Studies of the Tai world often treat "state" and "community" as polar opposites: the state produces administrative uniformity and commercialisation while community sustains tradition, local knowledge and subsistence economy. This leads to the conclusion that the traditional community is undermined by modern forces of state incorporation and market penetration.
This book takes a very different view. Using thematic and ethnographic studies from Thailand, Laos, Burma, and southern China, the authors describe modern forms of community where state power intersects with markets, livelihoods and aspirations. Modern community is not easily created nor is it inevitable, but rapid social and economic change in the Tai world has provided many opportunities for new forms of communal belonging to emerge.  A locally domiciled American offers a rollicking account of some of the things he has learned or experienced in Singapore. Both locals and expats may benefit from or be amused by his idiosyncratic selection!  The author, an Australian anthropologist has had 30 years of personal contact with an urban kampong near Yogyakarta. His experience and knowledge there threads through this wide-ranging discussion of changes in community life and perceptions in social, economic, political and ritual patterns evident today. The observed roles and attitudes of kampong leaders, entrepreneurs, formal and casual labour, youth and NGO volunteers are brought into wide-based discussion of recent history and the role and demands of the Indonesian state, the market, religion and other influences in today's society. With black-and-white photographs, glossary, bibliography and index.  Tuan Haji Ridzman Dzafir (b.1927) is now largely retired from his long career as a civil servant and citizen-volunteer. In this autobiography he tells of his childhood in fairly humble circumstances in Singapore and steady progress in education to his 1952 appointment in the Customs Service. Insights are offered into Singapore's development in the early years of independence and later when Haji Ridzman was administrator and diplomat and then the head of the Trade Development Board, roving ambassador in South America, held responsibilities in ASEAN, was Deputy Chancellor of NUS and influential in several Muslim and other service organisations. The author's experiences and views indicate how Singapore administration has worked over the years.  This is a free running, humorous and more or less uninhibited account of the life of a Singaporean air stewardess. The varied incidents and anecdotes from her training, life and work often do not bear out common ideas and stereotypes! Useful practical information for passengers and career seekers is also to be found in this rollicking read.  This monograph examines community-based approaches to development and peace-building in the minority regions of Burma and the ways in which civil society networks can effect changes in governance structures. It argues that civil society networks can bring about sociopolitical transition at both the local and national levels. This monograph also analyses the ceasefire and the impacts that agreements to end hostilities have had on state-society relations and day-to-day life in areas previously affected by armed conflict. It also examines the important roles played by local NGOs and individual Burmese citizens in the fields of humanitarian relief, community development, and peace-building in zones of ongoing armed conflict, and in areas affected by Cyclone Nargis.  In December 1948, barely 6 months into the British Emergency, a Scots Guard patrol killed 24 Chinese plantation workers in a raid at a Malayan rubber estate near the township of Batang Kali. The British programme of concealment that followed meant that the story of Batang Kali has never been fully told. Four years of research by two journalists has gone into this book, which hopes to present a cohesive study of the episode.  Softback reissue of the well known 1966 biography of Sir Thomas Raffles (1780-1826), widely celebrated as the founder of modern Singapore. Raffles was also a notable scientist, thinker and abolitionist. Recent scholarship has offered revised assessments of Raffles' achievements but this book remains a basic account of his life and aims. Sketch maps and index.  In his refreshingly insightful and sensitive work, 13 May 1969, Leon Comber offers an account of the events and influences - be they social, economic or political - which culminated in the breakdown of Sino-Malay relations, and erupted into the violent racial riots of 13 May 1969.
The work has been produced for the benefit of the general public. Set out in terms the layman can understand with ease, still it manages to convey the full significance of the events, and clearly defines their place in contemporary Malaysian society. Reissue of a 1983 publication.  These eight scholarly papers on aspects of the economic history of Indonesia relate to those given at the 2004 Paris conference of KITLV and the EUROSEAS. They focus on the development and social impact of the very varied patterns of credit and debt which have developed over the centuries. These are seen as not unrelated to contemporary problems and perceptions including microfinance initiatives. With epigraphic inscriptions and index.  This book reveals the little-known story of Venerable Pu Liang (b. 1880s in China), the Abbot of the historical Shuang Lin Monastery, and his role in garnering support among the Overseas Chinese in Singapore for the defence of China in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), in particular for the construction of the Burma Road. His story is woven into the history of Southeast Asia in a turbulent time. The Abbot's fund-raising efforts and his role as community leader on behalf of the China Relief Fund are worked into the account of the unfolding events in China. The book also describes the part played by the Abbot in the training of volunteer drivers leaving for the Burma Road, outlines the experiences of two such volunteers, and gives an account of the arrest of Venerable Pu Liang by the Japanese and his demise in the Sook Ching massacre. With numerous black-and-white photographs, index of English-Chinese names, and bibliography.  This account and discussion of Allied POWs in Singapore and Malaya is based on the experiences of British POW Hugh Pilkington, whose memoirs were written in 1945 before he had been repatriated to his home in Britain. This record, which includes his suffering as a bedridden patient in Alexandra Military Hospital during the 1942 massacre and as slave on the Thai-Burma railway, is complemented by on-site observations and interviews by Pilkington's son some 60 years later. A thoughtful presentation of human cruelty and suffering and their aftermath. With bibliography and index.  This volume "condenses" some of the major work done since 1965 by Ulrich Von Schroeder who has published monumental and expensive volumes on Buddhist art, statues and culture in Tibet. Explanatory articles on Indo-Tibetan Buddhism accompany the annotated illustrations of 108 Buddhist sacred artefacts which remain in temples and monasteries in Tibet. Many are not normally accessible. They were often created by artists from other Central Asian countries and examples are shown from different periods. With maps, glossary, bibliography, index and a complementary DVD with 527 digital photographs. Titling in Chinese and Tibetan.  Once a strategic trading post that channelled the flow of riches and ideas among countries situated along the South China Sea and places as far away as India and Rome, Vietnam has a fascinating history and an artistic heritage to match it. This lavishly produced catalogue, published to accompany an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (September 2009 to January 2010) and the Asia Society and Museum (February to May 2010), will help introduce English-speaking audiences to Vietnam's amazing body of artwork, ranging from the first millennium B.C. to the 18th century.
The authors begin by discussing, for example, the elegant burial jars, iron axes, bronze artefacts, and jewellery of the early Sa Huynh culture; the bronze ritual drums of the Dong Son; and the jewelled gold pieces, excavated from the walled center of Oc Eo in the kingdom of Fu Nan. New scholarship investigates the trade in gold and Chinese ceramics between Cham and the Philippine kingdom of Butuan. The final section is devoted to art from Hoi An, once a major international port. Of note are the ceramic wares produced in northern and central Vietnam from the 16th to 18th century.  This study of the development and potentials of curation (ie. the presentation and development of art collections and their appreciation) looks at recent curatorial activities and thought in Indonesia and Thailand in the context of art developments in Southeast Asia. Black-and-white photographs illustrate chapters which range widely over the philosophy of modern art movements, the place and aims of curation, cycles of cross-national practice and trends in curatorial development, aims and ideologies as well as art events of recent years. With bibliography and index.  With Vietnamese painting gaining prominence in the contemporary art circuits of Southeast Asia, many artists have found fame and fortune, yet Vietnamese painting is generally overlooked in art history surveys of the region. Nora Taylor sets out to change that with this book. Painters in Hanoi engages with 20th-century Vietnam through its artists and their works, providing a new angle on a country most often portrayed through the lens of war and politics. Drawing on interviews with artists, curators, art critics and others in Hanoi, the author surveys the impact artists have had on intellectual life in Vietnam. The book shows them within their own complex community, one fraught with tensions, politiking, and favoritism, yet also a sense of belonging. It describes their education, the role of the government in their arts, the rise and fall of individual artists, their influence as active players in the politics of place and gender, the audience for their work, and how tourism and the international art market have influenced it. By presenting artists as individuals actively involved in national life, this book offers a truly innovative perspective on modern Vietnamese history. Paperback reissue.  Dance Me Through The Dark is a book of remarkable high quality dance portraits by award-winning photographer Tan Ngiap Heng. As the resident photographer for Singapore Dance Theatre in 2007 and 2008, his dance photos have been seen widely in publicity materials all over Singapore. The images in Dance Me Through The Dark were taken over a period of one and a half years and are personal collaborations between Tan Ngiap Heng and dancers from Singapore Dance Theatre. While still in the realm of dance photography, these images are also more intimate portraits of the dancers, reflecting the dancers' character. The dancers who worked with Ngiap Heng include Xia Hai Ying and Jeffrey Tan.  This extensively illustrated volume presents and discusses the colourful porcelain China export ware characteristic of Peranakan domestic culture. After an account of the 19th-century trade patterns, Peranakan history and culture are overviewed. Porcelain types and origins and the motifs, colours and symbols used are described followed by detailed accounts of the diverse products and their purposes in kitchens, bedrooms, religious rituals and social life. Changes in Peranakan culture and the regard in which the porcelain has been held are discussed. Other export wares used are also noted. With bibliography, index and many colourful photographs.  This heavily illustrated volume features houses that represent cutting-edge residential architecture in Singapore at the beginning of the 21st century. The houses include recent designs by doyens of the profession such as Ernesto Bedmar, Sonny Chan Sau Yan and Kerry Hill, in addition to the firmly established 'next' generation, including Chan Soo Khian, Richard Hassell, Mok Wei Wei, Siew Man Kok, Tan Kok Hiang, Toh Yiu Kwong and Wong Mun Summ. In addition, there is a crop of relatively new practices headed by designers, many of whom have broken away from larger practices to pursue their own architectural dreams.  Would you risk your life to save your mother? If you were just nine? Would you put yourself between a killer mob and its quarry? If you were but a young bride? Would you lie under oath to save from starvation the family of a man - a sole breadwinner - accused of attempted rape? If you were his intended victim?
Set in early 20th-century East Bengal, this novel is as much a romance recalling courage, heroism, fortitude, as it is a chronicle of an improbable Bengali society struggling with its reformation.  Contemporary poems by five Italian and five Singapore poets are set out with the original alongside Italian on English versions. With this presentation, each language enhances the meaning of the other - even to reader who is not really bilingual.  From the author of the internationally acclaimed, Costa Award-winning The Harmony Silk Factory comes an enthralling new novel that evokes an exotic yet turbulent and often frightening world.
Sixteen-year-old Adam is an orphan three times over. He and his older brother, Johan, were abandoned by their mother as children; he watched as Johan was adopted and taken away by a wealthy couple; and he had to hide when Karl, the Dutch man who raised him, was arrested by soldiers during Sukarno's drive to purge 1960s Indonesia of its colonial past. Adam sets out on a quest to find Karl, but all he has to guide him are some old photos and letters, which send him to the colourful, dangerous capital, Jakarta. Johan, meanwhile, is living a seemingly carefree, privileged life in Malaysia, but is careening out of control, unable to forget the long-ago betrayal of his helpless, trusting brother. Map of the Invisible World is a masterful novel, and confirms Tash Aw as one of the most exciting young writers at work today.  This comprehensive book is a review of research and practices of mathematics education in Singapore. It traces the fascinating journey from the original development of the Singapore mathematics curriculum in the 1950s to the present day, and reports on diverse findings about the Singapore experience that are not readily available in print.  Jade-green peaks, sparkling waterfalls, rocky harbours and ancient walled villages are only a few miles away from Hong Kong, one of the world's most crowded cities.
This guide book features 4 long-distance trails that lead to this scenic landscape. The Hong Kong trail allows the hiker to view the cityscape; the Wilson trail takes the reader from edge to edge of Hong Kong; the MacLehose trail leads to the New Territories' greatest natural wonders; and the Lantau trail gives the hiker the chance to experience beaches and monasteries.
Includes detailed maps and 10 suggested short, less taxing hikes.  This is an extensively illustrated guide for visitors in today's Burma. But it is not a conventional tourist guidebook. There is well set out information on notable historic buildings; regional costumes and memorable vistas but also presentations of officially imposed and ongoing deprivations, photographs of military-run opium fields, and clandestine resistance camps. Information is also given about Backpacker Medics and its clinics run on the Thai-Burma border and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. With glossary, website and reading lists, and index.  An illustrated catalogue of the 123 colourful natural history drawings of the Raffles Family Collection, acquired by the British Library in 2007. In February 1824, Sir Stamford Raffles and his wife Sophia set sail for Britain on the Fame, with the collections made during his years of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. These included two to three thousand drawings, priceless Malay manuscripts and living animals, including a tiger specially tamed for the trip. Tragically the ship caught fire with the loss of all the collections. During the next ten weeks until the next boat sailed, a Chinese and a French artist managed to replace about 80 of the drawings that, with earlier drawings, including some made on the Malaysian island of Penang for the East India Company surgeon William Hunter, form the core of the collection.  This guide to Mosses of Singapore is the 42nd and most recent of the remarkable series of pocketbooks published by the Singapore Science Centre on Singapore's natural life. Introductory information on moss morphology, distribution, significance and habitat is followed by colour photographs and detailed botanical data on 13 moss families. With reading list, glossary, checklist, references and index.  An immense amount of information is within the Second Edition of the Science Centre's illustrated and easy-to-read introduction of astronomy and guide book to Singapore's skies. A wealth of photographs, maps, and graphics complement the chapters on: Spaceship Earth, our home; The Sun, our star; The Moon, our nearest neighbour; The Solar System; The Milky Way, and beyond; The Celestial Sphere and Constellations; and Projects and Demonstrations (some of these are very practical and can entertain).
Maps, calendars of solar and lunar eclipses, planetary movements and conjunctions, and descriptions of constellations are appended. With glossary and index.  Clearly presented scientific information is given on 75 native and non-native plants growing in Singapore which are used in traditional medicine. Each plant is illustrated, and botanical details given together with information about its therapeutic usages and the medical conditions to which it is applied. With extensive references, botanical glossary, common and scientific name lists, medical glossary and index.  These 18 papers by sports education professionals of the National Institute of Education will be of interest to readers in and outside the area of direct education. Sports is growing in Singapore's consciousness as Youth Olympics 2010 approaches. Among the issues explored are: the historical development of sport in Singapore, the school environment and the place of sport including timetable priorities and obesity issues, the relevance of cultural and value factors, pedagogical methods and coaching; sports development and talent policies outside school; IT developments, commercial interests and products promotion. The final paper addresses problems and issues in the planning and potential educational impacts of the Singapore Youth Olympics 2010.  Vietnam is one of the few Southeast Asian nations to experience four seasons and with the passing of each season, the land and scenery undergoes changes that are both profound and beautiful. In the rites associated with each season, we begin to perceive the ancient practices that are the focus of this book - rejuvenation, refreshment, and reinvigoration of mind, body and soul. This respect for Nature represents an important aspect of the spa concept in Vietnam.
This attractively illustrated book does not promote spa facilities in Vietnam. Instead, it explores some of the secrets of wellness, youthfulness and beauty, secrets that have been developed and preserved by the people of Vietnam since ancient times. This journey of discovery begins with a look at the ingredients used in traditional spa treatments, healing practices of the royal court, the different schools of healing practices that exist, the secrets to keeping the body looking good, the health-promoting principles of Vietnamese cuisine, and finally, the importance of mindfulness in all things we do. |