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This research paper provides a comparative analysis of the legal frameworks governing the delisting of issuer shares in Indonesia, the United States, and Singapore. Using a normative legal research approach, supplemented by interviews with members of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and a Member of the House of Representatives Commission XI, the study explores how each jurisdiction addresses the delisting process, particularly focusing on the protection of minority shareholders . The analysis reveals that Indonesia's legal system, influenced by its Civil Law heritage, contrasts with the Common Law approaches of the US and Singapore, especially in terms of shareholder involvement in voluntary delisting and the specificity of conditions for forced delisting. The study suggests enhancements to the Indonesian framework, such as clearer guidelines for shareholder approval in delisting decisions and more transparent criteria for forced delisting. These recommendations aim to improve the protection of minority shareholders within Indonesia's Capital Market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to find alternative method of executing reimbursement loan, as a form of documentary loan, that is, to investigate new digital technology methods (fintech) to improve the efficiency of the international exchange. Reimbursement loans are often used to credit the trade of overseas goods. The reason of such case is that the shipment of goods by the maritime transport requires a significant amount of time and those trades are often associated with high financial amounts. Since international trade (exchange) is a kind of a generator of society’s progress, it is necessary to explore the possibilities for making international payment cheaper, more efficient and more secure. In this case, we based our research on the implementation of modern technologies, more precisely “blockchain”/DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) and “smart contracts”. The new reimbursement loan model presented in the paper is based on the aforementioned technologies. It could potentially change not only the documentary lending techniques, but also, eventually, overall financial paradigm. The effectiveness of the application of modern technologies is proven comparing the results of the so called conventional and unconventional reimbursement credit model on a real case involving two companies in Indonesia and Singapore. The paper also tackles on the further implementation of “smart contract” technology and “blockchain”/DLT, thus considering the potential impact of these technologies on overseas trade, credit markets and financial institutions. Finally, the paper argues on the limitations in implementing this new technique (e.g. legal, political and technical challenges). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exploits random and exogenous transboundary haze pollution in Singapore caused by forest fires in Indonesia to examine the causal effects of air pollution on firm productivity and consumer satisfaction. To measure firm productivity in the private sector, we use the subcategory review scores on service quality, and to estimate consumer satisfaction, we use the individual-level overall online review scores. We find that a significant reduction in consumer satisfaction related to increases in haze pollutant intensity is followed by a substantial rebound in consumer satisfaction for eight months after the haze completely dissipates. We also employ sentiment analysis to illuminate review data and to uncover the underlying mechanisms: the decreased consumer satisfaction during the haze shock is caused by changing consumer mood, rather than by decreases in service quality; after the haze dissipates, consumer satisfaction is quickly restored and soon exceeds the previous level due to substantial improvements in service quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across Asia, countries have signed the UNCRPD and to a greater or lesser extent are pursuing inclusive education (IE). In this article, we present case studies from Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, and China analyzing them for common themes around the education of students intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and noting commonalities, challenges, and emerging issues. While the definition of IE (being the philosophy, process and practice of welcoming, valuing and supporting all learners in general education environments) and the conceptual distinction between integration and segregation are clear in the UNCRPD and subsequent comments, the terminology used in some of the countries is inconsistent with these definitions. This makes interpretation of reports from government instrumentalities difficult. In some cases, misuse of terminology allows justification of practices that are contrary to the UNCRPD. Terminology differences coupled with challenges of finding data related to the education of children with IDD, if the data exist, make a regional analysis of progress towards IE complex. In our paper, we have drawn on previous reviews and reports to discuss common issues and make suggestions for ways forward. Our findings add to the few other reviews from Asia on IE and draw attention to the continuing need for improved access to any education at all for learners with IDD. Provision of IE is caught up in dilemmas in the region about teacher preparation and professional learning, and how to provide specialist support in inclusive settings. School structure decisions including staffing provision and class sizes affect the education outcomes of students with IDD. School leadership, with the fundamental role of translating policy into practice, is critical for the development of IE and must be aligned with system and country priorities. Collaboration across the region has the potential to share best practice and continue to improve the educational opportunities for learners with IDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to calculate the net gains or losses for the ASEAN Members 1998-2007 in the East Asian market. Design/methodology/approach – This paper provides a new extension to the shift-share analysis to attribute the net shift to competing economies with a dynamic approach. This new extension is applied to analyze the competition among the ASEAN members in the East Asian market for the year from 1998-2007. Findings – Although in terms of market share, Indonesia and Malaysia take the lead in East Asia, the dynamic shift-share analysis suggests that the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia are gainers during 1998-2007, with positive net shifts and positive competitiveness effects. Originality/value – There are two main contributions of this paper: one is to dynamically estimate the net shifts of the economies as compared to the traditional comparative static approach; the other is to extend the shift-share analysis to attribute the net gains or losses to competing exporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: 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.Methods and Study Design: 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.Results: Enteral nutrition (EN) is the preferred mode of nutritional support. Feeding algorithms that optimize EN should be encouraged and must include: assessment and monitoring of nutritional status, selection of feeding route, time to initiate and advance EN, management strategies for EN intolerance and indications for using parenteral nutrition (PN). Despite heterogeneity in nutritional status of patients, availability of resources and diversity of cultures, PICUs in the region should consider involvement of dieticians and/or nutritional support teams.Conclusions: Robust evidence for several aspects of optimal nutrition therapy in PICUs is lacking. Nutritional assessment must be implemented to document prevalence and impact of malnutrition. Nutritional support must be given greater priority in PICUs, with particular emphasis in optimizing EN delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rare diseases, also referred to as orphan diseases, are characterised by their low prevalence with majority of them are chronically debilitating and life threatening. Given the low prevalence and the widely dispersed but very small patient base for each disease, there may often be a disproportion in the availability of treatments and resources to manage patients, spur research and train experts. This is especially true in Southeast Asian countries that are currently in the process of implementing or revising their universal health coverage schemes. This paper aims to examine the status of rare disease management in Southeast Asian countries. It will serve as the basis for a more active discussion on how countries in the region can address an under-recognised rare disease burden and enhance national and regional capacities.Methods: The study consists of literature reviews and key stakeholders interviews in six focus countries, including the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand and five countries as best practice, comprising of France, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, and South Korea. Rare disease management initiatives across each country were examined based on the World Health Organization's framework for action in strengthening health systems.Results: The results suggest rare disease management remains challenging across Southeast Asia, as many of the focus countries face fundamental issues from basic healthcare systems to funding. Nonetheless, there are substantial improvement opportunities, including leveraging best practices from around the world and organising a multi-stakeholder and regional approach and strategy.Conclusions: Southeast Asian countries have made significant progress in the management of rare disease, but there remain key areas for substantial development opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border tourism is often proposed by governments as an incentive for economic growth, but critics have suggested that its impacts are, in fact, overplayed. This paper presents research in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS-GT). It examines the broad economic impacts of Singaporean cross-border tourism on local host communities in two locations: Kukup, a traditional Malaysian fishing village in Johor, southern Peninsular Malaysia, and Bintan in Riau Islands Province in western Indonesia. The study found that cross-border tourism generated income, employment and some local economic linkages. In Kukup clear economic benefits with increased income and employment were unevenly distributed between ethnic groups. The Bintan enclave development had some linkages to the island economy but was reliant on immigrant labour. Cross-border ethnic ties, particularly Chinese, also played an important role in the growth of tourism in the IMS-GT. The paper shows that cross-border tourism can be a useful addition to more conventional forms of international tourism within national tourism planning and could lead to significant economic benefits for local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Singapore's regionalization stratagem led to the establishment of industrial parks in China, India and several South-East Asian countries. The strategic intent behind these overseas projects was twofold: exporting Singapore's competencies such as management know-how, technological capabilities and corrupt-free administration to regions where such positive factors were lacking and secondly, exploiting comparative advantages that each region had to offer. This paper 1 revisits Singapore's flagship projects in Indonesia, Vietnam and India. Evidence from on-site surveys and interviews are presented. This paper contends that progress in these privileged investment zones remains stymied by particular dependencies and challenges in the host environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropes of borderlessness are pervasive both in discourses concerning the spread of HIV/AIDS and the Growth Triangle, a transnational economic zone that ideally binds together the Indonesian island of Batam, the Malaysian province of Johor and Singapore. This paper considers how the emergence of HIV as a problem in the Growth Triangle, and on Batam in particular, has been framed as a problem to be addressed in context of the nation-state rather than as a transnational problem that demands cooperation across borders. In conjunction with this, it focuses on further attempts to create boundaries around HIV, through the identification of risk groups, the localisation of prostitutes and the distribution of condoms. The paper focuses particular attention on the relationship between Batam and Singapore, and how non-governmental organisations and governments have dealt with HIV/AIDS issues in both places. Furthermore, it problematises these activities by paying ethnographic attention to other forms of cultural and economic logics that often are odds with prevention models. This raises important questions concerning, most specifically, the problems of HIV prevention and cross-border cooperation, and, more generally, the regulation and formation of new kinds of borders in a‘borderless world’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly integrated international economy, nation-states are. of themselves, no longer the prime containers or coordinators of political-economic activity. The extra-territoriality of states and the blurring of the boundaries between states and firms, for example, have been captured in analytical concepts such as "triangular diplomacy' the "web of global interdependencies' and 'cosmopolitan democracy'. Such trends have become visible in what have been termed mega-urban regions or zones of economic integration or of graduated sovereignly. Moreover, such zones are held to illustrate non-traditional or cooperative inter-state relations. This paper utilizes Stopford and Strange's (1991) notion of 'triangular diplomacy' to interpret the development of one such zone - the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore growth triangle (IMS-GT), The paper argues that whilst embodying elements of cooperative inter-state relations the development of the IMS-GT also highlights the persistence of the 'traditional' concerns of inter-state relations. It also uses the notion of triangular diplomacy to draw attention to different models of social order sought by multinational enterprises (MNEs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) gears toward full regional integration by 2015, the cross-border mobility of workers and citizens at large is expected to further intensify in the coming years. While ASEAN member countries have already signed the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, the health rights of migrants still need to be addressed, especially with ongoing universal health coverage (UHC) reforms in most ASEAN countries. This paper seeks to examine the inclusion of migrants in the UHC systems of five ASEAN countries which exhibit diverse migration profiles and are currently undergoing varying stages of UHC development. Design: A scoping review of current migration trends and policies as well as ongoing UHC developments and migrant inclusion in UHC in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand was conducted. Results: In general, all five countries, whether receiving or sending, have schemes that cover migrants to varying extents. Thailand even allows undocumented migrants to opt into its Compulsory Migrant Health Insurance scheme, while Malaysia and Singapore are still yet to consider including migrants in their government-run UHC systems. In terms of predominantly sending countries, the Philippines's social health insurance provides outbound migrants with portable insurance yet with limited benefits, while Indonesia still needs to strengthen the implementation of its compulsory migrant insurance which has a health insurance component. Overall, the five ASEAN countries continue to face implementation challenges, and will need to improve on their UHC design in order to ensure genuine inclusion of migrants, including undocumented migrants. However, such reforms will require strong political decisions from agencies outside the health sector that govern migration and labor policies. Furthermore, countries must engage in multilateral and bilateral dialogue as they redefine UHC beyond the basis of citizenship and reimagine UHC systems that transcend national borders. Conclusions: By enhancing migrant coverage, ASEAN countries can make UHC systems truly 'universal'. Migrant inclusion in UHC is a human rights imperative, and it is in ASEAN's best interest to protect the health of migrants as it pursues the path toward collective social progress and regional economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To measure the content of cholesterol-raising diterpenes in coffee sold at the retailer level in Singapore, Indonesia and India and to determine the relationship of coffee consumption with lipid levels in a population-based study in Singapore.Methods: Survey and cross-sectional study in local coffee shops in Singapore, Indonesia and India to measure the diterpene content in coffee, and a population-based study in Singapore to examine the relationship of coffee consumption and blood lipid levels. Interviews and coffee samples (n=27) were collected from coffee shops in Singapore, Indonesia and India. In addition, 3000 men and women who were Chinese, Malay, and Indian residents of Singapore participated in a cross-sectional study.Results and Discussion: The traditional 'sock' method of coffee preparation used in Singapore resulted in cafestol concentrations comparable to European paper drip filtered coffee (mean 0.09±SD 0.064 mg/cup). This amount would result in negligible predicted increases in serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. Similarly low amounts of cafestol were found in Indian 'filter' coffee that used a metal mesh filter (0.05±0.05 mg/cup). Coffee samples from Indonesia using the 'sock' method (0.85±0.41 mg/cup) or a metal mesh filter (0.98 mg/cup) contained higher amounts of cafestol comparable to espresso coffee. Unfiltered coffee from Indonesia contained an amount of cafestol (4.43 mg/cup) similar to Scandinavian boiled, Turkish and French press coffee with substantial predicted increases in serum cholesterol (0.33 mmol/l) and triglycerides (0.20 mmol/l) concentrations for consumption of 5 cups per day. In the Singaporean population, higher coffee consumption was not substantially associated with serum lipid concentrations after adjustment for potential confounders [LDL-cholesterol: 3.07 (95% confidence interval 2.97-3.18) for <1 cup/week versus 3.12 (2.99-3.26) for ≥3 cups/day; p trend 0.12].Conclusions: Based on the low levels of diterpenes found in traditionally prepared coffee consumed in Singapore and India, coffee consumption in these countries does not appear to be a risk factor for elevation of serum cholesterol, whereas samples tested from Indonesia showed mixed results depending on the type of preparation method used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We cannot deny that our own language, a native language and one that is not foreign is important in having self-identity or essence. The symbol of a flag, of a marcha nacional, of a national anthem, of a national flower, of a national costume are all meaningful as signs of self-identity and independence. But these are just signs — a symbol. There is a need for making meaning for those who use the symbols. And more importantly, we value the meaning more than the symbol. The symbol is only a symbol — it's not significant if the ones using the symbols don't possess the sentiments. And the signs can be replaced; they can be renewed if needed. In this paper, the case of our neighboring countries in South-East Asia such as Indonesia and Singapore are compared for the case of the Philippines, because these two countries give us a different picture in revisiting the language as an important part of the formation of our identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the money demand function for five Southeast Asian countries, viz. Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach - The ARDL modeling approach is employed because of its ability to incorporate both 1(0) and 1(1) regressors. Findings - The results reveal that real M2 aggregate, real expenditure components, exchange rate, and inflation rate are cointegrated for Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. The statistical significance of real income components suggests the bias of using single real income variable in money demand (M2 aggregate) specification of both short- and long-run. The CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests show that the estimated parameters are stable for the five Southeast Asian economies, except for Indonesia which is based on short-run specification. Practical implications - These findings are important for policy makers in formulating monetary policy. Originality/value - Besides conventional determinants of money demand such as exchange rate and interest rate variables, this study considers the major components of final expenditure (GDP) - final consumption expenditures (private and government sectors), expenditures on investment goods, and exports as scale variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I examine issues of identity formation, conflict and accommodation by means of a number of cases drawn from ethnographic research. In particular I look at some of the ways in which Malay-ness has been linked to the processes of inclusion and exclusion that operate between 'insiders' and 'outsiders' (or 'natives' and 'settlers') in and around localised 'communities' in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. I suggest that far from necessarily being a fixed and permanent political identity, Malay-ness may also describe a highly fluid interactive space. It seems that ethno-religious conflict has been more likely to occur where hard, even racialised divisions develop between insiders and outsiders and that conflict has been less likely in situations when different groups have been able to make common cause under the banner of a more open and hybridised sense of Malay co-responsibility. In other words a key variable in such situations has been the extent to which a sense of solidarity may, or may not, develop between relatively immobile, localized, 'indigenous' cultivators and political elites on the one hand and more mobile, commercially-oriented outsiders of more universalistic orientation on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle makes manifest the complex geographies of power that subvert efforts to read cross-border regionalization as a straightforward geographical corollary of‘globalization’. As such, the region needs to be examined not simply as a complementary transborder assemblage of land, labour and capital, but rather as a palimpsest in which the imagined geographies of cross-border development and the economic geographies of their uneven spatial fixing on the ground are mediated by complex cultural and political geographies. We seek to unpack these by triangulating how the geographies of capital (including its uneven development and its links to the geo-economics of intra-regional competition), land (including post-colonial relations across the region, the geopolitics of land reclamation and the enclaved landscapes of tourism) and labour (including the divergent itineraries of migrant workers) overlay and complicate one another in the region. By charting these complex triangulations of space and place, we seek to problematize narratives of the Growth Triangle as an exemplary embodiment of the‘borderless world’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the impact of official travel advisories warning citizens about the dangers of travel to countries near to those which have experienced terrorist attacks. The issues are considered within a Southeast Asian context, using the example of the bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali in 2002 which had serious implications for its neighbours. Particular attention is given to the consequences for Singapore which found its previously unchallenged reputation for safety being questioned. Advice given by selected governments and the reactions of the relevant tourism authorities are reviewed, revealing the problems confronted by the industry in these circumstances and possible response strategies. Terrorism is shown to have the potential to damage place images and visitor arrivals beyond the particular location where it occurs, and travel advisories may contribute to this process with political repercussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern Singapore has been a focus of contact between the three cultural blocs of China, India, and Indonesia, and between Orient and Occident. Asian migrants came as laborers, artisans, and entrepreneurs; the much smaller European migrant group introduced western economic and administrative institutions. Subsequent modernization and development, necessitating improved coordination and development of all resources, has been hampered by substantial cultural divergences relating to economic and social practice and attitude. Contrasting cultural patterns are commonly identified with ethnic differences and can most readily be analyzed on this basis; the ethnic data utilized in this paper serve to highlight significant cultural differences which are only gradually breaking down despite sustained locational contiguity and the unifying force of political independence within, and subsequently outside the Federation of Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) gears toward full regional integration by 2015, the cross-border mobility of workers and citizens at large is expected to further intensify in the coming years. While ASEAN member countries have already signed the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, the health rights of migrants still need to be addressed, especially with ongoing universal health coverage (UHC) reforms in most ASEAN countries. This paper seeks to examine the inclusion of migrants in the UHC systems of five ASEAN countries which exhibit diverse migration profiles and are currently undergoing varying stages of UHC development. A scoping review of current migration trends and policies as well as ongoing UHC developments and migrant inclusion in UHC in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand was conducted. In general, all five countries, whether receiving or sending, have schemes that cover migrants to varying extents. Thailand even allows undocumented migrants to opt into its Compulsory Migrant Health Insurance scheme, while Malaysia and Singapore are still yet to consider including migrants in their government-run UHC systems. In terms of predominantly sending countries, the Philippines's social health insurance provides outbound migrants with portable insurance yet with limited benefits, while Indonesia still needs to strengthen the implementation of its compulsory migrant insurance which has a health insurance component. Overall, the five ASEAN countries continue to face implementation challenges, and will need to improve on their UHC design in order to ensure genuine inclusion of migrants, including undocumented migrants. However, such reforms will require strong political decisions from agencies outside the health sector that govern migration and labor policies. Furthermore, countries must engage in multilateral and bilateral dialogue as they redefine UHC beyond the basis of citizenship and reimagine UHC systems that transcend national borders. By enhancing migrant coverage, ASEAN countries can make UHC systems truly 'universal'. Migrant inclusion in UHC is a human rights imperative, and it is in ASEAN's best interest to protect the health of migrants as it pursues the path toward collective social progress and regional economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]