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This paper explores the motives and mechanisms behind data localization implemented by states to protect data, which is essential to emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. Despite the significant negative aspects of data localization for states, the practice has become increasingly prevalent, leading to the unexplored question of why states choose to implement it. This suggests that data localization is a form of economic means derived from digital technologies and employed by states to serve political objectives. Focusing on the data in platforms, the theoretical mechanism of data localization is captured in light of two factors: network perception and security externality. Network perception pertains to a state's perception of the positive network effect generated by platforms, while security externality refers to a state's consideration of the security implications in relation to the economic benefits derived from the positive network effect, serving the national interest in domestic and/or international contexts. To substantiate these theoretical propositions, the paper employs a comparative case study approach where Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia have been chosen as empirical cases based on the selection strategy. The paper bridges the concept of economic statecraft with digital technologies, fosters interdisciplinary discussions, and offers policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to provide a comprehensive analysis of English language teaching (ELT) research in Southeast Asia (SEA) using both quantitative and qualitative data. Specifically, this paper sought to describe the characteristics, growth, impact, trajectory, and distribution of ELT research in the SEA region, determine the research themes that emerged and how they have evolved for the past 6 years, and identify the extent of collaboration among SEA ELT scholars. This examination, covering a 6-year period, showcases the breadth and depth of research undertaken in the region. Overall, the research productivity and citations in the region have been increasing during the inclusive years, with Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia leading the list in almost all metrics. Research designs have also become more sophisticated in recent years as research contexts and topics continue to expand. Popular topics include teacher cognition and agency, teaching practices, computer-assisted language learning, and teaching macro skills. Although collaboration among SEA countries remains modest, their collaboration with western countries is relatively extensive, especially Vietnam and Singapore. Policy implications and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Philippine government attempts to embrace energy transition initiatives to generate energy from renewable sources in recent decades. Due to several domestic, external, and financial challenges, however, the said initiatives are not met diligently and on time. Thus, the said plan is now heavily dependent on the contribution of the private sector in harnessing power from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar among others. One of the said companies is ACEN Corporation (ACEN), formerly AC Energy Corporation, which is considered one of the largest renewable energy (RE) enterprises in the archipelago and continues to aspire as the largest listed renewable energy platform in the region (ACEN, 2022a). This paper contends that the energy transition of a Southeast Asian country to RE is primarily driven by private sectors through various modes of cooperation. The role of private enterprises in energy transition initiatives is best exemplified by ACEN. The pursuit of power is noticeable in three transformative shifts. The first shift is the company's RE investments domestically in several places in the archipelago. The second shift is the outbound investments in wind and solar farms in various countries in the region either through partnerships, joint ventures, or mergers and acquisitions. The third shift is an offshoot of the second shift which is the crossborder electricity sales in the neighboring states such as Singapore and Vietnam. Moreover, this paper also looks at the mechanisms, conditions, and incentives that were offered to ACEN as enticing packages to invest in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the major precedent variables that could affect e-learning users' attitudes in two highly-networked countries and a sharply-spreading country in East Asia, namely South Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore. This research also reviewed why e-learners were using the Internet for their study and unveiled cross-national differences in antecedents of online activities, motivations, intention to use, and enhancement in performance among three countries. This paper could see if there were any differences in precedents of e-learning among the countries by ANOVA. Plus, the study uncovered that what precedents impacted the follow-ups of e-learning by regression analysis in each country. The paper found out that differences in social and cultural aspect influenced on the precedents and the follow-ups of e-learning among the countries. For example, Korean learners had stronger utilitarian motivations for e-learning while the Vietnamese and the Singaporean did not. Korean and Singaporean learners were more strongly influenced to visit e-learning sites by their friends and lecturers than the Vietnamese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Social workers are expected to challenge the exclusion and oppression of marginalised populations which requires the critical interrogation of prejudicial views, discriminatory attitudes, and oppressive practices. In this regard, social work practitioners need to be vigilant of their own attitudes toward the people they serve. This is relevant to social work practice with sexual minorities. This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods study informed by a critical theoretical frame that explored Vietnamese social work practitioners' attitudes toward sexual minorities. The findings presented in this article were drawn from a survey of 292 social work practitioners based in Hanoi, Vietnam and 12 semi-structured interviews with volunteers recruited from the pool of survey participants. Findings: The findings suggest that practitioners who participated in this study held relatively positive attitudes toward people who identify as lesbian or gay. However, those who had what could be considered moderate to positive attitudes were not necessarily free from prejudicial and discriminatory views, particularly when it came to certain matters such as those relating to their own families and work with young children. Applications: The discussion of the findings illustrate the relevance of the broader social context to Vietnamese social work practitioners' attitudes toward sexual minorities. It highlights the potent influence of dominant ideologies in shaping prejudicial views and attitudes and points to the need for practice at a broader level targeting Vietnamese society and culture as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been argued that successful professional development efforts, especially in assessment-literacy, need to address emotional components and the existence of implicit conceptions in order to raise consciousness and ultimately transform practice (Xu and Brown, 2016: p. 156). Experiential approaches have been shown to be highly effective for adult learning, especially in bringing about and sustaining changes in beliefs and practices. In this paper, I explore the use of an experiential approach in an online language assessment course, describing in depth two formative assessment (FA) activities and the technology tools that were employed. These activities served to (1) develop participants' AL in formative assessment, including online formative assessment; (2) evoke emotions, raise consciousness about conceptions, and prompt a desire for transformation; and (3) bridge the theory-practice gap. This paper offers insights into approaches to FA and teacher development in online settings and seeks to contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field of assessment education.

This paper traces the symbolic significance of Singapore's policy of "multiracialism" by bringing it in connection with the city-state's post-colonial problematic of national identity. Against the currently dominant, nativist rhetoric which aims to construct Singapore as an authentically "Asian" nation diametrically opposed to its "Western" counterparts, this paper stresses the necessary and inevitable hybridity of Singaporean identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization and increased mobilities have multiplied cross-border transactions not only in the economic sphere but have also a major impact on human relationships of intimacy. This can be seen in the increased volume of differently mediated forms of international marriage, not just straddling ‘east’ and ‘west’, but within Asia and across different ethnicities and nationalities. International marriage raises a host of social issues for countries of origin and destination, including challenges relating to the citizenship status and rights of the marriage migrant. This paper examines the negotiation of citizenship rights in the case of commercially matched marriage migrants – namely Vietnamese women who marry Singaporean men and migrate to Singapore as ‘foreign brides’. While they are folded into the ‘family’ – what is often thought of as the basic building block of the nation in Asian societies – they are not necessarily accorded full incorporation into the ‘nation’ despite Singapore's claims to multiculturalism. This is particularly salient at a point when cross-nationality, cross-ethnicity marriages between Singapore citizens and non-citizens are on the increase, accounting for over a third of marriages registered in Singapore in recent years. Vietnamese women who marry Singaporeans are positioned within the nation-state's citizenship regime asdependentsof Singaporean men, having to rely on the legitimacy of the marriage relationship as well as the whims of their husbands in negotiating their rightsvis-à-visthe Singapore state. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic work with 20 Vietnamese women who are commercially matched marriage migrants, the paper first focuses on the vulnerable positions these women find themselves, particularly given difficulties in forging their own support networks as well as weaknesses of the civil society sector in what has been called an ‘illiberal democracy’ characterized by a political culture of ‘non-resistance’. The paper then goes on to examine the way they negotiate rights to residency/citizenship, work and children within webs of asymmetrical power relations within the family and the nation-state. We draw on our findings to show that citizenship is ‘a terrain of struggle’ within a multicultural nation-state shaped by social ideologies of gender, race and class and negotiated on an everyday basis within spheres of family intimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights three key weaknesses with the developmental state as a theory of the state. First, that the theory imagines the state in Weberian terms and then seeks to judge all states—even ones which are not Weberian—according to Weberian yardsticks which are not universal. Second, that the theory underestimates the extent to which it is itself bound up with dominant global power structures associated with the Cold War and the post-cold war period. Third, that in its concern to identify the correct 'institutional mix' for development to occur, developmental state theorists ends up believing that the (best) states really do stand apart from society, forgetting that this is an illusion which is fundamental to how states rule. Not to be alert to the state's 'ideological effects' is not really to study the state at all; this is ultimately a criticism which has to be levelled at the theory of the developmental state. To suggest—as many scholars do—that the theory's weaknesses can be solved by breaking the state down into its constituent parts, focusing more on society, or trying to locate the 'blurred' boundary between state and society more effectively, completely misses the point, since it does little, if anything, to uncover how states really rule. The issues are explored via a comparison of the state in Singapore and Vietnam. [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]

This research explores how data from population genome projects in Southeast Asia are mobilized for identity formation beyond the lab. We compare two cases, the Vietnamese Genome Project which is funded by a Vietnamese private conglomerate and the Peranakan Genome Project in Singapore, to elucidate how the results from population genomic projects in Vietnam and Singapore are co-constituted with existing political and cultural narratives, as well as with varying notions of 'Chinese-ness'. We find that while scientists in Vietnam use genomics to construct the Vietnamese as genetically independent from what is perceived to be an increasingly dominant Chinese geopolitical power, scientists and participants involved in the Peranakan Genome Project emphasize genomic and cultural mixing which happened between Southern Chinese migrants and the indigenous Malay population historically to distinguish from the rest of the 'Chinese' population in Singapore. The cases illustrate the different ways in which the actors involved in these two genome projects strategically differentiate and negotiate the 'bio geo-body' of the Vietnamese and the Peranakan in relation to the Chinese identity and nationalism, thereby revealing how genomics is intertwined with local and regional histories, culture and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This artist portfolio is composed of living memories inside of dirt. James Jack's work explores the richness of dirt through stories rooted in our immediate surroundings that resist settler narratives of land. While respectfully touching these sensitive sites of trauma and transition encountered in Vietnam and Singapore, voices from the past emerge. As these temporary dirt windows open and their stories unfold, an opportunity for healing opens as well. Thereby spaces open for envisioning alternate futures with the voices of dirt in solidarity with humans caring for land as part ourselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the genealogy of Vietnamese refugees based at a transit camp in Singapore between 1975 and 1996. Created by UNHCR with permission of the Singapore government, Hawkins Road Camp hosted Vietnamese refugees with confirmed destinations in their transit. The transit camp was found to be heterotopian, oscillating between the state's economic pragmatism and humanitarianism. Its heterotopian traits can be traced to its varying (in)visibility throughout its operation from physical demolition to eventual cyber-presence. The heterotopian space of the camp is found to be constructed by two epistemes or politics of truth – the first functioning when the transit camp was in operation and the second operating when the camp was decommissioned and demolished. The first episteme created discursive practices which directed measures at reluctant acceptance and discreet (unpublicised) care of refugees. This is evident from the low media presence, obscure camp location and invisibility not being marked on key landuse maps at the time. The second episteme enacts discursive practices which shape the textual and tangible marginalisations and erasures of refugee presence and history. It is matched and resisted by online commemoration of the transit camp by a stakeholder community concerned with the histories of the transit camp. In doing so, we illuminate the omission of humanitarian ideals for discourses focused on extreme resource vulnerability and economic pragmatism by the Singapore state and provide a geographical critique of such refugee governance. We add to the current literature on the politics and landscapes of remembering and forgetting by examining the subject positions of peoples entwined in these power-relations and highlight the need to attend to the shifts in these subject positions. The shift from a transient unwanted population to one that has never existed has propelled physical and textual erasures of refugee presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists have crafted intricate taxonomies to classify nations beyond liberal democracy, positioning these societies along an authoritarian continuum. Despite the pivotal role of journalists in accelerating political dynamics, there exists a lack of comparative research on media governance in these regimes. Consequently, this study scrutinizes the media governance ecosystems in Vietnam and Singapore. Vietnam is a one-party authoritarian state, whereas Singapore represents a hybrid political system. However, both countries exhibit a stable and uninterrupted rule by the respective ruling party. Our research uncovers the nuances of Singapore's media regulation, which embeds trusted stakeholders with financial interests in key press roles to reinforce the implicit political norms. Conversely, Vietnam employs a more direct, coercive, and state-centric approach. Media actors in both nations occasionally test the boundaries of acceptable discourses, with each government's responses being shaped by specific contexts and broader history. Reforms in Vietnam, embracing privatization and commercialization, mirror Singapore's integration of capitalism, public ownership, and commercial interests when governing media. These findings highlight diverse yet effective authoritarian media governance strategies, unique features, and commonalities in both systems. Overall, media structures in these Southeast Asian countries have undergone profound evolutions towards more sophisticated regulatory tools to manage societal and political transformations. [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]

This paper presents a compilation of personal reflections from 66 contributors on the impact of, and responses to, COVID-19 in accounting education in 45 different countries around the world. It reveals a commonality of issues, and a variability in responses, many positive outcomes, including the creation of opportunities to realign learning and teaching strategies away from the comfort of traditional formats, but many more that are negative, primarily relating to the impact on faculty and student health and well-being, and the accompanying stress. It identifies issues that need to be addressed in the recovery and redesign stages of the management of this crisis, and it sets a new research agenda for studies in accounting education.

This study examines generalized trust and trust in institutions in Confucian Asia, covering six countries namely, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, and one dependent region, Hong Kong. Using data from the 2006 AsiaBarometer Survey, our study affirms the reliability and validity of using a two-item scale to measure generalized trust. Our analysis suggests that due to demographic differences, there are variations in the level of generalized trust of countries in Confucian Asia, despite the fact that these societies share a similar background in Confucian philosophy. The relationships between generalized trust and political trust, and between generalized trust and trust in public institutions, are weak but positive. The positive relationship between generalized trust and trust in economic institutions is only significant for some of the economies, while trust in international institutions has the weakest relationship with generalized trust for all societies. We conclude the paper with research implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrastructure can be unreliable and administration subject to corruption in Asia's rapidly emerging economies. This context presented Singapore with unique opportunities to export its expertise to locations where these attributes are less certain, through the provision of superior infrastructure, the ability to negotiate investment concessions and, where existing, through the links to influential business groups in the investment location. This strategic initiative is further premised on the perception that Singapore's positive reputation with multinationals, as well as "guanxi," or connections, with Asian business networks, will give the industrial-township projects a marketing advantage. Their progress is a litmus test of Singapore's ability to export its efficiency in industrial park development and management outside its borders. Yeoh et al. (2004) discuss the inaugural of Singapore industrial township project-the Batamindo Industrial Park (BIP) in Riau, Indonesia. The Singapore government, using the BIP model, has developed a manufacturing enclave in another ASEAN neighbour-the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP). Our paper hence examines VSIP to evaluate the Singapore model in this different setting. Based on evidence presented from on-site interviews and surveys, we conclude that, similar to BIP, progress in this privileged investment zone remains stymied by particular dependencies in the host environment and, 10 years on, the initial optimism with which this project was unveiled has not been justified. doi:10.1300/J098v08n03_05 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In efforts to temper the cultural impact of international advertising, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) governments have responded by regulating the cultural content of advertising. This paper examines the cultural regulation of advertising in three ASEAN nations, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. These nations offer interesting contrasts; while they share a certain geographic proximity, they differ in language, culture, religion, economic systems, and political ideology, and each has unique methods for protecting local cultures through the regulation of advertising. Although the ways in which advertising is regulated in Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore differ, the underlying issue that guides each of these governments is the belief that there is a set of local cultural values that can be expressed as a rhetoric of public culture, and as such, can act to bind a nation.

Digital transformation has been inevitable in all socio-economic fields, including higher education. Recently, under the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities have to change their entire teaching systems to online learning to ensure their students' learning is not interrupted. Thus, it is essential to study how universities' students, educators, and administrators perceive online learning in different countries. To this aim, this study investigates the factors affecting university members' preference for online learning in Singapore and Vietnam. Using a cross-country sample with a sound theoretical framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), we found that each member group in the university was influenced by a different weight of factors. Specifically, students' preference for online learning is most affected by their technical skills. Meanwhile, educators and administrators are influenced mainly by the perceived usefulness of online learning and practice conditions, respectively. We further conducted multi-group testing and confirmed the certain separation in online learning preferences of observed objects between the two countries. Overall, this paper enriches the literature on online education, and has important implications for educational policymakers and university stakeholders both during and after the pandemic.

Background: The rate of international migration for the primary purpose of employment has increased exponentially in recent decades. A significant proportion of this global movement takes place across East and Southeast Asia as workers move on a temporary basis from lower-middle-income home countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to high-income host destinations including Hong Kong and Singapore. Relatively little is known about the unique and long-term health needs of this heterogeneous group of people. This systematic review presents an analysis of recent research into the experiences and perceptions of health of temporary migrant workers in the East and Southeast Asian regions. Methods: Five electronic databases CINAHL Complete (via EbscoHost), EMBASE (including Medline), PsycINFO (via ProQuest), PubMed and Web of Science, were systematically searched for qualitative or mixed methods, peer-reviewed literature published in print or online between January 2010 and December 2020. Quality of the studies was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research published by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Findings from the included articles were extracted and synthesised using qualitative thematic analysis. Results: Eight articles were included in the review. Findings from this review indicate that multiple dimensions of workers' health is impacted by the processes of temporary migration. In addition, the research reviewed indicated that migrant workers used various strategies and mechanisms to attempt to address their health-related issues and to take better care of themselves. Such agentic practices could help them manage and maintain their health and wellbeing across physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions within the structural constraints of their employment. Conclusions: Limited published research has focused on the health perceptions and needs of temporary migrant workers in East and Southeast Asia. The studies included in this review focused on female migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines. These studies provide valuable insights but do not reflect the heterogeneity of migrants moving within these regions. The findings of this systematic review highlight that temporary migrant workers experience high and sustained levels of stress and are exposed to certain health risks which may compromise long-term health outcomes. These workers demonstrate knowledge and skills in managing their own health. This suggests that strength-based approaches to health promotion interventions may be effective in optimising their health over time. These findings are relevant to policy makers and non-government organisations supporting migrant workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the holistic picture of sustainability curricula in Asian higher education. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis was conducted based on Asian management education for sustainability in higher education. Online courses arrangement, teaching methods, instructors' educational background and cross-referencing data between triple bottom line and sustainability courses have been investigated. Findings: The paper provides empirical insights about the current state of sustainability education in Asia. The results show that there is an opportunity for interdisciplinary integration, as there are imbalanced sustainability courses offered by business, science and engineering schools. It also suggests that Asian universities should add an international connection and active promotion of sustainability education on their Web sites. Research limitations/implications: Findings are based on web-based sustainability-related courses. Future research could apply method of case study to do a deeper study. Practical implications: The paper provides an overview of Asian management education for sustainability and curricula analysis through our research, and that this will further assist in the development of interdisciplinary integration in Asian management education for sustainability. Originality/value: This paper is the first attempt to gain better understanding of sustainability-related courses offered in leading business/management colleges in Asia.

In the last decade in Southeast Asia there has been a trend towards new modes of political participation for citizens to provide feedback to government officials or to provide new methods for holding public officials to account. Regimes in Singapore and Vietnam have to differing degrees pioneered and embraced this direction through various such new administrative modes of political participation. But the paradox is that these modes of political participation have not replaced but complemented tight controls on political expression. It is argued here that these new modes work against independent collective political action through: the state defining what issues are available for participation; the state controlling who gets access to administrative institutions involving political participation; and the state shaping the form that this access takes. The end result is political rule by administrative means. Politics is not so much suppressed as transformed into a set of technocratic processes and ideologies intended to narrow the scope and nature of contestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: It is still unclear how Asian universities incorporate the theory or practice of sustainable development (SD) in their research and education programmes. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to report on a study that has examined how universities in Asian countries handle and address matters related to SD. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a bibliometric analysis and an online survey-method. The online survey data were analysed through descriptive analysis and one-sample student's "t"-test. Findings: The study indicates that there is considerable variation among the Asian countries regarding sustainability practices in higher education institutions (HEIs). The HEIs in far eastern countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are perceived to demonstrate more sustainability practices. Research limitations/implications: Even though a substantial number of participants participated in the survey, it did not cover all Asian countries. The online survey was carried out over a limited period of time, and not all HEIs in the field may have received information about the study. Practical implications: Asia is the largest continent facing a number of sustainability challenges. In this context, the contribution of HEIs is very important. The findings of the current study may serve as a baseline for Asian HEIs to take more initiatives towards SD goals, as HEIs are responsible for the education and training of hundreds of thousands of students who will be occupying key positions in industry, government or education in the coming years. Originality/value: The study contributes to the existing literature in two distinct ways. First, it was possible to develop a comprehensive instrument to measure sustainability practices in HEIs. Second, this study has filled the gap of the scarcity of studies regarding sustainability practices in HEIs in Asia.

This paper explores acculturative experiences and perceptions of Southeast Asian refugees residing in the Midwestern US through analysis of oral history narratives of Southeast Asian refugees representing the countries and/or cultures of Burma, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. Through this paper, I seek to add to the sparse research base on Southeast Asians residing in the US, to shed light on the experiences of young refugees' attempts to negotiate identities in the host society, and to inform educators and others who work with refugee populations.

Although it has been argued that current configurations of extractive industries provide opportunities for developing production linkages, in other words, that "one thing leads to another", these opportunities are not necessarily realised directly in the resource‐holding countries. This article aims to explain why the greater opportunities for creating increased production linkages may remain unrealised. While existing research on production linkages is characterised by a national scale mode of analysis, this article examines production linkages in the resource‐poor gateway city of Singapore that are intended to serve oil and gas operations at the macro‐regional level in Indonesia and Vietnam. The results reveal that a significant depth and breadth of production linkages have unfolded in Singapore, highlighting that in particular sophisticated production linkages tend to have a broader geographic scope. Moreover, the analysis identifies factors that have shifted the territorial scale of labour‐intensive and low‐technology production linkages from a macro‐regional towards a national or subnational level, to the advantage of the resource‐holding countries. These insights add some complexity to the study of production‐linkage development and emphasise the need for a multi‐scalar perspective that does not stop at national borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed at summarizing the existing health policies for stateless populations living in the 10 ASEAN countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. We followed scoping review method recommended by Arksey and O'Malley. Our inclusion criteria were based on three concepts: populations (stateless and undocumented people), issues (healthcare policies and regulations), and settings (10 ASEAN countries). Our findings suggest that none of the ASEAN countries have explicit healthcare policies for stateless people except Thailand. We also observed that ratification of international human rights treaties relating to the right to health does not necessarily translate into the provision of healthcare policies for stateless population. Although Thailand seems like the only country among 10 ASIAN countries having health policies for stateless populations in the country, the question remains whether having a policy would lead to a proper implementation by ensuring right to health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equivalent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) by Mahayana Buddhists with vegetarian diets is quantitatively evaluated. The Buddhists in seven Mahayana-dominated countries or regions, i.e., China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, are studied. Assessments of the vegetarian population among these Mahayana-dominated countries or regions are performed. Correlation formulas based on data from a national survey are developed to quantify the GHGEs of various dietary groups by using the meat consumption as the only required input. To demonstrate its reliability, the prediction from the formulas developed is first compared with the results of a food production-and-consumption study using a different approach. Then, the formulas are used to assess the GHGE reduction due to Mahayana Buddhists with vegetarian diets. The assessment indicates that Mahayana Buddhists with vegetarian diets account for the equivalent GHGE reduction of 48.83 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is a huge amount and is equal to 11.3 or 8.9% of the GHGEs from France or the UK in 2012, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of rapid economic growth, skills development systems have become increasingly important to countries in Southeast Asia in response to skills gaps generated by changing labour-market conditions. Countries in the region have no alternative but to invest in the development and maintenance of these systems. This paper asserts that in doing so they should recognise the importance of adopting a definition of skills that encompasses cognitive and soft skills as well as technical skills, they should regard as being essential to the development of effective labour market information systems, and they should adopt and institutional frameworks that are adequate to the task of managing complex and effective national skills development systems.

The Global Production Network (GPN) approach has not yet considered the importance of territorial intermediaries for strategic coupling. This article demonstrates how the prospects of strategic coupling for the case of Vietnam and Indonesia with the oil and gas GPN are affected by the gateway role of Singapore. Based on interviews, the analysis reveals how Singapore influences regional economic development along the GPN through different filtering mechanisms, limiting the potential for strategic coupling for Vietnam and Indonesia. For GPN research, the identified filtering mechanisms illustrate how the territoriality of GPNs contributes to differentiated territorial outcomes. The findings therefore indicate the need to intensify the appreciation of the particular territorial configuration of GPNs as this yields considerable explanatory power for understanding the unequal contours of the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise graduate work-readiness (GWR) and to develop a scale to measure it. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology entailed the compilation of a literature review and the conduct of qualitative interviews and a focus group to generate items. This study used the "resource-based view" approach to conceptualise a multi-dimensional--"work-readiness integrated competence model (WRICM)"--consisting of four main factors (namely, intellectual, personality, meta-skill and job-specific resources), with a further ten sub-dimensions. Further, a series of tests were performed to assess its reliability and validity. Findings: A final 53-item WRICM scale covering four dimensions and ten sub-dimensions of GWR was developed based on the perceptions of 362 HR professionals and managers from seven Asia-Pacific countries. The ten sub-dimensions covering 53 work-readiness skills reflect the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the work-readiness of graduates. The scale was found to be psychometrically sound for measuring GWR. Research limitations/implications: Though the WRICM model is based on the inputs of different stakeholders of GWR (employers, educators, policy makers and graduates), the development of the WRICM scale is based on the perspectives of industry/employers only. Practical implications: The WRICM model has implications for education, industry, professional associations, policy makers and for graduates. These stakeholders can adapt this scale in assessing the work-readiness of graduates in different streams of education. Originality/value: The authors believe that the WRICM model is the first multi-dimensional construct that is based on a sound theory and from the inputs from graduate work-readiness stakeholders from seven Asia-Pacific countries.

The purpose of this article is to explore the development of the knowledge base on middle leadership in schools. Since the seminal reviews conducted by Bennett a contemporary scan only of the scholarly literature on middle leaders/leadership in schools has not been undertaken. Consequently, this article looks at outputs relating to this topic by examining research papers indexed in the Web of Science and in SCOPUS between 2003 and 2017. The prime purpose of this review is to offer some reflections on the development of the empirical base on middle leadership in schools since 2003 and to highlight some of the implications for future research. The article concludes that middle leadership in schools remains an ongoing focus of research inquiry in a growing number of countries but suggests that the knowledge base would benefit from more sophisticated empirical studies and greater theoretical analysis.

This paper examines how one particular class of educational leader--international school Heads--relate to managerialism. Representing a novel site of new theorisation, the independence enjoyed by these leaders allows a 'purer' view of managerialism as experienced 'in here' (inside the subject), not just as a reaction to what is 'out there' (i.e. to policy). Through analysis of twenty-five face-to-face interviews, they were found to have relationships to managerialism that are not compliant or transgressive, educational or managerial, but hybridic. Some Heads relate to managerialism pragmatically; they reluctantly 'do' managerialism but avoid, segment and/or moderate managerial influences on their identities. Other Heads proactively use managerialism to discipline their staff and organisations; they draw power from managerial discourses; and they claim its values as their own. Seen through the lens of hybridity, educational identifications remain important, indeed they remain paramount, but for some subjects, they have been conjoined with complimentary managerial ones.

The article examines maritime defense cooperation between India and ASEAN member states through case studies of Singapore and Vietnam in regards to their perception of the Indian Navy's role in Southeast Asian regional security. It is argued that Singapore and Vietnam have different reactions to India's naval operations in the South China Sea due to their differing general geopolitical circumstances.

In the face of a rising China, some scholars have argued that ASEAN countries will choose to either bandwagon with or balance against China, while others believe they will respond with a more moderate policy known as ‘hedging’. In considering these options, ASEAN countries must take into account their individual interests within the economic and security structure of this region. In this research, we argue that each ASEAN country confronts divergent sets of security and economic relations with China, which play a major role in shaping their policy responses. We can characterize their responses into four quadrants. Each cell can be categorized in terms of a high or low degree of threat perception (HT or LT) from China, as well as a positive or negative economic expectation (PE or NE) with China. We thus hypothesize that ASEAN countries in the HT–NE situation will balance against China; those in the LT–PE situation will bandwagon with China; those in the HT–PE or LT–NE situations will hedge against China. Hypotheses are supported by three case studies, Vietnam–China (HT–NE), Cambodia–China (LT–PE) and Singapore–China (HT–PE) relations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two new atherinid fishes, Hypoatherina celebesensis and Hypoatherina macrophthalma, are described based on specimens collected from the tropical western Pacific. Both new species are closely similar to Hypoatherina ovalaua in general appearance and having the long and distally narrow premaxillary ascending process, but differ from the latter in lacking a tooth patch on palatines and having a longer head [27-31 % of standard length (SL) vs. 25-28 % SL]. Hypoatherina celebesensis can be distinguished from H. macrophthalma by having the midlateral band running downward anteriorly (vs. running straight), and a smaller upper jaw (9.3-11 % SL vs. 10-11 % SL) and eyes (9.6-11 % SL vs. 11-12 % SL). Hypoatherina celebesensis is known from Singapore, Indonesia (North Sulawesi and Timor), and Palau. Hypoatherina macrophthalma is known from Vietnam, Thailand (Gulf of Thailand), Papua New Guinea, and Micronesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective communication during a medical emergency is crucial for an appropriate emergency medical services (EMS) response. This exploratory qualitative study explored intentions to use 9-1-1 in a Chinese speaking community and the barriers and facilitators to accessing EMS. Focus groups with Chinese adults who self-reported limited English proficiency were conducted. An inductive iterative approach was used to categorize and connect themes identified in the discussions. Language difficulties, negative perceptions of EMS, perceived costs of using emergency services, and no previous experience with 9-1-1 were commonly described as barriers to calling EMS during emergencies. Positive past experiences with EMS and encountering an emergency situation perceived as too great to manage alone are common facilitators for calling 9-1-1. Further exploration is necessary to assess barriers to calling 9-1-1 unique to specific communities, test findings, and tailor interventions to improve EMS communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines Singapore's foreign relations in respect to the Vietnam War, focusing on the period 1965-1975. Singapore's leader Lee Kuan Yew, while strongly anti-Communist and a vocal supporter of the U.S. effort in Vietnam, also stressed that Singapore was a non-aligned nation and attempted to maintain good relations with Southeast Asian countries opposed to the war, notably Indonesia. While supporting the U.S. in public, Lee Kuan Yew was privately critical of U.S. decisions in the war's conduct and very skeptical of the possibility that South Vietnam could ever be a viable independent country.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has been the first severe contagious disease to emerge in the 21st century. The available epidemic curves for SARS show marked differences between the affected regions with respect to the total number of cases and epidemic duration, even for those regions in which outbreaks started almost simultaneously and similar control measures were implemented at the same time. The authors developed a likelihood-based estimation procedure that infers the temporal pattern of effective reproduction numbers from an observed epidemic curve. Precise estimates for the effective reproduction numbers were obtained by applying this estimation procedure to available data for SARS outbreaks that occurred in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, and Canada in 2003. The effective reproduction numbers revealed that epidemics in the various affected regions were characterized by markedly similar disease transmission potentials and similar levels of effectiveness of control measures. In controlling SARS outbreaks, timely alerts have been essential: Delaying the institution of control measures by 1 week would have nearly tripled the epidemic size and would have increased the expected epidemic duration by 4 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the Eastern cultural values of female entrepreneurs in Vietnam, their work-related values and the importance they place on certain work-related skills. Background information on Vietnam and Singapore; Factors that contributed to the desire of females to choose to become entrepreneurs; Cultural values in Eastern Vietnam.

This study examines generalized trust and trust in institutions in Confucian Asia, covering six countries namely, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, and one dependent region, Hong Kong. Using data from the 2006 AsiaBarometer Survey, our study affirms the reliability and validity of using a two-item scale to measure generalized trust. Our analysis suggests that due to demographic differences, there are variations in the level of generalized trust of countries in Confucian Asia, despite the fact that these societies share a similar background in Confucian philosophy. The relationships between generalized trust and political trust, and between generalized trust and trust in public institutions, are weak but positive. The positive relationship between generalized trust and trust in economic institutions is only significant for some of the economies, while trust in international institutions has the weakest relationship with generalized trust for all societies. We conclude the paper with research implications.

The paper reviews Asia-Pacific higher education and university research, focusing principally on the "Confucian" education nations Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong China, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam. Except for Vietnam, these systems exhibit a special developmental dynamism--still playing out everywhere except Japan--and have created a distinctive model of higher education more effective in some respects than systems in North America, the English-speaking world and Europe where the modern university was incubated. The Confucian Model rests on four interdependent elements: (1) strong nation-state shaping of structures, funding and priorities; (2) a tendency to universal tertiary participation, partly financed by growing levels of household funding of tuition, sustained by a private duty, grounded in Confucian values, to invest in education; (3) "one chance" national examinations that mediate social competition and university hierarchy and focus family commitments to education; (4) accelerated public investment in research and "world-class" universities. The Model has downsides for social equity in participation, and in the potential for state interference in executive autonomy and academic creativity. But together with economic growth amid low tax regimes, the Confucian Model enables these systems to move forward rapidly and simultaneously in relation to each and all of mass tertiary participation, university quality, and research quantity and quality.