MALAYSIA STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Seminar
UMNO today is very different from what it was before, and is not suited for the future. In the past, the party’s grassroot leaders were ordinary folks and Malay teachers who were very committed and call themselves ‘Orang UMNO’ (UMNO people) rather than ‘Ahli UMNO’ (UMNO members). Today, they are replaced by businessmen, staff of the Ministry of Rural Development and people looking for opportunities. Volunteerism in UMNO has declined while patronage or money politics, which emerged in 1980s, has deepened further. The 1MDB scandal shows how money politics has corrupted the party to the core. The scandal has badly hurt UMNO and the whole country in terms of leadership, corruption, freedom, rule of law and the economy. The original UMNO is ‘UMNO Berjuang’ (the fighting UMNO). Today, it is ‘UMNO Berwang’ (UMNO with money).
But, why is UMNO (and BN) still in power? Because of four major factors, i.e. unfair election system (e.g. malapportionment and gerrymandering), politics of race (plus religion), patronage and culture of fear. Can these four factors continue to help UMNO/BN win the 14th General Election (GE)? How have the various financial scandals and intra-party conflict in UMNO affected the young, middle class and urban Malays’ support? Will the Felda Global Ventures’ scandal erode UMNO’s staunch support from the Felda settlers? After denying UMNO/BN the two third majority in Parliament in the 12th General Election (GE) in 2008 and 13th GE in 2013, and UMNO/BN lost the popular vote in the 13th GE, can Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) win the 14th GE expected to be held in 2017?
About the Speaker
Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah is Chief Secretary of Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) – Malaysia’s biggest opposition coalition, and Director (Strategic and Social Development) of Institut Darul Ehsan. Previously, he was Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Member of Parliament for Temerloh and Member of UMNO Supreme Council. In October 2015, he left UMNO, mainly because of the 1MDB scandal, to join Keadilan.
He is a progressive politician who advocates the idea of New Politics, youth empowerment and social economy. When he was Deputy Minister of Higher Education, he re-launched the Speakers Corner and amended the University and University College Act to allow students to be actively involved in politics – both items banned since 1975; and was critical of the government’s suppressive ways on freedom, human rights and racism.
Before joining politics, Saifuddin was President of the Malaysian Youth Council, Member of the United Nations Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Youth Employment and a student activist. He has published seven books, including New Politics/Politik Baru (bi-lingual) (2008) and ASEAN Peoples’ Agenda (2015); and is columnist at Sinar Harian, The Edge Malaysia and Sin Chew Daily.
Registration
For registration, please fill in this form and email to iseasevents2@iseas.edu.sg by 27 February 2017.
REGIONAL STRATEGIC AND POLITICAL STUDIES PROGRAMME
Author:
Dr Leo Suryadinata
Visiting Senior Fellow, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Guest of Honour and Speaker:
PROFESSOR WANG GUNGWU
Chairman, ISEAS Board of Trustees; and
Chairman, Management Board, East Asian Institute
National University of Singapore
The Rise of China and the Chinese Overseas:
A Study of Beijing’s Changing Policy in Southeast Asia and Beyond
About the Book
With the rise of China and massive new migrations out of it, China has adjusted its policy towards the Chinese overseas in Southeast Asia and beyond. This book deals with Beijing‘s policy which has been a response to external events involving the Chinese overseas as well as internal needs of China. It appears that a rising China considers the Chinese overseas as a source of socio-political and economic capital and would extend its protection to them whenever this is not in conflict with its core national interest. The impacts on and the responses of the relevant countries, especially those in Southeast Asia, are examined.
Programme
9.30 am – 10.00 am Registration
Moderator: Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Deputy Director, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
10.00 am – 10.10 am Remarks by Author
Dr Leo Suryadinata, Visiting Senior Fellow, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
10.10 am – 11.00 am Speech by Guest of Honour and Speaker
Professor Wang Gungwu, Chairman, ISEAS Board of Trustees; and Chairman,
Management Board, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore
11.00 am – 11.30 am Questions and Answers
Registration
To register, please fill in this form and email it to iseasevents2@iseas.edu.sg by 1 March 2017.
MALAYSIA STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Seminar
The original scheme of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution was to provide for constitutional supremacy in Article 4(1). Islam was given an exalted position in Article 3(1) by declaring it to be the official religion of the Federation. However it was also provided in Article 3(4) that nothing in Article 3(1) derogates from any other provision of the Constitution. This meant that despite Islam’s special position, the shariah was not the litmus test of validity for any laws.
The Constitution divided powers over Islamic law between Federal and State authorities. The States were not given a monopoly over the whole field of Islamic law. The Constitution assigned legislative and administrative powers to the States on only some residual, enumerated areas of Islamic law, mostly of Islamic family law. Shariah courts exercised jurisdiction only in areas permitted by the supreme Constitution. However since the 80s the States are enacting legislation in areas which are outside their jurisdiction. The federal government is a silent spectator. The courts are reluctant to strike down unconstitutional laws by the States. A constitutional amendment bars civil courts from interfering in any matter within the jurisdiction of the shariah courts.
The Constitution expressly forbade the subjection of non-Muslims to the jurisdiction of shariah authorities. But in the milieu of increasing “Islamisation”, some shariah authorities are emboldened to break free of this limitation. The superior, civil courts are increasingly reluctant to review the actions of shariah authorities or the constitutionality of laws made in the name of Islam. The imposition of power by the ecclesiastical authorities of one religion over the adherents of another religion is tearing society apart. Conflicts between civil and shariah courts over jurisdictional issues is leaving helpless people with no remedies. Inter-communal relations are frayed.
A silent rewriting of the Constitution is taking place. Article 3 (on Islam) and List II of the 9th Schedule (on state powers over Islam) have overridden constitutional supremacy, the chapter on fundamental rights and the federal-state division of powers. We seem to be heading towards a “one country two systems” model.
On another plane, the country is also moving steadily towards more and more religious authoritarianism in the disguise of Islamisation. The imposition of a very conservative, rigid, literal interpretation of the shariah is having an adverse impact on Muslim intellectuals. There are attempts to impose thought-control. Muslims cannot have a discourse on Islam without the written authority of a tauliah. Muslims cannot criticise a fatwa, and if they do that is a criminal offence! Electoral democracy is being undermined because unelected religious bureaucrats are issuing binding fatwas having the force of law. The fatwas are backed by criminal sanctions against anyone who challenges them. The Arabisation and Salafisation of Malay society is in progress.
Malaysia’s system of constitutional supremacy, electoral democracy, rule of law and separation of powers is under stress. At the political level, moderation, accommodation and inter-communal cooperation are under siege.
About the Speaker
Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi is the holder of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Chair in law at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. He is an Emeritus Professor at Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam and an Adjunct Professor at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of New England, Australia. He has authored books in various fields including Media Law; Islam, Democracy and Development; and on Malaysia’s Federal Constitution. He is a columnist with Malaysia’s leading English daily, The Star.
Registration
To register, please fill in this form and email it to iseasevents2@iseas.edu.sg by 23 February 2017.
About the Seminar
The 2017 round of simultaneous direct local elections (Pilkada) taking place on 15 February in Indonesia bears great significance for national politics. At stake is not only the Jakarta governorship, but also the presidency in 2019, as President Joko Widodo has shown that whoever wins the Jakarta election may have a shot at the presidency. The evolving saga of the gubernatorial race in Jakarta, which has seen the incumbent Chinese Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama accused of blasphemy against Islam and embroiled in an on-going court case, demonstrates that religious and ethnic sensitivities cannot be ignored in Indonesian politics. At the same time, elections in Jakarta and other regions continue to reveal the importance of factors such as the role of political parties, the electability of candidates and money politics in Indonesian national politics.
This seminar aims to outline the nuances of these trends in the 2017 simultaneous Pilkada, drawing not only on the Jakarta case but also cases in East Java and West Kalimantan. Through such a comparative perspective, we will consider the issues that will remain prominent in national politics as the 2019 presidential and general elections approach.
About the Speakers
Hui Yew-Foong is an anthropologist and Senior Fellow with ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. His research interests include the Chinese minority in Indonesia, religion and politics in Southeast Asia, decentralization in post-Suharto Indonesia, and heritage politics. He had been a Visiting Fellow at Cornell University, the University of Hong Kong and Xiamen University. Besides Singapore, he has conducted multi-sited field research in Indonesia, East Malaysia, South China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He is the author of Strangers at Home: History and Subjectivity among the Chinese Communities of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, co-author of Different Under God: A Survey of Church-Going Protestants in Singapore and editor of Encountering Islam: The Politics of Religious Identities in Southeast Asia.
Ulla Fionna is Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. She studied at Airlangga University, the University of Warwick, and the University of Sydney. After receiving her PhD, she held post-doctoral positions and taught at the University of Sydney. She is the author of The Institutionalisation of Political Parties in Post-authoritarian Indonesia: From the Grass-roots Up (Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press, 2013), and editor of Watching the Indonesian Elections 2014 (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2015). Her latest article “The trap of pop-charisma for the institutionalization of Indonesia’s post-Suharto parties” was published in the Asian Journal of Political Science (2016). Her main research interests are Indonesian politics, political parties, electoral politics, and democratisation. Currently, she is observing the Indonesian middle-class Muslims and their political aspirations.
Charlotte Setijadi is Visiting Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. Her research interests include Chinese soft power in Southeast Asia, ethnic Chinese business networks, transnational migration, and identity politics in Indonesia. Charlotte completed her Ph.D. in Anthropology at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Prior to joining ISEAS, Charlotte was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University. Her most recent journal article ‘”A Beautiful Bridge: Chinese Indonesian Associations, Social Capital and Strategic Identification in a New Era of China-Indonesia Relations’ was published by the Journal of Contemporary China (2016).
Johanes Herlijanto is a Visiting Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. He earned his PhD in anthropology at Macquarie University, Sydney and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Johanes previously taught in the Department of International Relations, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, and in the Chinese studies program at the University of Indonesia, Depok. His publications include, “‘Search for Knowledge as Far as China!’ Indonesian Responses to the Rise of China”, in Chinese Encounters in Southeast Asia, How People, Money, and Ideas from China Are Changing A Region, Pal Nyiri and Danielle Tan (eds.) (Seattle: University of Washington Press Forthcoming). He also wrote an ISEAS Perspective “What Does Indonesia’s Pribumi Elite Think of Ethnic Chinese Today?”, and “Cultivating the Past, Imagining the Future: Enthusiasm for Zheng He in Contemporary Indonesia” in Zheng He and the Afro-Asian World, Chia Lin Sien & Sally K Church (eds.) (Singapore: Melaka Museums Corporation [PERZIM] and International Zheng He Society, 2012). He is currently working on the perception of China and the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, especially among the pribumi Indonesian political and economic elite
Registration
To register, please fill in this form and email it to iseasevents3@iseas.edu.sg by 16 February 2017.
THAILAND STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Seminar
After a Siamese king has died, and when his successor wants to honour him, the corpse will be embalmed and it may take more than a year before the remains will be cremated. A lengthy duration of time is needed to prepare for his festive “send off” from the world which includes a seven-day ritual involving thousands of participants, fireworks and popular entertainment, and the erection of a tall building representing the Buddhist cosmic mountain of Meru. The cremation will eventually take place in this recreation of Meru.
On the day of the cremation, an urn with the royal remains is placed on top of a massive four-wheeled catafalque and it will be transported slowly towards the Meru. Up till recently, the catafalque was preceded by more than seventy drays with depictions of mythological animals that lived at the foothills of Meru. Coins were scattered in the crowd and thousands of Buddhist monks received alms. Six such rituals are described in detail in the Royal Annals, and the height of the Meru––the tallest reaching a dizzying 120 metres––is mentioned in these accounts.
Various European accounts will also be referred to, the earliest dating from the mid-sixteenth century. Special attention will be given to a recently discovered scroll in the Dresden State Art Collections, which depicts the cremation of King Phetracha on 26 December 1704. It shows key elements of the ritual and adds to our knowledge of this extraordinary ceremony that involves a complex chain of events.
This talk will prepare us to what we may expect later in the year in Bangkok where the more than 500 year tradition is expected to be adhered to.
About the Speaker
Barend Jan Terwiel, born 1941, was educated in Utrecht and Canberra. He did fieldwork in Mainland Southeast Asia and Northeast India. He held senior positions in universities in Australia, Germany and The Netherlands. In 2006 he retired from the Chair of Thai and Lao Languages and Literatures in Hamburg University. He has written extensively on Thai history, on Buddhism, and on the Tai peoples. Best known are his books The Ram Khamhaeng Inscription: the Fake that didn’t come true (2010), Thailand’s Political History from the 13th century to recent times (2011), and Monks and Magic (2012). Most of his journal articles can be accessed on academia.edu.
Registration
To register, please fill in this form and email it to iseasevents2@iseas.edu.sg by 20 March 2017.
MALAYSIA STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Seminar
The Merdeka Center for Opinion Research recently conducted a survey in Sabah and Sarawak to assess public opinion on the performance of local leaders and of the state and federal governments, as well as potential election issues that concern them the most. These include the relationship between Putrajaya and Kuching/Kota Kinabalu as well as attitudes towards state autonomy, and question of Islamization and Islamic state. The choice of surveying voter sentiments in Sabah and Sarawak forms a critical component towards building a body of knowledge about the electorate there considering how the ruling Barisan Nasional has continuously relied upon voters’ there for support.
The relative weakness of the central government at Putrajaya has spurred political leadership in Sabah and Sarawak to push towards the devolution of power in their favour.
Interesting findings from the survey include: Sarawakians and Sabahans expressed mixed views about the direction the country is heading; Sarawakians were more satisfied with their state government and then chief minister, while Sabahans, on the other hand, held more split views on those institutions; most East Malaysians acknowledge that their respective states were better off being a part of Malaysia rather than without; a large majority of Sarawakians and Sabahans also report that they did not really understand the contents of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement or the 18 and 20 point terms set during the formation of the Malaysian Federation; and a plurality of East Malaysians held warm views towards Singapore although a sizable minority of one in five Sabahans held some negative feelings about the island state leaving the federation in 1965.
About the Speaker
Ibrahim Suffian is a co-founder and programs director of Merdeka Center for Opinion Research, a leading public opinion polling and political surveys organization in Malaysia. Besides undertaking research assignments, Ibrahim is actively involved in briefings for the diplomatic and the financial community about political developments in Malaysia. He presently manages Merdeka Center’s portfolio of clients ranging from political parties, government departments as well as local and international institutions of higher learning. Through Merdeka Center, Ibrahim has been involved in organizing surveys in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei, Singapore and Myanmar.
Prior to his role in Merdeka Center, Ibrahim worked as a project finance specialist in a Malaysian investment bank and a project manager in an international development agency.
Ibrahim received education from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and obtained an MBA from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. Ibrahim was a World Fellow at Yale University in 2011.
Registration
To register, please fill in this form and email it to iseasevents2@iseas.edu.sg by 7 February 2017.
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME
(Revised)
The book THE VEIL OF CIRCUMSTANCE published by ISEAS in November 2016 and authored by Jørgen Ørstrøm Møller analyzes the turmoil and seeks answers in an increasingly unpredictable world of problems and challenges
About the Seminar
How did we get into this mess? Discontent and frustrations fuel movements and rebellion against the global model. How do we get out of the mess? Why doesn’t globalisation work? What is the role of social networks? Which economic model will we see in the future? The author puts forward ideas of how to provide ANSWERS to the most challenging transition civilization has ever faced: From Societies to Humanity. How groups and values can help to make economics and politics work again.
About the Themes in the Book
“Many ills afflict the global political economy today. Conventional economic tools are losing their power to ensure steady economic growth. Competing nationalisms are creating a more dangerous world that threatens the current international economic and political order. This book gets to the heart of the issues that have brought the world to its current state. Mr Moeller is to be congratulated for producing an historically grounded analysis which suggests a different way forward for our unequal, resource-depleting world economy.”
– Pang Eng Fong, Professor (Practice), Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University
“This book, immensely rich in data and keen observations, dwells into the central challenges of our economic and political system – the erosion of trust, the declining coherence and the shrinking common space. The author’s attempt to sketch out what can be done to help us address these challenges brought about by globalization, digitalization and our disconnect with nature is well worth pondering about.”
– Yeo Lay Hwee, Director, European Union Centre in Singapore
“Our world is changing deeply at the moment, economically, technologically, and socially. Jørgen Ørstrøm Møller is an astute observer of the forces and mechanisms causing these changes. Well worth reading and pondering.”
– W. Brian Arthur, formerly Morrison Professor of Population Studies and Economics, Stanford University
“In his brilliantly illuminating book the author referenced the fundamental historical facts to trace the sources and triggers of a paradigmatic ongoing change in society, economy and world order. He did this with an immense knowledge, circumspection and interdependent understanding of the relevant forces and undertook a well-structured and documented research and analysis. We get valuable and important impetus as food for thought to a coming complex and gigantic change.”
– Alfred Scheidegger, Dr, Founder and CEO of Nextech Invest Ltd, formerly member of the board of directors, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich
“It has been more than 15 years ago when Joseph Stiglitz wrote, Globalisation and its Discontents with the message that there is evidence of much unhappiness in the way global reforms were taking place ,and how that have impacted developing and poor countries. Stiglitz concluded that the main issue is not with globalisation but rather the process of management was very much lacking. And now in Stiglitz, in his latest book, Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy’ had argued that this old message he had on globalisation is now affecting the advanced economies.
Professor Jørgen Ørstrøm Møller is never one to evade the complexity and subtleties of current affairs. He pursues the issues of the day with an intellectual curiosity, clarity of thought and completeness that is enriched with his vast experience in the Danish diplomatic service, policy-making and academia. In this book, he uses an interdisciplinary approach to discuss the intrinsics including globalisation that is shaping the world.
While Stiglitz’s point is about managing the needed change as in globalisation, Møller’s argument is to reinforce a better global governance , and a challenge of minds for world leaders and policy makers to create a new world where not only Science and Technology matters but also to some semblance of sanity where deep consciousness can take root, where inspiration , thought and creativity, strong bonds and cohesion in and across societies deepens, making cultural identities count , and above all when materialism fades.”
– Euston Quah, Professor, President, Economic Society of Singapore, Head of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
“An excellent and important book, wide-ranging (and comprehensive), drawing together many strands which we have already observed ourselves into a single coherent analysis with many original insights.”
– Stuart Larkin, Consulting Economist
About the Author
Jørgen Ørstrøm Møller is a seasoned diplomat having served as State-Secretary 1989-1997 in the Royal Danish Foreign Ministry and from 1997 to 2005 as Denmark’s ambassador in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Since 2005 with ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore Management University, and MFA Diplomatic Academy (Singapore) plus Copenhagen Business School and University of Copenhagen. He is a well-known futurist and author having published HOW ASIA CAN SHAPE THE WORLD (2010) and THE GLOBAL ECONOMY IN TRANSITION (2013). Since 1997 he has lived in Singapore.
About the Chairperson
Francis E. Hutchinson is a Senior Fellow and Co-ordinator of the Regional Economic Studies and Malaysia Studies Programme at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He is the Managing Editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, and is the author of Mirror Images in Different Frames? Johor, the Riau Islands, and Competition for Investment from Singapore (ISEAS, 2015), and co-editor of Asia and the Middle Income Trap (Routledge, 2016).
About the Panelists
Pang Eng Fong is Professor (Practice), Lee Kong Chian School of Business, (LKCSB), Singapore Management University. He has served as Dean, LKCSB and in Singapore’s diplomatic missions in Seoul, Brussels and London.
Yeo Lay Hwee is Director of the European Union Centre in Singapore since 2009. She is also Council Secretary and Senior Research Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), and Adjunct Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). Since 2011, she is Co-Editor in Chief of the Asia Europe Journal. An international relations expert, her research interests revolve around comparative regionalism, principles of multilateralism and governance networks. She has written extensively on issues pertaining to Asia-Europe relations in general, and in particular, the ASEM process and relations between the European Union and ASEAN.
Programme
14.45 pm Registration
15.00 pm Opening Remarks by the Chairperson (Francis E HUTCHINSON)
15.10 pm Introducing the themes in the book (Jørgen Ørstrøm Møller)
15.20 pm First Panellist (PANG Eng Fong)
15.40 pm Second Panellist (YEO Lay Hwee)
15.55 pm Questions & Answers Session
17.00 pm Refreshments
Registration
To register, please fill in this form and email it to iseasevents3@iseas.edu.sg by 13 January 2017.
SINGAPORE APEC STUDY CENTRE
About the Seminar
The APEC Leaders Meeting held in Lima, Peru, on November 20, 2016, discussed challenges that member economies are facing in terms of achieving a free and open trading environment, the Bogor Goals, the eventual realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and regional connectivity among other issues. Donald Trump’s surprise election victory in the United States on an anti-trade sentiment and his marked dislike for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement affirm the growing fears of rising protectionism and its detrimental effects on economic growth and regional economic integration.
How APEC member economies respond to these challenges and what role APEC has to play, as an organisation, will be of vital importance in the future. The worries over these challenges of economic growth and international trade are also reflected in the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council’s (PECC’s) annual survey of the Asia-Pacific region.
To discuss these and more, the seminar will answer the following: What are the key highlights of Peru’s chairmanship of APEC Meetings in 2016? How may APEC position itself as a relevant regional bloc and how will the eventual realization of FTAAP promote regional integration? How is the business community viewing such developments?
About the Speakers
Topic: APEC in Lima – Has Regional Trade and Investment got a Future?
Dr Alan Bollard is the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat based in Singapore, the body that promotes trade, investment and sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific. Dr Bollard advances APEC’s agenda by executing APEC’s work programmes as mandated by Leaders and Ministers.
Prior to joining APEC, Dr Bollard was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 2002 to 2012. From 1998 to 2002, Dr Bollard was the Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury. As the government’s principal economic adviser, he managed the Crown’s finances and helped guide economic policy. He has served as New Zealand’s Alternate Governor to the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Dr Bollard wrote a best-selling account of the GFC called “Crisis: One Central Bank Governor and the Global Financial Collapse”. He has also published a novel entitled ‘The Rough Mechanical’ and a biography of famous economist Bill Phillips in 2016. Dr Bollard has a PhD in Economics from the University of Auckland. He has since been awarded several honorary doctorate degrees. In 2012, he was honoured as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Topic: State of the Region 2016-2017
Mr Eduardo Pedrosa is the Secretary General of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and coordinator of its report on the State of the Region. Mr. Pedrosa first joined PECC as its Director (Policy Program) in 2001 where his responsibilities included the management and coordination of the Council’s research program. Before moving to Singapore, he was the coordinator of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s Southeast Asia cooperation program based in Manila and also the co-editor of its journal on regional economics and politics. He has also worked for the government of the Philippines and the Economist Intelligence Unit. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics.
He has authored a number of papers including “Towards an ASEAN Economic Community: Matching the Hardware with the Operating System” and “Implications of an Uncertain Global Economy on Integration Initiatives” and was the co-editor of “An APEC Trade Agenda: The Political Economy of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific”.
Topic: APEC: Back to the Future
Dr Malcolm Cook is a Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. From 2003 to 2010, he was the inaugural East Asia Program Director at the Lowy Institute in Sydney and then the inaugural Dean of the School of International Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide.
Before that, he was a lecturer at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. Malcolm has worked in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia and Singapore.
Topic: What Lies Ahead for Businesses in the New Trading Environment?
Ms Joanne Guo Wei Ling is Assistant Executive Director, Strategy & Development of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF). SBF is the apex business chamber here, that champions the interests of the Singapore business community in the areas of trade, investment and industrial relations. SBF is also the ABAC Singapore Secretariat. SBF represents more than 22,500 companies, as well as the key local and foreign business chambers, located here.
Ms Guo is involved in strategic and corporate planning, research, promoting the interests and engaging the large companies based in Singapore, and FTA and cross-border trade and investment advocacy issues. She heads the ABAC Singapore and B20 Singapore Secretariat. Ms Guo graduated with a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD where she specialised in and topped her class in strategy and finance.
Registration
To register, please fill in this form and email it to iseasevents3@iseas.edu.sg by 5 December 2016.
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Seminar
Production fragmentation has become a global trend in recent decades. Observers claim that participating in a global value chain (GVC) is crucial for a country’s economic development. However, local firms in developing countries still tend to find it difficult to participate in global production networks, and it is not clear how local workers can benefit from these networks. This seminar explores the mechanism of the GVC participation of firms from the perspective of firms’ management practices, using results from a survey of Vietnamese firms.
Presentation I:
Internationalization of Firms, Human Resource Management Practices, and Workers in Developing Countries: An Overview
Isao Kamata, Kobe University
The presentation provides an overview of the relationship between internationalization and productivity of firms in which human-resource management practices play an important role as a key determinant of firms’ productivity. The presentation also discusses some of the potential benefits from firms’ participation in GVCs that would accrue to local workers, especially in developing economies. Finally, It will lay out the background of the survey that we have been conducting.
Isao Kamata is an Associate Professor at Kobe University. His research covers a variety of topics in international trade such as firm heterogeneity in the comparative-advantage framework and labor in trade. He was previously researching and teaching as an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Wisconsin. He received PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor.
Presentation 2:
How Do Internationalized Firms Differ from Non-internationalized?: Evidence from Survey Results
Hitoshi Sato, IDE-JETRO
The presentation will discuss the role of management practices in the internationalization of domestic firms, based on the results of an original survey in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector. Special attention will be given to human resource management (HRM) practices, such as compensation, recruitment, and job training, to capture the effect of globalization on workers at the firm level. We find that internationalized firms tend to be more enthusiastic about the formal training of production workers, modernization of production and operation, and product and process innovation. Differences in skill and experience requirement for newly employed managers are less recognizable, but internationalized firms tend to have managers with overseas education.
Hitoshi Sato is a Senior Research Fellow at IDE-JETRO. His research field is international trade. Dr Sato’s recent research interest include the interaction between the internationalization of firms and labor markets. He recently worked with ILO on the labor market consequences of globalized East Asian economies. He received PhD in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Registration
To register, please fill in this form and email it to iseasevents3@iseas.edu.sg by 12 December 2016.
INDONESIA STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Seminar
In April this year, the then Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, Luhut Panjaitan, together with the Governor of the National Defence Institute (LEMHAMNAS), retired major-General Agus Wijoyo, organised a national symposium on the “1965 tragedy”. This followed several years of persistent advocacy by human rights and victims groups. It also followed promises of resolving” the “1965 tragedy”– though vague – made by Joko Widodo during his presidential campaign in 2014. The symposium went for two days and heard presentations from a range of parties, including former political prisoners and historians. The symposium is yet to make public its recommendations to the President.
In the wake of the symposium another symposium was organised by retired generals, with the presence of the Minister for Defence, Ryamizard Ryacudu. This symposium took a position hostile to any “reconciliation” process that conceded wrong doing by the Indonesian state or military. It advocated the launching of a movement to squash what it saw as a revival of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). At the same time, there was an escalation of actions by anti-communist groups, including some using the Islamic banner, to physically disrupt events around the country considered to be sympathetic to the PKI. This activity championed by former generals, Kivlan Zein and Kiki Syahnakri, has in turn elicited resistance and counter-polemics. Government spokesperson’s statements appear to be seeking a middle course.
This presentation will report on these events but also present an analysis that the emergence of a public national discussion on this issue challenges the limits imposed by post New Order “reformasi” democracy, and asks whether those limits are likely to collapse or be extended.
About the Speaker
Dr Max Lane is a Senior Visiting Fellow at ISEAS and has been an irregular guest lecturer at Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Yogyakarta State University. He is author of Unfinished Nation: Indonesia before and After Suharto (Verso, 2008), Catastrophe in Indonesia (Seagull, 2010) and Decentralization and Its Discontents: An Essay on Class, Political Agency and National Perspective in Indonesian Politics (ISEAS, 2014). He is also translator of Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s This Earth of Mankind and its sequels, Arok of Java and The Chinese in Indonesia, as well as of W.S. Rendra’s Struggle of the Naga Tribe. He has observed Indonesia as an officer of the Australian Embassy, a researcher at the Australian Parliament, a journalist as well as an academic.
He is currently writing a monograph length introduction to the politics of the Indonesian labour movement. His next publication will be Indonesia and Not: Poems and Otherwise (Djaman Baroe, Yogyakarta, forthcoming, 2016.)
Registration
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