ISEAS at 50
ISEAS at 50

Author: Lee Hsien Loong

Publisher: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute

Published: 2018-12-06

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13: 9814818992

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2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, as it was then called, was established in 1968 by then Deputy Prime Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee in order to enable the newly independent city-state better understand the region and its complexities. Since its establishment, ISEAS has dedicated itself to researching the political, economic and socio-cultural dynamics and trends in Southeast Asia for policymakers, scholars, and other relevant stakeholders. On 12 August 2015, the Institute was officially renamed ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, in honour of Singapore’s first President. This book presents three public lectures given to commemorate the Institute’s Golden Anniversary. Professor Leonard Y. Andaya delivered the first lecture entitled “Developments in the Scholarship of Southeast Asian Studies” on 21 February 2018. The second public lecture was delivered by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 13 March 2018. Professor Wang Gungwu delivered the final public lecture entitled “Before Southeast Asia: Passages and Terrains” on 3 October 2018. Collectively, these three public lectures exhort ISEAS to continuously reflect on its research agenda, the region, as well as the contemporary landscape and challenges it has to operate in.

Wang Gungwu
Wang Gungwu

Author: Gungwu Wang

Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9814311537

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This book of interviews with Professor Wang Gungwu, published to felicitate him on his 80th birthday in 2010, seeks to convey to a general audience something of the life, times and thoughts of a leading historian, Southeast Asianist, Sinologist and public intellectual. The interviews flesh out Professor Wangs views on being Chinese in Malaya; his experience of living and working in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia; the Vietnam War; Hong Kong and its return to China; the rise of China; Taiwans, Japans and Indias place in the emerging scheme of things; and on the United States in an age of terrorism and war. The book includes an interview with his wife, Mrs Margaret Wang, on their life together for half a century. Two interviews by scholars on Professor Wangs work are also included, as are his curriculum vitae and a select bibliography of his works. What comes across in this book is how Professor Wang was buffeted by feral times and hostile worlds but responded to them as a left-liberal humanist who refused to cut ideological corners. This book records his response to tumultuous times on hindsight, but with a keen sense of having lived through the times of which he speaks.

Singapore Women's Charter
Singapore Women's Charter

Author: Theresa W. Devasahayam

Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 9814345016

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The chapters in this book are an assembly of commentaries by a distinguished team of specialists on the social impact of the Singapore Women's Charter on women and men. The Women's Charter is the main legislation protecting women's rights in the context of the family in Singapore. Highlights of this book include the reasons for the significance of legislation to protect women's rights in marriage; how the legislation came about; case studies from Southeast Asia; how the Singapore Women's Charter evolved and became established; how the Charter goes beyond protecting women's rights by reinforcing men's and women's obligations and duties in a marital partnership; how the Charter has come to be perceived by men and women especially in its enforcement in the context of divorce; and the social repercussions of the Charter on the family in its application. There has been ongoing discussion on the implications of the Charter on the lives of Singaporean women and men for some years since its implementation. The purpose of this book is to enrich our understanding of this legislation further - its objectives, efficacy and shortfalls.

Troubled Transit
Troubled Transit

Author: Antje Missbach

Publisher: ISEAS - YUSOF ISHAK INSTITUTE

Published: 2015-09-11

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 9814620564

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Troubled Transit considers the situation of asylum seekers stuck in limbo in Indonesia from a number of perspectives. It presents not only the narratives of many transit migrants but also the perceptions of Indonesian authorities and of representatives of international and non-government organizations responsible for the care of transiting asylum seekers. Fascinated by the extraordinary and seemingly limitless resilience shown by asylum seekers during their often lengthy and dangerous journeys, the author highlights one particular fragment of their journeys — their time in Indonesia, which many expect to be the last stepping stone to a new life. While they long for their new life to unfold, most asylum seekers become embroiled in the complexities of living in transit. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is more than a location where people spend time waiting; it is a nation state that interacts with transiting asylum seekers and formulates policies that have a profound impact on their experience in transit there. Troubled Transit tries to explain the complexities faced by the transiting migrants within the context of the Indonesian government and its political challenges, including its relationship with Australia. The Australia-centric view of recent asylum seeker issues has tended to ignore the larger socio-political context of the migratory routes and the perspectives of transit states towards asylum seekers stuck in transit. This book hopes to direct the Australia-centric gaze northwards to take Indonesian policies and policymaking into account, thereby giving Indonesia more relevance as a transit country and as an important partner in regional protection schemes and migration management. Even though some Indonesian policies and practices are less than favourable for asylum seekers, and even reprehensible from a human rights perspective, more attention must be paid to ongoing developments that impact on transiting asylum seekers in Indonesia if any of the hardships they suffer there are to be alleviated.

The Rise of China and the Chinese Overseas
The Rise of China and the Chinese Overseas

Author: Leo Suryadinata

Publisher: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute

Published: 2017-01-25

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9814762644

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With the rise of China and massive new migrations, 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 the external events involving the Chinese overseas as well as the 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 also examined

The Road to Ratification and Implementation of the ASEAN Charter
The Road to Ratification and Implementation of the ASEAN Charter

Author: Pavin Chachavalpongpun

Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 83

ISBN-13: 9812308989

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Expert Roundtable Discussion on the "Road to Ratification and Implication of ASEAN Charter" organized by the ASEAN Studies Centre, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, and the Habibie Center, Indonesia, on 17 July 2008 in Jakarta.

Myanmar
Myanmar

Author: Kyaw Yin Hlaing

Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9789812303004

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After reviewing the historical forces and human agencies which have shaped contemporary Myanmar, this book addresses healthcare and public policy provision, with suggestions as to what potential roles the international community might have in assisting Myanmar's future socioeconomic development.

Malaysia's Foreign Policy
Malaysia's Foreign Policy

Author: Johan Saravanamuttu

Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 981427979X

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This book captures Malaysia's foreign policy over the first fifty years and beyond since the date of the country's formal independence in 1957. The author provides "macro-historical" narratives of foreign policy practices and outcomes over distinct time periods under the tenures of the five prime ministers. One chapter delves into relations with immediate neighbouring states and another chapter analyses the political economy of foreign policy. A postscript deals with the transition of foreign policy beyond the fifth decade. The concluding chapter suggests that Malaysian middlepowermanship has been in the making in foreign policy practice being particularly evident since the Mahathir years. Employing a critical-constructivist approach throughout the study, the author posits that foreign policy should be appreciated as outcomes of socio-political-economic processes embedded within a Malaysian political culture. In terms of broad policy orientations, Malaysian foreign policy over five decades has navigated over the terrains of neutralism, regionalism, globalization and Islamism. However, the critical engagement of civil society in foreign policy construction remains a formidable challenge.