In their best dresses and polo tees, about 40 children gathered at Ms Ristanti Ningrum’s house one hot and dusty weekday afternoon, eagerly waiting for “Ceria” to open. “Ceria” – which means happiness in Bahasa Indonesia – is a small library, the first in the East Java village of Desa Bader. It was set up […]

Enough and more have been said about Sachin Tendulkar’s extraordinary career and equally remarkable farewell at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium on Saturday. But as the reality that Sachin will no longer be a part of the Indian cricket team sinks in, one can’t help but marvel at how perfect an ending it was for the man

In an interview given on 2 October 2013 to the Turkish newspaper ‘Birgün’, Prof Prasenjit Duara, a distinguished historian of China, talks about current neoliberal transformations of the economic and political landscape of Asia. Firstly commenting on emerging cleavages in the Communist Party of China between the party’s left wing and those members of the

Professor Chua Beng Huat noted the move to mix all public housing types — one-room, three-room and above — so no ghetto developed had the unintended consequence of making inequality “invisible”.  This, he said, resulted in a “neglect” of the “idea of poverty” until recently, when the inequality problem grew more pronounced. By Elgin Toh

To what extent has Singapore’s society embrace multiculturalism? A recent survey reflecting Singaporeans attitude shows a conflicting picture. So, what are the fault lines and is racial integration achievable? Sg+ takes a critical look on multiculturalism in Singapore… Sg+ is a weekly current affairs programme that will examine complex long-term issues facing Singapore as we redefine

Wedding bells chimed the loudest in 2012, with a record number of 28,000 marriages. Cause to rejoice? What if those numbers only tell half the story? Find out how economically viable the proposition of marriage is and make ‘cents’ of marriage in It Figures. Channel NewsAsia, IT Figures Season 2, 11 September 2013

With elections around the corner and Narendra Modi being talked up as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate, it’s not surprising that “secularism” is once again doing the rounds at public rallies and talk shows. Not too long ago, Mr Modi blasted the Congress for hiding behind the “burqa” of secularism… The Asian Age,

Prof Kenneth Dean, Visiting Professor at the NUS Chinese Studies Department, and the Asia Research Institute at NUS gave a talk titled “The Story of the Stones” at the Wu Teh Yao Memorial Lecture 2013… Lianhe Zaobao, 25 August 2013, p11  

Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Dr Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt wrote about locking away awarded PhD theses instead of publishing them for public and academic knowledge as it only encourages mediocrity and enhances poor academic practices. Economic & Political Weekly, Vol – XLVIII No. 33, 17 August, 2013

Prof Kenneth Dean of the NUS Dept of Chinese Studies and the Asia Research Institute at NUS will present his research findings on Chinese epigraphic materials in Singapore and South East Asia at the Wu Teh Yao Memorial Lecture Series which will be held in conjunction with the 60th Anniversary of the NUS Dept of