A Touch of Zen is one of the first Chinese-language films to gain recognition in an international film festival (the Grand Prix at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival), creating the generic mould for the “crossover” success of Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in 2000. The film has achieved a cult status over the years but …
In November 2005, the Myanmar government announced its decision to relocate the national capital from Yangon to a place near Pyinmana; the place was later named Naypyitaw. This decision reveals several aspects of the Myanmar government’s security thinking. Concern for information security, defence-in-depth against possible foreign invasion, desire to get rid of the colonial past, …
The 8-10 million Bataks of northern Sumatra are one of Indonesia’s most important and intriguing groups. They have been in Sumatra for thousands of years, and in recent centuries have attracted anthropologists and students of religion and missiology. Yet in common with most of Southeast Asia’s highland groups, they remain a people without history. The …
Combining both personal and academic insights into the Malaysian women’s movement, this study provides an in-depth account of the multiple struggles of the Malaysian women’s movement, from securing gender equality in a patriarchal society to achieving unity among members of a multi-ethnic society that are further divided along class and religious lines. Most historical versions …
Feminism and the Women’s Movement in Malaysia: An unsung (R)evolution Read More »
One of two companion volumes, the collection offers rich historical insights into different dimensions of economic developments as they affect globalization. The essays trace factors that have been responsible for the growing inequalities between the North and the South – exploitative colonialism as well as trade, capital, and labour flows – during the ‘long twentieth …
Globalization Under Hegemony: The Changing World Economy Read More »
Orang Asli women once had important responsibilities and functions that are now labeled “male-only”. This discrimination spread throughout Orang Asli society during the last few centuries as Orang Asli came into contact with male-dominated cultures and internalized these alien norms for gender roles. It is the stealthy, relentless erosion of Orang Asli life in general, …
Orang Asli Women of Malaysia: Perceptions, Situations & Aspirations Read More »
Initially stimulated by a scholarly workshop convened in Singapore in late 2004, and written over the subsequent 18 months, this volume considers the potentially lethal pattern of infectious disease emergence in Asia. It studies linkages to changes in patterns of human activity, including but not limited to shifts in the distribution and concentration of human …
Population Dynamics and Infectious Disease in Asia Read More »
Like many other “late industrializing” countries, Singapore faces a downward trend in marriage and fertility rates that have come to be seen as urgent national problems. The Singapore state has made numerous attempts to shape Singaporeans’ behaviour—using housing policies, tax incentives, and various campaigns to entice them to marry and have children. Combining data on …
WPS 77 Producing Singaporeans: Family Policies and their “Latent” Effects Read More »
The recent history of healthcare privatisation and corporatisation in Malaysia, an upper middle-income developing country, highlights the complicit role of the state in the rise of corporate healthcare. Following upon the country’s privatisation policy in the 1980s, private capital made significant inroads into the healthcare provider sector. This paper explores the various ownership interests in …
WPS 76 The Emergence of a Transnational Healthcare Service Industry in Malaysia Read More »
