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Banking supervision, Money laundering, Singapore, Terrorist financing, Private banking N-6 Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation Singapore MONEY LAUNDERING Monetary Authority of Singapore Issues Guidance Paper on Effective Anti-money Laundering and Combatting the Combatting the financing Financing of Terrorism Controls in Private Banking of terrrosim On 4 September 2020, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued MAS issues guidance paper on a guidance paper setting out its supervisory expectations of effective effective AML/CFT controls in anti-money laundering/combatting the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) private banking controls in the private banking industry, including illustrative examples taken from MAS' inspections of private banks (PBs) (guidance paper).1 The dI Banking supervision; Money guidance paper supplements the MAS Guidance on Private Banking Controls issued in 2014. laundering, Private banking, The guidance sets outthe following five key control areas for improvement: Singapore; Terrorist financing - corroborating customer's source of wealth and funds; - detecting and mitigating tax-related money laundering risks, - detecting and inquiring into commercial/third-party transactional flows, - exercising active senior management oversight, and - instituting sound performance management framework to foster strong risk culture. [Extracted from the article]

'Continuous meritocracy' was introduced in Singapore to redefine the concepts of talent and ability in Singapore society. This expanded meaning of meritocracy serves as another way to further support the SkillsFuture Singapore movement (Skillsfuture Singapore, 2023b), which was launched in 2016. 'Continuous meritocracy' complements Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) programs, which were to provide adult learners opportunities to integrate practical work experiences with academic learning. However, to fully operationalize WIL in the domain of adult learners, this paper points out that it is vital for the Singapore government and the different stakeholders to endorse the different forms of successes by making them more visible in the society. Utilizing Pierre Bourdieu's key theoretical concepts, this paper discusses the relationship between blue-collar adult learners' dispositions and WIL and proposes an ecosystemic approach that is based on work-integrated (adult) learning (WIAL) to transform the Singapore blue-collar workers' habitus with the aim to visualize 'continuous meritocracy' at the ground level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly 30 years after the end of apartheid in South Africa, the education system has yet to provide learners with an adequate school experience. With school closures during the pandemic, the urgency to provide a quality education in the townships became even more dire. In collaboration with the leadership of Charles Duna Primary School in Gqeberha, South Africa, Partnerships for Educational Excellence and Research (PEER) International reestablished a partnership to design a flexible implementation of methods and curricula to build numeracy repertoires. Professional development efforts leverage evidence-based best teaching and learning strategies included in the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction (Johnson et al., 2020). Weekly videoconferences target the development of basic computation skill acquisition and math problem solving skills. The dramatically different environment and available resources in township schools is a prevailing consideration in this transfer of instructional technology. Our project started early in 2022 and continues with optimism and determination. The purpose of this paper is to describe our constructional approach (Goldiamond, 1974/2002 Behavior and Social Issues, 11(2), 108-197) when invited to improve classroom conditions for teachers and learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and its issuance of a Response in 2015 to the feedback that the agency received from MAS' "Consultation Paper on Proposed Credit Bureau Regulatory Framework and Credit Bureau Bill." The efforts to strengthen oversight of the Credit Bureau (Singapore) Pte Ltd. and DP Credit Bureau Pte Ltd. businesses in Singapore are examined, along with Singapore's Banking Act and supervisory power over licensed credit bureaus.

In December 2020, Singapore made global headlines by being the first country to approve the commercial sale of lab grown meat. This approval was part of an effort by the city state to intensify the development of novel foods on the island. This paper describes this recent growth of novel food companies in Singapore. Singapore's novel food policies ostensibly aim to create food security for its citizens. We argue that the embrace of the technology that surrounds novel foods also aligns with Singapore's vision of building a "smart nation." Although food is not a digital technology, the approaches to novel foods being taken in Singapore share many parallels with the rollout of digital technology. These parallels can be seen in the domains of standardization, regulation, intellectual property, data-gathering, and training. We anticipate that these shifts in procurement, regulation, consumption of foods, may ultimately challenge traditional food pathways and Singapore's food identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of English Teaching & Learning is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There are growing expectations that tertiary education graduates will be ready for working life, that is, possessing the capacities to participate effectively in an occupational practice in a specific work situation. Yet, graduates are often unprepared to fulfil this expectation. In response, tertiary education increasingly includes workplace experiences (i.e., practicums, internships, & work placements). It is necessary to understand these experiences' efficacy and their optimisation to promote work-life readiness. Drawing on students' experiences of internships, this paper discusses what constitutes the value of internships in post-secondary diploma courses in Singapore. A quantitative analysis of interview data identified the contributions afforded through these experiences in workplaces -- students' intentional engagement, and their readiness for working life. Central here is how these contributions promote the development of the adaptability required for effective participation in contemporary working life. The analysis identifies challenges including students' adapting to new work environments, navigating workplace practices, and developing occupational capacities. Workplace supervisors' and host educational institutions' support suggests interns' adaptability can be enhanced by promoting the relations between the support they received, on the one hand, and their engagement with challenges during internships, on the other. These findings offer an understanding about the experiences and outcomes of interns' learning through workplaces and offer implications for supporting and augmenting transitions into working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cultural politics of data knowledge often under-examined in geography and data studies. • Digital data can be experienced as decontextualised and reductionist. • Engaging with food-tracking technologies involves negotiating different knowledges. • Negotiating epistemological tensions has spatio-temporal implications on health. • Findings seek to develop a more contextually situated theorisation of datafication. Engagements with personal digital data are growing in recent decades, as many digital technologies offer any interested user the opportunity to track their habits and practices. Yet, far from being objective and neutral conduits of knowledge, digital data is often politicised, invested with particular values, norms, and assumptions about human experiences. Digital health technologies, in particular, are often found to be coded through biomedical understandings of health and the individualism of Western ethics. Such politics of data knowledge inevitably has implications on the ways people in different socio-cultural contexts make sense of their health, bodies, and correspondingly, experience spaces of health through engagements with digital data. Drawing on diaries and diary-interviews with users of digital food-tracking devices in Singapore, this paper develops the idea of 'epistemological tensions' to theorise the socio-cultural differences in digital practices beyond the dominant focus on Anglo-American experiences. The findings suggest that people's engagements with digital health technologies can be experienced as 'glitchy' and fraught with epistemological tensions, as they constantly position their healthy eating practices between algorithmic advice offered by these technologies, and the socio-cultural norms of health and eating that they subscribe to. In negotiating such tensions, people are also found to express agency that has spatial and temporal implications on their health practices. In sum, this paper underscores the importance of critically situating , instead of simply scrutinising , everyday geographies of datafication. Doing so can yield more contextually nuanced insight into the potential and limits of digital technologies in mediating health geographies in different social and cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in the number of adults returning to complete their university education as 'non-traditional students' brings more attention to the challenges of a standard degree format. This paper examines the experiences of seven non-traditional students undergoing a cooperative education programme in Singapore, where students would alternate spending a few days in a week at a university while working full-time for the remaining days, in relation to the challenges and opportunities of the programme. Using qualitative thematic analysis, we discovered four themes greatly affected by the programme design – motivations for enrolling, transferability of knowledge, work–study balance and coping mechanisms. Overall, some obstacles hindering adults from continuing education were addressed by this cooperative education programme. The strong integration of work and study roles ensured that adults did not need to leave their job before starting university, reducing time and money-related pressures while increasing their commitment level to education. Additionally, rigid institutional practices were mitigated by the flexibility given by teaching faculty and work supervisors. We suggested several improvements to better suit the rising number of adults wanting to attain a degree. With the research results and recommendations proposed herein, this paper is useful to various universities willing to adopt cooperative education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Terminal illness, death and dying are universal human experiences, but discussing them can be challenging. This paper demonstrates the use of a therapeutic conversation guide, ‘STEPS Together’, which employs narrative practices to develop preferred identities in the face of hardships related to terminal illness. The paper also demonstrates the localisation of narrative practices so that they are culturally appropriate and resonant in Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Medical Imaging & Radiation Sciences is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated an unprecedented education crisis, causing severe disruption to global education systems. One consequence has been an increased demand for online educational platforms, leading to a shift from face-to-face to online teaching. This was the case in Singapore where online educational provisions were quickly adopted and implemented by institutions providing continuing education and training to adult learners. This paper reports on the data from a survey of 258 participants on the accessibility and effectiveness of the different modes of learning (i.e. online learning, face-to-face learning, and a combination of both) based on comparisons prior to and after the onset of COVID-19. The findings indicate that familiarity with online platforms enhances the potential efficacy of online provisions of continuing education and training, but also illuminate issues concerning the kinds of experiences required for effective continuing education and training, with implications for providers and educators in and beyond Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Northern volunteers and sending organisations dominate the international (development) volunteering (IDV) literature, a growing strand of research centres on Southern partner organisations and staff. Drawing from and extending this body of work, this paper examines the identities and subjectivities of Southern partners using the lens of cosmopolitanism, a concept commonly invoked to theorise volunteer IDV experiences but not those of partner organisations, staff and locals. Using cosmopolitanism allows a broader analysis of local/partner experiences beyond the space and time of IDV, and teases out connections between IDV and their global outlook, motivations and transnational outcomes. The paper threads partner cosmopolitanisms through three tempo-spatial segments typically used to analyse volunteer experiences: pre-IDV motivations, the IDV encounter and post-IDV futures. It draws on interviews conducted with Cambodian partner organisation staff and participants of skilled Singapore-Cambodia IDV. It shows how partners are pragmatic and adaptive, keen to engage with foreign knowledges and negotiate difference across cultures. Through IDV, grounded and strategic local cosmopolitanisms emerge. Partners remain deeply rooted and committed to their local communities while being embedded in and harnessing transnational knowledge networks for personal and professional benefit. Seeing partner organisations and staff as cosmopolitan de-centres cosmopolitanism from the domain of the volunteer and elite. It opens up a new vocabulary for articulating partner experiences, and situates their participation firmly in international volunteering networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares the case of Jamaica, which despite a two-decade-long journey, has experienced unsatisfactory progress in implementing e-Government, with that of Singapore, which has achieved considerable success, despite being small island-states of similar-sized populations with British colonial histories, with both nations gaining their independence around the same time in the mid-1960s. Qualitative data gathered from interviews and documentation from supply-side stakeholders were analyzed to better understand the drivers for, and barriers to, the successful implementation of e-Government initiatives. Based on the existing literature, a novel conceptual framework was used to guide the data collection and analysis process. This enabled the presence of previously identified drivers and barriers for e-Government initiatives to be assessed in the context of both countries. The study was also able to surface new and additional factors influencing e-Government implementation, which have not been previously identified within the e-Government research literature, namely Administration/Leadership, e-Readiness, and Communication. The research findings enabled practical and actionable recommendations to those leading e-Government initiatives in Jamaica to improve implementation by overcoming forces that hinder progress. The findings from this study are limited as the research draws on data from limited sources in just two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

- Since the formation of Malaysia, the Federation under the Tunku Abdul Rahman-Tun Razak leadership had to deal with the Malaysia-Indonesia confrontation and also issues in Singapore that were stirred up by Lee Kuan Yew. Continual provocation and pressure from Lee Kuan Yew on the Central Government subsequently led to the expulsion of Singapore from Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, one of the core leaders of the Federation, viewed Singapore as a ‘thorn in the flesh’ when it was part of Malaysia. Questions were raised about cause his negative views on Singapore. This paper unveils the events which led to the expulsion of Singapore from Malaysia (1963-1965), especially the roles of Tun Razak in resolving issues with Singapore when it was part of the Malaysia Federation. - Since the formation of Malaysia, the Federation under the Tunku Abdul Rahman-Tun Razak leadership had to deal with the Malaysia-Indonesia confrontation and also issues in Singapore that were stirred up by Lee Kuan Yew. Continual provocation and pressure from Lee Kuan Yew on the Central Government subsequently led to the expulsion of Singapore from Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, one of the core leaders of the Federation, viewed Singapore as a ‘thorn in the flesh’ when it was part of Malaysia. Questions were raised about cause his negative views on Singapore. This paper unveils the events which led to the expulsion of Singapore from Malaysia (1963-1965), especially the roles of Tun Razak in resolving issues with Singapore when it was part of the Malaysia Federation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probation has been in existence in Singapore for more than 70 years. Given its long existence and vested interest in community-based sentencing, this paper calls for an effective measurement of probation officers training and supervision of the offenders measured against recidivism. First the paper focuses on the genesis and evolution of probation coupled with a brief description of programs conducted by probation officers since its introduction till its present iteration, along with its merits. The emphasis lies in the shift from a supervisory program to one which proactively seeks to transform behaviour, hence reaffirming remodelling character of probation. Second, it is recommended that effectiveness of training, supervision of offenders by Probation Officers be measured against the rate of recidivism. To this end, it is proposed that effectiveness of probation can only be measured against recidivism given that probation targets criminogenic needs of offenders. An evaluation of data presented on recidivism suggests that while the recidivism rate is decreasing, it does not maximize the potential role of Probation Officers. Third, training along the lines of Strategic Training Initiative in Community Supervision (STICs) program can be considered to enhance lower recidivism rates. Lastly, it is recommended that Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) be conducted for evidence-based policy making in criminal justice system, since RCTs can be useful in assessing the efficacy of probation as a community-based sentencing tool, particularly whether the policy orientation of probation meets the goal of reducing crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Application of cool surface on street canyon reduces up to 30% sensible heat. • Combined effect of cool roof, wall and cool road can reduce canyon air temperature. • Cool Canyon provides improved thermal comfort to pedestrians in UTCI. • View factor with the cool surface plays an important role on pedestrian comfort. The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect has been a cause of concern on human-induced impacts to urban climate. Construction materials absorb incoming solar radiation, causing additional sensible heat release to the urban environment resulting in urban air temperature changes. It has been proposed that covering the built-up surfaces such as building roofs and walls as well as road pavements, with cool surfaces which reflect most of the incoming solar radiation, could reduce heat absorption by construction materials and the subsequent heat release to urban environment. This paper, reports an experimental study of cool coating in a full-scale site setting located in Singapore during the summer months of tropical climate. The experimental site consists of four parallel industrial buildings forming two similar side-by-side street canyons. One of the canyons ('Cool Canyon') was cool coated on the roofs, walls and the road pavement whereas the other canyons remained as it was ('Conventional Canyon') as control. Air temperature, surface temperature, sensible and latent heat fluxes in the two canyons were monitored for analysis of thermal exchanges between the build-up surfaces and the canyon micro-environment. The Cool Canyon had up to 30% reduction in sensible heat release from the built-up surfaces which resulted in the air temperature in Cool Canyon being cooler than that in the Conventional Canyon by up to 2°C around 16:00 h. An analysis of pedestrian thermal comfort in the two canyons was also conducted using Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). When compared to the Conventional Canyon, the Cool Canyon provides improved thermal comfort to pedestrians with up to 1.5°C reduction in UTCI. The paper also presents a critical analysis on thermal comfort due to the cool road in the middle of the street canyon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Družboslovne Razprave is the property of Druzboslovne Razprave and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• Propose a long-term resilience assessment method for urban transportation system. • Adopt a systems dynamics approach. • Singapore transportation system is used as a case study. • UTS resilience increases in the early stage and declines at the later stage. • Passenger safety awareness and emission factors are critical factors. Urban transportation systems (UTSs) face numerous long-term disturbances, such as climate change, technological innovation, and pandemics, highlighting the need for resilient construction and management. However, current research on this area remains insufficient. Consequently, this paper aims to establish a model for evaluating the long-term resilience of UTSs and identify strategic enhancement methods through simulation. Given the intricate interdependencies among diverse components within UTSs, a dynamic system model tailored for the long-term resilience assessment of UTSs is formulated. This model encompasses four dimensions: environment, infrastructure and equipment, economic, and organization. Within each dimension, critical vulnerability factors responsible for potential disruptions are identified, along with the corresponding reinforcing factors designed to mitigate such vulnerabilities. Leveraging the developed model and data from Singapore's UTS, evolutionary analysis, local sensitivity analysis, global sensitivity analysis using the Monte Carlo simulation, and strategy analysis were conducted. Findings reveal the resilience of Singapore's UTS displays an initial ascending trajectory followed by a subsequent decline, primarily attributed to the diminishing environment resilience. Furthermore, increasing passenger safety awareness and reducing emission factors are paramount factors to enhance UTSs' long-term resilience. A dynamic model for assessing the long-term resilience of UTSs is created and can be generalized to other cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Vjesnik Bibliotekara Hrvatske is the property of Croatian Library Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) have been widely used to help learners collect evidence of their learning, reflect on their evaluation, and promote self-directed learning. Through the introduction of an e-portfolio platform in a cluster of lessons in a module in a polytechnic in Singapore, this paper aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the e-portfolio through the learners' perceptions. A cross-sectional design using an online survey was employed with 226 students taking part in this study. There was high internal consistency among the survey items. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a 5-factor structure: (1) perceived usefulness (PU), (2) organisation (ORG), (3) collaboration (COL), (4) evaluation (EVA), and (5) perceived value of learning (PVL). In addition, confirmatory factor analysis verified that the proposed 5-factor solution was a good model fit. The final research instrument comprised 19 items. A further multiple regression analysis showed that all the independent variables, except for evaluation, were positive and significant predictors of learners' PVL. Specifically, the ORG variable was the most influential predictor of PVL. In comparison, the PU variable was a relatively weaker predictor of PVL. The practical implications and further direction for research are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Roboadvisors discipline investors to become passive financial subjects. • Roboadvisors' opaque algorithms create greater investor uncertainty. • Automated investing may hamper financial literacy and education. • State-led initiatives may encourage further financialization of consumers. The burgeoning financial technology scene in Singapore has seen the emergence of robo-advisors, which aim to disrupt traditional financial advisories by using algorithms to automate client advising and investment recommendations. Using an ecologies concept to explore how lay investors are articulated into global financial networks through robo advisors, this paper contributes to studies on the "financialization of everyday life". It argues that investors are rendered passive by the disciplinary tools of algorithms, contemporary finance theories and elements of robo-advisor platforms that feed into these sociotechnological assemblages. The state's role in embedding citizen investors in these human-machine relationships is considered. The fragmented landscape of free, nonprofessional online financial advice and the opaque qualities of investing algorithms make investor subject formation incomplete and uncertain, especially when markets are highly volatile. This paper explores how both financial inclusion and exclusion operate simultaneously in robo-advisors and argues that robo-advisors may weaken efforts to promote financial literacy and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a discussion of the knowledge, skills, and awareness involved in digital reading. Reading, in this paper, is used in the broader sense to include deriving meaning from media on a digital screen. This paper synthesises key ideas from existing studies and presents a taxonomy for the teaching of digital reading. The taxonomy includes the development of: 1) the knowledge of linear and deep reading strategies; 2) basic and critical information skills; and 3) a multimodal semiotic awareness. The goal of this paper is to unpack the specific knowledge and skills for digital reading which will support educators, including classroom teachers and librarians, on the aspects to pay attention to as students engage in digital reading. This paper argues that, in addition to equipping students with the knowledge of reading strategies and information skills, an awareness of how the various semiotic modes make meaning is fundamental to effective digital reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adapts a 'sense of place' framework to investigate varying preferences for the physical and cultural offerings of arts centres using a choice experiment. An on-site survey was conducted of local residents and tourists about the Esplanade-Theatres-on-the-Bay, Singapore's national performing arts centre. Results indicate that sustainability requires an 'inside out' strategy – arts content over supporting structures such as amenities and knowledge enhancing workshops should be pursued. However, there was a divergence in the arts appetite of locals and tourists. Computations show that enhancing aspects of the arts centre aligned to the tastes of locals provides a total worth of at least US$130 million which is 50% more than the nationwide worth generated by catering to tourists' tastes. Thus with respect to market development, developing the local market is a more sustainable strategy than targeting tourists alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case study of calculus instructional material (comprising of lecture notes and tutorial practice worksheets) designed by teachers from a Singapore pre-university is presented in this paper. As textbooks have not been available for mathematics at the pre-university levels, the instructional material was a product of the teachers' collaborative work based on their interpretation of the school mathematics curriculum. Through a study of the instructional material, the teachers' instructional goals and their alignment to the curriculum were examined. It was clear that the instructional material was more than a mere compilation of resources for the instruction; the teachers' effort was also in building the close connection within and across the concepts and sub-topics. The discrete parts of the content were organized under a "big idea" in the lecture notes. Anchor questions were used in the tutorial practice worksheets to facilitate students to recognize the similarity of the underlying structures of seemingly different questions. In addition to the teachers' articulated instructional goals such as covering all the key concepts, reducing students' cognitive load, or developing their algorithmic mastery, the study revealed the unarticulated goal as to raise the students' cognitive growth, which could be explained by the APOS cognitive growth model. In aligning to the school curriculum, it was observed that the teachers made judgement to tap on the advantage of the spiral curriculum to advance their students' understanding of calculus from the secondary level using a higher perspective, and to better their students' understanding of calculus concepts in addition to focusing on algorithmic mastery. The effort to engage their students in problem-solving and the use of technology to develop higher order thinking or enhance conceptual understanding remained implicit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food safety knowledge is created, validated, disseminated, and acted upon. It is conflicted, contextual, and contingent. The technology has a history, the knowledge has a history, and how everyday people interact with food safety ideas has a history. Taking three historical examples from Singapore – pure food advertising; anxiety about botulism; and the prohibition of saccharin – this paper suggests that food safety helps us reposition food and globalization. Singapore was, and still is, a step in a long supply chain of comestibles that pass into and through the port, in which the identity and location of the producers is obscured by distance, value adding, and the complexities of global trade. With its early engagement with globalization, Singapore also provides a counter to the view that it is only the contemporary iteration of globalization, with its long supply chains, technologies and the media coverage of these, which makes food both unsafe and feared in the twenty-first century. Drawing on Frederick Cooper's critique of globalization, this paper looks at the way that knowledge and anxieties about food safety in Singapore were informed by international media coverage to suggest that they were discursively globalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Filipino professionals craft themselves as skilled migrants through self-fashioning. • Mobile practices fashion the self as a skilled migrant in phases of im/mobility. • Filipino highly skilled migrants engaged with mobile practices to work in Singapore. • They curtail mobile practices in re-location to embed themselves in the city-state. • Mobile practices are re-activated in mapping new routes for re-migration or return. Recent geographical scholarship on skilled migration has developed a strand of research on the role of mobility in the constitution and production of the highly skilled migrant. In particular, scholars have forwarded the notion of geographical mobility as a form of capital to explain career development, employability and occupational mobility among skilled migrants and international students. While recognising capital-oriented approaches, this paper shifts the focus to how mobility is appropriated into practice in producing highly skilled and professional migrants across phases of movement and settlement. Through the lens of 'mobile practices,' the paper suggests that skilled migrants craft themselves into mobile professionals, through embodied practices that appropriate education, credentials and cosmopolitan attitudes and lifestyles, and the enactment of international geographical mobility across phases of re-location, settlement and re-migration. Drawing from interviews with 33 Filipino highly skilled migrants in Singapore, the paper shows how their aspirations drive their use of mobile practices to fulfil three aims. First, they engage in mobile practices to fashion themselves as skilled migrants qualified for the international labor market. Second, they disengage from mobile practices during their emplacement in the host country to produce themselves as skilled professionals that can adapt and settle in the local environment. Third, mobile practices are re-activated in mapping new routes for re-migration or return, shaped by aspirations of further mobility, family considerations and the life course. Overall, mobile practices as conceptual lens foregrounds how highly skilled migrants produce themselves as mobile professionals across shifts of mobility and immobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND While there has been extensive research on trends in marriage and singlehood, few studies have examined heterogeneity among never-married individuals in a low-fertility context. As a country that has experienced a steady decline in marriage and an accompanying rise in singlehood, Singapore presents a compelling context in which to study the singlehood phenomenon. OBJECTIVE This study aims to understand variations in the never-married population based on their family-related attitudes. It seeks to classify the never married into subgroups and examine how these groups relate in terms of their sociodemographic traits and marriage desires. METHODS Using data from the Perceptions of Singles on Marriage and Having Children study (N = 1,980), latent class analysis was performed to develop a typology of the never married. Latent class analysis applies a person-centered approach to identify heterogeneity between and homogeneity within subgroups based on associations among a set of observed indicators. RESULTS Four never-married subgroups were identified: family conservatives (37%), conflicted conservatives (24%), family progressives (22%), and family skeptics (17%). There were distinct characteristics among subgroups in terms of age, sex, and relationship status. A strong gradient in marriage desires was found across the never-married subgroups, implying that variations between subgroups are an important determinant of the desire to marry. CONCLUSIONS The paper highlights the importance of recognizing diversity among the never-married population as a first step to understanding the flight from marriage. CONTRIBUTION These findings have implications for societies with declining marriage and fertility rates, especially in contexts where marriage is closely linked to childbearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A comprehensive evaluation system for park recreational services is proposed. • Urban parks recreational services exhibit spatial clustering. • Community parks are crucial in promoting overall spatial equity of urban parks. • It is necessary to limit the size of regional parks in a compact city. • Recreational environment quality equity surpasses recreational opportunity equity. Spatial equity in urban park recreational services can significantly contribute to sustainable urban planning. However, there are shortcomings in research comparing the spatial equity of different categories of parks and urban parks overall from the perspective of recreational opportunities and recreational environment quality available to residents across various neighborhoods. In this paper, emphasizing park access within a 10-minute walk, we proposed an evaluation system at the neighborhood level for regional parks, community parks, and urban parks overall (regional and community parks combined) from this under-researched perspective. Taking Singapore as a case study, the feasibility of this evaluation system has been verified. We applied Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient, locational entropy, and spatial autocorrelation analysis to compare the differences of horizontal spatial equity and spatial distribution patterns of different categories of parks and urban parks overall from the perspective of recreational opportunities and recreational environment quality. Results showed that the horizontal spatial inequity of recreational opportunities is higher than that of recreational environment quality with respect to regional parks, community parks, and urban parks overall. Compared with regional parks, community parks have a greater effect on improving the horizontal spatial equity of recreational opportunities and recreational environment quality of urban parks overall. Park recreational opportunities and recreational environment quality available to residents in each neighborhood have significant spatial accumulation patterns. The evaluation system and its application enable a more comprehensive assessment of the spatial distribution of neighborhood-level park recreational opportunities and recreational environment quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a "more-than-representational" understanding of how heritage value is reproduced by cottage food businesses in Singapore. It advances the notion of haptic heritage to highlight the importance of touch and feel in inculcating food with a sense of heritage value. Haptic heritage is reproduced through the physical handling of ingredients in ways that contribute to more "authentic" products. However, it also foregrounds food production processes that are more tactile, time-consuming and thus unscalable than their automated counterparts. Accordingly, the reproduction of haptic heritage is becoming increasingly unviable in Singapore's competitive economic landscape. These ideas are explored through a supply-side analysis of interviews conducted with owners of cottage food businesses in Singapore. We highlight the importance of provenance in passing on haptic knowledges over multiple generations of business owners, the affective value and inefficiency of haptic knowledges, and the present-day politics of provenance. To conclude, we call for research to continue to explore the ways in which sensory forms of heritage are understood and (under)valued in the contemporary world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Singaporean female employers subject their Filipina domestic workers to strict rules governing their dress and behaviour, in the name of de-sexualising them and maintaining their status as invisible servants at the employers' beck and call. This paper suggests that the fashionable attire that Filipina domestic workers don for their day off is also a symbol of rebellion and a rejection of their employers' desires to render them plain and unattractive. In this sense, fashion is more than just a coping strategy: it is a way of expressing a sexual self, a beautiful and feminine self that is not allowed to be exhibited during workdays. Although these fashion makeovers only last less than 24 hours, in their leisure time Filipina domestic workers transgress the weekday restrictions of their employers while marking their own personal self-transformation as ultra-modern, independent women with consumer power and cosmopolitan tastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

East Asian countries are often characterized as productivist welfare states whose social policies are subordinated to economic growth. However, in the past decade, public pressure for welfare expansion (or welfarism) has built up across all East Asian countries - including China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. Therefore, this paper asks: How has pro-welfare civil society influenced welfare expansion in East Asia over the past decade? Addressing this research question will help fill the theoretical gap on the relationship between contemporary pro-welfare civil society activism and welfare state expansion in East Asian countries. I address this theoretical gap by devising the New Power Approach which argues that pro-welfare civil society is the main driver of welfare expansions when the incumbent government is conservative. By implication, the stronger the pro-welfare civil society in generating political impetus for reforms, the greater the extent of welfare expansion in the country with a conservative government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore rolled out TraceTogether; a contact-tracing mobile app that uses proximity sensing to track the movements of its population. TraceTogether was initially voluntary, and used solely for contact tracing. By December 2020, the system became mandatory. This sparked a mass adoption that made TraceTogether possibly the most successful application in Singapore's Smart Nation initiative. When it emerged in January 2021 that the data had been used by the police for criminal investigation, images of a totalitarianism sprang to mind, where technology permits the state an invasive awareness of the movement of individuals. In this paper, we defer from common arguments that Singaporeans are intrinsically trusting of the government or have been conditioned to accept 'Big Brother' modes of surveillance. Instead, we argue that the success of TraceTogether reflects a Singapore society that, through the rationalisation of surveillance, willingly participates in their own surveillance. In uncovering the genealogy of media discourse that surrounds TraceTogether, we highlight that it is the regular practice of voluntary surveillance, of subscribing oneself to the apparatuses of state control, rather than specific technologies, that characterises the Singapore surveillance state. We describe a matrix of reason, layered-on and normalised through media discourse, that exemplifies what Foucault has termed 'governmentality', which asserts a government's power of control not over, but within, citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rarely in the course of world history has the pace of socio-economic and political transformation been so fast as in the case of Singapore since the mid-1960s. In spite of its lack of natural resources, the tiny Asian state achieved an impressive economic development and a high living standard in a short period of time. The successful story of Singapore shows clearly why the Asian city-state needed to be smart in the sense of being strategically oriented towards building a welfare society with a pronounced technological footprint. Visionary and strong political leadership, economic pragmatism, developmental policies, technological sophistication, and exceptional living conditions are among the key features of Singapore. The aims of the paper are to present the concept of smart state and briefly analyse its implementation in Singapore. The methodological approach is based on a quantitative method and a case study. The paper shows that the appearance and development of smart state can be considered as the outcome of the spread of the knowledge society worldwide. Also, it briefly analyses the case of Singapore, a smart Asian state, and identifies some of his main features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, Asia has begun the race for economic supremacy at the global level. The so-called "Four Asian Tigers" are those countries which have continually experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the last half of century and comprise the high growth and income economies of Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. These East Asian countries were largely considered as economic models since their growth rates of real per capita gross domestic product in the period 1960-1995 reached around 6% per year. As economic growth represents the outcome of specific issues, the paper aims to identify and present the main factors that contributed to the meteoric growth of the Asian Tigers by focusing on the economies of three of them, namely Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea. The methodological approach was based on a quantitative method. The paper argues that important lessons related to economic growth could be drawn from the valuable experience of these countries. Also, it identifies and presents some of the most important factors, such as the developmental state and the rapid industrialization, that highly contributed to their impressive economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to think and write critically is a core outcome in higher education. Many universities provide writing programs for undergraduates to develop sound argumentation skills and build the foundation to engage in academic conversations. Still many students struggle with academic writing. This paper argues that teaching using instructional frameworks is not sufficient; learning will be more effective when situated within a community of practice. Drawing from the learning experiences of students who participated in a community-based activity in a freshmen academic writing class in Singapore, I share my insights on how reframing learning from a structure-driven approach to a community-based experience had enhanced learning dispositions and outcomes. Results show that when learners viewed academic writing as a socially situated practice, and not a task to be completed to fulfil academic requirements, the dispositions needed for critical thinking were honed to drive them towards writing with more criticality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the emphasis placed on agility in uncertain situations such as extreme events, no comparative data exist to look into the determinants that drive agility. For crisis response managers, the failure to develop agility threatens organizations’ survival amid uncertainties. This paper investigates the development of agility and explains the emergence of agility against the fight of influenza A/H1N1 pandemics in Singapore and Taiwan in 2009. This paper further provides empirically grounded evidence to identify prerequisites for agility development in response to public health crises in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Provides an empirical contribution to the literature on sustainability transitions in food systems. • Contributes to geographical reach of transition theories such as strategic niche management and multiple level perspective. • Acknowledges the role of socio-political specificities in shaping transition processes in Singapore. • Gives visibility to shared food growing experiments in Singapore. • Encourages reflection on niche-regime interaction in non-Western liberal democracies. Abstract Following a series of global food crises and an increasing dependence on food imports, the Singaporean government has begun to support local food production as a means to improve the sustainability of its food regime. This extends to the development of state-led ventures which support shared food growing in the city. In parallel, informal citizens' groups are experimenting with collaborative forms of food provisioning. Both types of initiatives utilise Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to facilitate their practices of shared growing and seek to reorient the current food regime onto a more sustainable pathway. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted with two initiatives representative of both organisational positions, this paper critically examines the efficacy of using a transitions thinking approach to assess their actual and potential contribution to the disruption of the food regime in Singapore. The paper first reviews existing approaches to transitions thinking in order to distil insights for examining shared food growing initiatives in Singapore as niche projects. The broader socio-cultural and political context of Singapore's food system and the food growing niche projects which are emerging within it are then delineated, followed by a strategic niche management (SNM) analysis of the two initiatives. Ultimately, the paper makes two linked contributions: firstly, it diversifies the empirical foundations and the sectoral and geographical reach of sustainability transitions research. Secondly, it provides space for critical reflection on transitions thinking when applied beyond the Western liberal democratic settings from which it emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Singapore state changed its strategic role in engaging with foreign universities. • Singapore moved from importing global knowledge to fostering local skill formation. • More recently set up offshore campuses are more embedded in local skill formation. • Offshore campuses with high levels of embeddedness serve specifically local functions. With operating offshore campuses, universities perform key education and training functions in regional economies worldwide. Few studies have acknowledged universities' expanded role in knowledge and skill formation as both local providers and transnational managers of education and training. Not enough is known about the embedding of transnational universities in local skill formation and varying levels of embeddedness, as well as about the role of hosting states therein and consequences for local economies. This paper addresses this gap in the context of the city-state of Singapore, exploring how skill development at foreign universities has been locally embedded, and why this embeddedness of offshore campuses in local skill formation has changed over time. Empirical evidence is drawn from semi-structured interviews with managers of foreign university subsidiaries. It is found that the Singapore state has changed its role in engaging with foreign universities, from a first phase of importing 'global' knowledge in teaching and training to a second phase of strengthening 'local' knowledge and skill formation. With being distinctively more embedded than older offshore campuses, recently established subsidiaries perform specifically 'local' functions in Singapore's progressing knowledge-based transformation project. The paper provides better understanding of varying/changing levels of offshore campus embeddedness and the interconnections between changing roles of the state, integration of foreign universities and regional development. A further contribution lies in presenting a conceptualisation of offshore campuses with high levels of embeddedness, helping shed light on the dynamics in local skill formation and in foreign actors' functions for the regional economy more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By examining comparatively two recent projects of university-led large-scale real estate development in South Korea and Singapore, this paper contributes to the ongoing efforts to problematise the methodological statism in the study of East Asian urbanisation, i.e., understanding it as a process dominated by state actors, on the one hand, and to challenge the perspective that university-led real estate projects are a neoliberal strategy as conventionally understood in the West on the other. To this end, this paper uses qualitative research methods to investigate how and why East Asian universities participate in real estate development projects; how the universities pursue their material goals by negotiating with the state, which is known to have led condensed urbanisation and industrialisation in East Asia (Global East). This paper concludes that speculative real estate development activities of East Asian universities are variegated based on their developmental legacies and need to be understood as more nuanced processes. The case studies demonstrate that East Asian universities have worked beyond their social roles by directly participating in the urban process, pursuing the accumulation of real estate assets that would eventually undermine their public role as educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Generic mental health staff often have contact with people with intellectual disabilities when they access mainstream mental health services. To date, there has not been any research conducted in non-western countries to explore their views. This paper investigates the views and experiences of mainstream mental health professionals regarding the mental health services for people with intellectual disabilities in Singapore. Methods: Eight staff members from generic mental health services were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to identify main themes. Findings: The main themes are related to their work experiences, perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities, ideal staff characteristics and service recommendations. Conclusions: Participants identified a lack of experience and knowledge when working with this population. They highlighted the challenges they face promoting choice and autonomy for people with intellectual disabilities. The discussion includes recommendations for improving staff knowledge through training opportunities, consideration of non-pharmacological approaches and early collaboration with caregivers during the treatment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores some of the ways in which "care" is being transformed in response to the mediatory role of digital technologies. Digital mediation has caused care to become an increasingly cross-border practice, and a more expansive construct, that destabilises the assumption of presence ("here") and absence ("there"). Indeed, as the physical and digital merge into one integrated way of being in the world, they enable connectivity across geographical distance, but so too can they create emotional distance within situations of geographical proximity. These outcomes reflect the "digital void" within which caregivers, and society more generally, are implicated. Digital voids are created when individuals immerse themselves within, and become responsive to, digital networks of connectivity, distraction and representation that can implicate the beneficiaries of care, their family and friends, and themselves as well. We illustrate these ideas through an empirical analysis of Singaporean voluntourists, who are shown to actively reproduce digital voids when engaged in volunteer projects overseas. Specifically, we explore the space-times of the digital void, the representations of "care" in a digital world, and how (dis)connectivity can foreground the (un)doing of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Interactions between non-migrants and migrants inflect their ageing experiences. • The spatial attributes of shared spaces can deter or foster intercultural relations. • Micro-publics reveal whether meaningful co-presence exists in shared space. • Ageing-in-place needs to be analysed alongside ageing-across-borders. • Qualitative GIS methods provide a fuller perspective of older adults' life-worlds. While there has been considerable academic interest in the topics of encounters and conviviality, including within the migration literature, little is known about how non-migrant and migrant older adults interact with one another in shared spaces, forming micro-publics that inflect the experiences of ageing for both groups. Using Qualitative Geographic Information Science (qualitative GIS), this paper identifies three types of spaces shared by non-migrant and migrant older adults from Singapore and the People's Republic of China respectively. The first type of shared space is characterised by asynchronicity in that, despite co-located activities, intercultural interactions are less likely to be fostered between non-migrants and migrants. The second type of shared space features informal, spontaneous encounters that develop into more regular forms of interaction with 'otherness', but active negotiation of social difference could be limited. The third type of shared space is marked by formal, organised activities where non-migrants and migrants work towards a common goal, prompting productive negotiations with difference. Through juxtaposing these three types of shared spaces, we argue for the importance of drawing out how spatial attributes can deter or foster varying degrees of negotiations with difference, while acknowledging that the fluidity of such processes depend on the users and social contexts too. We also suggest that notions of ageing-in-place need to be analysed alongside ageing-across-borders, giving attention to how migration impacts ageing in later life—both for migrants who are adapting to life abroad temporarily as well as non-migrants who may experience "transnationalism by proxy". (247 words; max 250 words) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]