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Against the background of rapid technological change and globalisation, worker upskilling and reskilling is an important plank of Singapore's manpower policy. It serves not only Singapore's economic interests, but its social imperatives too, as the country strives to forge an inclusive society. However, Singapore's non-professionals, managers, executives and technicians (non-PMETs) workers—who are at greatest risk of job redundancies—lag behind their PMET peers in training participation. This paper analyses existing policy measures to encourage skills upgrading among non-PMETs, before examining the case studies of Denmark and Norway. The paper then delves into five recommendations to make training accessible to as many non-PMETs as possible, and encourage higher training participation among them. The recommendations underline the need for a holistic and customised approach to create a more conducive policy environment for non-PMET training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The link between globalization and the spread of English is well established in the literature, resulting in the emergence and burgeoning of studies on the pluralization and localization of English. However, Englishes are also valued unequally and, thus, impact the lives and identities of their speakers differently as well. This paper aims to discuss the politics of Unequal Englishes by mapping out the specific ways inequalities of Englishes are realized in classrooms in Singapore. This requires mapping out accurately both the dynamics of locally produced but globally shaped teaching of English, as well as concrete instantiations of culturally responsive pedagogies which aim to make learning and teaching more nondiscriminatory and equitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of exchange-rate movements on inflation in eight Asian countries. Results from an open-economy Phillips curve are; first, the Markov-switching open-economy model confirm that the two-state Phillips curve outperforms alternative models to study inflation dynamics. There is considerable heterogeneity in the pass-through estimates for Asian countries, with Singapore exhibiting the lowest exchange rate pass-through (ERPT). Regime-dependent pass-through estimates are sensitive to average inflation and it should be factored in when forecasting inflation rates. Second, the extent of pass-through is considerably lower and far from complete in a low-inflation regime, endorsing Taylor hypothesis. Third, in the majority of the countries, we find support for global disinflation in domestic inflation that has strengthened over time. The main takeaway is that globalization matters for Asian inflation dynamics. [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]

Compared to ayurveda, siddha medical practice and use outside India has hardly been investigated. Based on an ethnography of siddha and ayurveda clinics conducted in 2019 in Singapore, and secondarily, in southern Malaysia, this paper analyzes the development of these medicines in terms of adaptations, transformations, and the strategies or avoidance necessary to respond to clients/patients' demands and to fit in with the regulations for traditional medicines. Whereas siddha medicine is well established in Malaysia, it is hardly discernible in Singapore, represented by only two clinics: a long-standing one reflecting the tradition, and a recent one, illustrating the process of modernization impelled by the institutionalization of medical knowledge. The practice of ayurveda, by contrast, has seen a significant expansion since the beginning of the twenty-first century in these two countries, a dynamism impelled by its reputation abroad which has been spurring Indian practitioners to migrate and popularize it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization and financial liberalization have made market participants and policymakers ponder over the importance of financial interconnectedness and shock spillovers. This discussion is in line with the International Portfolio Theory & Diversification. In this context, this study investigates the intensity and direction of return and volatility spillovers of foreign exchange (FX) markets of Pakistan and its major trading partners. Using an innovative research technique by Diebold and Yilmaz (2009, 2012), we separately compute measures of return and volatility spillovers. Furthermore, we also calculate total spillover, directional spillover, and net spillover indices using a daily data set over the period 1995 to 2019. To capture secular and cyclical movements in the trading partners' FX markets, we rely upon a rolling window analysis. Our results, based on the spillovers indices, support the presence of dynamic connectedness among currency pairs of the major trading partners. We also note that among the sample economies, the USA, the EU, Singapore, and Malaysia are the main sources and originators of shocks spillover while Pakistan, India, Japan, Kuwait, Singapore, and UAE are net shock receivers. The rolling window analysis indicates that returns and volatility spillovers intensify during the phases of financial or economic anxiety. These results have some important implications for individuals working on risk management, portfolio diversification, and trading strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates voluntourism activity directed by a local university in Singapore. The phenomenological experience of participating in voluntourism is captured in the form of reflective Instagram posts where voluntourists often report attaining a sense of personal growth and development, centering their experiences at the expense of their underprivileged counterparts. By conducting a text and visual analysis of their Instagram posts, we venture that the participants' travel narratives evince a collaborative effort between their transnational mobilities and the subsequent post-trip reflections to linguistically construct a global selfhood in relation to the underprivileged subject. Such self-presentations are deemed to be culturally valuable, and very much influenced by and in congruence with the Singapore government's globalization project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notions of citizenship and citizenship education that were traditionally related to mainly nation-centric agendas are increasingly inadequate in preparing young citizens for the dynamism of societies and complexities of social issues stimulated by globalization. Depending on the political and social ideologies within and across societies, different citizenship education curricula are designed differently to achieve these goals. This article uses the cases of Australia and Singapore to discuss how different forms of citizenship education can contribute to an ongoing construction of a more just and peaceful world. Through the analysis of the social science curricula in the two countries, three key factors that can influence the value of democratic citizenship education in developing 'active' and 'informed' citizens were identified. First, the extent to which democratic values are referenced as the basis for citizenship, hence supporting an understanding of 'politics' in contexts of diversity. Second, the balance to be sought between development of competencies to achieve nationalistic goals and responding effectively to the dynamism of contemporary societies. Third, the extent to which curriculum arrangements support democratic citizenship development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]