What does it mean to respect sovereignty?
It’s said that Russia has violated Ukraine’s “sovereignty”. But what does the word mean, and why does Vladimir Putin not seem to get it? CHONG JA-IAN offers a primer.
Keeping academic freedom on the agenda
ACADEMIASG EDITORIAL — If there is no gap between stated policy and actual practice, we would expect university administrators, bureaucrats, and political leaders to be fully and enthusiastically forthcoming in responding to the points that academics have raised through our study.
Who were our Pioneers? A look among industrial workers
Older Singaporeans have been honoured as members of the Pioneer and Merdeka Generations, but their lives are little known. Historian Loh Kah Seng examines the social history of Singapore’s industrialisation.
Democracy, Singapore-Style? Biden’s Summit spotlights questions of how to categorize regimes
Putting aside the Summit’s controversial invitation list, how do experts characterize Singapore’s political system? AcademiaSG editor and political scientist Chong Ja Ian surveys more rigorous measures that are widely used. Singapore’s recent non-invite to the US-organized Summit for Democracy has created some discussion about the country’s regime type and status, including some debate over the […]
Webinar: Race, Discrimination, and the State
AcademiaSG organised this panel for the Malaysia and Singapore Society of Australia. Featuring: Laavanya Kathiravelu, Lily Zubaidah Rahim, Alfian Sa’at, and Kwee Hui Kian.
FICA: Assurances to academics are welcome, but concerns remain
The Government has promised that FICA will not obstruct normal academic activity. Its statements do not allay such fears completely.
Addressing Foreign Interference in Singapore: Looking in the Right Places?
CHONG JA IAN argues that FICA does not do enough by way of restrictions and oversight on key officials, leaving Singapore open to elite capture by malign foreign actors.
FICA’s threat to Singapore academia
ACADEMIASG EDITORIAL — The proposed law will complicate academic collaborations and deepen self-censorship while weakening universities’ resistance against malign interference.
First CHS, now CDE and New College: A tale of three top-down decisions
Peter Ooi and Melody Madhavan, alumni of Yale-NUS College, consider several proposed mergers in faculties and programmes at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and raise concerns about the lack of stakeholder consultation prior to their announcement. In many policy areas, decision-makers in Singapore are increasingly cognisant that making decisions the right way is just […]
At this rate, Yale-NUS College’s successor won’t succeed in achieving its lofty goal
Linda Lim and Pang Eng Fong respond to the NUS President’s stated rationale for closing Yale-NUS College in 2025. The two economists argue that the apparent lack of due process, stakeholder engagement and strategic planning do not augur well for New College, which NUS promises will preserve the essence of Yale-NUS.