IPS Update Issue April 2016

IPS Corporate Associates Lunch: Why the TPP is “a deal worth considering”

Members of the landmark trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), contribute two-fifths of global GDP, one-third of world trade and have a combined market of 800 million people. Ng Bee Kim, Singapore’s Chief Negotiator for the TPP, and Daren Tang, chairperson of the negotiating group of the TPP’s Intellectual Property Chapter, spoke to IPS Corporate Associates in March about what the TPP means for companies.

IPS-Tsao Foundation Roundtable Discussion on Understanding Financially Vulnerable Men in Singapore

What are the issues faced by financially vulnerable older men? What sorts of intervention do they need from the community? IPS researcher Dr Justin Lee and Executive Director for the Centre for Seniors Lim Sia Hoe spoke about the needs and profiles of financially vulnerable men, as well as identified the gaps in help and services extended to them.

IPS-Nathan Lectures: Bilahari Kausikan on “ASEAN & US-China Competition in Southeast Asia”

In his third IPS-Nathan Lecture last month, Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan discussed the historical and current factors that have shaped China’s interests in the South China Sea, and the resulting responses from ASEAN and the US.

IPS-SAM Spotlight on Cultural Policies: Roundtable on Place Management and Placemaking in Singapore

Members of the arts and creative community, policymakers, academics and other stakeholders discussed the government strategy of “placemaking”, intended to inject “heart and soul” into the city. Read the full report of last November’s IPS-SAM Roundtable on place management and placemaking. The next related seminar in the series on Arts Housing and Creative Placemaking is scheduled for June 2016.

Youths and Social Media – The Message Matters too
By Nadzirah Samsudin and Carol Soon

The IPS Survey on Media and Internet Use during GE2015 highlighted how young people used social media for politics in Singapore. It also revealed stark differences when compared with their counterparts in the United States and Taiwan. What does this mean for politicians and political parties here?

Budget 2016: Pressing on With Economic Restructuring
By Faizal Bin Yahya and Chang Zhi Yang

Budget 2016 is a shift from broad-based support towards targeted support, with a slew of new programmes intended to promote an integrated approach to achieving sustainable growth.

Slow Beginnings: WhatsApp as a Political Communication Tool
By Tan Tarn How, Tng Ying Hui and Andrew Yeo

One surprise from last year’s GE was the unexpected rise of WhatsApp as a political communications tool for voters. Will the instant messaging application play a bigger role in the upcoming Bukit Batok by-election?