IPS Update Issue November 2011

Unexpected Findings on Impact of New Media on GE 2011

A wide-ranging study of the role of the Internet in the general election has concluded that the Internet did not play a decisive role in the May election. It also found that the blogs were not as negative to the People’s Action Party as many had thought. The results were presented at a recent IPS conference. […]

Highlights from IPS Forum on the Presidential Election

An IPS Forum on 1 November 2011 discussed findings of the Institute’s survey on voters’ knowledge and attitudes in the Presidential Election, as well as the longer-term implications of the election on the way in which the Office of the Elected Presidency evolves and Singapore’s political landscape. IPS Senior Research Fellow Dr Gillian Koh, one of the survey’s researchers, provides a brief note on the discussion about voter knowledge of this young and complex institution. […]

Questioning the Impact of New Media

While an unprecedented IPS study seeks to understand the impact of new media on our culture and politics, IPS Director Janadas Devan cautions that we may not yet have the capacity to imagine or predict the long-term consequences of blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other new technology, in his opening remarks at the New Media conference. […]

China and the US – Vital for Building ASEAN’s Peace and Prosperity

China and the US share the most important bilateral relationship in the world, notes IPS Special Adviser Prof Tommy Koh at a recent public lecture in Beijing. Relationship management requires great wisdom on both sides in order to expand areas of convergent interests and mutual understanding, and resolve divisive issues through dialogue and negotiation. […]

“Japan Still Has What it Takes to Thrive“

In a column for The Straits Times, IPS Special Adviser Prof Tommy Koh shares his optimism towards Japan’s resilient capacity to overcome many challenges, even as it recovers from a year of tragic “triple disasters”. […]

China-Singapore Relations – Continuity and Change

IPS Associate Director Chang Li Lin attended the 6th China-Singapore Forum held in Beijing in October 2011, co-organised annually by the Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs in Beijing, and the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore. In a commentary for Lianhe Zaobao, she highlights the economic importance that China and Singapore have for each other and suggests that both countries would need to look beyond economic imperatives to deepen their ties. As initiatives such as the Tianjin Eco-City and the tripartite Singapore University of Technology and Design have forged new ways of partnership, China and Singapore could continue to look for other collaborative opportunities in areas of ‘soft power’ such as in creative industries. At present, she observes a gap between impressions of people in China and Singapore and actual personal encounters between people on both sides. Individual experiences may have some impact on the acceptance and support for official policies seeking to foster closer ties. As Singapore welcomes the arrival of Kai Kai and Jia Jia, two Giant Pandas from China next year, sustaining and developing bilateral relations between the two countries requires thinking out of the box. […]

Ms Chan Yi Ying and Ms Wendy Law joined us as Executives on 12 September 2011. Both of them will be assisting in the organisation of IPS events and all general administration. Yi Ying received her Bachelor of Business (Management) from Singapore Institute of Management – Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Wendy Law received her Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from Singapore Institute of Management – Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. […]

Ms Danielle Hong joined us as a Research Assistant on 13 October 2011. She supports the work of the Society and Identity cluster. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from the National University of Singapore in Sociology (Honours). […]