The Singapore Lecture Series was inaugurated in 1980 by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies with a founding endowment from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and augmented by generous donation in 1983 from Exxon Mobil Asia Pacific.The Singapore Lecture is designed to provide the opportunity for distinguished statesmen, scholars, and writers and other similarly highly qualified individuals specializing in banking and commerce, international economics and finance and philosophical and world strategic affairs to visit Singapore. The presence of such eminent personalities will allow Singaporeans, especially the younger executive and decision-makers in both the public and private sectors, to have the benefit of exposure to — through the Lecture, televised discussions, and private consultations - leaders of thought and knowledge in various fields, thereby enabling them to widen their experience and perspectives.On 2 June 2011, the 31st Singapore Lecture was delivered by Her Excellency Dr Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, under the distinguished Chairmanship of Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Minister for Manpower, Singapore.

For a whole generation of Malaysians, no proper closure to the traumas of the racial riots of May 13, 1969 has been possible.But then came March 8, 2008The surprising results of the General Election on that special day have started eclipsing the fears linked for so long to that spectral night forty years ago.All the three researchers from ISEAS who each authored separate chapters for this book were in different parts of Malaysia monitoring its 12th General Election during the thirteen days of campaigning. Their analyses provide new insights into the phenomenon that Malaysians now simply refer to as “March 8”.Ooi Kee Beng scrutinizes in detail the electoral campaign in the state of Penang, Johan Saravanamuttu studies the case of Kelantan state and the elections in general, while Lee Hock Guan examines changes in the voting pattern in the Klang Valley.

The process of post-tsunami recovery and reconstruction in Aceh will take considerable time and is not easy. This book is an attempt at providing helpful background information on Acehnese history, politics and culture, which would benefit expatriate aid workers as well as foreign and domestic scholars in their dealings with the people of Aceh. It is written by specialists of Indonesian and Acehnese studies from a number of countries, together with Acehnese scholars. As the region was not accessible for decades, this book represents in many aspects a new, pioneering endeavour in Acehnese studies. The chapters cover many important aspects of history, such as the female Sultanahs of Aceh, Aceh’s Turkish connection and the Dutch Colonial War in Aceh. The main emphasis of the book is on relevant contemporary developments in the economy, politics, Islam, and the media, as well as painting, music, and literature.

The tsunami that hit Aceh on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, on 26 December 2004 was a natural disaster of historic proportions. This book examines some issues faced by the people in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam after the tsunami. The focus is not only on the areas affected by the natural disaster, but also the areas torn by internal conflict. The tsunami was a catalyst for a new beginning for both prosperity and peace.The authors of this book are researchers at ISEAS, except Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who is the Director of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency in Banda Aceh.The volume will appeal to readers wanting a quick sweep of some important sustainable development issues in Aceh, a society hit by both tsunami and internal conflict.

ASEAN leaders proclaimed to create an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. But achieving the target requires cooperation and coordination both within and among the ten ASEAN economies. Currently, with countries having varying considerations towards complete liberalization, protectionism still persists in certain sectors of the economies. A lot of work needs to be done in addressing the domestic reforms, the gaps in infrastructure, the lack of human resources and adequate institutions. Moreover, it is the businesses whose decisions and actions will help the region to achieve an effective integration. The policymakers have vital roles to play in raising the engagement of the private businesses in ASEAN matters. As time is limited, one way for ASEAN is to focus on "core" elements of integration and implement them earnestly in the shortest possible time. The rest of the process, as envisaged in the AEC blueprint, can follow beyond 2015. This book examines the state of readiness of the member countries for regional integration and discusses the challenges to ASEAN businesses. It gives policy recommendations to address some of the issues faced by the key stakeholders.

This book considers Malaysia-Singapore relations from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Geographical proximity, historical linkages, material flows, and movements have long connected the peoples and territories of Malaysia and Singapore in various ways and with varying degrees of intensity. Relations between the two countries have been shaped not only by competing visions of the nation and the different trajectories taken by these countries' nation-building projects, but also by the reality of economic interdependence and competition, security cooperation, and increasing embeddedness in the market-created East Asian region. The thirteen essays on history, politics, regional security, law, and economy collectively aim at a multi-dimensional study that seeks to convey the density and complexity of connections "across the Causeway".

Admiral Zheng He and Southeast Asia commemorates the 600th anniversary of Admiral Zheng He’s maiden voyage to Southeast Asia and beyond. The book is jointly issued by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore and the International Zheng He Society. To reflect Asian views on the subject matter, nine articles written by Asian scholars — Chung Chee Kit, Hsu Yun-Ts’iao, Leo Suryadinata, Tan Ta Sen, Tan Yeok Seong, Wang Gungwu, and Johannes Widodo — have been reproduced in this volume.Originally published from 1964 to 2005, the articles are grouped into three clusters. The first cluster of three articles examines the relationship of the Ming court, especially during the Zheng He expeditions, with Southeast Asia in general and the Malacca empire in particular. The next cluster looks at the socio-cultural impact of the Zheng He expeditions on some Southeast Asian countries, with special reference to the role played by Zheng He in the Islamization of Indonesia (Java) and the urban architecture of the region. The last three articles deal with the route of the Zheng He expeditions and the location of the places that were visited.

The case studies in this book focus on the emergence, extent and nature of national policies on ageing and associated strategies to address long-term care needs. Key opportunities for and constraints on policy are identified in this first round of regional studies, written by prominent researchers in Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, who are partners in the Ageing Research Network of the Asian Development Research Forum. The case-studies are set in the context of regional and international plans of action on ageing and the deliberations of the Second World Assembly on Ageing held in 2002.

Southeast and East Asian countries are undergoing varying stages of population ageing. The social, economic and political implications of population ageing will be enormous, and because of the fast speed of ageing in the region, the countries cannot afford the luxury of time for the gradual evolution of social and structural support systems and networks for the older population. The essays in this volume critically examine national ageing policies and programmes, the sustainability of existing pension systems, housing and living arrangements, inter-generational transfer, and aspects of quality of life of the elderly population. While the findings show that most Southeast Asian countries have started to formulate and implement national ageing policies, they also indicate that the existing policies are by and large inadequate and underdeveloped in serving the needs of the older population and indeed much more must be done to prepare for the future. 

Spanning 20 years of history, the achievements of APEC may seem uneventful in the eyes of some observers.Yet careful deliberation will point to APEC's many remarkable high points as well as some of the challenges. The foundations of APEC were set in place about 40 years ago based on the achievements of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).One of the cornerstones of APEC's vision is to achieve a free and open trade area among its member economies. This vision is anchored in the Bogor Goals that remain the centrepiece of the APEC process. The Bogor Goals represent a cause for celebration as well as angst. Celebration because the region has moved towards achieving a much more liberalized environment of trading and investment since 1989, angst because the deadlines for achieving the goals have not yet been fully realized.Today, APEC embraces many of the world's dynamic developed and developing economies that are better poised to meet the new challenges of this century. For those seeking to get a quick sweep of APEC, this book recalls, reflects and provides enough food for thought on the possible remake of APEC. The chapters are carefully written by experts who have been directly involved in the APEC process one way or another. The invaluable insights serve to place the whole APEC process in a balanced perspective, yet with candid deliberations.