Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Although Singapore no longer governs Christmas Island, either on behalf of its British colonial administrators or for itself, some Singaporeans continue to regard it as a lost territory and have false impressions that it once belonged and should again belong to Singapore. By examining this complexity related to Christmas Island and its possible implications for Singapore's national psyche, this paper surveys the newspapers of Singapore and oral history records of Singaporean ministers and officials for accounts of Christmas Island. It suggests that Singaporean newspapers' portrayal of Christmas Island as a neglected Australian overseas territory contributed to some Singaporeans' perception that Christmas Island might actually be better off with Singapore; others even had a misconception of Christmas Island as a lost territory. Such opinions have never really dissipated because the government has never publicly clarified the transfer of Christmas Island and rejected claims about its "sale" to Australia.

A subgenre of popular culture, Thai Boys Love (BL) series is increasingly significant within Asia, but it remains under-researched in the light of new series that push the parameters of viewer acceptance of homoerotic romance in Thai society. Drawing upon a close reading of the BL lakhon Love by Chance, this article explicates how Thai cultural concepts surrounding the family are reflected in the series. While acknowledging the impact of East Asian popular culture on Thai understandings of gender and sexuality, the article highlights how the themes of familial dynamics and parental acceptance in Love by Chance represent a glocalization of the BL genre, or BL with Thai characteristics. By introducing the concept of 'moderated heteropatriarchy' and sketching the role of family in Thai queer lives, the article suggests that there is still space for subtle challenges or changes to the heteronormative structure as plotted in Love by Chance, even as the lakhon continues to uphold national and patriarchal principles that deny overt expressions of homoerotic romance.

This article examines the modern kitchen as a technological artefact and a mechanism through which the postcolonial Singaporean state and agents of household consumerism such as advertisers, retailers, home economists, and social scientists constructed the image of a modern Singaporean woman. By revealing how the female consumer-cum-homemaker became a symbol of material success and middle-class status in Fordist Singapore, the article highlights two types of domestication: the subordination of women to the patriarchal imperatives of family and nation, and the transformation of hard successes in the economy into soft comforts in the kitchen. This article suggests that although the state had narrowed the gap between popular expectations for improved living standards and its ability to fulfil them, it also unwittingly enmeshed definitions of femininity, womanhood, and female citizenship in a series of contradictions and tensions that had implications for contemporary Singaporean society.

The Golden Mile Complex is one of Singapore's first shopping malls, built as part of the postcolonial government's plan to expand and redevelop the urban center. Barely a decade into its existence, Thai eateries, shops, and remittance centers sprang up at the complex, which became known as 'Little Thailand' among Singaporeans. For some Singaporeans, Little Thailand suggests the 'exotic' or 'mysterious'; for others, it is simply dirty, danger- ous, and disorderly – a likely result of unflattering descriptions in official statements, press reports, and opinion pieces. This article proposes to examine Little Thailand as an idea and social construction. It explores how Singaporeans have seen Little Thailand and how they have distinguished themselves from the Oriental 'other' through their own cognitive, racial categories. Little Thailand expresses the experiences and values of Singaporeans more than it expresses those of Thais. By treating Little Thailand as an idea and a social construction rather than as a physical location (i.e., the Golden Mile Complex), the article uncovers a broader relationship between place, racial discourse, and public perceptions in postcolonial Singapore.

The Golden Mile Complex is one of Singapore's first shopping malls, built as part of the postcolonial government's plan to expand and redevelop the urban center. Barely a decade into its existence, Thai eateries, shops, and remittance centers sprang up at the complex, which became known as 'Little Thailand' among Singaporeans. For some Singaporeans, Little Thailand suggests the 'exotic' or 'mysterious'; for others, it is simply dirty, danger- ous, and disorderly – a likely result of unflattering descriptions in official statements, press reports, and opinion pieces. This article proposes to examine Little Thailand as an idea and social construction. It explores how Singaporeans have seen Little Thailand and how they have distinguished themselves from the Oriental 'other' through their own cognitive, racial categories. Little Thailand expresses the experiences and values of Singaporeans more than it expresses those of Thais. By treating Little Thailand as an idea and a social construction rather than as a physical location (i.e., the Golden Mile Complex), the article uncovers a broader relationship between place, racial discourse, and public perceptions in postcolonial Singapore. (ASEAS/GIGA)

The exponential growth of the population from the founding decades of the Qing Dynasty to the early nineteenth century placed tremendous stress on the local bureaucracies, which increasingly depended on county clerks and runners and the nondegree-holding literati to reduce costs within the Qing Empire. This article investigates the life of Lin Shumei 林樹梅 (1808–1851), a private secretary, or muyou 幕友, from Jinmen who had served in semiofficial capacities in Taiwan and Xiamen, highlighting the kind of opportunities that were available to him in the imperial bureaucracy. By plotting the career trajectory of Lin Shumei, the article shows that the defence, governance and settlement of the frontier regions of the Qing Empire depended more on the expertise of 'men on the spot' such as Lin than on policies devised in the imperial and provincial capitals.

AbstractThis article examines the transplantation of America's 'manly' civilization to 1920s Fujian, China, through the experiences of Harry R. Caldwell (1876–1970), a Methodist missionary whose hunting was central to his social evangelism. With his rifle, Caldwell protected Chinese villagers from man-eating tigers, taught them how to hunt tigers effectively, and enabled them to reconceptualize their relationships with tigers and nature. By engaging the American Museum of Natural History in his specimen collection and hunt for the mythical 'Blue Tiger', Caldwell introduced an economy of natural expeditions to the villagers who were hired to support the hunt. This article argues that Caldwell's experiences as both a missionary and a hunter in Fujian was an extension, or negotiation, of his rugged masculinity, which was fostered in his Tennessee home town. He identified as both a Christian and a hunter, and he did not see these parts of himself as distinct. A comparison between Caldwell and his contemporary, the British naturalist Arthur de Carle Sowerby (1885–1954), accentuates America's rugged masculinity by suggesting different national approaches to hunting and the growing professionalization of the naturalist.

This article suggests that Chinese scholars in Guangdong, through historical work endorsed or sponsored by their government, justify the inclusion of Southeast Asian nations in the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) initiative. In doing so, they seek to add the MSR to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage List. By exploring how historians and officials adhere to the expectations of the Chinese state and UNESCO in highlighting Guangdong's role in the 21st-century MSR initiative, the article examines the production of cultural heritage at the local level in contemporary China.