29 February 2016

Berita Harian

In a recent lecture by Assistant Professor Sher Banu Abdul Latif Khan, Department of Malay Studies, entitled “I am chosen by God”, she dsicussed the leadership of the famous female monarch Sultanah Safiatuddin Syah who ruled Aceh between 1641 and 1675 upon the demise of her husband. The Sultanah had established her own sophisticated style of stable leadership using Islamic ideas to legitimise her authority within male elites. She also successfully dealt with European foreign envoys who constantly pressured Aceh for concessions and managed to retain Aceh’s independence. The lecture was part of the Jalinan-Budi 2016 Seminar series that was organised by the Malay Language and Culture Division at NIE.

22 February 2016

The Korea Times

In an article contribution by Associate Professor Shin Jang-Sup, Department of Economics, and former adviser to South Korea’s finance minister, he discussed the business phenomenon of dividing a merged company into three almost immediately. This, he noted, is what is actually happening in U.S. Dow Chemical and DuPoint, the leading and second largest chemical firms, which decided to merge last December and, within two years, to break this merged company into three separate ones. He highlighted that both companies received attacks from activist hedge funds and the decision can be better understood as “financial engineering” by those activist funds. He opined that one way to tackle this is to rebalance regulations over corporations and those over institutional investors. By reflecting the new reality, regulations on institutional investors should be strengthened while those on corporations should be relaxed. He added that, most importantly, regulators should remain vigilant and devise measures to keep the behaviour of institutional investors in line with the interest and intention of the true owners of the money entrusted to them.

To read the full article, click here.

20 February 2016

The Straits Times

In an article contribution by Prof Dutta, Provost’s Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Communications and New Media, discussed the Sedition Act in India in relation to the most recent crackdown on student protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He noted that the Act works as an instrument for stifling ideas and for silencing the questioning of policies. He opined that to cultivate its spirit of pluralism, India must begin by starting to undo some of the regressive elements of the Indian penal code.

To read the full article, click here.

15 February 2016

Berita Harian

Department of Malay Studies and the National Library Board co-organised a lecture titled ‘Indonesian Religious and Intellectual Tradition: Contemporary Challenges’ which was held on 13 February 2016. The lecture featured Professor Ahmad Syafii Maarif, a prominent Indonesian intellectual and former leader of Muhammadiyah – one of the two biggest Muslim organisations in Indonesia. During the lecture, Prof Ahmad Syafii Maarif opined that while Muslims in Singapore are from a small country and belong to a minority group, their diverse successes are exemplary for Muslims in other parts of the world.