A nation's visual language: nation branding and the visual identity of contemporary Malaysia

This research explores the role graphic design can play in the national branding of emergent nations, and takes the multiracial, multicultural state of Malaysia as the principal object of study. Contemporary Malaysian society and culture are reviewed in the context of present views of globalization and postcolonialism, and the phenomenon of ‘glocalization’ emerges as an important one in Malaysia. A variety of design research methods are used to identify the nature of graphic design practice in Malaysia, including the examination of the national government framework of design practices and networks, the design-led method of cultural probes, and participatory observation within several Malaysian design agencies. A questionnaire survey was also carried out with a sample group of design practitioners and interviews conducted with key professional design practitioners in the country and members of the Malaysia Design Council. These methods reveal that the professional and personal outlook of local designers is highly influenced by government policies and the support systems provided by government departments

An Analysis of the Special Safeguard Mechanisms in the Doha Round of Negotiations - A Proposed Price-trigger-based Safeguard Mechanism

In the Doha Round of negotiations on agriculture it has been decided that all developing and least developed Member countries of the WTO will have access to a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM). This means that developing countries will now have the option to temporarily impose higher tariff rates on the import of an agricultural product if there is either a surge in its import volumes or a sharp dip in its import prices. However, the exact mechanisms of the implementation of SSMs have not been spelt out. It is also not clear what legal provisions the Member countries will have to follow to use this safeguard mechanism. This paper takes a detailed look at the SSM and analyzes its usefulness for developing countries. It also explores how the concept of a special agricultural safeguard has evolved in the present round of negotiations and what are the country positions on SSMs in the Doha Round. The paper then proposes a price-trigger-based SSM instrument which is consistent with the goals spelt out in the Doha Development Agenda and satisfies most of the desired features of a safeguard instrument.WTO, agriculture, Volatility, Special safeguards, Tariff rates

International Humanitarian Law in Areas of Limited Statehood

Areas of limited statehood, in which the territorial State lacks effective control, either completely or in part, challenge International Humanitarian Law in various ways. This volume explores if and how the law adapts to these challenges on the basis of mainly two legal issues: detention and investment protection in (non-)international armed conflict. Does a sufficient legal basis exist for the former? Is it International Humanitarian Law that determines what the investor is owed under a ‘full protection and security’ standard? More fundamentally, the contributions strive to shed light on these practical legal issues in a manner that is also historically and theoretically informed. How can international law be effective in areas of limited statehood, in particular as regards non-State actors? Can the law provide incentives for compliance? Is it in need of being developed? If so, who enjoys the legitimacy to do so

Building the Garden City: The Clean and Green Movement in Singapore, 1965-2010

This thesis examines the history and mechanism of building Singapore as a Garden City through a strategy termed in this thesis as the ‘Clean and Green Movement’, from the years 1965 to 2010. The thesis will reveal the role of the Clean and Green Movement in the nation building of Singapore. It explores the politics of greening and attempts to explain the various roles of the governmental agencies involved in promoting the Clean and Green Movement, which can be considered a unique innovation of Singapore. The study presents an alternative perspective to the existing literature on Singapore as a Garden City, which largely describes the political processes involved. The thesis addresses a gap in the literature by analyzing how the Clean and Green Movement shifted historically through three different emphases towards realizing the vision of the Garden City of Singapore. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Clean and Green Movement had a primarily social emphasis, building basic infrastructure and managing hygiene, while simultaneously ensuring the planting of trees across Singapore to create a livable environment. It will be argued that one negative social outcome of the movement was that it led to the creation of a ‘ghostless’ Garden City where the homogeneity of the developed urban landscape lacked cultural diversity and biodiversity. In the 1990s, there was a shift in emphasis towards the economy, aiming to achieve an appealing ‘clean and green’ image in order to enhance the nation’s attractiveness, particularly to the overseas creative class, investors and tourists. The thesis will argue that this image is a ‘green spectacle’, which accentuates the ‘green experience economy’ and is representative of the Clean and Green Movement’s emphasis on branding. By the later 2000s up until today (2014), influenced by climate-change concerns, the Clean and Green Movement shifted towards an environmental emphasis. The Movement’s transition towards emphasizing the natural environment exposes a conflict with the urban expansion of Singapore. The views, responses and proposals from the media as well as from non-government organizations such as Nature Society Singapore, are evaluated in order to reveal the contradictions of the Movement in relation to its attitude towards the environment, particularly the compromises necessary between economic and environmental concerns. The Clean and Green Movement, which refers to a series of measures taken by the government to achieve the vision of Singapore as a Garden City, has contributed to the urban transformation of Singapore since its independence. Documenting the role of the Clean and Green Movement in nation building allows for a new understanding of Singapore’s urban transformation

A discourse on housing based on cultural meanings in Malaysia

The central aim of the thesis is building a discourse on housing, highlighting the necessity to maintain quality through sustaining the cultural meanings, which originate from nature, cosmology, worldviews, and traditional values of Malaysian society. The thesis critically addresses the housing policies and strategies, in which the visions of quality are still very ambiguous. The Malaysian government has adopted a housing policy, which imposes homogeneity and similarity on the diverse multicultural ethnic societies that are affluent with indigenous knowledge, tradition and unique identities in their dwelling architectures.The research approach is divided into three major parts, and the conclusion. The aim of Part One is to draw attention to the Malaysian housing phenomena and the thesis aspiration. The first chapter covers the country background and its social -cultural context. Despite the cultural diversity, the Malaysians possess a common attitude towards nature. The thesis identifies the philosophical notion of boundary, as a valuable intellectual tool in developing an indigenous model for housing. Boundary has subconsciously driven the formation of various cultural and architectural identities in the Malaysian indigenous dwelling environment. The second chapter continues the process of enlightening the housing discourse by clarifying the need to decipher the meanings related to housing, human perceptions, and aestheticsThe second part of the thesis discourse establishes three chapters, which form the philosophical structure of the thesis. The aim of Part Two is to demonstrate the components of cultural meanings, which are the motivating forces responsible for the formation of indigenous dwelling architecture. For the purpose of the research, the study concentrates on the indigenous Malay society as the focus group. This part explores on the qualities originating from the indigenous worldviews of the Malay society, followed by identification of the characteristics of the indigenous model, including the notions of adaptation, sustainability and boundary. The end chapter of Part Two is an intellectual discourse, which supports the main components of the indigenous model.Part Three is the empirical study, in which the author gains insights directly from examining people's perceptions, i.e. from the open -ended questionnaire survey and the indigenous dwelling typologies survey analysis. The aim is to explore the relationship between people and the qualities of living environment through the contribution of cultural meanings. The study enhances more on what the author have already done in the deductive part (Part Two). The outcome of the empirical studies demonstrates the manifestation of these notions in different indigenous dwelling architectural typologies and works of art.The conclusion chapter distils the information gained from the findings of both theoretical framework and empirical studies, by identifying the crucial domains for obtaining quality through cultural meanings in the living environment. It also provides recommendations concerning the future housing policy, strategies, planning, and design guidelines for housing in which the architects, planners and housing authorities are able to interpret, and implement in search of a national architectural identity for housing in Malaysia, which is tolerant, sustainable and unifying

オールドタイマー、ニューカマー、ボーダレス・インテグレーション -タイ北部ピサヌローク県における華人新移民の調査

早大学位記番号:新9189博士(社会科学)早稲田大