Politics and loss in Philip Jeyaretnam's Singaporean fiction

[Introduction]: Singapore’s Philip Jeyaretnam has now published two well-reviewed novels, a linked collection of short stories, as well as individual stories and reflective essays. This substantial literary achievement is more remarkable, given his relative youth, the controversial political circumstances of his paternal family, and his full-time career as a lawyer at the Singaporean Bar. Moreover, for Singaporeans, creative writing in the English language is, as pointed out in an editorial in the Straits Times newspaper, “a young flowering, struggling in new soil.”(1) In contemporary Singapore, politics and livelihood impinge on creative artists and their output as much, if not more than, other developed countries. It is the purpose of this paper to consider each of Philip Jeyaretnam’s major published works in turn for their insights into their author’s world view, and the social milieu in which he functions, the place where he chooses to live and work. The analysis draws on the key basic assumptions set out by Altick and Fenstermaker in The Art of Literary Research (1993), firstly, that to understand the meaning of a text, it is necessary to know as much as possible about its creator, the author; and secondly, that authors and texts are products of particular social and historical contexts.(2) In the case of Philip Jeyaretnam’s work, it is argued that the triumph of managerialism, the sheer economic progress, and the monopolistic political process in Singapore have prompted the author to convey a profound awareness of cost to individual human lives, in terms of loss of intellectual diversity and even destruction of spiritual values. He is especially disturbed with the “very shallow form of materialism” that holds full sway, with what even the officially-oriented Straits Times has acknowledged as “a kind of national ideology that is expressed in a relentless efficiency to ensure material well-being.” (3) Whilst uneasy with the label of “political writer”, Philip Jeyaretnam nonetheless recognises that it is impossible to avoid political themes if the subject is the people of Singapore and how they think and feel , because of the formative and pervasive role of government in Singaporean society. (4) In a plea for civil rather than official society, he suggests that there can be legitimate commitments to, and passionate visions of, Singapore which are other than those espoused by the incumbent government, and which involve participation by a broad range of the population. Indeed, for the literary critic, Dudley de Souza, Philip Jeyaretnam’s creative work heralds the ‘emergence of a kind of Singaporean consciousness...”(5

From Kulim to Singapore: Catherine Lim's literary life

The publication in 1993 by Heinemann Asia of a volume of stories entitled The Best of Catherine Lim emphasised the significant contribution which this talented author has made to recent Singaporean fiction. The 1993 edition contains work from five of Catherine Lim's previously published collections, from Little Ironies (1978) to Deadline for Love (1992), and reflects the confidence which her publishers usually have in her capacity to draw a strong local reading audience. In fact, a Catherine Lim book is quite capable of attracting sales of 20,00O copies in a first edition

Diaspora and identity in the fiction of K S Maniam

[Introduction]: Emmanuel Nelson has truly observed that the “haunting presence of India” lies at the core of diasporic fiction by writers of Indian descent, together with the “anguish of personal loss” that an awareness of India engenders. (1) In any consideration of diasporic fiction, terms like exile, alienation, nostalgia, despair, dislocation, abandonment, and disintegration come readily to mind. In the case of distinguished Malaysian Indian writer, K S Maniam, the list can be augmented by reference to a profound sense of futility, and the absence of any personal sense of contemporary national identity. In 1984, Maniam poignantly reflected that the life of his particular community in Malaysia was “a straining towards achievement that does not end in fulfillment.” (2) This human gap between what could be and what is constitutes the actual fate of diaspora in Maniam’s fiction. The prospects for diaspora are, in short, very limited. This paper treats Maniam’s novels and short stories as documents of cultural knowledge, both of the South Indian community in Malaysia and of nation-building in Malaysia itself. Maniam’s fiction is also assessed in light of V S Naipaul’s concern that diasporic writers should strive to create a self in their own words, to assert their own voice in the country where they live, and so refuse to accept cultural or personal extinction. (3) The paper outlines the consequences of that refusal, especially Maniam’s inability to relate to a particular Malayo-Muslim definition of the nation. The paper also draws out the writer’s preference for a dynamic and multi-faceted Malaysian culture grounded on metaphysical and humanistic assumptions, as well as a post-colonial state graciously informed by its diverse cultural heritage

Parameters of Malaysian identity in the novels of Lloyd Fernando and K S Maniam

This paper focuses on the works of two leading Malaysian novelists, Lloyd Fernando and K S Maniam, of Eurasian and Tamil descent respectively. Both of these men have published two novels to date, and both have developed themes pertinent to the identity of the land in which they live, and the peoples who live there, those whom the inimitable Dennis Bloodworth once termed the “mythical Malaysians.” The novels by Fernando and Maniam confirm that the parameters of Malaysian identity were, and remain, communally defined and exclusionist. In the contemporary world of nation-states, not all colonization is externally inspired

Malaysian landscapes in the fiction of K S Maniam

[Introduction]: In his prolific output of fiction, including two published novels and numerous stories, K S Maniam has explored and revealed a range of Malaysian landscapes for the people who live there. Whilst acknowledging that “landscape” is an elusive concept that is difficult readily to define, this analysis accepts Victor Savage’s broad approach to landscape as a “living process “ which involves “the total sensually perceptible features of a person’s experience at a particular place and time.” (1) For Maniam, the landscapes are variously natural and cultural, exterior and interior, childlike and adult, a rich panorama. Accordingly, the paper examines such dimensions of landscape as physical settings, memory, dream, and imagination, mind and personality, margins and shadows, as well as institutions from plantation to coffee shop. Through all these settings, Maniam has furnished a vital and authentic Malaysian mosaic. This paper considers the significance of this mosaic through a thematic study of Maniam’s fictional output to date, i.e. from 1976 to the present. The American author, Joyce Carol Oates, has observed that “all artists know either consciously or instinctively that the secret intention of their life’s work is to rescue from the plunge of time something of beauty, permanence, significance,”(2) and so it is with Maniam as literary artist, and with Malaysia as place and experience. This analysis also draws on the key basic assumptions set out by Altick and Fenstermaker in The Art of Literary Research (1993), firstly that to understand the meaning of a text, it is necessary to know as much as possible about its creator, the author, and secondly that authors and texts are products of particular social and historical contexts.(3

Exhausted or Unlicensed: Can Field-of-Use Restrictions in Biotech License Agreements Still Prevent Off-Label Use Promotion After Quanta Computer?

[Excerpt] “In the biotechnology (biotech) industry, companies must be increasingly aware of their intellectual property and how their licensing strategies can impact their rights. When licensing patented technology, it is common practice for biotech companies to include restricted field-of-use provisions in their license agreements. Such provisions permit a licensee to only use licensed technology in a defined field and restrict use or development in another field. This licensing strategy plays an important role within the biotech industry because it allows companies to more effectively control their intellectual property and to more efficiently research and develop pharmaceutical products. A problem that occurs in the biotech industry is when a company promotes the ―off-label use of an already-approved drug—a use that may be covered by another‘s patent, though perhaps undeveloped or unlicensed. This problem can be an unforeseen side effect of utilizing biological material to develop drugs that may have many, and often unknown, indications for disease treatments. One way to control off-label use promotion is through patent license agreements. Unfortunately, for many biotech licensors, patent licenses may not always prevent off-label use promotion. To illustrate, a licensee (or a third party downstream of the license agreement) could promote a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), developed from licensed technology, for an unapproved treatment covered by the licensor‘s patent that the party was not given the right to develop. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that activity outside of the licensed field can constitute patent infringement because the patent owner has not transferred the rights for use or product development in that field. However, in 2008, the Supreme Court, in Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc., implied that the patent holder in this situation may have exhausted its rights by licensing the technology and, therefore, cannot sue a third party for infringement even if the use being promoted is covered by the patent. This Note discusses how Quanta should be interpreted and applied in the context of field-of-use restrictions in biotech license agreements and how a biotech licensor may sue for patent infringement as a remedy for downstream off-label use promotion when it licenses technology to be developed within a restricted field. Section I provides an overview of the biotech industry and how patent licensing plays an essential role in the growth and continuation of the industry. Section II highlights the problem of off-label use promotion and how the FDA appears to fall short of adequate regulation in this area. Section III outlines how the doctrine of exhaustion affects patent license agreements, specifically in the wake of Quanta. Section IV discusses the post-Quanta application of the doctrine of exhaustion to biotech licenses that incorporate field-of-use restrictions and how licensors should respond to Quanta when drafting license agreements to prevent off-label use.

Restructuring Health Insurance Markets

Examines six possible structural changes to the health insurance market to expand coverage, including rate compression, high-risk pools, and an insurance exchange. Outlines their benefits and the most effective way to structure and implement them

Competitive advantage as a legitimacy-creating process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how small firms in the tattooing industry actively shape institutional expectations of value for consumers in a changing industry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon interviews with key actors in the firms under study to explore their experiences with consumers and other constituents in determining how competitive advantage is constructed in this environment. These data are complemented data with interviews with governmental representatives and material from secondary sources. Findings – The results reveal efforts of firms to construct and increase organizational legitimacy through the prominence of discourses of professionalism based on artistry and medicine/public health. These bases of competitive differentiation are not the clear result of exogenous pressure, rather they arise through the active efforts of the firm to construct value guidelines for consumers and other constituents. Practical implications – Strategic management in small firms is a complex and dynamic process that does not necessarily mirror that of large organizations. Constructing competitive advantage is an interacting process between key actors of small firms and various constituents. Originality/value – The paper extends the application of institutional theory in strategic management by illuminating the active role that firms play in creating industry norms, especially in industries where norms are not well established or no longer entrenched. Moreover, exploring an alternative site of study offers a means through which to see well-studied issues in new ways