Core Programmes • Thought Leaders
Trend-spotting forums bringing together leading Asian intellectuals and leaders to explore the meaning of being a contemporary Asian in the 21st century amidst globalisation. It seeks to examine the national, social and cultural traditions of Asia and how its past shapes the present Asia and charts its future development.
Forum
Asian Thoughts Leaders Forum
The Asian – Past, Present & Future
Fri 28 Nov | 2.00pm - 6.00pm | Chamber, The Arts House
SG$100 | Special Price: SG$80 (for lecturers), SG$70 (for students)
Fri 28 Nov | 2.00pm - 6.00pm | Chamber, The Arts House
SG$100 | Special Price: SG$80 (for lecturers), SG$70 (for students)
Keynote Address: Origins and Beginnings: Where Do We Start? | 2pm – 3.15pm
Speaker ::: Prasenjit Duara (India), Director of Research In Humanities and Social Sciences at NUS; Emeritus Professor of History and East Asian and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, US; Author
Moderator ::: Professor Wang Gungwu, Chairman, East Asia Institute
The distinction between ‘origins’ and ‘beginnings’ was explicated by Edward Said in the study of literary production. Origins are found, discovered, natural, religious and beyond human production. Beginnings are associated with human intentions, with meaning and construction. I want to comment about the applicability of this distinction in the study of history and politics, particularly in the history of the nation. When Ernest Renan cited the Spartan song as the hymn of every patrie in his “What is a nation” in 1882, one might say he deliberately fused these two conceptions: "We are what you were; we will be what you are". The nation is inherited, but it is also willed into the future.
Renan assumed that all nations need to have a firm sense of origins, a claim on the loyalty of their citizens that transcends the self and the human. It is no accident that modern professional history was co-eval with the nation in the late 19th century and that to this day the human past is tracked largely along the boundaries of the present nation. From the last decade of the twentieth century, a virtual industry has arisen in exploding the myths of national histories and origins. It has been a largely deconstructive effort and little thought has gone into how we are able to track meaningful histories for our time.
I want to propose here that we utilise the idea of “beginnings” in the historical study of nations and other meaningful entities. Beginnings do not make transcendent claims but do emphasize intention, will and agency. Metaphors of family and species are replaced by notions of complementarities, neighbours and alliances. In some ways, Singapore is unique among nations in that it is forced to emphasize intention and will in its continued existence. It provides us with a window to possibilities and choices in a transnational era that are closed to those who have naturalized their history and community.
Panel Discussion: The Asian – Past, Present & Future | 4pm – 6pm
Speakers ::: Mechai Viravaidya (Thailand), Social Entrepreneur & Former Politician; Farish Noor (Malaysia), Senior Fellow, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Tay Kheng Soon (Singapore), Architect, Public Intellectual; Manuel L. Quezon III (Philippines), Political & History Commentator and Writer
Moderator ::: Dr Kenneth Paul Tan, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
This forum examines Asia’s past and explores how people in Asia see themselves. In the 21st century, what does Asia means to Asians and what does Asia mean to the world?
NB: High Tea will be served between 3.15pm – 4pm at the Blue Room and Gallery.
Speaker ::: Prasenjit Duara (India), Director of Research In Humanities and Social Sciences at NUS; Emeritus Professor of History and East Asian and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, US; Author
Moderator ::: Professor Wang Gungwu, Chairman, East Asia Institute
The distinction between ‘origins’ and ‘beginnings’ was explicated by Edward Said in the study of literary production. Origins are found, discovered, natural, religious and beyond human production. Beginnings are associated with human intentions, with meaning and construction. I want to comment about the applicability of this distinction in the study of history and politics, particularly in the history of the nation. When Ernest Renan cited the Spartan song as the hymn of every patrie in his “What is a nation” in 1882, one might say he deliberately fused these two conceptions: "We are what you were; we will be what you are". The nation is inherited, but it is also willed into the future.
Renan assumed that all nations need to have a firm sense of origins, a claim on the loyalty of their citizens that transcends the self and the human. It is no accident that modern professional history was co-eval with the nation in the late 19th century and that to this day the human past is tracked largely along the boundaries of the present nation. From the last decade of the twentieth century, a virtual industry has arisen in exploding the myths of national histories and origins. It has been a largely deconstructive effort and little thought has gone into how we are able to track meaningful histories for our time.
I want to propose here that we utilise the idea of “beginnings” in the historical study of nations and other meaningful entities. Beginnings do not make transcendent claims but do emphasize intention, will and agency. Metaphors of family and species are replaced by notions of complementarities, neighbours and alliances. In some ways, Singapore is unique among nations in that it is forced to emphasize intention and will in its continued existence. It provides us with a window to possibilities and choices in a transnational era that are closed to those who have naturalized their history and community.
Panel Discussion: The Asian – Past, Present & Future | 4pm – 6pm
Speakers ::: Mechai Viravaidya (Thailand), Social Entrepreneur & Former Politician; Farish Noor (Malaysia), Senior Fellow, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Tay Kheng Soon (Singapore), Architect, Public Intellectual; Manuel L. Quezon III (Philippines), Political & History Commentator and Writer
Moderator ::: Dr Kenneth Paul Tan, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
This forum examines Asia’s past and explores how people in Asia see themselves. In the 21st century, what does Asia means to Asians and what does Asia mean to the world?
NB: High Tea will be served between 3.15pm – 4pm at the Blue Room and Gallery.
Public Lectures
** CANCELLED ** Public Lecture by Mechai Viravaidya
Privatising Poverty Alleviation
Sat 29 Nov | 10.00am - 11.30am | Play Den, The Arts House
Free Admission*
Sat 29 Nov | 10.00am - 11.30am | Play Den, The Arts House
Free Admission*
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the programme has been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Speaker ::: Mechai Viravaidya (Thailand), Social Entrepreneur & Former Politician
Moderator ::: Dr Mary Ann Tsao, President & Chief Executive Officer, Tsao Foundation
Generally, governments promise to deliver people from poverty, and in most cases they do not succeed. Because of this market imperfection, there is a need for others to step in to help fill the gap. In fact, there is hardly a government in the world that is able to get people out of poverty on its own. Generally, governments can build infrastructure and provide some basic services, but these two items alone are insufficient to get people out of poverty. Governments’ attempts to alleviate poverty are carried out by government officials, using the welfare approach.
This approach is ineffective for three reasons: (a) It does not generate any new skills; (b) It does not empower the people; and (c) It encourages dependency, as people rely on the handout. The welfare approach is obviously not sustainable. People living in poverty are in fact engaged in business and are trying to make a profit. However, they do not succeed and remain in abject poverty. This may be caused by two reasons: (a) They lack the business skills to efficiently run their enterprise; and (b) They are unable to acquire credit at a normal market rate. These two shortcomings can be rectified with the help of the business community – who know business and have the resources to help provide a micro-credit fund for people without collateral.
This has been practiced in Thailand by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) for the last 20 years and is entitled “the Privatization of Poverty Alleviation”, where companies and villagers act as partners. By tackling the root cause of poverty, the members of rural communities are able to enhance their skills and empower their community, generate income, and improve the quality of their lives. This system can be used in all Asian countries.
*Please register your seat with the Box Office at tel: +65 6332 6919 or email: tickets@toph.com.sg
Speaker ::: Mechai Viravaidya (Thailand), Social Entrepreneur & Former Politician
Moderator ::: Dr Mary Ann Tsao, President & Chief Executive Officer, Tsao Foundation
Generally, governments promise to deliver people from poverty, and in most cases they do not succeed. Because of this market imperfection, there is a need for others to step in to help fill the gap. In fact, there is hardly a government in the world that is able to get people out of poverty on its own. Generally, governments can build infrastructure and provide some basic services, but these two items alone are insufficient to get people out of poverty. Governments’ attempts to alleviate poverty are carried out by government officials, using the welfare approach.
This approach is ineffective for three reasons: (a) It does not generate any new skills; (b) It does not empower the people; and (c) It encourages dependency, as people rely on the handout. The welfare approach is obviously not sustainable. People living in poverty are in fact engaged in business and are trying to make a profit. However, they do not succeed and remain in abject poverty. This may be caused by two reasons: (a) They lack the business skills to efficiently run their enterprise; and (b) They are unable to acquire credit at a normal market rate. These two shortcomings can be rectified with the help of the business community – who know business and have the resources to help provide a micro-credit fund for people without collateral.
This has been practiced in Thailand by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) for the last 20 years and is entitled “the Privatization of Poverty Alleviation”, where companies and villagers act as partners. By tackling the root cause of poverty, the members of rural communities are able to enhance their skills and empower their community, generate income, and improve the quality of their lives. This system can be used in all Asian countries.
*Please register your seat with the Box Office at tel: +65 6332 6919 or email: tickets@toph.com.sg
Public Lecture by Farish Noor
Spooked Again: Revising the History of ‘Holy Terror’ in Southeast Asia
Sat 29 Nov | 2.00pm - 3.30pm | Play Den, The Arts House
Free Admission*
Sat 29 Nov | 2.00pm - 3.30pm | Play Den, The Arts House
Free Admission*
Speaker ::: Farish Noor (Malaysia), Senior Fellow, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Moderator ::: Dr Khairuddin Aljunied, Assistant Professor, Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore
In the wake of the Bali bombings, Southeast Asia has been declared the second front in the international ‘war on terror’. Yet in the midst of the din and furore of this virtual war against an idea, little effort, if any, has been made to study the genealogy and etymology of the very concept we are meant to be battling with. Ironically, this lacuna has also opened the way for the creation of a vast industry – the terror business – that aims to resolve a problem that it has yet to define.
This lecture attempts a cursory, and by no means exhaustive, overview of the very idea of holy terror itself, and looks at the history of religion-politics in the region dating back to the earliest instances of religious strife and conflict to identify the historical actors and agents that were responsible for the development and evolution of the concept of holy terror.
In the course of deconstructing the very discourse of the war on terror itself, we will try to ask (and answer) the simple question: Why is it that the discourse of religious sectarianism has come to the fore and dominated the centre stage of mainstream politics in so many Southeast Asian countries, and does this spell the end of ASEAN and the ASEAN project as we know it? Is Southeast Asia really on the edge of a religious conflict of mythical proportions? Or are we really battling the demons of our past, and being spooked by history still?
*Please register your seat with the Box Office at tel: +65 6332 6919 or email: tickets@toph.com.sg
Moderator ::: Dr Khairuddin Aljunied, Assistant Professor, Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore
In the wake of the Bali bombings, Southeast Asia has been declared the second front in the international ‘war on terror’. Yet in the midst of the din and furore of this virtual war against an idea, little effort, if any, has been made to study the genealogy and etymology of the very concept we are meant to be battling with. Ironically, this lacuna has also opened the way for the creation of a vast industry – the terror business – that aims to resolve a problem that it has yet to define.
This lecture attempts a cursory, and by no means exhaustive, overview of the very idea of holy terror itself, and looks at the history of religion-politics in the region dating back to the earliest instances of religious strife and conflict to identify the historical actors and agents that were responsible for the development and evolution of the concept of holy terror.
In the course of deconstructing the very discourse of the war on terror itself, we will try to ask (and answer) the simple question: Why is it that the discourse of religious sectarianism has come to the fore and dominated the centre stage of mainstream politics in so many Southeast Asian countries, and does this spell the end of ASEAN and the ASEAN project as we know it? Is Southeast Asia really on the edge of a religious conflict of mythical proportions? Or are we really battling the demons of our past, and being spooked by history still?
*Please register your seat with the Box Office at tel: +65 6332 6919 or email: tickets@toph.com.sg
Public Lecture by Tay Kheng Soon
Issues of Human Development, Nature Conservation And Settlement Patterns in Asia's Future
Sun 30 Nov | 10.00am - 11.30am | Blue Room, The Arts House
Free Admission*
Sun 30 Nov | 10.00am - 11.30am | Blue Room, The Arts House
Free Admission*
Speaker ::: Tay Kheng Soon (Singapore), Architect, Public Intellectual
Moderator ::: Dr Lai Chee Kien, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore
Asia's settlement patterns have not received any radical rethink. The patterns are a continuation of old patterns. New ideas are necessary to address human development and nature conservation. Rethinking what development means is important; what can development mean in terms of satisfaction beyond material consumption? Upon the demonstration of viable options otherwise, the push towards materialism will accelerate beyond sustainable parameters and lead towards greater and greater concentration of power on governments and corporations at the expense of human capacity and initiative building. A new development paradigm is necessary to establish sustainable environment and appropriate governance. Is the Singapore model the way to go in countries with natural resources and cultural, economic and human diversity? What spatial patterns of human settlement can be imagined in which nature, cultural diversity and viable life-style choices may be offered? The topic will be further illustrated in this lecture.
*Please register your seat with the Box Office at tel: +65 6332 6919 or email: tickets@toph.com.sg
Moderator ::: Dr Lai Chee Kien, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore
Asia's settlement patterns have not received any radical rethink. The patterns are a continuation of old patterns. New ideas are necessary to address human development and nature conservation. Rethinking what development means is important; what can development mean in terms of satisfaction beyond material consumption? Upon the demonstration of viable options otherwise, the push towards materialism will accelerate beyond sustainable parameters and lead towards greater and greater concentration of power on governments and corporations at the expense of human capacity and initiative building. A new development paradigm is necessary to establish sustainable environment and appropriate governance. Is the Singapore model the way to go in countries with natural resources and cultural, economic and human diversity? What spatial patterns of human settlement can be imagined in which nature, cultural diversity and viable life-style choices may be offered? The topic will be further illustrated in this lecture.
*Please register your seat with the Box Office at tel: +65 6332 6919 or email: tickets@toph.com.sg
Public Lecture by Manuel L. Quezon III
The Future of Asia: Whither Nation and State
Sun 30 Nov | 2.00pm - 3.30pm | Blue Room, The Arts House
Free Admission*
Sun 30 Nov | 2.00pm - 3.30pm | Blue Room, The Arts House
Free Admission*
Speaker ::: Manuel L. Quezon III (Philippines), Political & History Commentator and Writer
Moderator ::: Dr Kevin Tan, Professor (Adjunct), Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore; President, Singapore Heritage Society
This is the first time in the history of our nations that leadership has passed to a generation with no memory of what it was like not to be free citizens of independent nations. The challenges and call of achieving independence has been a reality for a full generation for some; for others, close to three.
Whichever way you measure it, the struggle for independence is passing from living memory and so are the emotions and motivations of our independence struggles. Instead the call of our times is to be worthy stewards of that independence and to build societies in which each and every citizen is truly free: in terms of their health and wealth and, increasingly, in terms of individual liberties and participation in the political process.
Independence as our birthright means that for the generation of the children of the "independence generation", they in turn, hear the siren call of global opportunity and challenge their elders and the societies that they built, which put a premium on stability, consensus, and domestic economic growth. The challenge they put forward is for heir elders to validate validity the notion of nation and nationalism.
Even as we build bridges between our nations, engaging in cooperation and mutual assistance that's also unprecedented, our young people ask whether nation, nationhood, nationalism and even citizenship are even relevant labels in their lives. Considering the limits imposed on their peers who remain at home, in nations concerned not with individual freedom, but national stability.
*Please register your seat with the Box Office at tel: +65 6332 6919 or email: tickets@toph.com.sg
Moderator ::: Dr Kevin Tan, Professor (Adjunct), Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore; President, Singapore Heritage Society
This is the first time in the history of our nations that leadership has passed to a generation with no memory of what it was like not to be free citizens of independent nations. The challenges and call of achieving independence has been a reality for a full generation for some; for others, close to three.
Whichever way you measure it, the struggle for independence is passing from living memory and so are the emotions and motivations of our independence struggles. Instead the call of our times is to be worthy stewards of that independence and to build societies in which each and every citizen is truly free: in terms of their health and wealth and, increasingly, in terms of individual liberties and participation in the political process.
Independence as our birthright means that for the generation of the children of the "independence generation", they in turn, hear the siren call of global opportunity and challenge their elders and the societies that they built, which put a premium on stability, consensus, and domestic economic growth. The challenge they put forward is for heir elders to validate validity the notion of nation and nationalism.
Even as we build bridges between our nations, engaging in cooperation and mutual assistance that's also unprecedented, our young people ask whether nation, nationhood, nationalism and even citizenship are even relevant labels in their lives. Considering the limits imposed on their peers who remain at home, in nations concerned not with individual freedom, but national stability.
*Please register your seat with the Box Office at tel: +65 6332 6919 or email: tickets@toph.com.sg
Up Close with...
** CANCELLED ** Lunch with Mechai Viravaidya
Sat 29 Nov | 12.00pm - 2.00pm | 1827 Restaurant, The Arts House
SG$80 | Special Price: SG$70 (for lecturers and students)
SG$80 | Special Price: SG$70 (for lecturers and students)
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the programme has been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Host ::: Dr Tanatat Puttusawan, Population and Community Development Association, Thailand
Limited to 8 persons.
Host ::: Dr Tanatat Puttusawan, Population and Community Development Association, Thailand
Limited to 8 persons.
High Tea with Farish Noor
Sat 29 Nov | 4.00pm - 6.00pm | Viet Lang Restaurant, The Arts House
SG$60 | Special Price: SG$55 (for lecturers and students)
SG$60 | Special Price: SG$55 (for lecturers and students)
Host ::: Dr Khairuddin Aljunied, Assistant Professor, Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore
Limited to 8 persons.
Limited to 8 persons.
Dinner with Prasenjit Duara
Sat 29 Nov | 6.30pm - 9.00pm | Living Room, The Arts House
SG$100 | Special Price: SG$85 (for lecturers and students)
SG$100 | Special Price: SG$85 (for lecturers and students)
Host ::: Associate Professor Kwok Kian Woon, Vice Dean, School for the Humanities and Head, Department of Sociology, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore
Limited to 8 persons.
Limited to 8 persons.
Lunch with Tay Kheng Soon
Sun 30 Nov | 12.00pm - 2.00pm | Living Room, The Arts House
SG$80 | Special Price: SG$70 (for lecturers and students)
SG$80 | Special Price: SG$70 (for lecturers and students)
Host ::: Dr Lai Chee Kien, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore
Limited to 8 persons.
Limited to 8 persons.
High Tea with Manuel L. Quezon III
Sun 30 Nov | 4.00pm - 6.00pm | Viet Lang Restaurant, The Arts House
SG$60 | Special Price: SG$55 (for lecturers and students)
SG$60 | Special Price: SG$55 (for lecturers and students)
Moderator ::: Dr Kevin Tan, Professor (Adjunct), Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore; President, Singapore Heritage Society
Limited to 10 persons.
Limited to 10 persons.