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Publication Sweatshop Economics: When to Pull the Ladder Up?(2022-12) Jennifer Dodgson; LEE KUAN YEW SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICYSweatshop labourers earn far less than their counterparts in developed economies to produce goods – often clothes – which are then often sold for high prices in these same developed countries. On the face of it, this seems extremely unfair. From an economic perspective, however, the issue is far less clean-cut, and for multiple reasons.Publication Business Process Outsourcing in the Philippines(2014-06) Ashish Lall; Alvin Lee; Zsuzsanna Vari-Kovacs; Stevenson Q Yu; LEE KUAN YEW SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICYThe Philippines has over time developed a strong and adaptive economy amongst its Southeast Asian peers as demonstrated by its resilience during the global financial crisis of 2008. One industry that has grown increasingly important to the economy is the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector, which has grown to be fastest growing sector in the Philippines, second only to India on the world scale. BPO has been defined as the delegation of all or part of the technical, process and human resources.. Today, the BPO industry in Philippines may be categorized into six subsectors: voice BPO (or call centers), back-office BPO (mainly finance and accounting services), transcription (mainly medical and legal transcription services), animation, engineering services, and software and digital content (including game development). This case study examines the factors in the growth of the BPO industry in the Philippines, focusing on the rise of the “next wave cities”, such as Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Clark, facilitated by the availability of an educated and effective labour force as well as infrastructure and government commitment that has fostered growth in BPO. The key challenges the country faces to maintaining this remarkable industry is the development in communications technology, such as automation towards its less skilled jobs, building a more coherent tax policy that is business-friendly, as well as improvement in further developing talents and marketing of the Philippines as a premier BPO destination. This is part of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy – Microsoft Case Study Series on IT, Public Policy and Society.Publication The Evolution of Singapore's Approach to Gender-Related Policy(2023-03) Shailey Hingorani; Lee Yoke Mun; Wong Ying Zhen Kimberly; LEE KUAN YEW SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICYThe furthering of gender equality and women's rights in Singapore since pre-independence has been driven by four main factors: economic considerations; electoral support; ethical and human rights obligations; and legal provisions. In implementing universal basic education to ensure the state’s survival, the government inadvertently levelled the playing field between boys and girls in school and enabled greater women’s participation in the workforce. Political incentives, such as a desire to secure a new female electorate’s votes, also guided the enactment of policies that improved women’s status in Singapore. Compared to these two factors, ethical and human rights considerations were a secondary concern and only came into play in recent decades.Publication Qubit-efficient encoding schemes for binary optimisation problems(Verein zur Forderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften, 2021-04-26) Tan, B.; Lemonde, M.-A.; Thanasilp, S.; Tangpanitanon, J.; Angelakis, D.G.; CENTRE FOR QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIESWe propose and analyze a set of variational quantum algorithms for solving quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problems where a problem consisting of nc classical variables can be implemented on O(log nc) number of qubits. The underlying encoding scheme allows for a systematic increase in correlations among the classical variables captured by a variational quantum state by progressively increasing the number of qubits involved. We first examine the simplest limit where all correlations are neglected, i.e. when the quantum state can only describe statistically independent classical variables. We apply this minimal encoding to find approximate solutions of a general problem instance comprised of 64 classical variables using 7 qubits. Next, we show how two-body correlations between the classical variables can be incorporated in the variational quantum state and how it can improve the quality of the approximate solutions. We give an example by solving a 42-variable MaxCut problem using only 8 qubits where we exploit the specific topology of the problem. We analyze whether these cases can be optimized efficiently given the limited resources available in state-of-the-art quantum platforms. Lastly, we present the general framework for extending the expressibility of the probability distribution to any multi-body correlations. Our encoding scheme allows current generations of quantum hardware to explore the boundaries of classical intractability involving real world problem sizes, and can be implemented on currently available quantum hardware across various platforms, requiring only few dozens of qubits. © 2021 Verein zur Forderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften. All rights reserved.Publication Post-Crisis: In the Mood for Democracy(National University of Singapore, 2019) Joana Cheong Mesquita Ferreira; ASIA RESEARCH INSTITUTEThe predominant discourse of Hong Kong (HK) national identity in 2010 was “well- governed”. This national identity was understood and engaged with differently among elites and masses. Bolstered by an ideology of economic neoliberalism, government elites tended to appraise their administration positively. The people, on the other hand, viewed the current government largely as a failure, and had begun to put their faith in a challenger ideology or discourse—“democratic”. The concepts of democracy and suffrage, combined with a vitriolic attack on authoritarian China and its ruling party, dominated mass consciousness. A democratic identity simultaneously criticized the shortcomings of HK’s administration in the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Tsunami and the city’s lack of democratic development.Publication Editorial: Advances in the Understanding of the Commensal Eukaryota and Viruses of the Herbivore Gut(Frontiers Media S.A., 2021-03-02) Gilbert, Rosalind A.; Dagar, Sumit S.; Kittelmann, Sandra; Edwards, Joan E.; YONG LOO LIN SCHOOL OF MEDICINEPublication Sarcopenia: Causes, Consequences, Prevention and Treatment(College of Family Physicians Singapore, 2018-10-01) Chew, Samuel; Dr Samuel Teong Huang Chew; YONG LOO LIN SCHOOL OF MEDICINEPublication The Trans-Pacific Partnership(2022-03-21) Amitendu Palit; LEE KUAN YEW SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICYOn 23 January 2017, just in his first week in office, Donald Trump – 45th President of the United States of America – withdrew the US as a signatory to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). That decision not only marked the end of the US’s engagement with the TPP, but also plunged the TPP into great uncertainty. The US was the largest economy in the TPP. Its withdrawal meant the TPP could no longer become operational as it required at least six signatory members with a combined share of 85 per cent of the TPP’s total GDP, ratifying the deal individually. With the US pulling out, the condition couldn’t be fulfilled. The remaining TPP members, however, decided to go forward with the deal with some amendments. The deal, subsequently christened the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) came into force from 30 December 2018, without the US. This case study explores the reasons behind the US’s disengagement from the TPP – a deal that was fully backed by the US government, and yet, had to be dispensed with due to fiercely anti-trade domestic politics.Publication Singapore National Identities 2010 – Chinese Texts(National University of Singapore, 2019) Teo Kay Key; ASIA RESEARCH INSTITUTEThe dominant discourse in 2010 for Chinese texts is “Well-Managed Society”, which praises Singapore's efforts in maintaining a harmonious and safe society. The identities of the 2010 texts can be separated into two parts based on timeline. The discourse on Formative Experiences is set in the past, and provides background information to the current-day discourses on “Well-Managed Society” and “A Developed Nation”. While the “Formative Experiences” discourse is mentioned nearly exclusively by the mass texts, the other two discourses can be found in both mass and elite texts. Both masses and elites agree that Singapore is a “Well-Managed Society”, but there are differing interpretations on “A Developed Nation”, with the elites painting a much more positive picture compared to the masses.Publication Managed Dependency Part II: The consequences of demand-driven migration in Singapore(2018-05-01) Jennifer Dodgson; LEE KUAN YEW SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICYThis case study examines the economic and social effects of immigration in Singapore, and the policies that have been enacted to maximise the benefits from immigration while mitigating the downsides.