• Child Studies in Asia-Pacific Contexts
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.123-137
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• 2013

Individuals rely on Theory of Mind (ToM) to represent themselves, others, and socio-cultural norms. Distinctive Western and Eastern developmental patterns of ToM have been reported in monocultural children. Relatively little is known about bicultural children, especially those children who grow up in two conflicting and unbalanced cultures. We hypothesized that the development of ToM in these bicultural preschoolers would follow the pattern of the dominant culture. To examine this hypothesis, we recruited English-speaking Chinese Singaporean preschoolers. In Study 1, we tested 3- to 5-year-olds (N = 120) with 5 ToM tasks, including diverse desires, diverse beliefs, knowledge access, and false belief, as well as a vocabulary task. In Study 2, we tested 5-year-olds (N = 30) with a picture-choice version of these ToM tasks. Both studies supported our hypothesis by revealing that the development of ToM in these bicultural children followed the pattern of the dominant culture. Additionally, we found that 5-year-old bicultural children are still developing false belief, and their verbal ability correlated with their ToM.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-23
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• 2011

China's proposal of the CAFTA (China-ASEAN Free Trade Area) in 2001 prompted a great debate about whether China was a trade competitor of ASEAN, given their similarity in economic development levels and trade/export structures. That Beijing shifted its focus on economic cooperation from the international level to the regional level led to its proposal of the CAFTA. As the Framework Agreement (Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between China and ASEAN) showed, Beijing's careful consideration for four newer ASEAN members (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) intended not only to help all ASEAN members develop economically, but also to narrow the economic gap existing between them and the six old ASEAN members; in return, China was recognized as a full market economy, which it is not currently recognized within the framework of the WTO. The substantial rise in bilateral trade and the structural changes of the trade in goods between China and ASEAN member nations after 2001 proves that ASEAN benefited more from the CAFTA, particularly when the areas where ASEAN had the comparative advantages were designated as the priority cooperation areas between China and ASEAN. In sum, similarities existing in economic development levels and industrial structures between China and ASEAN made them natural economic competitors. However, closer studies of trade in goods of S1-7, S1-6 and S1-0 reveal that China acted as an increasingly complementary trade partner of ASEAN after 2001.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.27-43
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• 2009

A ban on political podcasting during the General Elections 2006 in Singapore was justified by the Singaporean government on the grounds that the new medium had a greater power to influence voters than traditional modes of political discourse. A between-subjects controlled experiment was conducted to test whether podcasts of political speeches had a greater power to influence voters' evaluations of political candidates and likelihood of voting for them than online text-based transcripts of the same speeches. The study also examined whether mere exposure to political speeches online, irrespective of the modality, had an effect on voters' more general political preferences, i.e. the likelihood of support and voting for the opposition. The findings suggest that political podcasts were no more persuasive than text-based websites and that the effects on political preferences, if any, were likely due the exposure to political content online, not because of the nature of the medium. The implications of the findings are discussed.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.162-176
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• 2016

In this study, a part of the social and the economic condition of Nepali women is introduced with a short comparison to the socio-cultural position of the women of Korea. A relative definition of the condition of the past and now: this also briefly introduces the ideas of some of the Nepali women that we have collected through the questionnaire. A comparative literature reviews about the position of women in the past as well as the review of the position of women in present is made. Various articles are used for this as the method of analysis. A quantitative analysis of the status of women (Nepal) taking 24 households through the questionnaire method was done. The answers given by the women are the base for the article. However, the answers to the questionnaire are used to compare the past and the present. Analysis of the received data and their explanation through the tables and graph are done. The charts and tables are followed by a detailed explanation. Conclusively the briefing of the condition of women in both the countries, the changes that are brought or not brought by development; in their life's status and position in society, is mentioned.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.246-251
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• 1999

Headdress which adorns the head has been used not only as a type of dress but also as a vehicle to express the human's mentality and a tool to convey ideas. This study first examines the type of headdress observed in the world folk costumes and investigates their geographical distribution and aims to examine how the types of headdress are inter-related to the peoples' natural environments, way of life and cultural background such as religion and aesthetic, ethical standards. Headdress used as important elements of many peoples' folk costumes can be categorized into scarf-type, hat-type and adornment-type. Veil-type, the one of scarf-types, was developed in Southwestern Asia and Arabic Africa influenced by natural and religious factors. This type is more simplified in Turkey and Eastern Europe and only covers head and neck in the former and only head in the latter while also being called 'headkerchief-type'. Hat-type is observed in many different parts of the world. Adornment-type has been used to symbolized one's noble social status and authority in societies dominated by shamanistic cultural background; it was also used in Far East out of the motivation to fulfil one's aesthetic desire. Headdress though it was originally made from the idential purpose of wearing, has developed into the various types affected by each people's natural environments, emotion and ways of life.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.20-43
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• 2017

While the Internet has been used to galvanise people for the collective good, many have voiced concerns over the noise and vitriol present online and polarisation. In Singapore where the government regulates traditional mainstream media such as print and broadcast, the online space has been described as a "Wild Wild West" rife with rumours, untruths and misinformation. Such developments do not only exert a potential negative effect on the deliberative nature of public discourse but also skew bias towards the online space, affecting the ability of online users to communicate with authority and power. This study seeks to examine the rationality of the cyberspace through using a new "rationality" framework to analyse political discourse online. Comprising objectivity, emotionality and partisanship, the rationality framework was applied to a content analysis of 197 blogs with political content in 2014. The analysis indicated that the online political space was not the Wild Wild West that it was touted to be with significant levels of objectivity and non-partisanship. There was a stark absence of emotional discourse, and relationships were observed between bloggers' anonymity and rationality. Cognisant of academia's and policymakers' interest on the quality and effects of online discourse, the proposed analytical framework and the study findings hold implications for both developed and developing countries.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.3-19
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• 2017

"Knowledge worker" is a term used to describe highly educated people whose role in the workforce involves the use of information and knowledge. Knowledge workers are key to the success of a great many organizations. Many Chinese companies find that the voluntary turnover rate among their knowledge workers is high. The purpose of this paper is to explore, from the perspective of knowledge workers and the characteristics peculiar to them, the factors that influence this high voluntary turnover rate. The models used in this paper, that will enable understanding of the characteristics of knowledge workers in China, are the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory and the Five Factors Model. In the case of Huawei, analysis using these models leads to the conclusion that the main factors that influence the voluntary turnover of knowledge workers in China are: age; gender; degree of extraversion and how open the person is to new experiences; family orientation; and occupation. This study leads to the conclusion that the company should pay closer attention to three groups: female employees who put a high value on their families; employees from non-R&D departments; and younger employees who show a high degree of openness to new experiences.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.93-109
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• 2017

Cross-culturally, acts of sharing are recognized as an effective method to initiate and maintain human relationships in real-life situations by promoting continuous reciprocal exchanges between donors and recipients. Specifically, this study examines the effects of sharing a media product from the perspective of the givers, as compared to effects on the receivers. "Gangnam Style," a Korean music video, is of interest because it was spontaneously shared worldwide by young adults who used it as a vehicle to build and strengthen social relationships, among young adults. While both the givers and receivers of the "Gangnam Style" benefited from bridging new relationships, the results of this study found that those who gave "Gangnam Style" benefited more in terms bonding already existing relationships, compared to those who received materials. This study provides further evidence in support of the "sender-effect" paradigm and enhances our understanding of how online sharing contributes to the construction of social capital among the young adults.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-57
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• 2015

Laparoscopic distal gastrectomy has become widespread as a treatment for early gastric cancer in eastern Asia, but a standard method for setting the stomach transection line has not been established. Here we report a novel method of setting this line based on anatomical landmarks. At the start of the operation, two anatomical landmarks along the greater curvature of the stomach were marked with ink: the proximal landmark at the avascular area between the last branch of the short gastric artery and the first branch of the left gastroepiploic artery, and the distal landmark at the point of communication between the right and left gastroepiploic arteries. Just before specimen retrieval, the stomach was transected from the center of these two landmarks toward the lesser curvature. Then, about two-third of the stomach was reproducibly resected, and gastroduodenostomy was successfully performed in 26 consecutive cases. This novel method could be used as a standard technique for setting the transection line in laparoscopic distal gastrectomy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture Conference
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• 2007.10b
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• pp.107-112
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• 2007

This study had the purpose to restore imaginary environment involved to symbolic thinking system of Eastern culture discontinued by scientific and reasonable rationalism of Western. To restore imaginary environment, this study selected example places such as Seoul, Beijing, Kyoto which were ancient cities of Korea, China, Japan each and used hermeneutics and phenomenological access method to draw out the element of imaginary environment by analyzing historical and cultural view of example cities. Through comparison and re-interpretation of historical and cultural view of three countries[Korea, China, Japan] in Northeast Asia, as the result of drawing imaginary environment involved within it, it was structured that the spirit and the factor of natural environment of places involved to each cities were reflected as the factor of civilized environment, organized that each element was united, and more sanctified the spirit of place step by step. This study has the meaning as first trial which comparatively analyzed city spaces of existent place of human life by new concept called imaginary environment. It may has the meaning that verifying the universality of imaginary environment involved to historical and cultural view of three Northeast Asian countries, however, there was limitation to examine specificity up to detailed elements of each city.