• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.20-43
• /
• 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
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.44-58
• /
• 2017

Scholars have long debated the factors that drive political participation and have recently applied theories, developed from analyses of citizens from Europe and the United States, to respondents in the democratizing countries of Asia. In both Hong Kong and Singapore, however, citizens attend rallies and contact officials - yet do so under authoritarian governance. Are the causes of political participation in these cities similar to what is observed in other groups of respondents across Asia? Or, do institutions influence whether individuals participate? In this paper, I evaluate the development of liberal norms of engagement in both cities as a function of traditional models of participation. As citizens in these cities possess some of the highest standards of living in the region, they should also face frustrations with the limited democratic accountability of their leaders. Ultimately, individuals in each city have developed support for democracy but, given the differing goals of each regime, the nature of democratic engagement differs considerably. In Singapore, citizens are mobilized to engage and participate but support the status quo. By contrast, engaged Hong Kong residents participate out of a frustration with the government, a function of their high levels of internal efficacy and institutional detachment.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.3-19
• /
• 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
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.93-109
• /
• 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 Service Research and Studies
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.55-73
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this research is to find a solution for matching service between recruiting and job seeking of software developers. An efficient matching service solution is essential for acquiring solid global competitiveness in software industry and IT academia. An in-depth analysis on deep-rooted problems on mismatching has been performed. Past and present policies on mismatching solutions have been reviewed based on desirable co-growth structure. A new matching solution has been derived and a triple-helix strategy has been suggested. A survey result for 14 domain experts and 85 employees of large and small software companies shows that the suggested matching solution is useful. The results of this research can be used for finding a better matching service solution and policies.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.210-236
• /
• 2021

China's Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure connectivity and other projects are presented in much of the discourse as a grand strategy to trap developing nations in debt, to exert asymmetric power and construct a new world economic order. The asymmetric relationship between China and Myanmar might therefore be expected to generate a range of political risks for stakeholders. Myanmar itself presents a "perfect storm" of problems, with dysfunctional governance, civil conflict, under-development and growing economic dependence on China. The Kyaukphyu port project and associated Special Economic Zone in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state is investigated as a case study of risks on the Belt and Road. While worst case fears China might seize military control of the port appear unlikely, at least in current conditions, empirical observation indicates the complexity on the ground generates an array of other risks - as well as opportunities, should conditions allow. Further, despite challenges and constrained capacity, Myanmar governments have demonstrated agency, including by re-negotiating control and costs of the Kyaukphyu project. The case underlines that conditions are more complicated than simply China's asymmetric power. A sceptical approach is taken to normative discourses in order to build inductive understanding of how stakeholders and local experts perceive dynamics underway. A political risk approach is deployed to develop a framework to identify, analyse and assess risks for actors in relation to the Kyaukphyu project. The research findings are presented on an interim basis, given current constraints on field interviews due to the current crisis.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.63-84
• /
• 2021

The present study was conducted to understand the turmoil effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the Malaysian stock market during the different periods of the Movement Control Order (MCO). The present study was based on the secondary data extracted from the DataStream and Bloomberg from 2nd January 2020 to 29th May 2020 to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the Malaysian stock market. The findings suggested that during the different periods of the Movement Control Order (MCO) from the 1st January to 29th May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the performance of KLCI index and all sectoral indices. The weakest performance indices were energy, property, and finance while the least affected indices were healthcare, technology, telecommunications, and media. This paper provides a review of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the Malaysian stock market throughout the different periods of MCO.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.85-107
• /
• 2021

Wildfires have become increasingly common and intense in South Korea because of climate change, but few have recognized the catastrophic level of the problem. Given the significant impact of wildfires, emergency management stakeholders must have effective risk communication structures for rapidly responding to such phenomena and overcoming geographical difficulties. Despite the country spending billions of dollars to build a big databased early warning system, risk communication flow during the 2017 Gangneung wildfire was ineffective, thereby causing substantial economic, social, and environmental losses. To examine the patterns of information exchange in South Korea's risk communication networks and their structural characteristics during the wildfire, we conducted semantic and network analyses of real-time data collected from social media. The results showed that the inefficient flow of risk information prevented emergency responders from adequately assessing the emergency and protecting the population. This study provides new insights into effective risk communication responses to catastrophic events and methods of research on webometric approaches to emergency management.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.259-277
• /
• 2021

This article investigates the geopolitics of the energy transition era, concentrating on China's solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. Authors have noted that the rise of renewables is changing the geopolitical landscape of world energy systems, but these new energy sources carry their own technical characteristics and geopolitical implications. Bearing this in mind, this research answers the questions: What are the structural factors that facilitate China's use of renewable energy to achieve political goals, and what are their implications? In order to analyze the data, I devise an analytical framework based on the energy statecraft literature and contrast rival explanations, particularly the "prosumer theory" and the premise of less geopolitical interdependence in a renewable-centered world. I show that asymmetric interdependence in the solar PV sector is already a reality. China's solar PV industry is a case that suffices all conditions (centrality in industrial capacity, market share, and companies' compliance, but to a lesser extent in critical materials and technological endowments) in the solar PV sector to devise effective strategies aimed at reaping benefits out of its asymmetric interdependence with the rest of the world.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.108-128
• /
• 2021

Research on the news coverage of North Korea has been paying less attention to social media platforms than to legacy media. An increasing number of social media users post, retweet, share, interpret, and set agendas on North Korea. The accessibility of international users and North Korea's publicity purposes make social media a venue for expression, news diversity, and framing about the nation. This study examined the sentiment of Twitter posts on North Korea from a framing perspective and the relationship between network strengths and sentiment from a social network perspective. Data were collected using two tools: Jupyter Notebook with Python 3.6 for preliminary analysis and NodeXL for main analysis. A total of 11,957 tweets, 10,000 of which were collected using Python and 1,957 tweets using NodeXL, about North Korea between June 20-21, 2020 were collected. Results demonstrated that there was more negative sentiment than positive sentiment about North Korea in the sampled Twitter posts. Some users belonging to small network sizes reached out to others on Twitter to build networks and spread positive information about North Korea. Influential users tended to be impartial to sentiment about North Korea, while some Twitter users with a small network exhibited high percentages of positive words about North Korea. Overall, marginalized populations with network bonding were more likely to express positive sentiment about North Korea than were influencers at the center of networks.