Knowledge Economy: Linchpin of ASEAN Integration A View from ...

director’s columnContentsDirector’s ColumnFeatures04Knowledge Sharing in Singapore’s Post-secondary Educational Institutions10Selected British Colonial Era Overseas Chinese Personalities and Their Links toCommunities and Establishments in Singapore, Penang and Yangon18Women and Islam in Pre-Nineteenth Century Aceh24Social Innovation in Singapore: Two Case studies of Non-governmentalOrganisations28Building the Mosaic: In Search of Southeast Asian Contemporary Art Writingand Publishing34Knowledge Economy: Linchpin of ASEAN IntegrationCollection Highlights36Singapore Town Club Collection38A View from the Top: Williams-Hunt Aerial Photograph CollectionEditorSub-editorscontributorsdesigner and printproductionAngelina PhoonJoseph Maria DawesKathryn Marian LaneSuporn ArriwongChiam Ching LeenDaw WinEunice LowMa. Theresa R. MilallosMakeswary PeriasamyRoberta BalagopalSundari BalasubramaniamSurin PitsuwanVicky GaoZhang LiyanViscion Media GroupCover: Items from the Singapore Town Club CollectionAll rights reserved, National Library Board Singapore 2009Printed in April 2009ISSN: 0219-8126All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording orotherwise, without written permission of the National LibraryBoard Singapore.Whilst the National Library Board Singapore has used reasonableendeavours to ensure that the information provided in thepublication is accurate and up to date as at the time of issue, itreserves the right to make corrections and does not warrant thatit is complete.The National Library Board Singapore disclaims all liability andresponsibility for any loss caused to any person by any act oromission, due to the material contained in this publication.If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about thispublication, please direct them to:Ms Ngian Lek ChohDirectorNational LibraryIt is our pleasure to bring you a speech delivered by Dr Surin Pitsuwan,Secretary-General of ASEAN, entitled “Knowledge Economy: Linchpin ofASEAN Integration”. His speech highlights the importance of libraries inbuilding a socio-cultural community in this region.Four of our Research Fellows - Ms Chiam Ching Leen, Ms Daw Win, Ms Ma.Theresa R. Milallos and Dr Zhang Liyan - have contributed their research piecesto this issue. Ms Chiam’s article, entitled “Knowledge Sharing in Singapore’sPost-secondary Educational Institutions” provides interesting insights onthe complex social negotiations that strongly influence the practice ofknowledge sharing in Singapore’s educational institutions. In another article,“Social Innovation in Singapore: Two Case Studies of Non-governmentalOrganisations”, Dr Zhang examines the function of non-governmentalorganisations in Singapore by analysing the Chinese clan associations andgrassroots organisations, which play significant roles to the nation-buildingof the city-state.In Ms Daw Win’s article, “Selected British Colonial Era Overseas ChinesePersonalities and their Links to Communities and Establishments in Singapore,Penang and Yangon”, she chose a few Chinese entrepreneurs from the threecities during the British rule to discuss the business empires they built, thelegacies they left behind, and the lessons we could learn from them. In thearticle, “Women and Islam in Pre-nineteenth Century Aceh”, Ms Ma. TheresaR. Milallos examined how Islam played a part in influencing gender relationsin Aceh during the pre-19th century and highlighted that women in SoutheastAsia and Aceh did enjoy more economic power and personal freedom beforecolonisation than their counterpart in the West, East and South Asia.If you are interested to apply for the Lee Kong Chian Research Fellowship,the brochure and application forms are available for download at HYPERLINK“http://www.nl.sg” http://www.nl.sg (click on “Site Map”, followed by “LeeKong Chian Research Fellowship”).In this issue, we are also happy to present to you articles written by ourReference Librarians. In Ms Roberta Balagopal’s article entitled “Buildingthe Mosaic: In Search of Southeast Asian Contemporary Art Writing andPublications”, she discusses the sources of Southeast Asian contemporary artwriting and publications, its audience, and provides possible ideas on how itcan be sustained. In our collection highlights, Ms Makeswary Periasamy bringsus the Williams-Hunt Aerial Photograph Collection. This contains photographstaken mostly during and after World War II, while Ms Eunice Low contributes apiece on the collection of the Singapore Town Club, founded in 1862.We hope you will enjoy reading this issue and we welcome your valuablecomments and feedback.Want to know more about what’s going on at the National Library? Get the latest on ourprogrammes at our blog at http://dl.nlb.gov.sg/victoriaNational Library Singapore100 Victoria Street#07-02 National Library BuildingSingapore 188064TEL: +65 6333 7977FAX: +65 6333 7990EMAIL: cis@nlb.gov .sgwww.nlb.gov.sg2