In 1991, a new comedy hit British screens and, at first glance, it was just another sofa-based sitcom. Soon, it became clear Bottom was a masterpiece. Mixing cartoon-style slapstick, knob gags and Beckettian nihilism, it left an indelible mark on British comedy. Written by and starring comedy legends Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as reprobates Richard Richard and Edward Hitler, their depraved universe unfolded over three chaotic BBC TV series, five explosive live shows and a for...

Advocates and activists in Singapore contribute to policy discussions and positive change through a combination of deft manoeuvres and patient politics. Yet civil society is often unacknowledged, their skill and labour instead frequently misunderstood, even earning them the label of “troublemakers” or “enemies of the state”.This collection of essays and interviews is a candid reflection on the intentions, beliefs and strategies behind the practice of advocacy across a spectrum of c...

Over the past couple of decades Singapore has successfully established itself as one of the major centres for international dispute resolution. The Singapore International Arbitration Act (SIAA), originally enacted in 1994 to give effect to the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, has been revised and amended four times over its lifetime, further strengthening Singapore's position as a hub for international arbitration. Following the latest amendments in 2020, this book prese...

Why are zombies consuming the popular imagination? This book--part social analysis, part theological critique, and part devotional--considers how the zombie can be a way to critically situate our culture, awash with consumer products. Matthew Tan considers how zombies are the endpoint of social theory's exploration of consumer culture and its postsecular turn towards an earthly immortality, enacted on the flesh of consumers. The book also shows how zombies aid our appreciation of Christ's ...

Contemporary Singapore is simultaneously a small postcolonial multicultural nation state and a cosmopolitan global city. To manage fundamental contradictions, the state takes the lead in authoring the national narrative. This is partly an internal process of nation building, but it is also achieved through more commercially motivated and outward facing efforts at nation and city branding. Both sets of processes contribute to Singapore's capacity to influence foreign affairs, if only for na...

In Christian circles, consuming pornography has been treated primarily as a moral issue, and the analysis of pornography has dealt with motivations, harms and responses. This book explores how such analyses end up missing important theological dimensions of pornography, and in so missing those dimensions, leave important aspects of the cultural power of pornography unaddressed. The book argues that a purely moral analysis of pornography has led to several presumptions concerning pornograph...

This book provides a detailed analysis of how governance in Singapore has evolved since independence to become what it is today, and what its prospects might be in a post-Lee Kuan Yew future. Firstly, it discusses the question of political leadership, electoral dominance and legislative monopoly in Singapore’s one-party dominant system and the system’s durability. Secondly, it tracks developments in Singapore’s public administration, critically analysing the formation and transformation of...

In 1991, a new comedy hit British screens and, at first glance, it was just another sofa-based sitcom. Soon, it became clear Bottom was a masterpiece. Mixing cartoon-style slapstick, nob gags and Beckettian nihilism, it left an indelible mark on British comedy. Written by and starring comedy legends Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as reprobates Richard Richard and Edward Hitler, their depraved universe unfolded over three chaotic BBC TV series, five explosive live shows and a formidable fe...

Does social justice promote Christian unity? With reference to paragraph 12 of Unitatis Redintegratio--Vatican II's declaration on ecumenism--this book argues that an emphasis on justice and unity without proper consideration of social context actually risks obscuring a clear public declaration of Christ, by having Christians uncritically accept the presumptions that underpin the sociopolitical status quo. This constitutes a failure in Christian interpretation, the crux of which is a failu...

In an industry of higher education that measures the longevity of its leading institutions in decades and centuries, the establishment and rapid growth of the eight-year-old Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School), National University of Singapore, is a remarkable story that deserves to be told. The five co-authors, all of whom were involved in guiding the School during its formative years, provide unique perspectives of key events and the thinking behind major decisions that hel...

The key difference between a highly successful organization and one that just merely reaches its quarterly goals--most of the time--might very well be how they address performance reviews.Are they just a perfunctory, annual “check-off,” with no other goal than to justify salary increases, or does the organization truly know how to manage and measure its employees’ performances to best impact a company’s bottom line?In The Performance Appraisal Tool Kit

The colourful, enthralling story of the Russo-Mongol battle of Kulikovo, involving: the killing of a Muscovite prince (only for it to turn out to be a body double) and an unexpected ambush to turn looming defeat into glorious victory.The 14th-century Mongol conquest of the Rus' – the principalities of Russia – was devastating and decisive. Cities were lain waste, new dynasties rose and for a hundred years the Russians were under unquestioned foreign rule. However, ...