This thesis focuses on the past, present and future of hawker centres in Singapore. Hawker centres are essentially communal dining spaces that allow Singaporeans from different ethnic backgrounds...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the past, present and future of hawker centres in Singapore. Hawker centres are essentially communal dining spaces that allow Singaporeans from different ethnic backgrounds to enjoy a wide range of hawker foods for an affordable price. Singapore’s hawker culture has been able to exist alongside Singapore’s rapid urban development, beginning with street food sold by itinerant hawkers and transformed into hawker centres. Over the years these hawker centres have become more than just dining spaces and have become an indispensable part of Singapore. Changes in Singapore’s near future have triggered questions about the continuity of the hawker trade and the preservation of traditional dishes. Taking matters in their own hands, Singapore has nominated hawker culture for UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as they believe this is an intrinsic part of Singaporean identity and should be preserved and passed down to future generations. The aim of this thesis is to study the meaning of hawker culture in contemporary Singapore by discussing three periods of time, while discussing food as intangible heritage and its contribution to identity and belongingness.Show less
This thesis attempts to explore why the Native American community, Standing Rock Sioux community, has been denied its right to partake in the decision-making process surrounding the construction of...Show moreThis thesis attempts to explore why the Native American community, Standing Rock Sioux community, has been denied its right to partake in the decision-making process surrounding the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This specific project resulted in various confrontations between the tribe, the extractive industry and public and private investors. One of the main reasons behind these protests was that the tribe wanted to protect Lake Oahe and the Mississippi River from any potential oil spills. As such, this thesis analyses the resistance movements and the social media activism that ensued through Facebook and internet-memes that were used to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. This thesis argues that social media activism empowered the protestors to raise awareness about the negative impact that the pipeline’s construction would have on the environment. It additionally critically analyses the concepts of civic environmentalism, Free, Prior to Informed Consent (FPIC) and social media activism.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
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This paper investigates if the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative can be considered an advantage to Thailand in terms of economic development. First, the reader is introduced to the...Show moreThis paper investigates if the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative can be considered an advantage to Thailand in terms of economic development. First, the reader is introduced to the parameters of economic development defined by contemporary scholars. Second, the paper presents a case study analysing a transnational high-speed railway located in the country of Laos. From this case study references and assumptions are combined into an attempt to analyse the economic, political, and socio-cultural implications of the Belt and Road Initiative in Thailand. The paper will attempt to draw conclusions from existing literature of economic development and how the different actors and levels operate within the development regime of the Belt and Road Initiative. As the Belt and Road Initiative is suspected to play a major part in the current re-structuring of the Southeast Asian region the process of regionalisation is highlighted as an important aspect of the Belt and Road Initiative and elaborated upon. It can be expected that the Belt and Road Initiative development regime exerts a variety of impacts at different levels identified as the national, regional, and local.Show less
