A Talk by Dr. Chee Soon Juan: Singapore’s Slow Unraveling?
Description:
Beneath Singapore’s gleaming façade is a model propped up on rent-seeking, tax-haven strategies, and the grip of a single party. In this talk, Dr. Chee Soon Juan discusses Singapore’s politico-economic vulnerabilities with insights from his new book Unbroken: The Power of Resilience. Drawing on both structural analysis of the system and personal experience of isolation and vilification, he questions if the model can remain viable in the years ahead, or is it headed for unravelling? The talk is of interest to all who are thinking about the relationship between neoliberalism and authoritarianism. It is especially relevant to Singaporeans abroad, who must decide what role they will play in shaping the country’s next chapter.
To attend the event in person or virtually, please register here.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Chee Soon Juan is Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). Chee received his PhD in neuropsychology from the United States. He was sacked from the National University of Singapore, where he was Lecturer, three months after he joined the SDP, and he has repeatedly been sued by Singapore’s prime ministers for his outspokenness. He was also imprisoned on several occasions for organizing public speeches and protests, which are banned in Singapore. A leading dissident against Singapore's authoritarian regime, Dr. Chee continues to be an inspiration in the fight for democracy and human rights.
About the Discussant:
Meredith L. Weiss is Professor of Political Science in the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She has published widely on political mobilisation and contention, the politics of identity and development, and electoral politics in Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Malaysia and Singapore; her latest book, The Roots of Resilience: Authoritarian Acculturation in Malaysia and Singapore, is available from Cornell University Press. She co-edits the Cambridge University Press Elements series on Southeast Asian Politics and Society. She is the co-chair of the SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium, is a member of the New York Southeast Asia Network (NYSEAN), and has been a member of New Mandala's editorial advisory board.
Balikbayan by Adrian De Leon
Balikbayan: A Revenant History of the Filipino Homeland by Adrian De Leon
Venue: NYU Espacio de Culturas | 53 Washington Square S, NYC 10012
Date and time: Monday, April 27, 3:00 PM
The event is open to the public, but registration is required.
Enduring Otherwise: Muslim Queer and Trans Worldmaking in Indonesia
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Time: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Location: NYU Wagner – 2nd Floor, Lafayette Conference Room 105 East 17th Street New York, NY, 10003 United States (map)
Organizer:NYSEAN (co-sponsored by SUNY/CUNY SEAC)
Type/Location: Hybrid / New York, NY
Description:
Join NYSEAN for the book launch of Enduring Otherwise: Muslim Queer and Trans Worldmaking in Indonesia by Ferdiansyah Thajib, Senior Lecturer in the Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures MA Program at Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Rianne Subijanto, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Baruch College-CUNY, will moderate the discussion.
About the Book:
Drawing on ethnographic research in multiple locations in Indonesia, Enduring Otherwise examines how Muslim individuals and communities grapple with the challenges and possibilities of inhabiting queer and trans religiosity. Some distance themselves from religious tenets because of the harms implicated in them, while others immerse themselves in religious practices and spiritual values, seeking to reimagine them. There are also those who remain caught in tensions, having to navigate a life entrenched in ambivalence. Yet across these varied engagements, they continue to find ways to keep going. Offering a nuanced account of the affective politics of worldmaking at the intersection of sexuality, gender, and religion, Enduring Otherwise highlights how the drawn-out moments of hope, failure, improvisation, and exhaustion experienced by queer and gender non-conforming Indonesians configure efforts to create a world where no one will have to endure the unendurable anymore.
About the Author:
Ferdiansyah Thajib is senior lecturer in the Elite Graduate Program “Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures” at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. He is co-editor of Embracing Faith and Desire: Queer and Feminist Engagements with Islamand Christianity as Lived Religions and Affective Dimensions of Fieldwork and Ethnography.
Recording available!
Watch the YouTube video below:
Songs Beyond Borders: Thailand and Transnational Musical Connections
Webinar recording available below!
Date: Friday, October 3, 2025
Time: 3:30PM - 5:00PM EST
Location: NYU Wagner School of Public Service, 2nd Floor, Lafayette Conference Room, 105 East 17th St. New York, NY 10003
About:
Join NYSEAN, the SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium (SEAC), and the NYU Master’s Program in International Relations (MAIR) for a talk by Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Benjamin Tausig about the way that music features in their new books and how they engage with songs in their various writings. To begin the conversation, Benjamin will give a brief introduction to his latest book, Bangkok After Dark, which places nightlife in Thailand’s capital city during the Cold War into a transnational perspective via discussion of a jazz pianist. Jeffrey will then discuss his new book, The Milk Tea Alliance, particularly its chapter on protests in Bangkok and their soundtrack including the rousing imported anthem “Do You Hear the People Sing?”
Margaret Scott, NYSEAN co-founder, will moderate the discussion.
This event is followed by a reception.
Registration:
Please register by Thursday, October 2nd at 5:00 PM.
Benjamin Tausig and Rianne Subijanto with the SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium
Event Date: 9 July, 2025
Strangers in the Family: Gender, Patriliny, and the Chinese in Colonial Indonesia
Event Date: 21 November, 2024
Forging the Nation: Land Struggles in Myanmar's Transition Period
Event Date: 16 December 2023
