Beyond Representation? Portrayals of an Overseas Chinese Tycoon in Southeast Asia
-
Lee Kong Chian was among the most influential Chinese entrepreneurs in the Asian diasporic landscape from the 1920s to 1960s. In 1903, as a young boy, he migrated from China to then-British Singapore. He went on to build a formidable plantation-based business empire. Known in his heyday as Southeast Asia’s “Rubber King” and “Pineapple King,” he left profound imprints on business, education, and philanthropy that can still be felt in the region today.
Lee Kong Chian lived through tumultuous times: the rise of Chinese nationalism, World War II, British decolonization, independent state formation, and the Cold War. Different impressions of him have been produced and projected at different times in different places: as “a leading capitalist and philanthropist in Nanyang,” “a representative patriot of the Chinese Diaspora,” and “a virtuous pioneer in the revised national history template.” After reviewing these images, Prof. Huang will move “beyond representation” to explore less well-known aspects of Lee’s life including the nature of his economic empire and the political sensitivity of his position at a time when the sun was setting over the British empire.
Huang Jianli is an associate professor in the Department History at the National University of Singapore and a research associate in the university’s East Asian Institute. His many publications include The Scripting of a National History: Singapore and Its Pasts (2008), Power and Identity in the Chinese World Order (co-edited, 2003) and Macro Perspectives and New Directions in the Studies of Chinese Overseas (co-edited, 2002). Recent journal articles include “Umbilical Ties: The Framing of Overseas Chinese as the Mother of Revolution” (2011), “Portable Histories in Mobile City Singapore: The (Lack)lustre of Admiral Zheng He” (2009), “Chinese Diasporic Culture and National Identity: The Taming of the Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore” (2007), and “Entanglement of Business and Politics in the Chinese Diaspora: Interrogating the Wartime Patriotism of Aw Boon Haw” (2006). Further details including contact information are accessible at http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/hishjl.
Daniel and Nancy Okimoto Conference Room
Jianli Huang
Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall E317
Stanford, CA 94305-6055
0
hishjl@stanford.edu
2011 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Distinguished Fellow on Southeast Asia
Huang Jianli is an associate professor in the Department History at the National University of Singapore and a research associate at the university's East Asian Institute.
His first field of research interest is on the history of student political activism and local governance in Republican China from the 1910s to 1940s. His second area of study is on the postwar Chinese community in Singapore, especially its relationship vis-à-vis China and the larger Chinese diaspora. He has published a monograph on The Politics of Depoliticization in Republican China: Guomindang Policy towards Student Political Activism, 1927-1949 (1996, second edition 1999). A Chinese-language version of this monograph has just been published by the Commercial Press of Beijing in 2010. He has also co-authored a book on The Scripting of a National History: Singapore and Its Pasts (2008). In terms of edited volumes, he has co-edited Power and Identity in the Chinese World Order (2003) and Macro Perspectives and New Directions in the Studies of Chinese Overseas (2002).
He has articles in journals such as Modern Asian Studies, Journal of Oriental Studies, East Asian History, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, South East Asian Research, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Journal of Chinese Overseas, International Journal of Diasporic Chinese Studies and Frontiers of History in China. Some recent journal articles include "Umbilical Ties: The Framing of Overseas Chinese as the Mother of Revolution" (forthcoming, 2011), "Portable Histories in Mobile City Singapore: The (Lack)lustre of Admiral Zheng He" (2009), "Chinese Diasporic Culture and National Identity: The Taming of the Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore" (2007), "Positioning the Student Political Activism of Singapore: Articulation, Contestation and Omission" (2006), "Entanglement of Business and Politics in the Chinese Diaspora: Interrogating the Wartime Patriotism of Aw Boon Haw" (2006) and "History and the Imaginaries of Big Singapore: Positioning the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall" (2004).
His email contact is hishjl@nus.edu.sg and curriculum vitae is available at http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/hishjl
Seminars
Rethinking the 'Overseas Chinese': What's in a Name?
-
The movement of people leaving and returning to China from the second half of the 19th century to the present is a vast and complex subject. Among scholars worldwide, none has contributed more to the study of these cycles of migration and settlement in Southeast Asian contexts than National University of Singapore Prof. Wang Gungwu. His extensive writings on the topic richly illustrate the conceptual difficulties involved.
The very terms used to name the phenomenon are contested: “Greater China,” “Chinese Diaspora,” “Huaqiao,” and “Nanyang Chinese”? Are these migrants and settlers and their descendants “Overseas Chinese” or “Chinese Overseas”? Are they even “Chinese” at all? Prof. Wang’s struggles with nomenclature will be used by Prof. Huang to discuss larger issues, including how language can bias thought and influence policy and how to navigate the troubled waters at the confluence of scholarship and policy.
Huang Jianli is an associate professor in the Department History at the National University of Singapore and a research associate in the university’s East Asian Institute. His many publications include The Scripting of a National History: Singapore and Its Pasts (2008), Power and Identity in the Chinese World Order (co-edited, 2003) and Macro Perspectives and New Directions in the Studies of Chinese Overseas (co-edited, 2002). Recent journal articles include “Umbilical Ties: The Framing of Overseas Chinese as the Mother of Revolution” (2011), “Portable Histories in Mobile City Singapore: The (Lack)lustre of Admiral Zheng He” (2009), “Chinese Diasporic Culture and National Identity: The Taming of the Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore” (2007), and “Entanglement of Business and Politics in the Chinese Diaspora: Interrogating the Wartime Patriotism of Aw Boon Haw” (2006).
Philippines Conference Room
Jianli Huang
Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall E317
Stanford, CA 94305-6055
0
hishjl@stanford.edu
2011 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Distinguished Fellow on Southeast Asia
Huang Jianli is an associate professor in the Department History at the National University of Singapore and a research associate at the university's East Asian Institute.
His first field of research interest is on the history of student political activism and local governance in Republican China from the 1910s to 1940s. His second area of study is on the postwar Chinese community in Singapore, especially its relationship vis-à-vis China and the larger Chinese diaspora. He has published a monograph on The Politics of Depoliticization in Republican China: Guomindang Policy towards Student Political Activism, 1927-1949 (1996, second edition 1999). A Chinese-language version of this monograph has just been published by the Commercial Press of Beijing in 2010. He has also co-authored a book on The Scripting of a National History: Singapore and Its Pasts (2008). In terms of edited volumes, he has co-edited Power and Identity in the Chinese World Order (2003) and Macro Perspectives and New Directions in the Studies of Chinese Overseas (2002).
He has articles in journals such as Modern Asian Studies, Journal of Oriental Studies, East Asian History, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, South East Asian Research, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Journal of Chinese Overseas, International Journal of Diasporic Chinese Studies and Frontiers of History in China. Some recent journal articles include "Umbilical Ties: The Framing of Overseas Chinese as the Mother of Revolution" (forthcoming, 2011), "Portable Histories in Mobile City Singapore: The (Lack)lustre of Admiral Zheng He" (2009), "Chinese Diasporic Culture and National Identity: The Taming of the Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore" (2007), "Positioning the Student Political Activism of Singapore: Articulation, Contestation and Omission" (2006), "Entanglement of Business and Politics in the Chinese Diaspora: Interrogating the Wartime Patriotism of Aw Boon Haw" (2006) and "History and the Imaginaries of Big Singapore: Positioning the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall" (2004).
His email contact is hishjl@nus.edu.sg and curriculum vitae is available at http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/hishjl
Seminars
U.S. and Japanese officials confer with SPRIE-STAJE
News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs
A group of leading American and Japanese venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, academic experts, government officials, and leaders in business and related fields joined the "U.S. - Japan Dialogue to Promote Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Job Creation" symposium, organized by the Stanford Project on Japanese Entrepreneurship (STAJE), the largest U.S.-Japan event held at Stanford in many years, on February 23, 2011.
Representatives from both governments opened the event by underscoring the economic and strategic reasons for closer U.S.-Japan cooperation in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. U.S. Ambassador to Japan John V. Roos emphasized how an economically vibrant Japan is critical to the security of the United States, and how it creates opportunities for U.S. trade, investment, and job creation. Moreover, innovation and collaboration are vital to addressing critical global issues, such as climate change. Under Secretary of State Robert D. Hormats noted how innovation and entrepreneurship, often involving young firms bringing new technology to market, are fundamental to ensuring sustainable growth and inclusive prosperity, both at home and across the globe. For Japan, Teruhiko Mashiko, a Ranking Member of the Diet's Committee on Economy and Industry and a former Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, highlighted the potential for greater employment, development of green technology, and the circulation of human and other resources through innovation and entrepreneurship.
Several speakers pointed to ways government and the private sector can foster the creation of entrepreneurial ventures with a global outlook. Professor William F. Miller, co-director of the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE), focused attention on the need to support the full entrepreneurial habitat—including an active angel investor and venture community, entrepreneurial education, passionate entrepreneurs, and business services (legal, consulting, financial) that understand the needs of start-up companies. Additionally, several speakers suggested that mid-career hiring by large Japanese firms and greater willingness on their part to grow by acquisition would increase labor mobility and expand opportunities for entrepreneurial ventures. They expressed concern that, at present, a public offering of shares is practically the only option for startup firms to exit the venture stage in Japan. Others highlighted how greater English-language proficiency and changes in immigration law could expand the linkages between Japan and the global community of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Larry W. Sonsini, Chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, reflected on the waves of innovation that Silicon Valley has generated, both in terms of new technologies coming to market as well as the maturing of technology already out. Defining Silicon Valley as a culture rather than a place, he outlined the ingredients in the recipe for its success: an entrepreneurial culture, with such features as mobility of talent, diversity, and acceptance of failure as a type of learning; ready access to capital; sources of technology and technologists, particularly from universities and large forward-looking corporations; government support; developed laws and accounting systems; availability of exit options for ventures; and an infrastructure of lawyers, accountants, bankers, and consultants. He also offered his thoughts on key trends that will influence the position and direction of emerging technology companies, including: globalization, regulatory changes, development of capital markets, education, and the rule of law.
In the closing remarks of the day-long symposium, Robert Eberhart, a SPRIE researcher and the leader of the SPRIE-STAJE project, summarized the three potential roles for governments to play in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship: to establish rules to ensure fair dealing and access to the market; to rewrite (i.e., reform) the rules of a market thereby ensuring firms will address it in new ways; and to stimulate demand for advanced technology by purchasing it for its own reasons, thereby creating new opportunities for entrepreneurial technology ventures.
Hero Image
All News button
1