Seen and heard this week

A TODAY story on 27 December reported on a proposal by NUS Law Professor Alan Tan to liberalise the ASEAN aviation sector by creating a “community carrier” with no restriction on ownership rights and flight routes to serve the region and bring in more foreign investments to meet the demand from trade and tourism. Prof Tan, who has been engaged as a consultant on aviation liberalisation in Asia by ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum, published his proposal in a recent paper by Malaysian think-tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs.

A study on social capital in Singapore by the Institute of Policy Studies at NUS’ Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy has found that the sharpest social divisions in Singapore may now be based on class, instead of race or religion. The findings of the study, which interviewed about 3,000 Singapore citizens and permanent residents on their social networks, were highlighted in The Straits Times on 28 December and called for policies that encourage more mixing along class lines to mitigate the trend.

Assistant Professor Patricia Chen from NUS Psychology shared some principles from psychological science that can increase one’s success at seeing through his or her New Year’s resolutions in a commentary for Channel NewsAsia on 31 December.  Asst Prof Chen advised setting purposeful goals, making concrete and procedural plans, structuring a conducive environment and having a growth mindset despite setbacks.

Read more about the NUS community in the news.