SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE
From Left to Right: ISEAS Director Director Choi Shing Kwok and Ambassador Joseph Del Mar Yap.
On 4 December 2019, the Philippine Embassy in Singapore, represented by Ambassador Joseph Del Mar Yap, and the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, led by Director Choi Shing Kwok, formalized their partnership through a donation agreement. Effective 1 April 2024, the initiative was elevated to the Institute’s sixth country study program, reflecting a strengthened commitment to advancing Philippine–Southeast Asian understanding and collaboration. As a country-focused program, it complements ISEAS’ core research clusters: Regional Economic Studies, Regional Social and Cultural Studies, and Regional Strategic and Political Studies.
For 2023–2024, the Philippine Studies Program prioritizes foreign policy amid the US–China rivalry and South China Sea security concerns, domestic political dynamics and elite alliances, and economic resilience and sustainable development, particularly in relation to energy security and climate change.
The webinar “Influence, Pageantry, and Suffrage: Perspectives on Filipino Women,” held on 29 August 2024, examined historical and contemporary representations of Filipino women across media, beauty culture, and politics. It analyzed the rhetoric of early twentieth-century Filipina suffragists, focusing on their speeches, essays, and articles in women’s magazines, and how homemaking became a central theme in advancing arguments for women’s right to vote and explored the historical and cultural significance of beauty pageants as media spectacles shaping women’s roles in society. The discussion also presented the influence of Filipina influencers in constructing contemporary ideals of motherhood.
The ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, formerly the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, is an autonomous research organization established in 1968 through an Act of Parliament in Singapore. In August 2015, it was renamed in honor of Yusof Ishak, Singapore’s first President.
The Institute serves as a leading center for the study of socio-political, security, and economic developments in Southeast Asia. It promotes informed dialogue, enhances regional awareness, and contributes to policy-relevant solutions to contemporary challenges. Additionally, it cultivates networks of scholars and practitioners through its research programs, academic journals, conferences, workshops, lectures, seminars, briefings, and publications.