Millennial Asia

This article explores the contributions of—and constraints faced by—small and medium enterprises (SMEs) owned by mainland Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Malaysia using qualitative research and primary data gathered from five cases. It was found that Chinese immigrant SMEs make significant contributions to the host economy in terms of employment, diverse products and services, exports, innovation, micro foreign direct investment (FDI) and global linkages. Of these, employment creation and exports appear to be their most important contributions. They face various constraints, some of which are largely the same as those faced by local entrepreneurs. However, they additionally face some specific constraints which local entrepreneurs do not, such as language barrier, lack of financial support in the growth stage, lack of government assistance, and onerous bureaucratic problems, such as tax and visa requirements. The findings suggest that the government should create a special department to formulate tailor-made policies and incentives to support immigrant-owned SMEs, so that their contribution to the future economic development of Malaysia can be further strengthened and monitored.

The Iranian banking system engages in financial repression, and there are legal restrictions on interest rate. However, micro-evidence shows that the interest rates paid by Iranian firms in this condition are different across firms. This article aims to investigate the roots of the difference in borrowing rates by exploring the effects of the borrowers’ ownership structure and bank–firm relationship features. Using data collected from companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) for the period 2007–2016, empirical models are estimated through applying the dynamic panel data regression method. According to the estimation results, the presence of an institutional stockholder, and particularly banks, among a firm’s shareholders can generally reduce its borrowing rate. Moreover, the results show that the financing rate is significantly lower in the firms with more than 20 per cent of their shares owned by the government. In addition, the findings suggest that borrowers of unhealthy banks, in terms of non-performing loans (NPL), bear a higher finance rate.

Nepal, formerly the only Hindu kingdom in the world and now a federal republic in making, introduced citizenship law in 1952 for the first time at the dawn of the first municipal elections held in 1953. Nepal’s citizenship policy has passed through a number of controversies, debates and disagreements since then. The main dissidents are the Madheshis living in the Southern plains (popularly known as the Tarai) adjoined with the Indian border. The crux of the problem rests on the sociological basis of immigrant–native contestation. The Madheshis, due to their alleged ancestral and cultural connection with North Indian people, do not appear as true Nepalis to the non-Madheshis or hill-origin people, and at the same time, the Madheshis also allege that the hill-origin people of the Tarai are encroachers migrated from the hills. In this context, I inquire into the trajectory that the citizenship debate in Nepal and the concerns of the Madheshis has taken with reference to citizenship-related constitutional provisions and legal stipulations.

Malaysia is well known to the world audience as a multicultural nation and a country dominated by religious beliefs, including religions such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism. However, over the years, Malaysia has been doing its rounds in the papers for its strict rules over the denial of human rights for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. In 2015, Malaysia’s ex–Prime Minister Najib Razak openly declared his take on the LGBT community by equating them to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and claiming that both are ‘enemies of Islam’. Whereas Islamic religious authorities have made clear their stance on LGBT communities, the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) has taken a much-blanketed approach on the matter. The group is against any violent attack against, harassment or intimidation of and threat to the LGBT community, but the very essence of this stand is oxymoronic, as they have not done anything to prevent such incidents from taking place either. Sikhism has a liberal perspective on acceptance, regarding aspects such as gender, race, ethnicity and age, to name a few, that one would interpret it is an LGBT-friendly religion. Hence, this article is a humble attempt at understanding the Malaysian Sikh youths’ perspectives on the ever-growing branches of sexual identity. This article will add to the literature on Sikhs’ attitudes towards homosexuality, especially in Southeast Asia.

India’s working-age group has been over 60 per cent of its population for over two decades, with a record high of 66 per cent in 2018. The gross domestic savings (GDS), yet, plummeted during the previous decade, recording a low of 29.34 per cent in 2018. This is a divergence from the demographic theories which indicate that a rising working-age population will increase savings. Past research on India’s demographic transitioning implications on economic growth and demographic dividend focused on the working-age group. This article brings in a new dimension to existing studies and analyses savings trends by examining working-age youth, and the millennials within this subgroup, in particular. By considering data from between 1980 and 2017, the article investigates the influence of these two demographic variables on the GDS, along with key macroeconomic variables. The estimation techniques applied are the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration technique and the vector error correction model (ECM). The results indicate that the millennial youth’s influence on GDS is statistically significant. Though the long-term influence of the millennial youth working-age group indicates a positive effect on GDS, the adverse impact reflected in the short run may be pointing towards the future financial sustainability of this segment. Although youth savings are expected to be the lowest in the working-age segment, the significant fall in the youth ratio of employment-to-population in the 20–29 years segment, especially since 2005 onwards, raises the thrust for youth policies that can unravel the millennial savings conundrum and thereby pave the way for India’s demographic dividend.

This article examines the employability of vocationally trained youth and estimates their earning functions and existing wage differentials by gender and social groups in both Punjab and Haryana. Using primary data from two selected districts (one from each state) with a sample size of 914 pass-outs from 19 training institutes, we find that lack of demand and skill issues restrict vocationally trained youth to obtain quality jobs in these districts. Hence, most of them are either found in contractual jobs with a lower level of earning or remain unemployed from the time of completion of their training. Moreover, significant earning/wage differences are noted across gender and social groups. Female and Scheduled Caste (SC) workers are discriminated by getting paid lesser than their male and upper caste counterparts, despite their similar training and skill endowments. Hence, it is suggested that government intervention is necessary to lower the existing skill gap and to improve the quality of jobs for vocationally trained youth to reduce the rising unemployment problem.

Dependency on aged care homes is unusually becoming a viable option for elderly couples these days, which is unconventional to the Asian way of life. The perception of the aged care home, perceived as an institution, has gradually shifted over the years and continued to evolve as elderly couples have become more open to this option to ascertain their independence. Though scholarly researchers have conducted studies on elderly life in aged care homes, there is no evidence of research on elderly couples’ mundane life in aged care homes specifically addressing the complexities of institutional interference in the togetherness, end of life, privacy, sexuality and intimacy of their physical and emotional necessities. Therefore, this article addresses this research gap. It employs an in-depth systematic literature review to address the issue and unveils important insights on the body of knowledge. The findings reveal the complexity of elderly couples’ challenges in dealing with institutional interference, as well as the importance of autonomy and privacy.

Sukhpal Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, and Kamal Vatta (Eds.). 2021. Covid-19 Pandemic and Economic Development Emerging Public Policy Lessons for Indian Punjab. Palgrave Macmillan, xxvi + 309 pp., E93.08 (eBook), E109.99 (hardback). ISBN 978-981-16-4442-9 (eBook), ISBN 978-981-16-4441-2 (hardback).