Soft power and cultural diplomacy: emerging education hubs in Asia

Abstract

Several education hubs have emerged in Asia and the Middle East in recent years with a specific focus on cross-border higher education. Through considerable efforts in policy planning and generous funding, these hubs aim to transform a country or city into an eminent destination for education, research, and training. The inherent design of these hubs raises many questions about higher education's contribution to international relations as large numbers of local and foreign actors congregate. Specifically, some education hubs are leveraging cultural heritage and colonial legacy as an instrument of soft power by emphasising shared cultural identities and values. By engaging in cultural diplomacy, education hubs seek to exert influence on the international stage. However, assumptions about shared identities and values as well as the prevailing political climate of the local society present serious challenges for policy implementation. Alternatively, an education hub can also engage with international actors based on an enduring faith in the venture of science to propel the knowledge economy – another kind of norm that underpins soft power. This paper compares Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong as education hubs that engage in soft power and cultural diplomacy.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Jack T. Lee is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan. He completed his Ph.D. in Higher Education with a specialisation in comparative and international education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in Canada. Prior to his doctoral work, he worked for nearly 10 years at the Centre for Intercultural Communication at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Notes

1. Due to restrictions on information in the case of Singapore, fewer policy-makers agreed to participate in this study compared to Malaysia and Hong Kong.

2. A*STAR is the Agency for Science, Technology and Research of Singapore. It is a key actor in the country's efforts to become Asia's Innovation Capital.

3. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon on 11 September 2011 resulted in tighter security measures against Muslims entering the USA.

4. International students who are not Muslim had to take a course on moral education instead. Graduate students were exempt from these courses. In September 2013, the government replaced these compulsory courses with a new general studies course for all students (local and international). Regulations are therefore in transition at the time of this publication.

5. Unlike conventional banking, Islamic banking prohibits interest (riba) and uncertainty (gharar). Instead, Islamic banking aims for wealth distribution by the sharing of debts and risks. Investments must be in ethical ventures that are compliant with Shariah, the moral and legal code of Islam (e.g. no investments in the trade of alcohol).

6. This number refers to the 3 + 0 programmes, whereby a student can obtain a foreign degree by studying for three years in Malaysia. Previously the arrangement was 2 + 2 requiring two years each in Malaysia and the country of the foreign provider.

7. Singaporeans are quick to point out that ongoing ethnic tensions can be observed in Malaysia and Indonesia.

8. Universities in Malaysia and Hong Kong certainly engage with foreign actors in STEM research, but the scale and intensity is nowhere near Singapore's.

9. There are an estimated 40,000 Shias in Malaysia. A 1989 Islamic law and a 1996 fatwa by the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia banned Shiite Islam for its ‘deviant ideology' (Gooch 2011).

10. In 2011, 40% of the total births in Hong Kong were attributed to Mainland Chinese women whose spouse is not a Hong Kong resident (Census and Statistics Department 2012).