volume-23-number-1

Editor-in-Chief: Ador Revelar Torneo

Preliminaries

Year: 2023, Volume 23 Number 1

Abstract: Despite its burgeoning popularity in recent years, “drag queen” is a relatively new concept to the Thai public. This qualitative study aims to investigate how the meaning of drag queens in Thailand is being constructed through their narratives and to look into how being drag queens affects their lives, especially regarding the experience of discrimination
and abuse. Ten professional drag queens, aged 19 to 34, who based their activities in Thailand, were interviewed via phone calls in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Two participants identified as transwomen, while eight identified as gay. The interview recordings were transcribed, and the transcripts were analyzed with a hybrid approach of theoretical and inductive thematic analysis. The participants regarded drag as a form of artistic expression through physical bodies and described four important characteristics of drag queens that they had been constructing through their performativity: (1) the performing element, (2) transformation, (3) over-the-top quality, and (4) individuality. Sexuality was discussed as an important factor in being recognized as a drag queen, with the majority of participants supporting transwomen’s inclusion. The participants’ experiences related to being drag queens were grouped into seven themes: (1) happiness from being drag queens, (2) investing in drag, (3) family acceptance, (4) love lives, (5) discrimination and abuse, (6) drag queens’ limited space, and (7) Thai people’s attitude towards drag queens. Many participants had been rejected by their parents because of their sexuality and/or because they had become drag queens, but all had reconciled prior to the data collection for this study. Most gay participants experienced difficulty in establishing romantic relationships, in which femmephobia seemed to be at play. Despite acknowledging the growing, yet still limited, acceptance from the public in recent years, the participants reported discrimination and verbal harassment against them or their peers in public spaces. Drag queens, by transforming themselves between men and women and combining both masculinity and femininity in their performances, arguably challenge the conventional definition of sexuality and the concept of gender binary. They also seem to challenge the meaning
of other sexualities whose definitions have been constructed by expressions of masculinity and/or femininity, especially the traditional concept of gay men.

Keywords: drag queens, sexuality, gender equality, performativity, femmephobia, LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQI, Thailand

Abstract: One of the most debated questions in contemporary legal discourse is the fraught relationship between law and morality. Despite the enormous amount of energy that has been devoted to this question, most of, if not all, the available workshave failed to take into account the fact that today’s legal questions have become increasingly bound to be both international and domestic in nature. To make matter worse, the prevailing debate has largely been discussed within the purview of the developed and relatively secular domestic legal setting of the West. It is arguable that they have effectively ignored both the nuances of the question and the interface between international and domestic legal systems have become increasingly important in today’s effort to understand the current legal position. Against this background, this paper is a unique attempt to bring the resulting irreconcilable tension as a result of the growing pressure of the globalization of law on the one hand and the popular demand to maintain national (legal) identity on the other to the fore of the debate. Going further, this paper provides the first attempt to provide a viable theoretical respond to such a challenge. With Indonesia’s 2014 Halal Act as a case in point where collision between international and domestic norms is conceivable, this study highlights the urgency to reconcile the pressure for the globalization of law on the one hand and maintaining the national identity on the other. In so doing, this paper advances a proposal that presses for more acknowledgment of the role of domestic constitutional ordering
in the process of international legal development.

Keywords: law and religion, globalization of law, constitutionalism, law and development, Islam

Abstract: The threat of climate change to humanity and the environment calls for urgent collective action to mitigate its effects. Previous studies have shown that experience with climate change-related events influences intention to engage in actions to mitigate climate change. Because the Philippines regularly experiences extreme weather events associated with climate change, this study examined the effects of personal experience with climate change-related events on household energy conservation behavior to help reduce climate change. A survey was conducted among college students (N = 569) about their experience of climate change-related phenomena, risk perception, and household energy conservation intention and behavior. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results showed that personal experience of events associated with climate change had a significant indirect effect on intention to conserve energy through risk perception. Intention, in turn, directly influenced household energy conservation. The model explained 25% of the variance in energy conservation behavior in college students. Based on these findings, implications for the development and design of strategies to promote conservation behavior in students are discussed.

Keywords: climate change, experience, risk perception, intention, household energy conservation

Abstract: Many developing Asian countries are known as promising transnational commercial surrogacy markets for infertile foreign couples. Although there have been recent reports stating that transnational surrogacy is surreptitiously taking place in Vietnam, this country has never taken the path to become an ideal destination for foreigners looking for surrogacy. By comparing and analyzing the economic, demographic, medical, and legal aspects of some Asian countries, along with the survey of over 166 rural women in Vietnam, this article aims to explain why Vietnam, while sharing various similarities with the typical countries such as India and Thailand, has not been a transnational surrogacy center. The research shows that legal policy and psychosocial factors are the barriers preventing this service from being popularized in Vietnam. The results give some implications for controlling the reproductive service industry in developing Asian countries.

Keywords: transnational surrogacy, assisted reproductive services, commercial surrogacy, altruistic surrogacy, surrogacy
in Vietnam

Abstract: Politicians are empowered as representatives of varying visions of the public good. If inquiries are made on why disruptive actors can ascend to high positions of political and moral authority, then due focus must be given on their psychopolitical roots. Through quantitative analysis and by reverse engineering the concept of political illiberalism from
recent normative theories of political liberalism, this study illustrates that political illiberalism in the Philippines is a political value system characterized by (1) support for liberal institutions qualified in favor of political leadership and (2) political intolerance. These tendencies form the psychopolitical base of disciplinarian and leader-centric tendencies that have been observed in recent studies. Moreover, in order to show that this is a sustained tendency, this study utilizes the fourth and fifth waves of the Asia Barometer Survey. Overall, many Filipinos want liberal institutions like the rule of law and representative politics to exist alongside strong leaders and political exclusion.

Keywords: illiberalism, political intolerance, political psychology, populism, political values, Philippines

Abstract: While studies have supported parental influences on children’s creativity development, little attention has been paid to understanding parents’ perspectives of nurturing children’s creativity. This study used a qualitative approach to understand how parents in Malaysia assist their children to develop creativity and to identify challenges encountered along the process. Twenty-nine parents were interviewed individually. Five main themes were identified: creativity involves novel ideas, strategies to encourage the growth of creativity, learning environments, challenges encountered, and the roles of school teachers. Notably, parents agreed that authoritative parenting style and educational online materials are conducive to creativity, while time and financial constraints and exam orientation are the pull factors of nurturing creativity. The results not only extend the literature by adding parents’ viewpoints but also offer insights into opportunities and challenges for promoting creativity among children. Specifically, developing affordable online parent–child resources is a promising area for future exploration and research.

Keywords: creativity, financial constraints, parent perspectives, primary school students, Malaysia

Abstract: Punning, either monolingual or bilingual, is a significant action in creating literal humor and rhetorical jokes. Notwithstanding, there is a dearth of linguistic studies on punning, particularly bilingual punning. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a sociolinguistic appraisal of Chinese-English bilingual puns in Guangzhou, an international Chinese metropolis, by presenting and analyzing the data collected from the linguistic landscapes of Guangzhou. A qualitative method was employed in analyzing the data collected from 18 commercial signages with visible bilingual puns that were located in two popular commercial centers of Guangzhou. Resultantly, Chinese-English puns largely occurred at the word level with bilingual homophones as the core of the puns on Guangzhou’s commercial signage. The wide use of the word Fun showed the conventionalized, context-dependent, and intertextuality features of bilingual puns. Furthermore, bilingual puns displayed an emerging feature of translanguaging in the public space. Hence, this study sheds light on the features of Chinese-English bilingual puns and contributes to existing literature by discovering the sociolinguistic dynamics of bilingualism in Chinese communities.

Keywords: bilingual puns, linguistic landscapes, translanguaging, English, homophone

Abstract: This study proposes and tests a structural model that integrates brand gestalt, brand attitude, and revisit intention in the context of tourism destinations. Specifically, the study investigated the influences of 4S brand gestalt dimensions (i.e., story, sensescape, servicescape, and stakeholder) on tourists’ attitudes and intention to revisit a destination. Survey-based data were collected from visitors of North Sulawesi, Indonesia (n = 357). Findings from the structural equations modeling analysis indicate that the two underlying dimensions of brand gestalt (i.e., story and sensescape) significantly influence brand attitude and revisit intention. Additionally, the brand attitude has a significant effect on revisit intention. Finally, while the brand story is the most salient predictor of brand attitude, sensescape has a greater impact on revisit intention. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are proposed.

Keywords: brand gestalt, brand story, brand sensescape, brand attitude, revisit intention