Michele Ford

Electronic band structure of magnesium and magnesium oxide: experiment and theory

Electron momentum spectroscopy (EMS) has been used to measure the valence band electronic structure of thin magnesium and magnesium oxide films. The band structures have also been calculated within the linear muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) approximation. The free-electron-like parabola characteristic of metallic solids was observed for magnesium with a bandwidth of approximately 6 eV, in agreement with previous measurements. The inclusion of energy broadening due to finite hole-lifetime effects and a Monte Carlo simulation of multiple scattering events gives good agreement between calculated and measured band structures. However, we measure a much higher intensity due to plasmon excitation compared with the simulated intensity. Upon oxidation the valence structure splits into two distinct, less dispersive bands typical of an ionic solid. Intensity due to plasmon excitation was almost completely absent in the experimental spectra for magnesium oxide. The LMTO calculation reproduces the overall structure and dispersion range of the oxide. The measured and calculated energy gap between upper and lower valence bands and their relative intensities do not agree quantitatively. This discrepancy may be due to a contribution of magnesium s states to the predominantly oxygen p states in the upper band.

After Nunukan: The Regulation of Indonesian Migration to Malaysia

Labour migration from Indonesia is a complex phenomenon. Migrants enter Malaysia via a range of formal, semi-formal and informal channels, primarily through Sumatra and Kalimantan. Although Indonesian authorities make little effort to stop semi-formal and informal migration flows, the Malaysian government constantly adjusts its policies towards both documented and undocumented labour migrants according to the condition of its labour market. Periodically these adjustments have involved the mass arrest and deportation of undocumented workers, for example when hundreds of thousands of Indonesian workers were expelled from Eastern Malaysia to the tiny town of Nunukan in East Kalimantan in mid-2002. Both the Indonesian and Malaysian governments have failed to recognise the impact of the Malaysian government’s policies on transit zones such as Riau and East Kalimantan, and that more serious efforts at bilateral cooperation must be made in order to lessen the social costs of labour migration in these zones.

Love, sex and the spaces in-between: Kepri wives and their cross-border husbands

In the Riau Islands of Indonesia significant numbers of women have entered into marriages with men from the nearby countries of Singapore and Malaysia. In many cases, neither spouse migrates after marriage: instead, husband and wife continue to reside in their country of origin. Their close geographical proximity means that the couples can see each other regularly while at the same time taking advantage of the economic opportunities presented by living on different sides of the border. These cross-border marriages challenge the normative model of the nuclear cohabiting couple/family. Our research into the motivations and desires of these cross-border couples living in the Riau borderlands reveals that space and mobility mediate their interactions with the Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian states, thus producing localized accounts of citizenship in which class mobility (rather than physical mobility) becomes the dominant frame through which they view state regulation of marriage and migration. This research challenges the state-centric tendencies in some of the scholarly literature on international and transnational marriage which places overwhelming emphasis on the ability of states to regulate access to citizenship rights. In presenting a view of inconsistent and sometimes incoherent states, we highlight the significant differences between perceptions of state influence and actual state practices in relation to the regulation of international marriages.

It’s about Bang for Your Buck, Bro: Singaporean Men’s Online Conversations about Sex in Batam, Indonesia

Questions pertaining to heterosexual mens consumption of sex tourism have only recently come into focus in a literature that engages primarily with the narratives and experiences of Western male s...

Temporary labour migration and care work: The Japanese experience

Around the world, advanced industrial societies are facing a demographic time bomb that has enormous implications for the workforce in general, but for workforce planning and industrial relations in the health sector and related industries in particular. Japan, which has traditionally resisted structured forms of labour migration, has responded by establishing labour migration schemes for nurses and other care workers from selected South and Southeast Asian countries. This article examines the responses of different industrial relations actors to the first of these schemes. It begins by describing the opening up of hospitals and residential care facilities to temporary labour migrants from the Philippines and Indonesia, before turning to a discussion of the roles played by trade unions and employers and an evaluation of the outcomes of the programme to date. The article demonstrates the potential pitfalls of trade-driven labour migration schemes and their implications for the sector and the migrant workers concerned.

Preparation of a 10 nm thick single-crystal silicon membrane self-supporting over a diameter of 1 mm

Abstract We report the fabrication of a 10 nm thick, self-supporting, single-crystal silicon membrane. The fabrication process can be broken up into four major stages. First, a buried SiO2 layer was formed by implantation of oxygen at a depth of 200 nm into a (100) silicon wafer. The size of the membrane was then established by removing the bulk of the silicon over a 1 mm area using a fast acid etch. After this the sample was etched in a hot EDP solution which stops at the buried SiO2 layer. The sample was then cleaned and the SiO2 layers removed, after which it was introduced into a plasma-etching chamber. The membrane was thinned down to a final thickness of 10 nm by RF plasma etching in a gas mixture of carbon tetrafluoride and oxygen. The thickness was monitored during plasma etching by measuring the intensity of He–Ne laser light transmitted through the membrane. The electron energy loss spectrum of the membrane has been measured and shows two features due to single and double plasmon excitation. The plasmon energy was 17.05 eV, in good agreement with previous measurements. Membrane thickness has also been estimated from the area of the plasmon energy loss peak. The final sample had good crystalline quality, was of even thickness over the membrane diameter and showed only a small amount of surface contamination due to the plasma etching stage.

Temporary Transnationals: Southeast Asian Students in Australia

Abstract Despite rapidly increasing global flows of international students, research to date has paid little heed to how students abroad identify and mobilise. Focusing on the experience of Indonesians, Malaysians and Singaporeans in Australia – a primary hub for international education – we explore the ways in which our informants understand their place and potential as students. We find international students to comprise a distinct sort of diaspora. With their liminal status, these – for the most part – only temporary transnationals do internalise new norms and agency in a personal sense. However, they tend to identify increasingly as national citizens and to be disinclined to mobilise politically, at least during the course of their studies. These findings add to our understanding both of collective identity and action among students, and of the broader implications of globalisation and internationalisation for social and political activism.

Women and labour organizing in Asia: diversity, autonomy and activism

1. Women and Labour Organizing in Asia: Diversity, Autonomy and Activism Kaye Broadbent and Michele Ford 2. Indonesia: Separate Organizing within Unions Michele Ford 3. China: Labour Organizations Representing Women Fang Lee Cooke 4. Malaysia: Women, Labour Activism and Unions Vicki Crinis 5. Sri Lanka: Contradictions for Women in Labour Organizing Janaka Biyanwila 6. Bangladesh: Women and Labour Activism Shahidur Rahman 7. Thailand: Women and Spaces for Labour Organizing Andrew Brown and Saowalak Chaytaweep 8. India: The Self-Employed Womens Association and Autonomous Organizing Elizabeth Hill 9. Korea: Women, Labour Activism and Autonomous Organizing Kyoung-hee Moon and Kaye Broadbent 10. Japan: Women Workers and Autonomous Organizing Kaye BroadbentThis book chapter was published in the book named Women and Labor Organizing in Asia Diversity, Autonomy and Activism [© 2008, Routledge.] and the definite version is available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203938225 The Articles website is at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429241390

Energy-resolved momentum densities for the valence band of a nanoscale Si single crystal

We have measured the energy- and momentum-resolved band structure, and ground state of occupation of the bands, for a crystalline silicon sample along the 100 and 110 directions. Band structures were determined directly by the technique of electron momentum spectroscopy (EMS) for a self-supporting Si membrane with a thickness of approximately 7 nm. We compare our experimental results with ab initio calculations for bulk crystalline silicon performed within the linear muffin tin orbital approximation. Qualitative agreement is seen between experiment and theory for the main valence band peak. Additional intensity is observed in the measurement on either side of the main peak and is attributed mainly to multiple-scattering events. Satellite structure could also be present in these additional features, although there is no direct evidence for this.

From Cronyism to Oligarchy? Privatisation and Business Elites in Myanmar

Abstract Privatisation is often contentious yet in Myanmar it has not so much been its merits or drawbacks that have attracted attention as questions around implementation. In Myanmar, the implementation of privatisation has broad significance for the political economy. A first phase of privatisation was focused on small and medium-sized enterprises and did not have a significant economic impact. A second phase, commenced in 2008, consolidated the interests of a business elite with personal connections to the military regime. The impact of this second phase of privatisation was such that some elements of this elite strengthened to the extent that they no longer relied entirely on patronage, creating opportunities for diversification in their strategies of wealth creation and defence. For this reason, it is argued, the wealthiest strata of Myanmar’s business elite is now best conceived as not simply consisting of cronies but rather as a nascent form of oligarchy. In theoretical terms, this suggests that greater attention to the qualitative difference between cronyism and oligarchy is warranted, as is close study of processes – like privatisation and political reform – that enable or require a wider range of strategies of wealth defence.