Tay Keong Tan鈥檚 INST 101 students engage in simulation exercise designed to bring
the world back from the brink of collapse. Read a student-penned article on the simulation.
On March 19, 2015, Tay Keong Tan鈥檚 senior seminar class on capitalism and globalization
gathered to debate whether recent terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists in France,
the US, and Canada are caused by a longstanding clash of values between Islamic and
Western civilizations. The debate was arranged to include a proposition team, an opposition
team, an adjudicating team, and a team of reporters, each consisting of four members.
On November 19, 2015 students in Tay Keong Tan鈥檚 POSC 300 Public Administration class
delivered their consulting report to Radford-Fairlawn Daily Bread. The student consulting
team advised the local non-profit on how to solve a facilities problem, weighing numerous
options and recommending the best course of action. Students were exposed to real-world
skills in this Scholar-Citizen Initiative class. They learned to interact professionally
with a client organization, analyze real-world problems, find solutions, and deliver
a public report.
Another group of students in Dr. Tan's POSC 300 Public Administration class, worked
with the City of Galax Volunteer Fire and Rescue to solve the problems of declining
volunteerism rates and rising costs for the department. After three months of work,
the student consultants recommended a "hybrid model" organizational structure to help
the department maintain its strong volunteer ethos of service and sacrifice and at
the same time fundraise and seek the City Council's support for essential non-operational
career positions. The project's impact on the Galax Fire Department and City Council
are now unfolding. The student consultants and the instructor have been invited to
present their recommendations to the Mayor and City Council of Galax during their
budget meeting on the evening of Monday, February 8, 2016.
See the students' report and Galax Fire Department's letter of appreciation
Service
Testimonial Letter from the Blue Mountain School, Floyd, Virginia for pro bono board
development work.
Exciting Events
April 19, 2015: Tay Keong Tan interviewed by Lianhe Zaobao on political leadership in Singapore after the death of long-time leader Lee Kuan
Yew.
December 9-10, 2014: Tay Keong Tan has been invited to be a participant in the 10th anniversary of the
United Nations Global Compact's 10th Principle against Corruption in New York, NY.
The event will bring together over 200 anti-corruption champions from business, governments,
civil society, Global Compact local networks, UN organizations, and other stakeholders;
it will be a platform to share lessons learned and explore effective ways to engage
in activities and partnerships that advance the global fight against corruption.
Dr. Tan is a globally renowned expert on anti-corruption who was previously Chief
Learning Officer and Indonesia Program Director at Integrity Action. He has also
consulted on anti-corruption with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in many
Asian countries. For more information on the event, viewers can click on:
Tan is a long standing member of the UN Global Compact's Anti-Corruption Working Group.
Currently, he is co-author of a book with the working group's global scholars on applying
the Global Compact's Anti-corruption Toolkit to strengthen university teaching in
ethics and anti-corruption around the world.
November 17, 2014: Tay Keong Tan is participating in a series of events hosted by Viginia Tech.
Tan was also featured on WUVT's Talk and the Table. Tan spoke with three graduate
students from Virginia Tech about his life before academics and how entered his specialty;
his work on the corruption in Bhutan; and how individuals would react to mismanagement
of funds in other corrupted countries.
While working on an Asian Development Bank Project to fight corruption in the Himalayan
Kingdom of Bhutan in 2012/2013, Tay Keong Tan helped the small, reclusive nation put
in place systems to strengthen integrity and governance. Bhutan is the world鈥檚 newest
democracy. The King abdicated in 2007 and instituted a system of constitutional democracy
with new legislative, executive, and judicial institutions. Nation and local elections
were held across the nation for the first time in 2008. During the project, Tan and
his team worked with the Anti-Corruption Commission to strengthen its capacity to
tackle the corruption cases in the country. During this project, the ACC successfully
prosecuted the Speaker of the Parliament and Home Affairs Minister for corruption
in a high-profile land-grabbing case. The court proceedings and ensuing scandal contributed
to a landslide victory by the opposition party in mid-2013 general elections against
the ruling party. More important, the watchdog agency sent a powerful deterrent message
to politicians and citizens throughout the land 鈥� that corruption does not pay and
no one is above the law.
What can a poor nation and fledgling democracy do to slay the dragon of corruption
when so many other countries have failed? What can a nascent government of Bhutan
do to strengthen integrity in its institutions and society, in a country with a small
middle class, weak private sector and an undeveloped civil society? Around the world
many developing countries fare badly in corruption control - can anything be done
to rein in the forces of nepotism, collusion, and abuse in a relatively poor nation?
Even if the Bhutanese succeed in reining in malpractice and graft, how can the fight
be sustained as the economy grows and the nation matures? Finally, what practical
lessons can be drawn from this last remaining paradise for the rest of the world?
Could the Bhutan experience teach us anything about integrity and good governance
in the New River Valley region?