weekeegeepee

Saturday, April 28, 2007

China and India

Viewpoint: China ignores wage gap
Costs of economic growth (i think it's mentioned in sloman):
"It's well-accepted by now that rapid economic expansion, which has pulled more than 200 million Chinese out of poverty in 30 years, isn't the end game; the quality of growth — sustainable exploitation of natural resources and a fair distribution of income — also matters."

Also, it is argued that there is an inverse relationship between wages and productivity - "A Cambridge University economist, Jose Gabriel Palma, blames it on the emergence of the "scissors" effect between wages and productivity."

South Asian leaders gather in New Delhi for summit:
can make a good example of limitations in intergovernmental efforts to break down national boundaries - "The group was set up to promote economic cooperation and has since sought to tackle a range of issues, from food security to terrorism. But progress in most areas has been slow, mainly because of the rivalry between India and Pakistan."

What role for emerging India as a U.S. ally?: the relationship between India and the US might be equally interesting to keep an eye on.

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Friday, April 27, 2007

Globalizing the world's two most populous countries.

Engaging the new China: The relationship between the United States and China will shape the future of the planet in the 21st century. In key areas - economic growth, regional security, counter-terrorism, nonproliferation, human rights, public health and the environment.

India: When development and tradition clash
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The last line of the article should give you some idea about how to respond to essay questions in the form of "Should x be done at any cost" - "If the demands of the distressed rural people go unheeded, the violence in Nandigram will be a small taste of the unrest to come in India's quest for industrial development at any cost."

Another perspective on India's economic development: New Delhi's delicate balancing act.

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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Homosexuality in Singapore

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew questions homosexuality ban

What are we to make of these uncharacteristically liberal remarks?

Mr. Wang's response

Yawningbread:
The oracle from St James
Highly paid moral weasels

Sometime back, there was an article:

Penal Code: Proposed changes 'relevant and compassionate' - says National Council of Churches of Singapore

For your convenience, Sections 377 and 377A of the Penal Code (Singapore):

Unnatural offences.
377. Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Outrages on decency.
377A. Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years.

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Monday, April 23, 2007

Denmark versus Singapore.

"Denmark, Finland or Switzerland... can afford a mediocre government."

A Danish citizen responds to MM Lee's "mediocre government" comment.

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Saturday, April 21, 2007

Nation or “Migrant City”?

Another interesting question:

Singapore, Forever a Migrant City?

Our forefathers from all ends of the globe coped pretty well then when they convened here, and so the nation prospered. Tolerance for diversity was in-bred or maybe, was sidestepped by the hunger for survival.

Either way, the impetus provided by the very intrusion of “foreigners” fuelled the economy and catapulted Singapore from an island let go by Malaya to become an independent, prosperous, thriving, and perfectly non-homogenous nation.

This comparison of “Singapore in the now” with “Singapore in the past” is somewhat fraudulent. I don’t think there was much of an “intrusion by foreigners” back then…

Let's have a look at our Immigration policy since Independence:

After independence in 1965, immigration laws were modified in 1966 to reinforce Singapore's borders as the fledgling country worked to establish its identity as a sovereign state. In fact, this task had begun earlier with the prohibition of dual citizenship in 1960.

With naturalization and the automatic conferment of citizenship, the total share of the nonresident population (i.e., those who are not citizens or permanent residents but hold an employment pass or work permit) in Singapore had dwindled to 2.9 percent of a total population of over two million by 1970.

Compared to now, where plans to increase the size of the population in Singapore to 6.5 million will clearly have to involve a huge influx of foreigners into Singapore, given our dismal birth rates.
Not to be blamed, the FT seems to be a more exciting, exotic and talented breed, and in some ways, even more attractive as life partners for some. Was it not the same in the past? Not quite I believe, or we would not have the Chinese, Arabs and Indians co-habiting here on the Same Small Space, no?

No, it was not the same “in the past”. I do not see recall “policies to import foreign talent” back then.

Assuming that the FT is indeed, more exciting, talented, and attractive, what does that imply for the general population of Singapore? Do we see a shift in the composition of the population in Singapore, from a unique ethnic composition of “Singaporeans”, to a “group of people who are exciting, talented and attractive”? A shift in values from fidelity to utility – “you are not attractive enough, therefore we should import foreign talents to make Singapore more exciting”?

To hedge this competition, I suppose we can only turn to a few options; one of them is self-improvement. I only wish there will be more avenues to help locals upgrade. And I look forward to such opportunities without the red-tape prerequisites of criterion/ paperwork/ qualifications/ experience/ self-financing capabilities etc etc. WDA is making rather good progress now and for a while more it seems, but there needs to be more stable and firm institution with easy-to-qualify provisions…

It is a false dichotomy – we can only upgrade, or be left behind by these foreign talents. I have yet to see a country that is composed only of “talents” as competent as the FTs we are trying to import.

Consider also the possibility of “structural unemployment”, discussed earlier on in class, about how certain people may not be able to upgrade, even if they are given the opportunity to do so (limited by their abilities). Are these people slated to be left behind?

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Migrant Workers.

The developing world's absent providers.

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Religion vs. Secularism.

Separation Anxiety of Church and State. The author argues that religion and secularism interact in everyday life more successfully than the hardliners would have one expect.

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Friday, April 20, 2007

Unsecularisation of the State

The discussion in class about the unsecularisation of the state, and the revival of religion as a basis for identity and commitment, reminded me of an article in TODAY sometime back, in particular, about the status of the Malays in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF):
Perhaps the most controversial claim by the US soldier was that "official discrimination against the Malay population remains an open secret" and those of the race are "systematically kept out" of sensitive areas.

"Mr Walsh claims that this has two major consequences: It "limits the involvement of the ethnic group most inclined to join the military" and it feeds the "perception of a second-class status among Malays, a fact which terrorist recruiters have taken advantage of before, and they may do so again" — referring to the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members arrested in Singapore for plotting terrorist attacks.

Addressing this charge, Col Lim said: "The writer's prescription for ethnic integration in the SAF seriously underestimates the challenges of building ethnic and religious harmony in Singapore"

"Singapore has made much progress in ethnic and religious in Singapore does not gloss over the fact that there is yet more to be done and addresses these challenges directly and openly."

Stressing that integration in the SAF would proceed in tandem with nation-building, Col Lim added that there are a good number of Malay SAF officers, some with higher degrees, whose studies were sponsored by the SAF, and whether a Malay SAF officer makes it to a higher appointment depends solely on merit.

In fact, Malay officers have risen through the ranks and held senior appointments.

"We have Malay pilots, commandos and air defence personnel. Those who have shown the potential to take on higher appointments in the SAF are given every opportunity to do so. Malay officers in the SAF hold key appointments such as Commanding Officer," said Col Lim.

"In fact, the proportion of eligible Malays selected for specialist and officer training is similar to the proportion for eligible non-Malays."

In fact, it may not be as secretive as it seem. Current Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew made a controversial speech on it many years back(taken from one of the comments on Mr. Wang's blog):
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19 September 1999
The Straits Times

Reality is race bonds exist - SM.


THE community self-help group approach works the best for Singapore, given the realities today, said Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

The reality is that while Singapore has made progress in integrating the different races, certain emotional bonds are instinctive and cannot be removed overnight.

"When a Malay leader goes down to a Malay parent and says 'Look, you've got to do something about your child's mathematics... we're running these evening classes so that you can catch up', I think the response will be different if a Chinese community leader were to do that," he said.

There would be "automatic bristling" and the Malay parent would say, "Why do you think I am that weak?"

"Because the realities are such, we have found that these community-based self-help organisations work best because the motivation is there, the empathy is there, the trust is there." Asked by a polytechnic student if Singapore could overcome this and become a nation, Mr Lee said: "Yes, I think so, over a long period of time and selectively. We must not make an error.

"If, for instance, you put in a Malay officer who's very religious and who has family ties in Malaysia in charge of a machine gun unit, that's a very tricky business.

"We've got to know his background. I'm saying these things because they are real, and if I didn't think that, and I think even if today the Prime Minister doesn't think carefully about this, we could have a tragedy."


"So, these are problems which, as poly students, you're colour-blind to, but when you face life in reality, it's a different proposition."

Mr Lee said Singaporeans must continue to build social cohesion, and accept and trust one another. It is easy to acknowledge others, he said. "But to trust each other, say 'Will you look after my child while I'm away", that's a different level of confidence.

"We must eventually be able to feel as one united people," said Mr Lee in a speech at the Singapore 21 forum, in which he spoke on future challenges for Singapore in the knowledge-based economy.

The society must aim at more socialising between the different groups, whether in private or at community activities.

Progress will depend on how comfortable the young feel about one another.

"The more they socialise, the stronger the mosaic of our national cohesion," he said.

He noted that some letter-writers to The Straits Times had taken issue with community-based self-help organisations and asked why there was not a single statutory board for all races.

"That's a rational, idealistic approach but we've tried it, it doesn't work," he said.

He also noted that race riots occurred here only 30 years ago.

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Let us revisit one of the links put up by Daniel earlier on:

The Charade of Meritocracy (on alleged discrimination against non-Chinese in Singapore).

The discrimination against Malays has been discussed in parliament and the media, and is justified by the assertion that the loyalty of Malays cannot be assumed, both because they are Muslim and because they have a racial and ethnic affinity with the Malays in Malaysia and Indonesia. Current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has historically been a vocal defender of this policy.

In justifying this hitherto covert discrimnatory policy, Minister Lee Hsien loong noted in 1987 that, "If there is a conflict...we don't want to put any of our soldiers in a difficult position where his emotions for the nation may come in conflict with his emotions for his religion...they will be two very strong destructive forces in opposite directions"

Other articles you can read up on:

A question of loyalty: the Malays in Singapore

S'pore politicians hit Habibie 'racists' comment

Malay leadership: Interest, protection and their imposition

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Nation or Corporation?

Not a long discussion, just an interesting question:
Singapore: When a country is no longer a country.

Why bond breakers left.

I made a point in class a few weeks ago, how the economic environment is changing.
1) Corporations now prefer to outsource jobs, instead of investing in training the employees they already have.
2) "Restructuring", "downsizing" (euphemisms for sacking people) mostly target older workers, whose higher wages make them by definition less efficient, ceteris paribus (a younger person can do the same job for less pay).
3) "Foreign talent" is imported to perform functions essential to Singapore's ambition to become a financial / biomedical / cultural hub.

I went on to argue that the economic environment shapes the social environment: people are conditioned to value utility over fidelity - both in the workplace and elsewhere, people are judged more for his or her usefulness than any other quality. This has an impact on interpersonal relationships, which could be the reason why families are getting smaller and more fragile.

(I noticed a quintessentially Singaporean argument in one of the essays:
Singapore's dependence on Malaysia for a key resource like water is politically disadvantages; Malaysia can use the threat of cutting off the water supply as leverage... As Singapore's industries is heavily reliant on a consistent water supply, cutting it off could be disastrous...
Um... PEOPLE DYING OF THIRST is also rather disastrous, imho.)


Mr. Wang independently corroborates the points about the economic paradigm.

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Growth.

Singapore Growth Quandary: What's Enough? Land Reclamation and Influx Of 'Foreign Talent' Risk an Internal Backlash

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Singapore's Relations with the Region.

Singapore and neighbors just can't get along (On the International Herald Tribune).

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Singapore and the Effects of Globalization.

The First Tier of The First World: Beyond the Bottom Line.
This article examines the criteria Singapore use to define itself as First World.

What happened to Singapore, the land of plenty?

The same questions were asked, on Asiaweek.com (2002)

Again, the same questions, five years later (2007):
Singapore Swing: The island's economy is booming. So why are so many citizens worse off than they were 10 years ago?

Applying your Econs knowledge:
Quality of Life is more than Material Wellbeing: GDP as an Incomplete Measure of Singapore's Development.

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J2 CT1 GP Compre Answer Scheme (belated).

The answer scheme. Sorry it took so long. Thanks to Daniel for reminding me.

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Saturday, April 14, 2007

One more 'A' essay from J2 GP CT1.

Yang Yang's essay on "Democracy is the worst form of governent as it places power in the hands of ignorant masses".

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The Thai Junta and the Singaporean Government.

The uses and misuses of lèse-majesté. (lèse-majesté on the Miriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Defending the national scripture.

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Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Two sites for you to explore.

For those interested in focusing the Globalization essay question, check out Managing Globalization: the entries are usually very short and pithy, with links if you wish to explore the issues more. Each entry will also have erudite responses from readers. You might not know enought about world affairs to follow some of the discussion - DON'T DESPAIR. Just keep exploring past entries until you find something that interests you.

The Online Citizen is good for those who wish to focus on Singapore issues for GP.

I have also put the links for both sites in the sidebar ------->

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Examiners' Report on Essays (J2 CT1 GP)

The Examiners' Report. Do follow the links provided to brush up on your content.

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Friday, April 06, 2007

Clash of Civilizations.

Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations. (Please read this by 16 Apr, Monday. Make sure you look up all the words you don't know. Try out Dictionary.com or the OED.)

Additional reading:

The News Media and the Clash of Civilizations.

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'A' Essays from the J2 GP CT1.

"Democracy is the worst form of government as it puts power in the hands of ignorant masses." Do you agree?

Daniel's essay.

Gar Goei's essay.

Yee Sian's essay.

Yi Kai's essay.

"Global cooperation is vital but difficult to have in today's word."

Ming Fang's essay.

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