China and America

Understanding Mattel’s Mea Culpa:
Quick to blame its Chinese suppliers for a massive recall, the toy giant now apologizes for its own mistakes. Why Mattel—and other major American companies—must save face with China. Read more.

Why Indians fight modernization.

A former American ambassador to India, William Saxbe, put it into words in the 1970s: "When I call on cabinet ministers, the president, or governors, they all love to talk about their sons, sons-in-law and daughters in the U.S. and how well they're doing and how well they like things. The next day I read in the papers the very same people are denouncing the U.S. as a totally different kind of country."

China: Economics, and Politics

Western Australia reaps huge profits from Chinese boom.

Here in the capital of vast, mineral-rich Western Australia, a wave of prosperity unleashed by Chinese hunger for its metals and energy have sent property prices soaring so high that affordable homes became scarce.

...

While the resources boom has enriched the state, it is also increasing its political clout on the national and international stage.

Is it ethical to adopt a policy of non-intervention?

The UN's silence on Myanmar.

Chaos in Darfur on rise as Arabs fight with Arabs.

Uses of a freer media.

China, the Olympics and the press.

Can Hollywood make a Bollywood movie?

Another perspective on the globalization debate - it is not a simple weighing of the net benefits of free trade against the local cost of cultural erosion. Read more...

Is consuming locally produced food more environmentally friendly?

"Food miles" - the geographical distance between the producers and consumers of food.

"... eating local reduces fossil fuel consumption... On its face, the connection between lowering food miles and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is a no-brainer."

But is reducing food miles necessarily good for the environment?

"Instead of measuring a product's carbon footprint through food miles alone... scientists expanded their equations to include other energy-consuming aspects of production..."

"... lamb raised on New Zealand's clover-choked pastures and shipped 11,000 miles by boat to Britain produced 1,520 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per ton while British lamb produced 6,280 pounds of carbon dioxide per ton, in part because poorer British pastures force farmers to use feed."

(The principles of comparative advantage still apply if we "expand [our] equations to include other energy-consuming aspects of production.")

Read more...

Racism is good?

The downside of diversity

"IT HAS BECOME increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength..."

"But a massive new study... found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings."

"Greater diversity equals more misery."

"It certainly is not pleasant when [I am hailed] as the guy who found out racism is good." (Robert Putnam, head of the study)

"If ethnic diversity, at least in the short run, is a liability for social connectedness... it can be a big asset when it comes to driving productivity and innovation... the diversity paradox..."

Read more...

Free trade is not a zero-sum game.

The United States and Korea recently signed a landmark bilateral free-trade agreement...

United Nations

Some background info:
A brief history of United Nations
Founding of the United Nations


Current Affairs:
The U.S Relationship with the United Nations
China-Taiwan-UN relationship

FOX News: Oil-for-food Scandal
Myths and Facts: Oil-for-food


Related to Singapore:

1. UN Urges Singapore Not to Execute Nigerian for Drug Trafficking
   The United Nations has called on authorities in Singapore not to go ahead with the planned execution of a Nigerian sentenced to death for trafficking in heroin.

   The UN expert on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, says the planned execution of Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi on Friday would violate international legal standards on the use of the death penalty.
   Alston says “the standards accepted by the international community is that capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence, leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts.”

2. Singapore "too ruthless" to be asked into Eastern Timor UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, when asked whether he would pressure Singapore to contribute troops along with Australia to alleviate suffering in East Timor, was hesitant. “Singapore troops are simply too ruthless,” the Secretary General’s office insisted. “Singaporeans are known throughout the world as extremely courageous and honourable, ever since they fought so bravely in intense battles with Malaysia for their independence a few decades ago. But we simply don’t need such skill and precision in our operations with East Timor. We are also worried that the Singapore troops will frighten the local population and this might work to our detriment.”

Global poll shows wide distrust of United States.

Global survey shows rejection of U.S. idea of democracy.

"Some Articles On..." - Globalization

Letter From China: In Asia, the past divides and alienates. (Political implication of globalization)

International law creeping over sovereignty (Political implication of globalization)


Migration benefits all (Economic implication of globalization)

Differences between Civilisations

"The people of different civilisations have different views on the relations between ... These differences are the product of centuries. they will not soon disappear. they are far more fundamental than differences among political ideologies and political regimes. Differences do not necessarily mean conflict, and conflict does not necessarily, mean violence" - Clash of Civilisations

Putting citizenship to the test

3 Japanese Americans challenge U.S. detention of Muslims

Is Islam compatible with the West?

Free Trade Talks

Asean and Japan try to reach trade deal

U.S. and South Korea reach free trade agreement

EU and South Korea opening free-trade talks

Death to America.

The tension between the Islamic world and the West gets all the attention and press. However, this article will remind us the the US has been ruffling feathers elsewhere.

"Around the world, by every measure, America's reputation and image has never been so poor."

You can download the mp3 or podcast from the above site; alternatively, you can get it from tlnexus: "Death to America".

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.

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.
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.

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?

Migrant Workers.

The developing world's absent providers.

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.