The Effects of Globalisation Which Singapore Faces and How the Government Is Tackling These Impacts - Report Example

Name: Professor: Institution: Course: Date: Executive summary This report has analysed the impacts of globalisation on Singapore. Singapore history from being a fishing port to its current position as a global city has been outlined briefly. The discussion then focuses on the impacts of globalisation starting with negative effects, positive effects and finally the way in which Singapore government is responding to these impacts. The education sector is seen as one of the major beneficiaries of globalisation due to improvements made to meet international criteria. The country has also been able to attain development and is among the world developed nations Areas which have been negatively affected are income inequity, country’s culture and national pride. It’s concluded that Singapore government need to address the issue of wage inequality which has affected more than half of country’s households and also put more efforts in maintaining national identity. Table of contents Executive summary 2 Introduction 4 Positive impacts of globalisation 5 Education 5 High gross domestic product (GDP) 5 Negative effects 6 Widening income gap 6 National household income 6 Erosion of Culture 8 Lack of national pride 8 Counteracting effects of globalisation 9 Conclusion 10 References 10 Introduction Globalization is well defined as a phenomenon which has led to interconnection of societies, nations, cultures and communities. This has been achieved by worldwide network of transport, media, technology, business and social political ideas. The effect of increased globalization has been portrayed by reducing barriers to investment, increased economic integration as well as industrialisation of developing countries. This report will look into the impacts of globalization in Singapore. Singapore is an island country which has been able to rise into a developed country from initial entreport during the last few decades. The country which is densely populated is located in East Asia (Wong, 2011). At the moment, Singapore is regarded as a global city due to its development in terms of infrastructure and business globally. The main objective of developing Singapore nation through globalisation was to bring together different immigrant groups in the country and achieve economic growth. Through this process, Singapore government targeted that the population would gain nation identity and still maintains the country growth. Though the county was able to achieve economic development, the impacts of globalisation are evident (Sylvia, 2012). This paper identifies the effects of globalisation which Singapore faces and how the government is tackling these impacts. The first part looks at positive impacts brought about by globalization in Singapore. This second part will look at the negative effects and how the government is acting to curb them. Positive impacts of globalisation Education Singapore being globalized nation has been able to equip students with views that are global and competitive. The government has been able to promote use and learning of English which an international business language. More universities from the western countries have established branches in Singapore. Two main institutes of higher learning, Duke-NUS graduate medical school which was founded in 2000 and Imperial College London-Nanyang Technological University which was started in 2010 offers international education in the country (Singapore Government, 2012). Education sector is one area in which Singapore government has benefited immensely. This is due to the contribution which comes from education in knowledge based economy. Singapore now boasts an education system that is similar to that offered by the western countries. The education system in Singapore has always encouraged social integration of students from different nationalities so as to promote cohesion. These values help the student to interact and gain values that helps them succeed in global society. Despite these achievements, the government is faced with issues of information overload to students and dangers of multi-culturalism and citizenship in education sector. High gross domestic product (GDP) Singapore has experienced high growth in GDP and productivity as a result of globalisation. The growth has made the country to have a world class infrastructure. Multinational corporations have invested heavily in the country which has increased the country’s revenue (Shandre, 2009). This growth has increased the country venerability to external shocks. In the recent years, the amount of global capital flowing into the economy has increased. This has led to challenges in banks as they manage the liquidity and exchange rates. Due to challenges of increased cash flow, the financial institutions have been able to advance their skills in management of finances. The resultant effect has been growth of banks and other financial sectors while still maintaining economic growth (Shandre, 2009). Negative effects Widening income gap Income differences refer to disparities in the distribution of incomes and economic assets. The income received by the employees has been differing due to globalization in Singapore. Those who are highly educated have a great chance of getting good jobs due to their expertise, leading to having higher salaries. This has led to those who are not well educated having lower salaries as the jobs for them are scarce (Beaman, 2009). National household income The household income in Singapore at 2010 increased due to strong economic growth. However the country growth favored some more than others. Looking at the period of 2005-2009, the household income for those who are low in the society increased by 3-4 percent, this is in comparison to the 6-11 percent increase to those in the topmost decile. The open global nature of Singapore economy has contributed a lot in making this inequity. Income inequality can bring major problems to the countries such as Singapore as its service oriented and also multi-religious. This is due to the distortion of prices which pushes low income families into poverty. Looking at racial bias in income inequality, the effects could drive Singapore to civil unrest, mortality rates and crime (Martin and Karen, 2009). Singapore has a unique situation where income distribution has more than half of its population earning only two thirds of the average wage. Gini coefficients are used to measure income inequality. Looking at the period between1966-1973, the Gini coefficient has been declining but it has grown after that. In 1990, the Gini coefficient was 0.436 and rose to 0.467 in 1999. This value increase and rose to 0.485 in 2007 (Shandre, 2009). Wage disparity in Singapore has been the highest in all the growing economies. Change of economy from the traditional which catered to semiskilled and unskilled labor to knowledge based economy disadvantaged unskilled workers. Skilled workers have been able to reap the full benefits of globalized Singapore economy as opposed to those who are semiskilled or unskilled. Singapore aggressively took a strategy to restructure and upgrade its skills to counteract the tight labor market. This led to knowledge based economy which led to fast transition of country economy. The changes took place fast unlike other countries. The situation led to those who were highly skilled being absorbed into the market leaving the unskilled and semiskilled jobless and with little time to adapt. Erosion of Culture There has been evidence of exploitation of local Singaporean culture and rituals by tourism. Singapore has been left powerless as they are faced with the global tourism development. The global influence has been felt in the arts and cultural events. Despite the major efforts that the Singapore government tried to put in place so as to curb western products and culture earlier, a multi-cultural environment has thrived (O’Byrne and Hensby, 2011). The geographically bounded culture that was in place has been loosened and culture changed by globalization. In 1960s and 1970s, Singapore government was against western culture which they saw as having negative effects on their youth. This led to the government taking initiatives that would counteract the globalization influence on culture. This was done through promotion of Asian culture. This was evident in the White Paper on Shared Values that was presented in1991. The paper encouraged the citizens in upholding national principles; community role of support and according respect to each other, conflict avoidance, family as the most important unit in society and harmony. The country has to struggle to hold their culture and prevent it while at the same time promoting globalization. This is a big struggle for the county as the effects of globalization on culture still exist and tends to erode it. Lack of national pride Singapore has put more of its efforts in attaining growth and little to promote national identity. International corporations dominate the Singapore market making the citizen lack value for local brands and products. The influx of foreign workers has also contributed to this state (Sanagavarapu, 2010). In 2010, the population of Singapore was at 63 percent down from 86 percent in 1990. This translates to fact that in every 10 peoples four are foreigners. This makes most of citizens feel like second class citizens in their own land (Robinson, 2011). Counteracting effects of globalisation Globalisation has brought both positive and negative effects to Singapore. This has made the government to take initiative so as to support the positive effects while at the same time eliminating the negative impacts. To support multicultural coexistence between the different communities in the country, the government has adopted one representative language for each of major races in the country which are English, Tamil, Chinese and Malay. These varieties of languages has led to establishment of a common language known as Singlish which many Singapore citizens identify with. A common language acts as a base of interactions between different language groups and helps in integration (De Gioia, 2009). Another area that the Singaporean government has looked is the education system. The government has emphasized new elements such as critical and creative thinking in the educational sector. This has led to increased funding to the education sector and catering for the youth in education. The government has made sure that the present education system meets the challenges of the new era of globalisation and technology. In year 2000, the government made sure that there was a ratio of 2:1 between pupils and computers in schools. The country has also put systems in place that ensures that the work force upgrade their skills and knowledge continuously. This has been promoted by manpower development schemes which have been designed for the purpose. There have also been efforts to reduce the inequity in the income levels. Those in low income levels have received payment top ups to reduce the disparity but still the problem persist. Conclusion Globalisation has led Singapore to a global city from a fishing island as it was years ago. This has come with positive effects as well as negative effects on the country. The wage gap has widened as the economy has become more knowledge based as opposed to traditional economy. The country culture has been affected by western influence over the years. On the positive side, the country has attained great growth economically and in the education sector. It has been proved that the country enjoys a system of education comparable to globalised western countries. Efforts to curb the negative effects of globalisation have been undertaken. Despite these the country has a lot to do so as to harmonise and reduce inequity on wages and promote national values. This will instill a sense of belonging to the low income earners in the country. References Bilveer S 2008, SINGAPORE: Success at Home, Challenges from Abroad, Southeast Asian Affairs, Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. De Gioia, K 2009, Parent and staff expectations for continuity of home practices in the child care setting for families with diverse cultural backgrounds, Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, vol. 34, no. 3, p. 9-17 Martin, A. and Karen, B. 2009, Leveraging HR Technology: From Global Savings to Transnational Value, IHRIM Journal, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 23-67. O’Byrne, D & Hensby, A 2011, Theorizing global studies, New York, Palgrave Macmillan. Robinson, W 2011, Globalization and the sociology of Immanuel Wallerstein: A critical appraisal, International Sociology, vol. 26, no. 6, p. 723-745. Sanagavarapu, P 2010, What does cultural globalisation mean for parenting in immigrant families in the 21st century? Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, vol. 35, no. 2, p. 36-42. Shandre, M 2009, Spreading the Benefits of Growth and Managing Inequality, in Bridget W., James C., Arun M. and Tan, T. H. (Editors), Impression of Goh Chok Tong Years in Singapore, Singapore, NUS Press. 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