Week 6 - Reader Response (Final)

In Nayan Chanda’s work, Runaway Globalisation Without Governance, the ideas presented by the author focus on the problems that arise from a gap between globalisation and governance. Although Nayan brought up the pros of the increasing interconnectedness of the world, he argued that without up-to-date governance, the costs of globalisation will always weigh more than the benefits and eventually be the downfall of the world. One issue that caught my eye was about how a fast-growing world population in a ‘shrunken’ world has contributed to a worsening environment. Without the cooperation and compromisation of major players, such as the United States, the environmental issue is further aggravated. This issue has reminded me of a case which I studied in 'O' level Geography - Kalimantan's deforestation. Massive population growth has led to an increase in demand for agriculture landuses and settlements. Therefore, a rapid rate of deforestation has been ongoing for the last few decades. What's worse than large-scale deforestation was that the 'slash and burn' method was adopted as it was so much cheaper than employing labours to clear the forest. Even though rules and regulations are implemented to make this method illegal, these laws are often insufficient as economic progression is more important to Indonesia. Without proper and stringent rules, Kalimantan has been causing recurring events of haze in the Southeast Asian region. Living in Singapore, I can report first hand that the haze has caused many people to suffer from health problems such as asthma. In Singapore, globalisation has resulted in an influx of foreign workers competing for jobs with the locals. As foreign labour is cheaper as compared to the locals, locals often have to lower their expectations when they are searching for a job. This has been the root of the widening income gap in Singapore when rich entrepreneurs reap the benefits of lower cost of productions in their businesses while the middle and low income groups have to resign to fate and accept lower wages in order to survive in a country with high cost of living. Furthermore, Singapore's continuous efforts in attracting foreign investors have increased property prices, making it almost impossible for the younger generations to begin a family as easily as before. Statistics have shown that, over the past 40 years, salary of a fresh university or polytechnic graduate has increased by about 4.5 times while price of a flat has increased by 19 times. I believe this is because Singapore's government is not able to keep up with the speed of globalisation by implementing new immigration policies to control the influx of foreigners and also does not want to stop reaping the benefits of globalisation which have allowed Singapore grows consistently in GDP over the years. Being a university student who will be in the workforce in a few years' time, I am really troubled by how globalisation has resulted in Singapore's high cost of living and how little effort the government is putting in to intervene in this problem.

Week 5: Summary (Runaway Globalisation Without Governance) Correction

Globalisation has been too fast for countries to impose international regulations, which has led to more repercussions. Man’s aspirations have brought about an increase in trade and travel but have led to environmental and health issues too. Globalisation has also brought about tariffs, the stealing of technology and even plague. As the world continues to ‘shrink’, national security becomes increasingly important as the world is more prone to terrorist attacks and even war. However, the pressing concern will be the dangers of nuclear weapons and the consequences of mishandling it. Furthermore, the need to keep up with the world’s rapid growing population has posed a threat to the world’s climate and environment. Although there have been instances amidst globalisation where countries have co-operated, it did not require much compromise from any country. In the case of the United States, its refusal to lead and solve the challenges posed by globalisation has left our world in danger.

Week 5: Summary (Runaway Globalization Without Governance)

Globalisation has been too fast for countries to impose international regulations, which has led to more problems than before. Man’s aspirations have brought about an increase in trade and travel but have led to environmental and health issues too. Globalisation has also brought about tariffs, stealing of technology and even plague. Although there have been instances amidst globalisation where countries have co-operated, it did not require much compromise from any country. As the world continues to ‘shrink’, national security becomes increasingly important as the world is more prone to terrorist attacks and even war. However, the pressing concern will be the dangers of nuclear weapons and the consequences of it if abused by man. Lastly, the need to keep up with the world’s rapid growing population has posed a threat to the word’s climate and environment. Furthermore, the United States’ refusal to lead and solve the challenges posed by globalisation has left our world in danger.

Week 4: Summary on 'Scary Oil'

Rises in oil prices are detrimental to the global economy. Oil prices increase because of distress between military conflict between Israel and Iran. Previous global recessions, leading to the tremendous increase in oil prices, were caused by the political tensions in the Middle East. US and Israel will use military means to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, which could be the reason for the next global recession.

Week 2: Reflecting Writing

Working as a vet assistant for the past 6 months has opened my eyes to the world. There may be lots of animal cruelty happening in Singapore but i am glad that there are also people, who are extremely compassionate, helping out animals in need. Spaying and neutering stray cats and dogs is one of the most common type of operations we perform in the clinic as it is the most important step to reduce the number of strays in Singapore. Moreover, sterilising these animals can help to prevent prostate cancer and other illnesses that can develop when they grow older. Working in an animal clinic has taught me to be more compassionate to animals and that, even though we are of different species, everyone should play a part in helping them.