These few pictures reminded me of what the richer half of the world is actually doing...

- Some countries are neglecting the environment and other third-world countries in their pursuit for progress.

- The richer half of the world are abusing resources, while the other half is starving...
Imagine the amount of water we waste while playing wet games!






(above pic)-First world countries are always providing "solutions"/monetary aid to less well to do countries, without control, conditions or thought of the consiquences.

Political Expert [Varun]

For this post, you, the reader will be getting a collection of thought provoking political cartoons to view.

Credits for the cartoons go the sites listed below. I checked and both offer the cartoons free for educational purposes.
- http://cagle.msnbc.com/politicalcartoons/
- http://www.globecartoon.com/

I'm sure everyone has heard or seen some Japanese Anime before, be it the manga comic books or the anime series, from Spirited Away to First Love.

But let's just play safe and make sure everyone knows what Japanese Anime is. For formality sake. But if you really dont know then hello, its time to wake up! Anime comes from the word Animation and in Japanese anime, the characters have the traditional large doe-eyes. Unlike cartoons, anime can deal with complex issues and offers viewers the insights to Asian, and esepecially Japanese, culture.

Japanese Anime is so popular that it is even catching in the States. A source says that the key to the success of Japanese manga and anime in the United States is their widely varied, cutting edge subject matter. The popularity of Anime has certainly soared in many places, and is no longer confined in just Japan itself. Take a look at TJC. We have our own Special Interest Group M.A.G.I.X club for anime lovers and just last term, they even had an anime marathon which was quite well received.

As Marvel's comics spread throughout the world, it is now time for an Eastern influence to rise? In this case, Japanese Anime.. We have known the world where mutants reign supreme, where superheroes save the world on a daily basis. Maybe it is time to come back down to Earth, and look at real world issues through Japanese Anime and Manga comics.

Die hard fans, watch out =)

Ole ~ Ole ~ Ole ~ Ole ~

This must be and probably will be the most heard chants for the upcoming Fifa World Cup 2006!

Personally, I think it is international sports scene that is able to bind and bond the whole world together. Players are able to come together on a common ground and a level playing field to pit against another country with no hard feelings. And regardless whether your home team is able to make it into the finals, there will always be other teams to root for.

Countries from all over the world, regardless of economic background, have the chance to take part and participate in this most important competition for international sports. This year, 197 teams attempted to qualify for the finals, with only 32 teams making it into the finals. The competition’s giants include Germany (this year’s host), Brazil, and the European community.

Britain is the undisputed birthplace of modern soccer/association football, with Scotland and England being co-founders of the organised game. Football - as soccer is called in Britain - was a popular sport of the masses from the 8th century onwards.

But the game at that time was a war game!

There is a story which places the first football game in the east of England - where the locals played 'football' with the severed head of a Danish Prince they had defeated in battle!

In medieval times, towns and villages played against rival towns and villages - and kicking, punching, biting and gouging were allowed.

The object of the game was to move the ball to an agreed spot which had been marked out before play commenced.

Hundreds of people took part and games could last all day.
So violent did these matches become that many attempts were made by the authorities to ban soccer.

In England, King Edward III passed laws in 1331 to try and suppress football. In Scotland, King James 1, in 1424, proclaimed in Parliament, "That na man play at the Fute-ball" (No man shall play football/soccer).

Good Queen Bess, Queen Elizabeth 1 of England, had a law passed which provided for soccer players to be " jailed for a week, and obliged to do penance in church."

But no law could stop the game in Britain.

It was too popular.

Source: http://worldsoccer.about.com/cs/historyandstats/a/sochistart.htm

And now, my friends, it has become a worldwide phenomenon, with almost the whole world as its fans. From the English Premier League to the Spanish Primera, there will never be short of soccer fans eager to see their real live superheroes in action. And the most interesting thing to note is how fans can be so attached to their clubs. They feel the pain when their clubs loses and celebrate like never before when they win. And even when the club reaches a rough patch, the fans will never think of changing to another team to support. Most are also long dedicated fans, often staying with their preferred clubs for years and longer.

As the Fifa World Cup fever catches in Singapore, it will be fun to see how strangers bond to
become brothers after a match.

Catch the Fifa World Cup today!

Technology Shrinks the World.

I believe everyone has received at least one chain letter in their email inbox before, so I don't suppose i have to describe what is a chain letter.

An experiment has found that messages only have to be forwarded between five and seven times to reach almost any other e-mail user. The idea was tested by asking participants to forward an e-mail to friends, relations or colleagues they thought were closer to a randomly chosen target e-mail user. (The Straits Times)

Here is the sample message chain:



The experiment revealed that messages had to be forwarded between five and seven times to get from a starting point to a target, which confirms Professor Milgram's result that people are separated by only a small number of steps.

These proved the point that technology such as the creation of email technology do shrink the world. We can only be a few steps away to know someone we thought who are distant. This also leads to the creation of 'Friendster' network, using the same theory. Through Friendster, we often find ourselves connected to other people through a certain friend, and such connections do not usually link between more than 2 person. It's through here that we realize how close we really are, and we may not be distant as we seem to the others.



Amazing Discovery, Aint it ?

Communication technologies allow like-minded people from different sides of the planet to find each other and share ideas. The whole way people meet and communicate is changing. Email, Short Message Service (SMS), instant messaging, cell phones, online forums, chat, and videoconferencing all allow and even encourage ways of communicating and relating with others that are fundamentally different from what has come before. Together, they dramatically change the structure of society and how people interact.

Yes, it's a small world after all.

Globalisation:
A process which makes the whole world more developed together...(Developement = American? & Westernised?)


The List continues...

The Value of a country's moneytary unit
"Rising prices used to be a sign of progress. Now they may be an Achilles' heel for some of Asia's most developed economies."

When a country’s dollar unit increases in value, it was a sign that the country was progressing. But the Singapore government tries to keep it from rising too high as it might deter tourist from spending. On the other hand, if the value of our dollar plunges, it might render it worthless.

Although globalization has helped Singapore advance at such a rapid pace, it is slowing down. With the low labor cost and plenty of land for development, lesser developed countries are attracting more investors and are experiencing an increased rate of development.

For countries which economies are already developed, it seems that there is no where else largely profitable to go, except specializing in quality services and innovation. However, sooner or later the other economies would catch up, and all would have reached the state of a fully developed economy. It would then be absurd for the world to all specialize in services. There would also be no more low cost labor. The value of all countries’ monetary unit would go haywire too. Agriculture is currently viewed as a low profit venture, but when the majority has abandoned the fields, the few lesser developed countries would then be able to monopolize the food market (which is the most important, as it is a basic need to survival).

Here we can observe the theoratical paradoxical nature of globalization.

In my previous post, I've mentioned about the health impacts brought by globalization. Today, I will be discussing on the enviromental effects of globalization.

Globalization's Effects on the Environment - Boon or Bane?

Came across this article on the web.

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=15805



Globalization can certainly pose a threat to our environment. Actions taken in one country may directly affect the environment of another country, causing a environmental collapse. It is based on the fact that environmental effects do not respect international borders.

Specifically, our environment often suffers from the effects of globalization in many ways. Take pesticides for example, they are used throughout the world to prevent harmful pests from harming valuable agriculture crops and ultimately costing producers money. However, these pesticides often leak into rivers and lakes, polluting water and harming other forms of marine life, possibly even polluting our human water supplies.

Industries coming into an area often cause direct damage to an area in an effort to make production more profitable to them. As a result, toxic wastes may be disposed through these industries. In fact, this is happening everywhere now. We have come into understanding that pollution has affected human lives negatively. And we are receiving global signal from the nature as well - The Global Warming. This thus shows that environmental impacts of are based on a world wide scale.

Often, we realize that environmental impacts of globalization is also based on trade agreements as well. In this case, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is involved. From what I've found, with WTO, democracy has been abandoned. It no longer matters what the democratic societies want, but what the global corporations want.

For example :

Yet, currently international rules can prevent America and other nations from rejecting imported products that are harvested or produced in ways that don抰 meet tough environmental standards. For example, the WTO preached that the regulations under the U.S. Clean Air Act, which set high standards against polluting gasoline, did not accommodate with WTO rules. It judged that it was unfair for the foreign oil companies that produced contaminated oil. As a result, the U.S. government rewrote the regulations so that automobile can give off polluting exhaust.

From my point of view, this is certainly ridiculous. The interests shown was the profit at the end of the session, but not whether such trading agreement will harm the environment. If this continues, there may be a possibility that marine species in the sea can be hunted and traded for profits through the international rules, but not on the basis that such endangered animals should be protected. This undemocratic regulation is simply not applicable.

We have created more options for ourselves through globalization, but at the same time, such options indirectly affect the environment we are living in. The global warming may perhaps be the signal that nature is sending to us. Who knows how human condition will be like over the next few decades, with the constant changing and reshaping of the environment.

Also, if economical growth is all the people think about, what will happen to the environment around us? It will decay into depletion. Diseases and health problems, due to the regulations of certain acts, will become a critical issue in the future. The continuation of the environmentally hazardous laws made by the WTO will some day lead to the total destruction of nature. The regulation must be enforced, and this will not be achieved through the WTO unless someone stands up and oppose the rulings made by them.

Yes, I'm back too =) Anyone feels that electives week are even busier than academics one? They are filled with activities man! (Not that I mind for some) But let's not digress.. I don't like to read long, mundane and boring posts >.<

Anyway, Vesak Day was last week. And what do we usually see when we enter temples? Or more significantly, what is the first thing that hits our nose when we enter? Yes, it is the smell of joss sticks! And no one seems to question why are joss sticks appearing in temples (those buddhist ones. not the taoist one).

It is actually wrong to see joss sticks in temples. Don't know why? Read on, but first, let me try to explain why we don't find it weird to see joss sticks.

Firstly, we have brought up this way. We have been exposed to temples with joss sticks since we are young so it has become natural for us to think that temples are associated with joss sticks and that devouts use joss sticks to pray..

BUT the truth is,
the actual buddhism do NOT use joss sticks to pray. Yes, revelation! I am not so sure how to describe it in english, but in chinese, it is called 礼佛, (sorry varun)





No joss sticks are needed.

But because of the influence from Taoism, the different practices have somehow or another crossed over to one another. This is because of the seemingly similiar origins and practices. And slowly, over time, the Buddhists also use joss sticks to pray.

So I guess this is one of the ways when and where cultures (in this case, religions) are able to influence one another and assimilate their practices into each other's.

And this holds true for most places. Somehow or another, temples and ways of practice differs for different places, such as India and Singapore. This is due to the local practices of the area. The religion has been changed to suit the area and thus each "sub-religion" now has their own flavour and style. Similiar, but not quite the same already, though the ideals and teachings remain the same.

=) Cultural Expert, Out! (Huimin)

HEY I'M FINALLY BACK !

Okay , I'm finally updating after all that busy workload (:

Having mentioned about the technological impact on the world in the previous two entries of mine, I'm going to touch a more on the health and environmental impact from globalization. (Miao Ru)

"The biggest enemy of health in the developing world is poverty."

Kofi Annan

http://www.csa.za.org/article/view/358/1/1

Yes, human impacts on the world has reached a global scale. We are now living in a developing world will more upcoming developments. Such developments would not affect Man's lives if not for their global scale impacts. Presently, we have different countries of different standards. Singapore is an example of a rich country with enough resources to deal with health impacts due to globalization. However, in countries facing poverty, health is one of their main concerns.

In developed countries, we have proper facilities in our homes to aid in our cooking. However, for these Africans in developing countries, they face the threat of indoor air pollution.

From what I've found, at least thousands of men, women and children in the world's poorest countries die as a result of lethal levels of smoke in their homes every day. Poverty condemns around half of the world's population to use solid fuels, including wood, dung and coal, for cooking and heating their homes. The smoke from burning these fuels turns kitchens into death traps. In poor people's homes throughout the developing world, levels of exposure to dangerous pollutants are often higher. Indoor smoke from burning solid fuels kills over 1.6 million men, women and children each year. That is a life lost every 20 seconds. :X

I believe that indoor smoke is not an indiscriminate killer, it is the poorest who suffer most. It is the poorest who rely on fuels like wood and dung for cooking because they cannot access gas or electricity. Indoor smoke also hits women and small children the hardest. Women typically spend time by the fire and are exposed to smoke, often with young children nearby. Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of indoor smoke - it is responsible for the deaths of nearly one million children a year.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a slowly developing bacterial infection that's caused by the bacterium - Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

http://www.afro.who.int/tb/

This is the web which explains WHO's mission and functions in the African Region.

The pie chart shows that Africa accounted for nearly 20% of all TB cases globally in 1998.



Whole Health Organization (WHO) has came up with a policy to deal with this problem brought by Globalization.

Extract :

National task forces , that bring together national governments, private companies and non-governmental organisations. Each task force would be charged with increasing national awareness of the dangers of smoke, making cleaner fuels more available to poor communities and developing other appropriate solutions to get smoke out of homes.

A global partnership , which puts global political weight and resources into the existing Partnership for Clean Indoor Air. This Partnership brings together leading international players from the health, development, energy, shelter and environment sectors. Increased political weight and resources will enable it to work towards a global solution and to prepare strategic plans to tackle indoor air pollution in the longer term.

A global fund , which secures extra resources from governments and international donors like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, to finance further research and bring clean air to millions of homes. For relatively little outlay, massive health benefits could be achieved and millions of lives could be saved. Around $500 million a year would kick-start an effective market in low-cost smoke solutions.

Poverty..

I believe that what is urgently required is a global campaign that matches the severity of this chronic problem and what WHO has implemented can certainly help to reduce the present situation.

Globalization has brought about advantages, allowing certain strong countries to develop, but what happens to those who are way behind? If such situation carries on, they will only get poorer as time goes by, leading to their eventual deaths without proper health treatment.

To Be Continued-

Political Expert [Varun]

Back to the class discussions mentioned earlier; one of our group's proposed action plan was to spy on the Too Too Land and gather evidence of the genocide so that we can broadcast it to the whole world and create awareness. This way, we are able to gather allies against Too Too Land and we, the Eebies, will not be questioned and criticised over our attack on Too Too Land to intervene with the genocide. This shows that through media's influence, nations are able to broadcast their viewpoints to the whole world and this allows them to gather allies.

This also suggests the idea that being on the right side is just a matter of who are the allies on your side. A very simple example would be when little kids are bullied by their peers just because they stick up for different opinions and choose not to conform with the masses. The biggest guy ends up beating the "puny" ones who oppose him. Now take this up to a higher level. Powerful nations have the influence to get allies on their aside by exerting their power over other nations. Now, I am not going to name any country here, but there are nations that can exert pressure on another country's government. Some even have the capability to exert pressure on international organizations and influence the decision of the governing body. For obvious reasons, I am not going to state any examples.

This shows that the idea of right and wrong is just based on how much power you have over the others involved. Of course there are always some obviously morally wrong issues, like drug trafficking, for example, but for issues that are ambiguous, nations with support and power will reign supreme over those lacking the support. One exception was when Singapore decided to hand the drug trafficker Tuong Van Nguyen despite pressure from Australia to not sentence him to be hanged. Exceptions like this are uncommon and the issue becomes a big fiasco as compared to what would have happened if Singapore allowed Nguyen to be deported back to Australia and tried in the court there.

The main idea I am attempting to bring out here is that with the increased globalization, political effects of one nation on another matters even more than before. A country's decision can affect several others because of political influence and this influence can be in the form of extending a hand for becoming allies on a certain issue.

If the other nation choose not to accept the alliance, it could sever ties between the governments of the two countries and at the worst, lead to a war between these nations. If the two nations involved in the disagreement happen to be two very powerful nations, the war could lead to disrupting the world economy.

But on the positive side, this influence of nations on one another helps the world as it maintains general world peace because it allows for alliances to be formed against a certain injustice being done, for example, and allows for nations to handle relations with each other easily.

Okay that is all for this post. Next one shall be a treat for the readers - I'll be posting a compilation of some political cartoons I found and will be commenting on the issues brought up in them. See ya.

Signing off.

Political Expert [Varun]

For the past few Social Studies lessons, we have been holding discussions over what political action a country should take in a certain situation. The case studies given were of Eebieland, Bububs and the Too Too Land. In the recent discussion over what the Eebies should so if its neighbor, Too Too Land, has a genocide going on and refugees are pouring into Eebieland borders. It was also told the China was an ally of Too Too Land and that means that taking action against Too Too Land would probably aggravate China too and China is a powerful nation, compared to the Eebieland in question.

During the discussion in class, an interesting topic was brought up - Media's role in global politics. Many interesting thoughts were brought up by students and Mr Ng alike. Mr Ng mentioned the CNN Effect - the way news is presented by global media affects the global political landscape. This is true because the publicity an event gets from the media giants like CNN and BBC determines the way it is dealt with also.

For example, the famine and hunger in Somalia was publicised by these media giants and then the US, being the powerful nation and the "one-that-would-help-others" in need, decided to take some action on it. And it did so by sending in troops to, supposedly, "clear up" the corruption and black market mess there.

This shows us that global media is able to force a nation to take action against something just by publicising it. The US, like many other governments, probably knew of the whole situation before CNN or BBC even got the whiff of it and yet NONE of them took any action at all. And yet, we can see the US taking action after the showcase by the media. Doesn't this make humanitarianism just a public display of generosity, done not because of the intension of helping but done also because there are ulterior motives.

The role of media is this is that it helps to spread the information, create talk over an issue previously unknown and able to spur action from parties involved by shining the limelight on them. Global media giants have many methods of communicating the news - through television, radio, newspapers and the internet. The internet is becoming the key source of information for many and word spread faster over the net than any other form of media as information can be accessed in an instant. This would be elaborated under Technological Influence. My role is to bring out the point that global media affects the scene of politics in a drastic way.

I'll continue this discussion in the next post, but from a different perspective. I'd elaborate on how influence from nations and international organizations affects viewpoints and how it helps determine what is right and what is wrong, which is very questionable in itself. Till the next post.

Signing off.
Posted on: 7th May '06 at 1415 hrs

Technological Influence ; Miao Ru

Recently, I came across this article which says:

I'M HOOKED ON IM (INSTANT MESSAGING)

The New Paper on Sunday ; 30th April 2006

It explained that IM is something which many do quietly on their office computers. And some are hooked on it that work becomes secondary. One professional was so addicted to IM that she quit her job when her boss told her not to spend so much time on it. I think for her, it's more like a habit to logon and be connected everyday. She said that without it, she'll feel unesay all day, and will not be able to finish her work. For her, it is an online network which can connect her with her friends, classmates, colleagues and clients.

' I could be on the phone with a client and instant message my friends and overseas colleagues at the same time, with IM i've learned to multi-task '

Is this suppose to be a good or bad sign ?

Personally, i think that IM has helped greatly in the working industry. In times where IM was still not localized, people have to get their job done through means like emailing and faxing, or even making long distance calls which are expensive and time comsuming. Because of the use of IM globally, many companies are able to work efficiently, provided that IM are not used for personal means.

A survey of 300 glodbal organization shows that IM is already being used in almost every company. This indeed shows how globalized IM is. IM can also help to cut down on communacation charges, which explains why it is so globally utilized in countries.

I belive that as long as staff menbers do not overdo them, they are fine. Companies should utilize such cheaper mean of communication,, trust their staff anf give them benefit of the doubt.

It helps in showing how globalization has created efficiency.

List Continued frm previous...

(Santa outsourced...)

Outsourcing:
Underpaying to do work which you are paid higher to do: Worst then Middlemen

PROS:
Companies which do these are everywhere, not uncommon at all. But are people aware of it? When you call China headquarters for technical help, you might be getting your answer from someone in India. From an economist point of view, this is an excellent strategy: making full use of precious capital. Not only are we cutting running cost, we are also giving a less developed country a chance to earn money and get in touch with the global market! One day, they too will catch onto this marvelous technique, and gets someone else willing to accept lower pay, to do their job which given to them by us, which were our work to begin with =D. Hail the resourcefulness of the human being...

CONS:
Firstly, humanitarians might call this "exploiting" people from less developed countries. Secondly, by giving jobs meant for Singaporeans, to people in other countries, we are raising our unemployment rate. While attractive jobs with high pay are being given to "expert" foreigners, unattractive manual labour jobs going to "illegal immigrants" and middle class jobs going to skillful foreigners willing to work for lower pay, this might lead to Singaporeans emigrating to find jobs. This is defiantly a form of over-globalization, where sections get so interrelated and integrated, that the definition of "citizenship" becomes confusing and doesn't make much sense anymore.

GLOBALISATION is PROGRESS

PROS:
Countries are all trying to work towards being richer, with the developed countries having a head start. Developed countries have no other areas to improve but technologically, in order to retain an edge over developing countries. These less developed countries in turn, are able to provide cheaper labour for the means of mass production.

Those in the "Agriculture" economy stage are pushing towards the”Industrial" mass production stage. Those in the "Industrial" stage are developing towards the "service sector". Those which GPA mostly consist of revenue from providing service, are working towards developing technology and manipulating information. Those countries which have already reached that stage, are deemed "developed countries", and are expected to help "developing countries".
Countries which (are RICH and) will now either choose one or all of the following routes to take:
- Develop Military and Political Supremacy so that they would not be at the mercy of other countries (E.g. US and Iraq)
- Try to gain Monopoly on a certain sector, so as to be able to charge outrageously high prices, get richer, and nobody can do anything about it by then. (E.g. OPEC)
- Globalize and expand your business to as many countries and different areas as possible, so as to have a secure and stable economy. (E.g. Singapore's port has been set up in many other different countries in Asia. This has been a smart move, as now fewer countries are stopping at our local port, bypassing us because of having found shorter routes. Temasek Times have also tried to buy over Thailand's newspaper, which has resulted in hostility. )

CONS:
Because of Globalization, countries are now free to "invade" and take advantage of each others share of the market, thus developing countries have to resort to subtle ways of protecting their economy at the same time. China was a good example. They wanted to go global as they recognized the benefits of doing so; they could mass produce efficiently, and needed the foreign market to buy their goods. But at the same time they wanted to protect their local companies. Naturally when China wanted to enter the World Trade Organization, other countries refused, as it wasn't fair to let China prevent outflow of cash while earning from them (Hoarding of cash). Here we can see the distinct advantage developed countries (stable economies) have over the fragile developing ones.

E.g. Successful developing countries would have a certain protective industry, obliging its residents to purchase locally-produced products and not foreign ones. At first, this was due to the temporary need to protect their budding industry from competition from the foreign-made automobiles, but as time passed and these local industries matured, there will be demands from other countries, for the trade sanction to be lifted, especially those from the Europe and US, who would like to make money from them too.


This list would be continued in the next post...

Political Expert [Varun]

The government of a country is undeniably affected by other governments and international organizations. One can choose to argue against this by showing how a country can continue on its desired course of action and managing its internal affairs all by itself but it is clear that external powers do control, in some way, how a country is run.

As many students have brought up the case, an Afghan, Abdul Rahman, had been spared from death through foreign intervention in the case. The Afghan law states that any Muslim converting to Christianity will be sentenced to death but in this case, the man in question managed to survive, based on the fact that the Afghan court supposedly dismissed the case based on lack of evidence. Is that the only possible reason?

As Christianity is involved, and it being a major central part of the Western society, there would obviously have been pressure on the Afghan government from Western powers to prevent the death sentence. The fact that the whole issue has become so publicised is owed to the fact that there was foreign intervention involved. This obviously speaks to a great extent about political interference in internal affairs.

Another case study I would use is the North Korean Nuclear Programme issue. The whole issue became public when North Korea restarted the possible production of nuclear weapons in order to beef up its nuclear arsenal. The conflict here is that in 1994, North Korea signed an agreement to stop any continuation of its nuclear production

|| Since the October 2002 confrontation, North Korea has restarted a mothballed nuclear power station, thrown out inspectors from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency and pulled out of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. ||
-quoted from the linked site

This has US worried and relations between the two have deteriorated. This issue has many nations and international organizations, like the UN, fearing of a nuclear standstill and the possibility of a nuclear war between rival nations of North Korea. Therefore, there is continuous effort to try and negotiate with North Korea over the issue. One example of these negotiations would the six-nation talks held. This clearly shows that political pressure is being used against North Korea in attempt to resolve the issue. Political influence has worked to stop North Korea from nuclear production in the past [1993] and hopefully, it might work again this time. The basis of this pressure is that several nations uniting against one would give the sense of threat and bring about a change in the policies of the country or power in question.

These two case studies show how political influence transcends borders and international boundaries. Another case would be Iran and its recent production of nuclear weapons. I may discuss that in my next post. Or another issue I may discuss is the role and influence of international organizations in specific. We'll see how it goes. That's it for now.

Signing off.
Posted on: 30th April '06 at 2013 hrs

以父之名
曲: 周杰倫

微凉的晨露 沾湿黑礼服
石板路有雾 父在低诉
无奈的觉悟 只能更残酷
一切都为了 通往圣堂的路
吹不散的雾 隐没了意图
谁轻柔踱步 停住
还来不及哭 穿过的子弹
就带走 温度
我们每个人都有罪
犯着不同的罪
我能决定谁对
谁又该要沈睡
争论不能解决
在永无止境的夜
关掉你的嘴
唯一的恩惠
挡在前面的人都有罪
后悔也无路可退
以父之名判决 那感觉没有适合字
就像边笑边掉泪 凝视着完全的黑
阻挡悲剧蔓延的悲剧会让我沈醉
低头亲吻我的左手
换取被宽恕的承诺
老旧管风琴在角落
一直一直一直伴奏
黑色帘幕被风吹动阳光无言的穿透
洒向那群被我驯服后的 兽
沈默的喊叫 沈默的喊叫
孤单开始发酵
不停对着我嘲笑
回忆逐渐延烧
曾经纯真的画面
残忍的温柔出现
脆弱时间到
我们一起来祷告
仁慈的父我已坠入
看不见罪的国度
请原谅我的自负
没人能说没人可说
好难承受
荣耀的背后刻着一道孤独
闭上双眼我又看见
当年那梦的画面
天空是蒙蒙的雾
父亲牵着我的双手
轻轻走过
清晨那安安静静的石板路
那斑驳的家徽 我擦拭了一夜
孤独的光辉 我才懂的感觉
烛光 不 不 停的 摇晃
猫头鹰在 窗棂上
对着远方眺望
通向 大厅的长廊 一样 说不出的沧桑
没有喧嚣 只有宁静围绕
我 慢慢睡着
天 刚刚破晓

Ok people, listen to this song! =) especially Mr Ng. heh.

So anyway, I was thinking, even songs are being "globalised" now, as in the types of songs can be heard despite language differences. For example, we can hear raps in the above mentioned songs. And raps are not part of the "traditional chinese" songs. If I'm not wrong, raps were originated from African Americans, in the streets of NY? Correct me if I'm wrong. But anyway, as it gets popular over at the States, the rap songs have also found its way to Asian and all over the world. As such, singers and music producers are able to follow the style of their Western counterparts, and tada (!), we have raps integrated in Chinese music too!

So this is one of the ways of cultural influence..

- Huimin

Michelle J. Wong
Economy Expert
2A/05

Globalization refers to the process of incorporating everyone, every product, every idea into a single world society….

Here is a reader friendly list I compiled from research & people's viewpoints
Pros & Cons of Globalization (regarding the ECONOMY):

*
Pandemics, Epidemics, Infectious Deadly Diseases...
PRO: Globalization has made it easier to control the spread of Bird Flu due to efficiency of communication and understanding between countries. Countries are collaborating/competing to search for a solution. The country/company which produces fastest and best solution will reap the benefit of an economy boost and admiration of medical advancement from other countries. (E.g.TamiFlu. There was a shortage at the beginning when it first came out, as countries rushed to stock up on it)

Taiwan has produced a cheaper copy of TamiFlu and is hoping it would eventually secure permission to copy the drug.
Even in times of mortal danger, money still makes the world go round. In Economics...its all about the money...

CON: Globalization has made it more difficult to control the spread of outbreaks due to cheap and convenient transport. The prices of poultry have dropped worldwide as a result. Without globalization, the outbreaks would be easily confined to a single continent, thus the value of fowls would not be affected so dramatically around the world.

Income Gap! Important as it affects the Economy NEGATIVELY in any case
(E.g. Social Riots & instability deter investors)

PROS: Progress and Globalization of a country makes at least a small portion of its population rich. At least some would get to enjoy a higher standard of living, at the expense of the others working in the fields.

CONS: Although Globalization is not completely to be blamed for income gaps in countries, it has contributed to widening it nevertheless.
Take Vietnam for example (my Vietnam elective trip last term paid off after all =D), in the process of developing, they have left behind many people. While the businessmen in Ho Chi Min city and Dalat are rich, the rest are all still in the fields. The government has made education compulsory, but do not make full use of their talents. Despite them having the youngest population and highest literacy rate in Asia (94%), majority return to growing rice in the rural areas, after completing their education. Although the whole country employs communism, the northern half is still every poor while the southern is flourishing under a different government. But this isn't so bad considering that Vietnam is a communist country (take development slower, to protect their own market), and their citizens are peace-loving (despite the growing income gap, they do not riot at all!).
Take China for another example, they are globalizing ("progressing") at such a rapid pace that they are loosing control of the situation. The people are unsatisfied and they show it. Much to the displeasure of the government, people are making full use of the internet, and sowing discord. Those in rural areas too poor afford access to computers are rebelling in their own traditional ways: Riots.
What better way to tell the government "Hey! We are contributing to the ECONOMY too but are being left behind!” other than to riot?

This list would be continued in the next post...

Michelle J. Wong
Economy Expert

Subway and Mardi Gras

Subway is definitely not a Singapore fast food restaurant (Singapore doesnt even have our own fast food restaurant in the first place?). Subway is actually a fast food restaurant which originated from the States (USA) and just like MacDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut, Subway has found its way to Singapore as well.

As we all know, Singapore's population is made up of Chinese, Malays and Indians (with, of course, Eurasians as the minorities). And as we all know (again), neither do the Chinese, Malay or Indians have sandwiches and salads as proper meals. Sandwiches and salads are the staple diet/meals for the Americans. But yet, somehow, being the small Singapore that we are, we are easily influenced by the other "big brothers" and external factors and thus, has imported this dieting culture into our own land as well.

As for Mardi Gras, I am even sure that it is not a traditional festival for any of the race or religion yet TJc-ians are celebrating it biannually. I think most of them dont even know the meaning of the festival and why we are celebrating it. No one really knows where or when the custom started -- and many of us don't care! Some people trace it to the Romans, whose pagan orgies were held during the spring season. In either way, this is definitely not a Singapore festival, having its roots from Romans, then to the French, America and soon, all over the world.

Isnt it weird that we are celebrating a festival without knowing its roots and purposes? Personally I find that weird. It's like .. "so what are you celebrating again?" *raises eyebrow*

And well, from what I know, it is quite a liberal festival, with women baring their chests? Hmmm. Wonder if that will happen in TJC next week.

So as we move towards globalisation, do we find out world getting smaller? Are we losing our sense of identity in terms or race and religion, to the extent that we celebrate one another's festivals without even knowing what it means? Well, I dont know about you guys but it seems to me that every country is becoming more like one another. So is that what Globalisation means? Replicating the States everywhere? yes i think the States is the main culprit in globalisation. Please bear in mind that I'm not saying that globalisation is a bad thing. But is it necessary a good thing? I leave that up to you guys to think and ponder about. (This is a cue for you guys to comment!) Gosh, I remind myself of Mr Tan. Gee.

Right then. I think I have said my piece. So cheers people! =)

Huimin ; Cultural Influence