LALALA

2006-05-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

Television - An electronic apparatus that receives electromagnetic waves and displays the reconverted images on a screen.

The first ever television to be invented is the black and white non-colour television. Nowadays television are not just for leisure, for watching dramas and operas, but also to transmit information quickly over the world. Television advertisements are now becoming more and more popular even though the cost to produce one is not exactly low, but the good thing is that through the television, which every household has, services and shops can be at the same time be publicized. We can see how much the invention of the television has led to globalization. Information transferred in the country through the television can be transferred to people all over the world, as long as the country supports that channel and through this, something invented or discovered in one’s country can be passed on to other countries, as well as messages and information.

At the same time, bad information can be publicized as well. Some television programmes which are deemed unhealthy may still be programmed on the television even though some countries ban it. Some governments allow the contents to be publicized while other governments do not.

As I’ve said in earlier posts, technology in a way can help to contribute to globalization, but on the other hand, as the contents slowly get publicized and scattered all around, the control over the use of contents may be limited.

By Technological Expert: Stephanie

2006-05-21T18:26:00.001-07:00

Ever since the Wright Brothers invented the first airplane to ever be flown in the world, it has improved both speed wise, and efficient wise. A plane’s primary function is to carry passengers from one end of the world to the other end of the world safely and quickly. This has shown how much technology has improved on the mode of transportations, and has allowed people to not only in the same country go to different towns, but also enable people to travel to different countries. Planes made a huge difference in the age of transportation, and certainly contributed to the age of globalisation today.

Not only that, airplanes themselves have made significant improvements throughout the years. From the oldest plane ever invented by the Wright Brothers (below),

to the most modern plane invented now(below),

we can see how much the appearance of airplanes have changed.

Planes are now not only used for transportation, but for military and leisure purposes. Military – during Wars airplanes are the ones that brought the bombs and weapons across the continents, and airplanes are one of the most convenient weapon-carrier which can be employed during wars. Also during post-war period countries usually use helicopters to help them transport clothes and materials to the needy countries. Another use of airplanes is for leisure. People now construct their own model airplanes and test them out, inventing them in hope that they will be able to aid them in stuffs such as filming. Filming crews use model airplanes to help them film scenes which cannot be taken using human hands.

However airplanes are not exceptionally safe as well, there is the danger of crashing or the plane going wayward during turbulence. Another possibility is the explosion of engines.

Thus we can see, that though technology has improved the mode of transportation and hascontributed a part to globalization, its flaws are still there, which should be easily looked over.

By Technological Expert: Stephanie

2006-05-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

Not only that, airplanes themselves have made significant improvements throughout the years. From the oldest plane ever invented by the Wright Brothers (below),

to the most modern plane invented now(below),

we can see how much the appearance of airplanes have changed.

However airplanes are not exceptionally safe as well, there is the danger of crashing or the plane going wayward during turbulence. Another possibility is the explosion of engines.

Thus we can see, that though technology has improved the mode of transportation and hascontributed a part to globalization, its flaws are still there, which should be easily looked over.

2006-05-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Yahoo Inc.'s Web site unveiled a new look Tuesday as the Internet powerhouse strives to remain the world's most popular online destination and strengthen its advertising appeal.

The overhaul marks the first facelift to Yahoo's home page since September 2004.

The redesigned page includes more interactive features that reduce the need to click through to other pages to review the weather, check e-mail, listen to music or monitor local traffic conditions.

Another addition, called "Yahoo Pulse," offers recommendations and insights about cultural trends culled from the Web site's 402 million users worldwide.

Yahoo is making the upgrade as it battles for traffic with longtime rivals MSN, AOL and Google Inc. while also trying to fend off an intensifying threat posed by the rise of social networking sites such as MySpace.com.

"Our goal is to have the best page on the Internet," said Dan Rosensweig, Yahoo's chief operating officer. "We feel like this (redesign) does something great for everybody."

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo regards the latest changes as the most dramatic renovations made to its front page since the site's 1994 debut as a bare-bones directory developed by Stanford University students Jerry Yang and David Filo.

The new look is long overdue, said Jupiter Research analyst David Card. "The site was getting pretty long in the tooth and looking pretty old fashioned," he said. "Now, it looks clean, crisp and modern."

Yahoo. Google. Altavista. Lycos. These are the search engines, websites which help people to research online easily and more effciently. They not only help people to find information they help to find images and music. Not only that, they also provide free mailing service, as long as the individual sets up an account at their website, they will be able to access to more free services.

Technology has advanced so much that we can not only research and find information online, at the same time we can also use them multi-functionally. With the click of a button, we can send information virtually, to the other side of the continent, to the other side of the world. Technology has advanced so much, websites have popped up in large numbers, to the extent that countries can no longer trace which website exists which website doesnt, and information can be viewed in every part of the world which has connection to the Internet. Internet is one of the main reasons of efficient globalisation. Without Internet, globalisation may not even happen.

By Technological Expert: Stephanie

Globalization causes environmental degradation

2006-05-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

Globalization brings about global economic activities and these include industrial production in large scale. In order to massively produce products that can be sold to the whole world requires huge amount of raw materials. The exploitation of the natural resources has led to environmental degradation and devastation. Rainforests are cut down to provide land for agricultural activities and provide material to make paper products. Water sources are polluted by toxic wastes from factories and lands are polluted by chemicals used to kill weeds and bugs. Globalization not just brings about global economic benefits but also consequences that can threaten the existence of mankind.

One of the most significant effects of economic globalization is the global warming effect. Global warming effect is cause by the increasing emission of global warming gases such as carbon dioxide from the industries. Carbon dioxide gas traps heat and causes the increase in global temperature. The slight increase in global temperature can bring about horrible disasters. Increasing temperature of the Earth will result in the melting of ice bergs in the poles and causes the sea level to rise. The low lying coastal areas will be submerged and places like Venice will be underwater.

Industrial activities also contribute to environmental degradation by emitting other harmful gases like Chlorofluorocarbon which create damages to the ozone layer that protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. The holes in the ozone layer left us more exposed under the harmful ultraviolet rays and the long term exposure can cause skin cancers.

It seems like there are a lot of cons to globalization despite the benefits. How to really balance economic development and environment conservation, that is a question that has to be solved soon before time runs out and all resources are depleted.

http://www.climateark.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=20975

Environment xpert Yu Yao

Globalizaton brings cures to patients in places that are previously unreached

2006-05-21T01:37:00.000-07:00

Despite all those cons of globalization, globalization still plays an important role in the improvement of global health. Globalization has enhanced communication in a global scale and that allows medical information to be more accessible and available to people in different parts of the world. Different countries can share their medical research results and that will benefit global health greatly. With the emergence of e-shopping, patients are able to purchase medicines from internet pharmacies. This will provides greater convenience to those patients with disability, shortening the distance between patients and cures.

Also, globalization can also realize the trade of medical technology. These technologies can be passed to countries which did not have such facilities previously, thus benefiting the patients in that country. On the other hand, patients may also access the false medical information from the internet. This false information found in the internet can be misleading and result in misjudgment of the conditions of the patients thus delays the time taken to receive the right treatment to the illness. We have to be aware and be careful with the information that we access on the internet.

Health Xpert YY

The Esperanto of Money

2006-05-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

This article is about dollarisation of the world and how the US dollar is quickly becoming a world currency. A quick definition of dollarisation tells us that it is “an extreme form of fixed exchange rate system. A country surrenders its own currency and uses as its medium of exchange the currency of a foreign nation. The dollarised country has no independent money supply or monetary policy.” As it is, some parts of the world are already adopting the idea of dollarisation. For example, the euro was launched on 1 January 1999 as an electronic currency and became legal tender on 1 January 2002. Twelve of the 15 EU countries are members of the Euro zone with the euro replaced the old national currencies.

I feel that this is just like the International System of Units (SI) being applied to currency. These units were created for convenience of measurement so that there will not be confusion when for example, the citizens of different nations come together to build a structure. It also will not do to have people measuring according to their arms and feet as in the past. In the same way, when people from different nations come together to do business, some people are pushing for a global currency to minimise losses in foreign-exchange. The creation of an international currency is s strong form of economic globalisation as the country no longer has its own unique form of currency. It is a form of compromising of its own sovereignty. This is because currency represents a country economically and so losing a national currency is like losing your flag. People relate pounds to England, baht to Thailand, yen to Japan and so on. Thus, to have one country surrender its own currency and share a common currency with other countries is similar to a form of economic merger. Doing so will link these countries together as the rise and fall of the currency affects all. Therefore, it integrates these countries together, increasing economic globalisation.

The impact of dollarisation on the world economy has benefits and drawbacks. Among the benefits, first of all, $1.2 trillion worth of currencies change hands daily. If this was eliminated, companies would be able to save billions of dollars each year in foreign exchange. On a smaller scale, individuals who travel overseas would not need to exchange their currency through a middleman, thus lowering costs. A second benefit is that dollarisation will put an end to national currency crisis which has affected Argentina, Thailand and Russia in recent years. Problems such as balance-of-payment and the need to maintain reserves of foreign assets counteract large fluctuations in the market would be resolved. The stabilisation of the world market would bring about more additional benefits as manufactures of different countries would no longer need to worry about accommodate to large changes.

However, there will still be disadvantages caused by the implementation of global currency. For a start, central banks would be unable to maintain low-inflation rates for their money. It will also be difficult for a nation to adjust its domestic monetary policy to relieve certain economic crisis. On top of that, there is a need to have good management for the currency. As it is, finding a good bureaucracy for a nation’s central bank proves to be challenging, what more to headhunt one for the industrial democracies.

I think it will be long in coming for a global currency to be realised. As it is, the euro which consisted of 12 countries took many years to be finalised, one can just imagine the time it would take to create a similar currency for the world. Personally, I would not encourage it as the national currency is our pride and symbolises the hard work we put in. It would be foolish to give it up just like that because it is almost similar to giving up your flag. When rioters are angry with a country, they usually burn their flag and destroy it. In this case, dollarisation would mean the same thing as it does away with our currency. Therefore, I hope that Singapore will not agree to it, even though the chances of it happening is minutely small in the first place.

By Economic Expert: David

Bibliography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollarization

the N-power plan

2006-05-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, Iran declared that they had made a breakthrough by successfully enriching uranium to make nuclear power. Now, Indonesia is thinking about joining the nuclear states too. Indonesia has stated its plans to build nuclear power plants that can generate a total of 4000 MW by 2015, adding on to the 113 nuclear power plants that already exist in the world.

As globalization takes place, countries in the world are no longer single and segregated boundaries. They are becoming more ecologically interdependent. Countries with little or no natural resources have to depend on those countries which are rich in natural resources such as oil, timber and natural gas. For example, Singapore has to purchase water from Malaysia to satisfy the demand for water in Singapore. If the water sources in Malaysia ever become polluted, it will not only affect people living in Malaysia but also, there will be numerous implications that will affect Singapore. This indicates that the building of nuclear power plants in Indonesia can affect this region as well.

In my opinion, having a nuclear power plant in the country is not a very good idea. Although just one single nuclear power plant can generate million watts of power, it is not safe at all. This can be justified by the case of nuclear power plant explosion in Chernobyl. The effects of radiation on man still affect the people living in the area even after 20 years. This shows that a nuclear power plant can generate great power and creates great destruction at the same time. Further more, being a country famous for social instability and facing natural disasters like volcano eruption, it is not safe to build a nuclear power plant in Indonesia.

If the plant ever explodes, the surrounding countries like Singapore will be deeply affected. As the radiation clouds can be blown to other places by the wind, Singapore can be affected even it is thousand miles away from the site. Another negative implication of building the nuclear plant in Indonesia is that, the plant can become a tool to threaten target countries by the terrorists. That will be totally disastrous.

All the countries in the world are interconnected and interdependent on each other. Any decision make by any countries can cause a great impact on the others.

Environmental X pert YY

2006-05-20T10:20:00.001-07:00

Yahoo Upgrades Home Page With New Features

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Business Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Yahoo Inc.'s Web site unveiled a new look Tuesday as the Internet powerhouse strives to remain the world's most popular online destination and strengthen its advertising appeal.

The overhaul marks the first facelift to Yahoo's home page since September 2004.

The redesigned page includes more interactive features that reduce the need to click through to other pages to review the weather, check e-mail, listen to music or monitor local traffic conditions.

Another addition, called "Yahoo Pulse," offers recommendations and insights about cultural trends culled from the Web site's 402 million users worldwide.

"Our goal is to have the best page on the Internet," said Dan Rosensweig, Yahoo's chief operating officer. "We feel like this (redesign) does something great for everybody."

2006-05-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

Yahoo Upgrades Home Page With New Features

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Business Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Yahoo Inc.'s Web site unveiled a new look Tuesday as the Internet powerhouse strives to remain the world's most popular online destination and strengthen its advertising appeal.

The overhaul marks the first facelift to Yahoo's home page since September 2004.

The redesigned page includes more interactive features that reduce the need to click through to other pages to review the weather, check e-mail, listen to music or monitor local traffic conditions.

Another addition, called "Yahoo Pulse," offers recommendations and insights about cultural trends culled from the Web site's 402 million users worldwide.

"Our goal is to have the best page on the Internet," said Dan Rosensweig, Yahoo's chief operating officer. "We feel like this (redesign) does something great for everybody."

Organs for sale

2006-05-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here is another con of globalization. As globalization enhances communication between places around the world through internet and other telecommunication devices, trade has becoming ever common between countries. Besides the normal, trade business in the import and export of food and other products, globalization has prompted an undesirable trade in human organs that has been thriving on the quiet in China.

It was not long ago that there were accusations against China as there were prisons that were to be executed were being lined up as donors before they were executed. China has denounced such assertions as “lies” and “malicious slander”. However, the existence of such a market for human organ trade is undeniable in the developing countries.

As the people living in the country’s rural area are extremely poor, many are willing to sacrifice their organs for sale to exchange for their family’s bread and butter. The sum that they get from the sale of their organs equals to several years of wages.Whenever there’s supply, there’s demand. Many desperate patients will go for transplant tourism, seeking for the suitable organs to prolong their lives. This results in the wide spread and growing of the transplant tourism industry which is illegal under the guiding principal of World Health Organization.

Patients from overseas looking for a right organ to transplant will be able to get information about transplant and willing donor from the internet. Although human organ sale is prohibited in China, it is the local hospitals that give the idea through their websites. However, the transplant surgeries are not that miraculous and life saving. Many patients that undergo such surgery face the risks of developing complications as the body rejects the transplanted organs. An even more worrying fact is that many of the hospitals carrying out such surgeries do not have a firm grip on the technique of organ transplant surgeries. This will result in more unnecessary deaths of patients. Globalization has enable people to communicate with others in another part of the world and even allow them to purchase items such as human oragns….

the health expert YY

Globalisation= wider spread of disease

2006-05-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

Globalization leads to people traveling more frequently than before. The movement of people and good in large scale increases the probability of diseases being introduced into areas where the diseases do not exist initially. People or animals who have not been exposed to these diseases before will suffer badly from it as they do not have a strong immune system against these diseases.

In the case of South America, the coastal waters are badly affected as a freighter discharging ballast water from China polluted the coast. The water infested with cholera vibrio and it later flourished in the algal blooms enriched by sewage and fertilizers. Algae are eaten by other organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans and fish which are later eaten by man. The infection spread rapidly once the disease enters Latin America killing thousands of Latin Americans by December 1994. Rapid urbanization and World Bank imposed cutbacks in sanitation and public health programmes have deteriorated the situation.

The development policies have contributed to the spread of disease by pushing people to migrate seeking for work in other countries. Migration encourages the spread of the disease as the migrant workers bring the pathogen into areas where the disease does not previously exist. Migrants who are not immune to the local disease will cause another outbreak of disease. Due to the movement of people and goods because of globalization, the diseases are no longer confined and limited to specific regions but are becoming more and more out spread.

By Health & Environment ex pert YY

References: - http://www.converge.org.nz/pirm/lurgi.htm http://www.conservationandsociety.org/cs_1_1-essay.pdf#search='globalisation%20and%20extinction%20of%20animals

Manga Culture

2006-05-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

Come across someone’s blog and it mentioned about The Flame of Recca, one famous manga that I read when I was in primary school. I suddenly realize that a lot of my friends are actually very into Manga and Anime. Some of them even buy the whole series which cost them hundreds of dolloars. This suddenly gave me an inspiration to blog. Did some research and found out that…

Manga is a Japanese word for comics and printed cartoon. Popular Manga are often adapted to anime once a market of interest has been established. I think all of us know something about Doraemon and Astro Boy? Maybe Pokemon or Digimon? What about Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon? All of them sounded familiar? They are the popular Manga and Anime. It is interesting that small little comic characters are able to penetrate their way from Japan to our island. The recent ones were Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh, Full Metal Alchemist (MY FAVOURITE!) etc etc. Pardon me if they are already quite outdated to you guys… (to me is quite recent…)

Because of its popularity, manga is one of the best ways to reach the public audiences and influence public opinion. Manga has proved so popular that it appealed to people all around the world! France, Germany, America, China, Korea, Italy, Singapore etc. Manga has thus been translated into many different languages in different countries including languages, Chinese, English, Italian, Korean, German, French and many more! Dragon Ball Z has become so popular that games are available in Game Boy, PlayStation, Xbox etc etc. On the left is a picture of a Causian boy wearing a printed Dragonball Z shirt. The link http://youtube.com/watch?v=0XxI-hvPRRA&search=smosh%20pokemon is a video of how people can be crazy over pokemon. Literary crazy… (MUST WATCH!). This shows the influence that a popular Manga will have.

Below is an abstract from the link http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1856 showing how manga influenced the young population in France

Manga influence pervades Europe, North America

Quote:

Teenagers these days dream about visiting Shibuya's 109 fashion center or Shinjuku's My City shopping building, while the game of go is increasingly popular among young people. The country of these phenomena is not Japan, though, but France, where the influence of translated Japanese manga. And with this huge popularity seemingly still growing, it seems that and anime (animated films and TV programs) is having a large impact on the younger generation manga should no longer be labeled a subculture. Indeed, this storytelling mode of visual expression, with its drawings and dialogue balloons, deserves international mainstream status. But how has this rise in popularity come about? "In the manga City Hunter, for instance, My City frequently appears in the background, that's how My City has been input into the memory of readers," said Takanori Uno, a Tokyo-based staffer for the French publisher Tonkam, which specializes in Japanese graphic novels. "Teenage readers want to enjoy the same environment their Japanese counterparts enjoy. So, Shibuya comes to the top of their wish-list for a visit, without their knowing what the place really is. Anything they see in manga is cool to them." [...] Meanwhile, in Germany, a monthly manga targeting girls, Daisuki, was launched in January. In 2001, publisher Carlsen Comics started publication of the monthly Banzai, based on Shonen Jump, published by Shueisha and the most popular weekly manga in Japan. Banzai enjoys a circulation of about 130,000 copies. Moreover, in the United States, Viz Comics started its English version of Shonen Jump in November with 250,000 copies. It now prints 300,000.

As what Takanori Uno, a Tokyo-based staffer for the French publisher Tonkam, which specializes in Japanese graphic novels said, one of the reasons for why Manga is so popular is that people want to enjoy the same environment the characters are in. It is also an escape from urban society.

Another reason is because of the themes in the Manga. A great deal of themes all odds, achieves their goal. The hero is often portrayed to be of the Manga industry is about how a hero, defying cool and stylish. Maybe because everybody wanted to be a hero to change the world or maybe they wanted to be as feel important and maybe they want to be as cool as the characters, they read manga…

Please feel free to give comments… because I think this post is very lousy. haha

-Cultural expert Huang Lee Tat

World Trade Organisation

2006-05-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

This comic was created in response to the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s program of total liberalization of trade restrictions. On Tuesday, November 30, 1999, tens of thousands of protesters weathered the cold and the cops in Seattle to bring the truth about free trade and the WTO to the international public's attention.

In this comic, we can see a gargantuan man donning a suit and tie controlling the entire world with the chains in his hands. As portrayed in the comic, this man represents the WTO. (In case the font is too small, he is actually saying What’s The Objection?)

What the comic is trying to say, I think, is that the conflict which ensued in Seattle shows the lengths to which the world's elites will go to protect their positions. The violent response of the Seattle police shows that free trade and globalization, as the WTO sees them, will require the application of a police state. In other words, the WTO leaders do not want compromise.

Before delving any deeper into this matter, let me introduce the WTO. As taken from the BBC, “the WTO is an international body whose purpose is to promote free trade by persuading countries to abolish import tariffs and other barriers”, thus the name World Trade. The WTO is the only international agency overseeing the rules of international trade. It polices free trade agreements, settles trade disputes between governments and organises trade negotiations with the key players being US, the EU, Japan. As such, it has become closely related to globalisation.

This is obviously a step towards economic globalisation since economic disputes between two governments are settled by a third party. Instead of respecting national sovereignty, the WTO interferes with trade relations among countries. The WTO can be likened to an international economic government who is in charge of the world’s economy. With different countries being represented and forming an economic bloc, this breaks down many geographical borders due to its influence in the world economy. This is especially so since many of its members consist of developed countries with a large pie of global economy. Thus, this international organisation is able to influence and play a part in determining the economic outcome of various nations, a clear form of economic globalisation. On top of that, one of its main purposes is to persuade countries to enter into free trade by getting rid of tariffs and reducing barriers to free trade. This is not surprising since it was formed as a successor to the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). They will have no compromise on the issue of economic globalisation and will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. As seen during the Battle of Seattle, they are so intent on it that they will even resort to violent means to achieve it. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, the catalytic effect of free trade on economic globalisation is obvious and has already begun. Therefore, it is indubitable that the WTO is one of the key players in accelerating the speed of economic globalisation.

I feel that the WTO is too powerful, in that it can in effect compel sovereign states to change laws and regulations by declaring these to be in violation of free trade rules. In today’s society, infringement on a nation’s sovereignty is inevitable but a line still needs to be drawn. It is not as though these countries are cooking up some annihilative weapon that can exterminate the whole of America but the decision of free trade should lie with the government since it is the government who is ruling the country and not the WTO. Although quite a number of people feel that free trade is beneficial for countries, it may not be in the interest of certain countries, especially developing, poorer nations. This is because I feel that WTO is run by the rich for the rich and does not give significant weight to the problems of developing countries. For example, rich countries have not fully opened their markets to products from poor countries. On top of that, WTO lacks democratic accountability, in that its hearings on trade disputes are closed to the public and the media. Hence, I feel that the power of the WTO should be curbed although this seems to be a nearly impossible feat.

By Economic Expert: David

Bibliography: http://www.wto.org/

2006-05-06T13:40:00.001-07:00

http://www.csupomona.edu/~rrreese/HIPHOP.HTML

come across this article

Hip Hop culture is a cultural movement that began among the mostly African American and Latino communities in the Bronx borough of New York City in the early 1970s. Although created by black youth on the streets of america, hip-hop’s influence has become worldwide. About 75% of the rap and hip-hop audience is non-black. The hip-hop culture has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals (particularly youth) across a rich ethnic spectrum

There are various aspects of hip-hop that have great influence on people’s lives. They are rap music, language (street slang), dressing (baggy pants, caps worn backwards, ‘blink-blink’, sneakers) and of course the hip-hop dance.

Rap music is a way for youths to show their attitude towards the society. The collective message of rap told stories of the urban streets--stories of drugs, violence, and crime. The urban youth use it form of music as a platform to outwardly express their rage towards the societies system. This verbal attacks in rap music reflects how the urban youths feel about their society as well as their government

Street language is transmitted to the hip-hop culture through rap music. One can hear Asians using the same slang as the African American. Words such as “dope”, “da bomb”, “legit”, “hittin” etc are used to describe things that are excellent. Do you know that the word “nigger” is one of the most popular words for hip-hoppers? Even though one might not be good in English, they are able to understand and speak street slangs. The Taiwan variety shows can really prove my point.

The dressing of the hip-hopper has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. The hip-hop fashion consists of baggy pants worn very loosely, baseball caps worn backwards, oversized rugby or polo shirts, and expensive tennis shoes. Hip-hop fashion, unlike the fashion of other generations, has uniquely cut across almost every ethnic boundary. Indeed, a significant number African American, Whites, Latinos, and Asians youth between the ages of 12 and 22 dress the same irrespective of their ethnicity.

I think that the youths are trying to imitate the African American; their freedom of expression and also their physical appearance.

Hip-hop dance and Break dancing is a street dance style that evolved as a part of hip-hop movement. Hip-hop dancing and Break dancing is an unusually free of the common race, gender, age boundaries and culture. It has become popular among people just like Rap music. France is one of the countries where break dancing is very popular in. One of the factors of why it is so appealing is their dance move. Break dance is a free-form dance, which requires strength as well as flexibility. The gravity-defying dynamic freeze of the break-dancer is a way to demonstrate youth-power.

One good example of how hip-hop culture has cut across ethnic boundaries can be found in Asia. Artist Jay Chou is one of the symbols for hip-hop culture. His music (mostly rap) has appealed to a great number of Chinese people. One can ask a Chinese about Jay Chou and they could possibly tell you everything about him, including his famous cap that is worn exceptionally low. It is not difficult to see youths wearing baggy pants and caps turned backwards in Orchard Road. It is also not difficult to hear them speaking the street slang. We can also see youth dancing outside parades of different shopping malls.

The hip-hop culture has indeed transcended ethnic boundaries. Because of its eclectic audience, it has the greatest opportunity to build ethnic bridges and mend ethnic relations. Hip-hop has taken hold and permeated significant regions of the world. The clothing, music, mannerisms, and lexicon have somehow unified the world. This culture has the potential to make it cool not to commit hate crimes, not to discriminate, and not to be racist across the world.

-cultural expert Huang Lee Tat

2006-05-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

3G technology. The ability to transfer both voice data (a telephone call) and non-voice data. Technological advancements such as these has allow globalisation to occur, fast and easily. 3G phones has improved so much from the eldest generation of mobile phones. From mobile phones without screens and only number keys to press on to the 3G phones (example above) available now, has shown how Man has progressed across time.

Looking back, mobile phones came from the telephones we have in our household. The first telephone was invented in 1876, 130 years ago.

Below is a picture of first mobile phone of Motorola.

This, is one of the oldest mobile phones ever invented. Meant to be something to bring convenience to people while they're not at home, the oldest mobile phone is hand-fitting and light. While this,

is one of the newest phones around. Compared to the oldest generation of mobile phones, it is much lighter, with colour screens, with high technological functions installed.

The only function of a household telephone was to allow communication between households from around the world. However, from that one necessity, telephones have gradually transformed into mini ones which we can use to listen to the radio, play virtual games on, watch videos and even go online and send electronic mails.

Do we necessarily need them there? Do we have to listen to the radio while on the way to work, do we have to play games when we're bored? Must we have those functions which are installed, increasing the price of a mobile phone from a low 200dollars to a price of 6-700 dollars?

Technology bringing about globalisation, communication from one side of the world to the other. However, redundant uses of technology may bring about unnecessary consequences as well.

Technological Expert: Stephanie

Foreign Direct Investment

2006-04-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

This article on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) shows how much it has increased over the years and the importance of it to many countries. FDI is where a foreign country invests in another country for example by purchasing or setting up firms in that country. As a result, whatever economic results in the country will have a significant effect in the investing country. This is a double edged sword, with the potential to accelerate the economic growth of poor countries but at the same time if one country’s economy crashes, this will be multiplied in the rest of the countries that invests in it. An example of this is the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The devastation of the Thai baht on July 2nd, 1997 witnessed a sudden and unprecedented collapse in asset prices, corporate and financial fragility, and a drastic economic slowdown in East Asian markets. In just over 12 months, the region's stock markets-once among the largest in the world-saw their market capitalisation shrink by as much as 85% in US dollar terms.

I feel that FDI is closely related, and causes economic globalisation as it links the economies of countries together and economic effects of one country will fan out across the globe like a wave, affecting other countries. With FDI, geographical borders are of non-existence in terms of the economy. We can see this from how economic outcomes of a country do not stop at its borders. On the contrary, it spreads out across the globe to other investment countries due to the finances they have put in one country. It is a clear sign of economic globalisation as we are now interdependent and if a nation’s economy crashes, the repercussions are felt globally. With more and more FDI across nations, the world has indeed become more globalise economically. Therefore, FDI has been a great impact by creating economic linkages across nations, thus increasing economic globalisation internationally.

My view on FDI, is that like most investments, has an amount of risk and can work for and against you. With proper control and management of a country, investment countries can use it as a means of economic growth. However if there is a lack of wisdom and discernment in the countries you entrust your finances in, this could very well result in heavy economic losses. I believe that Singapore also uses FDI as a means of protecting itself from other countries. For example, by encouraging foreign countries to set up businesses here, we are preventing them from attacking us as they would incur heavy losses too. In conclusion, I feel that FDI does globalise the economy rather significantly but we have to be careful about the countries to place our finances in.

By Economic Expert: David

Bibliography: http://riskinstitute.ch/145890.htm

Football Culture

2006-04-30T01:51:00.000-07:00

Football Culture

Globalization has brought about significant improvements in transport and communication. Information can also be transmitted in an instant. This reflection will talk about soccer, the game that brings people together.

Quote from Wikipedia, “In many countries, football has ingrained itself into the national culture, and many parts of life revolve around it”. Many countries have got daily football newspapers, weekly football magazine, television station that broadcasts live football matches from around the world. Thus soccer, across the globe, has become part and parcel of almost everybody’s life.

Teams have benefited from globalisation by being able to find a wider support base outside their traditional local areas. Real Madrid FC, one of the football-giant in Spain, is a team made of superstars of football around the world. Just to name a few, Zinedine Zidane from France, David Beckham from England, Roberto Carlos from Brazil, Thomas Graveson from Denmark, Antonio Cassano from Italy, Raul Gonzalez from Spain… etc. All of the players are very popular and this brought about fans from around the globe. Real Madrid FC may not play the best football, but they are earning the most money as compared to other football clubs because of its clever advertisement of the club and the globalisation of star players in the team.

Not only the teams, the coaches have benefited too. Coaches are brought in from different countries to coach national teams. Just to name a few, Brazilian Zico who coaches Japan, Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari who coaches Portugal, German Otto Rehhagel who lead Greece to glory in the last Euporean Cup and even Singapore, is coached by a Serbo-Montenegrin Radojko Avramovic.

Football brings people together. Matches between different clubs and different countries never fail to attract people to watch them. Clubs and bars in Singapore such as the Red Devils has live telecast for every Manchester United’s matches. Fans of the Red Devils will swarm there to watch their the team play.

The mood of the whole of a country has been seen connected to football. Victory in major tournament would bring about happiness and conversely defeat can lower spirits. Singapore is also one of these countries. Football is such an amazing circular object that brings people together!

-cultural expect Huang Lee Tat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.expertfootball.com/equipment/balls/nike-aerow.jpg
http://www.trincoll.edu/~ldunaway/2002-06-30T164755Z_01_NOOTR_RTRIDSP_2_OWCUP-SOCCER-WORLD-BRAZIL-CELEBRATION.jpg

Fast food culture

2006-04-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Although the article mostly talks about the economy, which was brought about by booming fast food restaurants, it spurs me thinking.

This fast-food culture started of in America and is rapidly spreading across the globe, to every part of the world. For the past decades, fast food has infiltrated almost every part of the world. As its name suggests, the term “fast food” means food that is prepared and served quickly. As quoted from the website, it says that in 1968, there were 1000 McDonald’s. Today, there are about 23000 worldwide and opens roughly about 2000 new ones each year. It is also estimated that one of every eight Americans has worked at McDonald’s. This booming of fast food restaurants is largely due to the nature of the food, prepared and served quickly. This booming of fast-food restaurants reduces the diversity of local cuisines.

A generation ago, meals consumed are made from home. Compare it with today; there is an increasing trend of us consuming food that is prepared outside home. It is because of its convenience. In every part of the world, every people want things to be done fast and effectively, even filling our stomach

It is also noted that the more globalised a country is, the more fast-food restaurants outlets. Just to name a few, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Mos Burger, McDonalds, etc. Maybe because people living in globalised countries are more competitive and they want everything to be done fast and effectively so as to so called “stay-ahead” of others.

As quoted from the article, a survey on American schoolchildren found that 96% could identify Ronald McDonald (the weird clown with red hair, mouth and nose). The only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Claus. The article also states that the McDonald’s corporate symbol, the Golden Arches, is now more widely recognized than the Christian cross. This is reflective of our generation.
Experts call this McDonaldisation.

Maybe someone can enlighten me, why call it French fries when most of them are sold in USA?

-Cultural Expert Huang Lee Tat

migration: a cause of economic globalisation

2006-04-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

In this article by the BBC, we can see that migration plays an important role in the economic arena. The number of people living outside their country of origin grew in the 1990s, rising from 120 million in 1990 to more than 160 million in 2002. According to the Population Resource Bureau, migrants account for approximately 2.5% of the world population. If they were to constitute a country it would be the world’ sixth most populous.

Lets take Singapore as an example; in 2000, the number of foreign workers remained at 530,000, making Singapore one of the countries with the highest percentage of migrants in the labour force (20 percent). One of the impacts of migration is the possibility of taking away jobs from the locals. A poll taken by Channel News Asia revealed that 70 percent of Singaporeans favour a reduction of the number of migrants. Some of the push factors are lack of jobs due to influx in foreigners, political and religious reasons and even environmental problems such as natural disasters. Reasons for migrating include pull factors too. Some examples are higher standards of living, labour demand or political and religious freedom. As seen from the above reasons, economics provide the biggest push and pull factor for potential migrants.

The effect of migration is a very clear indication of economic globalisation. Humans are an important resource in an economy. At least for the present, without humans, the economy will collapse. For example, if we were to take away all the foreign workers in Singapore, I believe it will create a sharp dip in the economy. Our heavy dependence on domestic helpers and foreign workers and talents would be the cause of the dip in the economy if foreign migrants were to be taken out of Singapore. Immigration is a source of low cost labour for host countries but that does not mean that the countries the immigrants come from do not benefit. If not for the host countries, I think there will be an increase in poverty due to the lack of jobs. This is because the remittances of emigrant workers can be an important source of foreign exchange for sending countries.

Therefore, immigration causes much economic globalisation as countries begin to rely on each other to boost their economy. Humans moving around the globe from one country to another due to economic reasons cause economic globalisation since workers are no longer restricted to their native country. Companies in one country can also employ foreign workers to decrease the amount spent on salary or to bring in foreign talent. Thus, the economy of one country will no longer be dependent on its on workers but foreigners as well. If one country were to restrict all forms of immigration and migration, the effects will be manifested not only in that country but the other neighbouring countries as well. Migration has caused countries to become interdependent on each other economically, resulting in economic globalisation.

I feel that migration has pros and cons. Some of the cons can be seen from the resentment of the majority of Singaporeans. In a poll taken, 70% of Singaporeans wanted the government to lower the amount of foreign workers and students in Singapore. This is because they take up the spaces of Singaporeans in terms of jobs and places in universities. Some people also blame them for increase in crime rates or spread of diseases they may bring from their native country. Some examples of such diseases are the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or in current months, the bird flu.

However, the influx in foreign workers has also been a great help, especially to small nations such as Singapore. With the birth rate going down, the need to outsource arises and one of the obvious solutions is from foreigners. On top of that, Singaporeans are quite pampered and so many jobs that we consider “degrading” such as rubbish collectors fall into the hands of foreigner. As seen, foreigners can exert both positive and negative influence. I believe in order to maximise the potential of foreign workers and minimise any negative side effects, careful planning and control by the government is needed.

By Economic Expert: David

Technology in TJC

2006-04-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

Computers, handphones, Internet, cars, sound systems, air-conditioning. All these are inventions due to advancements of technology. Technology is constantly upgrading, computers get more efficient, handphones get more fashionable and smaller in size. Improvements in technology contributes to globalisation, and with increasing globalisaton technology improves; it's a never ending cycle.

A picture of technology in TJC. The use of computers amongst students nowadays is very common. Internet is widely used, for research, for information, for connecting across the globe to communicate with another party. Internet, with chatrooms and websites such as Friendster connects people from one side of the world to another. This is how globalisation occurs through the Internet, through technology. Likewise, with handphones, with telephones, people connect to each other with ease, with just a click of a few buttons.

Not just communication-wise has globalisation occurred, but transportation-wise as well. With inventions such as cars, motorbikes, aeroplanes, helicopters, ships; most parts of the world are accessible for human beings. Aeroplanes bring us to another continent in a matter of a few hours; cars bring us to another part of the country in just half an hour. Transportation has linked us to one another as well.

Technology has indeed contributed to globalisation.

At the same time, as globalisation occurs, technology is constanly being pushed to improve. With online chatrooms, people now want video conferencing. And yes, it has been made possible, even with handphones. What is next? At first there was only sound communication, and now there is an addition of being able to see the other person. What is next?

Ah, and lastly, technology not only bring about a change in economy, it also bring about a change in cultures amongst different people.

by Technology Expert: Stephanie

2006-04-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Just take a look at your branded stuff. Even though is suppose to be an European brand or North American brand, all that I have come across are from Asian countries. Vietnam, China, Cambodia… etc. This is because the price for manufacturing product in Asia is cheaper as compared to other countries. This price difference had somewhat contributed to globalization…

Branded stuff also helps shrinking the world. With globalisation, ideas and fashion can be brought across the global, thus improving cultural ties. Almost every part of the world has Adidas, Nike, Reebok, and Puma… etc. Imagine that one of your online friends is wearing the same kind of branded stuff. This kind of bring people together..

By Cultural Expert: Lee Tat

Free Trade Agreements

2006-04-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

This article contains a portion where PM Lee mentions starting a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China. Besides proposing a FTA with China, the Singapore government has also established a FTA with the America a few years back. The definition provided by wikipedia of a FTA is the unhindered flow of goods and services between countries, and is a name given to economic policies and parties supporting increases in such trade.

Free trade is a concept in economics and government that refers to:

1) International trade of goods without tariffs (taxes on imports) or other trade barriers (e.g., quotas on imports)

2) International trade in services without tariffs or other trade barriers

3) The free movement of labour between countries

4) The free movement of capital between countries

5) The absence of trade-distorting policies (such as taxes, subsidies, regulations or laws) that give domestic firms, households or factors of production an advantage over foreign ones.

6) Government protection of property rights to enforce the above conditions

This means that many aspects of the economy such as goods, labour and capital are able to move between one or more countries and trade blocs. There are no restrictions in place as to the amount that goes in or comes out and taxes are eliminated. There are many ways in which FTAs globalise the economy.

Firstly, I feel that this is similar to the internet where people can come and go as they like. Instead of people now, economically, goods are able cross borders uninhibited. As a result, geographical borders that define a country are broken down and the final product is a globalise world where economic products are free to move around. For example, free trade allows companies the possibility of outsourcing the production of goods for domestic sale. Environmental and labour standards imposed upon these companies can be less in foreign production. Many products ranging from cars to shoes are produced in China due to the cheap labour and eventually sold elsewhere under a foreign brand such as Nike.

Secondly, free trade undermines border control, increasing the tendency to encourage porous borders. Since there is no control on the amount, increased volume of trade that passes over a given border can swamp border control. Even with sufficient control, the costs, both to the government and traders having to endure the time and expense of passage could be prohibitive to trade. In this way, the exportation of one country in a trade bloc may have significant effects on another.

Thirdly, free trade encourages economic interdependence between countries. An example of the interdependence is the reluctance of countries to go to war with each other. Countries that trade with each other are less likely to go to war due to the enormous cost of suddenly disrupting their trade abroad. It is similar to how countries which invest in one another avoid going to war with each other. This could be one reason why Singapore is eager to propose FTAs with other countries besides wooing them to invest in the state by setting up businesses here.

From the above three paragraphs, one can see the effects FTA have on countries and how it globalises the economy. Products are no longer restricted to being produced and sold in the one country but the materials needed could come from country A, the product made in country B, before being sold in country C. An economic move by one country such as reducing importation and exportation could have significant impact on another country in the trading bloc. Therefore, FTAs play a rather important role in globalising the world economy.

By Economic Expert: David

Globalisation in TJC

2006-04-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

GLOBALISATION in TJC...

Items:

#1 Honda

Honda is a Japanese brand for cars. Although it is "Japanese", it can be seen everywhere in Singapore and other parts of the world. This is a form of globalisation in the economic aspect. The trading activities between countries encourage the progress of globalisation as items produce in a certain country can be on sale in another. Also, the parts of the product may not be coming from the country in which the brand is originated in. As globalisation takes place, the parts of the product can be made somewhere else. For example, the parts of the Honda can be made in United States but are put together by factories in China.

By Environmental/Health Expert: YuYao

globalization in TJ...

2006-03-30T06:29:00.000-08:00