Peck Jie Sheng Daniel D5 CA2 Essay “Singapore’s economic prosperity since 1965 has ensured the survival and sustainability of the Singaporean nation.” To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Since achieving independence in 1965, Singapore has experienced tremendous economic growth. GDP per capita has risen from US$516 in 1965 to US$54,776 in 2013 – one of the world’s highest. However, this economic prosperity has not come easily. Singapore’s economy has undergone constant restructuring to remain globally competitive. Starting with an export-oriented industrialization (EOI) strategy in the 1960s and 1970s, the economy has moved rapidly up the value chain. Today, Singapore is a knowledge-based economy and net capital exporter. These transitions were not a natural product of market forces. Instead, the Singapore government has had a long-standing strategic role, dictating the country’s economic direction, constructing markets and subsidizing infrastructure . Singapore’s economic success has left an indelible imprint on its nationhood. Some even argue that without it, the Singaporean nation would not have survived. However today, there is growing debate concerning whether past and present economic policies have been too growth-focused, creating inequality and social divides that threaten the sustainability of the nation. This essay examines these assertions. A nation is “a community of people, whose members are bound together by a sense of solidarity, a common culture, a national consciousness” . By this definition, the Singaporean nation started out especially vulnerable. Nationhood was unexpectedly forced upon Singapore in 1965 and national consciousness was low. Socio-political tensions also existed. R... ... middle of paper ... ...Over the past 50 years, the existence of a relatively united, turmoil-free Singapore, together with strong electoral support for the state, partly suggests that the economic prosperity achieved has helped the survival and sustainability of the nation. However, the tensions and discontent that have arisen in recent years suggest that Singapore’s economic strategy for the future requires rebalancing. Increasingly, the effect of economic growth seems to be counter-productive in nation-building if Singaporeans cannot partake in it, or feel marginalized. The state is likely to have to make some tough trade-offs to resolve this, and sacrificing some economic success might be on the agenda. (1233 words) “I acknowledge that this research essay is the product of my own work and research. All materials consulted — including websites — have been duly cited and credited.”
Throughout the years, humans have constructed many unique civilizations; all which follow a distinct social, economic, and political structure. Even so, there is one characteristic that prevails among these societies, the concept of nationalism. In short, nationalism refers to the feelings people have when identifying with their nation. This simple notion possesses the ability to divide or unite collective groups, and has played an important role in many historical events.
All over the world and in history, countries and nations have expressed pride towards their nations through spirit and have unified together as one. Nationalism is the force behind the unification, strength, and cooperation of these nations. First, nationalism is a powerful force that helps to unite all different people into a single nation. It is also important for nations to use nationalism to claim justified independence from one another. Finally, nationalism can be taken too far if it is used unjustly or incorrectly. Nationalism is important and necessary for beneficial political changes, but can become harmful and unproductive when used for a country’s personal agenda and lust for power.
This is a credible article; it seems that it is researched thoroughly and thoughtfully. Overall this article highlights my topic fairly well, and did meet my expectations; the author’s conclusion ended strong and summarizes the article greatly. Still, this article is not much different than my other twelve articles with the exclusion of one. In this article and others not all sources have different points of view and only one has done that.
In this essay, I will explore the status of the nation and nationalism as it currently exists under neo-colonial influences. For long-term survival, human cultures, and therefore nations, have had to adapt to different environments and shifting conditions. Today’s technological growth has challenged nations to adjust at an ever-faster pace, unse...
The founding of a new government, by definition, does not merely mean the establishment of a governing structure; it denotes the building of nationhood. This sense of nationhood, with time, will invariably deepen into the passion citizens have for their nations. While extreme nationalism is destructive to both self and others, a moderate amount of nationalism is the foundation of our modern democracy. It unites citizen into political units, promotes participation in democratic processes, and stabilizes democracy by building trust. Governments are, thus, important because, to some extent, they help to promote democracy.
Singapore as a country has had various transformations throughout its history, however the period 1950 and 1970 was quite critical. Much of these changes had a lot to do with the development of trade and manufacturing. This is without forgetting the financial sector where the intention was to come up with a financial hub that could be used in economic development. Looking at the case of Singapore, we would say that it is a productive economy with a very high market competition. This observation has been further clarified by the Swiss International Institute for Management Development, going with their report that they released in the year 2001 (Chellaraj & Mattoo, 2009). In this study, we intend to evaluate the case of political economy of development in Singapore and examine the tensions between the state and various economic institutions. In additions to examining this institution, we would also like to examine how these variables have contributed towards the attainment of favorable growth rates and economic prosperity.
Comparative advantage means that an industry, firm, country or individual are able to produce goods and services at a lower opportunity cost than others which are also producing the same goods and services. Also, in order to be profitable, the number in exports must be higher than the number in import. From the diagram we seen above, Singapore is seen to have a comparative advantage in some services. The services are Transport, Financial, business management, maintenance & Repair and Advertising & Market Research, etc. These export services to other countries improve the balance of payment. On the other side, Singapore is seen to have a comparative disadvantage in some services. The services are Travel, Telecommunications, Computer & Information,
“Nationalism” is defined as “A social and political outlook insisting that the state should embody a national community united by some or all of the following: history, ethnicity, religion, common culture, and language” . Essentially, nationalism is an intense pride for ones’ country caused by a push for national unity. Nationalism was stirred due to the sense of loss in national origin.
We will find out how Singapore manage to raises it economic development in such rapid growth aftermath of war and separation.
Since Singapore gained sovereignty in 1965 from Malaysia, its politics has been dominated by the People Action Party. Under the leadership of People Action Party, Singapore has a “distinct political culture: authoritarian, pragmatic, rational and legalistic.” Economic growth and political stability were maintained by the People Action Party’s guidance. Thus, Singapore is corruption- free government where power is gained through skill and performance that attracted investments from other countries (“Introduction to Singapore’s political system”, 2011). Singapore scored the point of 1.33 in the 2009 World Bank’s governance indicators for the factor political stability. The government also opens a number of sectors such as financial services o, telecommunications, power generation, and retail to increase competition and foreign firms (eStandardsForum, February 2010).
...ver the state of economies and lives of people. While I understand that this book serves to highlight the pressing issues of globalisation, the arguments made were often too one-sided in my opinion. For example, the authors argue that success stories of the Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs) like the East Asian Tigers came about largely based on the exploitation of labour and the unsustainable destruction of the environment. In this statement, the authors insinuate that economic growth can only be achieved via destructive means. However, being a 21st century citizen of one of the East Asian Tiger countries, Singapore, I could not disagree more. Embracing free trade policy and maintaining an export-led regime had given Singapore immense employment opportunity and foreign directed investments that spurred economic prosperity that allowed her to achieve her economic
In class we discussed what sustainable development meant to us; each group had its own definition. Our group’s definition was that sustainable development is for the long term for future generations, for the basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and job. The basic will increase over time and our resources will diminish, which why sustainable development is important. Sustainable development is important for future generations so that they end up with a world better than ours. Sustainable development is achievable if society works together to meet everyone’s basic needs and create a better world.
Environmental sustainability is making decisions and taking actions in the interest of protecting the natural world, preserving the capability of the environment to support human life and ensuring that humans use the environment in a way that does not harm the environment. It also questions how economic development affects our environment vice versa.
Sustainable development means that the present generations should be able to make use of resources to live better lives in such a manner that it doesn’t compromise the ability of future generations to survive and make better lives for themselves as well. For sustainable development to occur, there needs to be sustainable economic, ecological and community development. Society needs to be educated about ways in which they can use resources, especially natural, in such a manner that it doesn’t cause harm to the environment and put future generations lives at risk.
In addition, after the 2011 Singapore general election, the government of Singapore has greatly changed its economic approach and it seems to be better for the economy of Singapore so far. On the other hand, measures have also been taken to cool down the property market which has constantly affected inflation rates, also tightened the foreign labour policies that constantly influence the labour market and unfold its impacts onto the Singapore’s economy as it comes back in one round. The unemployment rate in Singapore has been maintaining itself as being one of the lowest numbers in the world. The majority of Singapore’s labour force is well educated and highly skilled. Even primary education is a must for all citizens (Economywatch.com, 2010). In addition, for the year 2010, Singapore had the 8th largest current account balance in the world at US$49.454 billion. To conclude, Singapore has come so far from its sunken economy since independence in 1965 to become a booming and prosperous economy that it is