23 November 2000

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY RADM (NS) TEO CHEE HEAN, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND 2ND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, AT THE POLYTECHNIC FORUM 2000 OPENING CEREMONY, BEGONIA BALLROOM, NTUC LIFESTYLE WORLD-DOWNTOWN EAST ON THURSDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2000 AT 9:15 A.M.

THEME: Singapore Youths in a Borderless World

ADDRESS

Mr Chan Soo Sen
Parliamentary Secretary, Prime Minister's Office &
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Health

Principals of the Polytechnics

Director, National Youth Council

Organising Chairman, Polytechnic Forum 2000

Good morning.

INTRODUCTION

Globalisation has captured world attention. But it means different things to different people.

Some see it in economic terms - greater trade in goods and services, increasing cross-border flows of investment and technology, and greater movement of people.

This has come about as an increasing number of countries embrace free-market principles, remove barriers to international trade, investment, travel and communication, and integrate themselves into what is perceived as a single global economy. A major part of world trade is now conducted through trans-national corporate channels; vast volumes of money move across national borders through global financial markets via electronic communication systems.

Others see globalisation as a distinctly new phase in international relations. This phase is characterised by political, economic and social activities that increasingly cross national borders and blur the concept of national sovereignty - the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, and the various international conventions from human rights to land mines and the environment that are proliferating. They change the relative power between the weak and the strong, between state power and the power of international organisations, between governments and non-government organisations.

Globalisation can also be seen as a cultural phenomenon. E-mail and the Internet enable almost instantaneous communication among people regardless of geographical distance. It is as easy, maybe easier, to chat with a person across an ocean, than a neighbour a few doors away. Are young people around the world who are hooked on the internet so much alike – the way they dress and talk, and the music and fast food that they enjoy – that they have more in common with each other than they have with their elder brothers and sisters who are perhaps just five or ten years older?

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION

However you choose to look at globalisation, it is clear that globalisation, from the economic viewpoint, has already integrated millions, hundreds of millions, in the Third World, especially in the two most populous nations of India and China, into the modern world. Although there remain huge numbers of poor people in India and China, globalisation has already had spectacular effects in the social and economic landscapes of both countries. The economic successes of China are well known. India too has been experiencing explosive economic growth in selected fields like IT. The recent UN Millennium Summit report predicted that by 2008 - a mere 8 years away - the Indian computer industry would reach $85 billion, a spectacular sum by any standard.

However, globalisation is not viewed positively by everyone. One example is the Asian crisis. It was just three and a half years ago that the Thai baht collapsed. The major financial centres in the West paid little attention. The big global economic decision-makers at that time decided that this little crisis on the other side of the globe could be ignored.

The Thai baht crisis spread to other countries in Southeast Asia, and then Korea. Its reverberations were felt in Russia and Brazil. And then, in an important leap, it began to rattle American markets. This recent episode demonstrates vividly how interdependent the world has become. The financial flows around the world - US$1.5 trillion a day - have become so large that they exceed the capacity of individual countries to cope if the market loses confidence and moves against them.

Another vivid example of global interdependence, that resulted from a global electronic network, was demonstrated by the rapid spread of the "I love you" virus from a single computer in the Philippines to the whole world in a matter of days.

Social IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION

Some of the forces and opportunities that allowed capital markets to become globalised are also affecting our personal lives daily. We have experienced very real and dramatic changes to our Singaporean lifestyles brought about by globalisation. They now include American fast foods and TV programmes, Japanese superstores, British pop music, fruit juice from South Africa, smoked salmon from Chile.

Many young Singaporeans would not remember a time when these did not exist in our society. Instead, as they stroll down Boat Quay on weekends now, they see a microcosm of the world in the midst of Singapore. Expatriate workers from America to Australia, China to Canada, Malaysia to Mexico, jostle with Singaporeans in pubs playing jazz and blues. We drink Irish whiskey and French wines; we eat Italian pizza and Japanese sushi.

REACTIONS TO GLOBALISATION

The effects of globalisation have manifested themselves in interesting ways. Earlier this year, 15,000 anti-globalisation protestors supported a French farmer's destruction of a McDonald's restaurant in his little French village. In 1999 and 2000, demonstrators protested against the activities of the World Trade Organisation. They felt that with increased globalisation, big corporations had greater opportunity to exploit the world's most impoverished countries, leading to more poverty and environmental devastation. The irony of course, is that these protestors themselves are an example of the very globalisation that they are protesting against – protestors from different countries finding common cause, coordinating their activities via the internet, jetting in from around the globe to take part.

As with any major change, countries and people struggle to cope. Some manage quite well, while others feel threatened by globalisation. J.M Roberts, in his book "The Triumph of the West", describes the process in which many civilisations of the world have been changed by the influence of western civilisation which appears to be on the ascendant. With globalisation, will Asian countries lose their identities? Many television programmes and Internet web-sites are in Western hands, and in Western languages. Many images and much of the content on global news networks are dominated by the West. Modes of thought appear to be in the process of being homogenised.

In Malaysia, there is concern about "subversive agendas". Korea is concerned with the dilution and erosion of Confucian ethics while in Indonesia, the government's worry is how globalisation will aggravate income inequalities. There is much talk about 'Asian values' being eroded - of proud and ancient cultures being replaced by something alien, that is sweeping away the wisdom accumulated over the ages and replacing it with something that might last only till the next click of the mouse.

As interdependence between nations grows, nations, political systems, economic organisations, social structures, family units, and individuals will face countless dilemmas. Singaporeans must find new ways to define who we are and what we want as individuals and as a nation.

Inevitability of globalisation

The trend towards globalisation is a tide that we cannot fight. But we can shape it, and we can prepare ourselves for it, so that we enjoy more of the benefits, and less of its evils.

It will not be possible for countries or a people to progress if they isolate themselves, if they separate their community or their economy from the world. Large countries like China and India found this out to their cost as they closed themselves off and tried to develop on their own. They are now opening up.

Singapore is a small country. We have thrived on being connected to the world. And as other countries do so too, the competition will be greater, but opportunities will be even greater. We will have to search for new ways to remain competitive.

ANALYSIS of Impact of Globalisation

How do you as young people, prepare yourselves?

Some of the things you can do, you are already doing. First, getting yourselves a good education, in a field of study that will prepare you for the opportunities ahead.

Second, acquiring the ability to communicate across cultures, in a language that can be understood by many others, and through a medium like the Internet.

Third, developing a global orientation. Singapore is your base, your home base, from which you can explore the world. Your Polytechnics already offer you many opportunities to have experience in industry, often in other countries. Seize these opportunities to learn more about the region and the world.

Fourth, spend some time to examine what you want to do with your own life, your values and attitudes. We can easily be led into the belief that the internet is about the future; and globalisation is about living life anywhere. But living anywhere can mean living nowhere. We all want some place to call home. To move confidently into the future, it helps to know who we are and where we have come from.

And finally, we, all the young, and not-so-young, have to learn to live in a constantly changing world.

As a nation, Singapore depends on the energy, enthusiasm, and vitality of its youth to find new ways of learning to live, grow, and compete in a global environment. This Polytechnic Forum provides an excellent platform for a discussion of these issues, and how they will affect you, and the world that you will grow into. I am sure that you will have an interesting forum.

Thank you.