Singapore, one of the most globalized nations nowadays, had undergone a series of political and monetary crises in the past forcing its market leaders to defend myself against a proactive position to the formation of national personality. One stance the government took was forging a nationwide myth of improvement that depicted Singapore's change from a under-developed fishing town to an initial world republic. The catalyze of the metamorphosis was globalization, through globalizing strategies such as: creating English as the country's first words; building Singapore's overall economy through partnerships with multinational businesses; importing popular culture from over the world; advocating and mailing Singaporeans to study abroad; pushing the immigration of "foreign talent"; and stressing a global orientation rather than a local individuality. The embracement of globalization through these strategies has led Singapore to obtain political balance and economic expansion. However, they have got weakened the country's sociable bonds with are crucial for pursuing the search for national personal information in Singapore.
Although there are other areas of Singapore's national identity, this talk will give attention to the national individuality of economic improvement since it has a primary correlation with the Republic's embrace of globalization.
This paper will firstly review the terms globalization and national id in the framework of Singapore. After which, address five issues produced from Singapore's embracement of globalization that has an ill influence on the republic's nationwide identity pursuit.
Firstly, the way in which Singapore techniques selective globalization that has led to an antagonistic relationship between local identities and global identities of individuals. Secondly, the reputation of Singapore as a global nation state and exactly how that 'loses' national individuality for future years. Thirdly, the way the affects of popular culture affects Singapore's national id adversely. Fourthly, how issues of emigration and immigration have undermined nationwide id. Fifthly, how Singapore's declaration as a worldwide city has resulted in the debilitation of Singapore's countrywide identity from which the condition of commitment arose. And sixthly, how Singapore's success report, as a result of globalization, thwarts initiatives of cementing the Republic's countrywide identity.
Singapore's National Identity
Before we discuss Singapore's countrywide identity, this paper defines the concept of a nation, with regards to Singapore, as thought as a purposeful build. This is because Singapore doesn't have a long history. Furthermore, it is populated by an array of different ethnicities.
Since self-reliance, the Singaporean authorities has tried to foster a nationwide personal information in Singapore. The purpose of this is to unite the heterogeneous immigrant human population under the nation-state; in the expectation that a distinctively Singaporean identity, which the people could identify with, would emerge.
The Singapore administration has put strong focus on developing a material-based national id through the occurrence and option of financial development, home-ownership, asset-enhancement, a high standard of living and modern facilities. This has created a "social modernity" that evokes a sense of Singapore's nationwide identity in useful and material conditions. Hence, the sanitation of the environment and the efficiency in the background of everyday Singaporean living are characteristics the government stimulates as Singapore's national identity and national icons. Singaporean's high standard of living as a resultant of globalization and commercial development reemphasizes the countrywide identity of financial progress.
Globalization in the context of Singapore
Many scholars view globalization as a make, which would create the drop, erosion or the finish of the nation-state. True to the definition, Singapore's embrace for globalization has generated problems by weakening emotional ties and the national identity of the nation. This is proven by: a crippling of cultural cohesion within the community; a pragmatic frame of mind of Singaporeans; and an increase number of skilled Singaporeans choosing to emigrate.
Although the Singapore federal attempts to connect individuals under the idea of a national id that is based on the misconception of overcoming adversity, this paper posits that the procedure of globalization undermines Singapore's territorial boundaries, the country's sovereignty, and its own traditional jobs, hence undermining the Republic's nationwide identity quest.
Singapore's practice of selective globalization
Globalization exposes nation-states to both opportunities and obstacles. Singapore has migrated from the procedure of building a nation-state to learning to be a global city. The federal government tactics selective globalization where certain forms are encouraged and more are discouraged. While, they champ for the synchronization of laws and insurance policies with international standards, they protect their world from unwholesome global commodities such as pornographic publications. Similarly, Singapore enjoys its status as one of the most globalized countries in the world in conditions of fund and telecommunications. On the other hand, Singapore regularly gets criticized from international human being rights establishments for insisting to apply its own label of politics. The issue of Singapore training selective globalization portrays the need to remain globally connected for the only real purpose of survival, while the retention of certain traditional ideals expresses the need to safeguard specific interest.
Long suggests, that the take action of ethnicities globalizing and de-globalizing within localities at the same time is synchronized through local procedures; and ideals generated symbols transmitted through the advertising, whether global or local, are at the forefront of building a modern culture.
This means that globalization weakens the inspiration of national identification as a result of reinforcement of interpersonal relations through emails, images and symbols that would connect individuals from what Anderson known as "imagined communities". To describe further, these "imagined communities" are created through the process of media-related aesthetic cues. An influx of these cues from globalization and localization triggers Singapore's national individuality to be regularly contested and negotiated.
Singapore as a globalizing land state
Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew once said: 'if more Singaporeans did the trick in foreign countries and their children forgot their roots. . . They dissolve and fade away and there is absolutely no Singapore They become individuals of the world. Exactly what does which means that? Lost!'.
As Singapore's leaders continue steadily to drive Singapore to become globalized entity, global influences, such as international education and relationship to foreigners, result in the diminishing of Singapore's country identity. The main issue here is the loss of Singapore's future generations of globalized young individuals who had been never exposed to the fear of local hostility or global alienation. Ironically, these generations of Singaporeans have been exposed to the very placing created by the federal government - Singapore's global environment - which may have in turn brought on them to decrease their sense of countrywide identity.
The impact of popular culture on youths in Singapore
The insufficient national identity of Singapore's most globalized portion of the population, the socially and politically apathetic younger generation, is a pivotal political issue in Singapore.
Singapore market leaders have tried to combat the cultural and political outcome of embracing globalization by recounting Singapore's difficult history to the near future generations as an answer to Singapore's shortfall. However, the interest of globalization occurs as a solid deterrence to the Republic's eyesight for its people.
This deterrence can be described by Berger's proposition of "an growing global culture" distinguished by individuation. The embracement of globalization and its exposure to folks has achieved "Individuation", which in Singapore's context suggests the power of citizens to form a more robust sense of "self" or "individuality" over the country's collectiveness; hence a weakening of national identity.
To add on to the people's sense of "individuation", constrains in freedom of criticism of the federal government have led to demonstration of cultural trends such as the appropriation of immigration and emigration, as well as a basic apathy towards nationwide issues. The latter is best expressed as an frame of mind of indifference toward defending the nation, as well as, an frame of mind of dispassion towards Singapore's national identity.
Globalization issues of emigration and immigration in Singapore
To nurture their only tool, people, Singapore transmits its people overseas for advanced schooling and training, and hone their recruiting, Singapore induces "foreign talent" to immigrate to Singapore. Even though these strategies have been successful, in championing objectives of increasing Singapore's human being expertise pool, they weaken the nationwide identity of the nation.
Most Singaporeans directed abroad find more opportunities in another country, nor go back. By the same token, new immigrants have a larger attachment with their home countries and would leave Singapore eventually. It is clear that although globalization helps Singapore flourish effectively, it undermines a profound attachment to the country, hence undermining countrywide identity.
Furthermore, talented Singaporeans also believe that they will have more professional opportunities if they left Singapore to become "foreign talent". In responds to this, the leaders of Singapore mentioned that they are alert to the double-edge sword of globalization, and included that emigration of gifted Singaporeans would cause the key of the country to unravel.
It is important to notice that the issues lifted above, within the quitter-stayer issue, do not totally point to issues pertaining to loyalty. Somewhat it points to issues that contain emerged from the establishment of your national identity with the Republic's work to accept globalization - Meritocracy.
Meritocracy, Singapore's countrywide value, has aptly associated talent to success and reward. It was strategically propagated to place Singapore on the global economy map. Today, this very ideal that helped achieve Singapore's global position also diminishes the Republic's countrywide identity by ingraining an opportunistic attitude in to the people, hence indirectly revealing to Singapore's talent going where opportunities are present.
Commitment issues in Singapore as a result of globalization
Another repercussion to Singapore's embracement of globalization is a sabotaging of commitment to Singapore's physical condition, where in fact the future years are unwilling to sacrifice for the nation.
One notice in the Straits Times forum webpage read, "What do we have in Singapore that are worth dying for?" This newspaper suggests that Singapore only really offers financial gain. Unfortunately, that may be attained somewhere else, hence "you can find little or nothing that compels Singaporeans to stay here, aside from die for his or her country. " Although Singapore's myth of economic progress is seen by the country as a firm groundwork of its nationwide identity, it has been undermined because of globalization.
In regards to the point above, Anderson places, "the imaginings of an nation are limited to the level of elastic restrictions". Economic improvement is not something exclusive to Singapore and therefore its utilization as a nationwide identity by their state is undermined. Through globalization, people id themselves with an international community, and therefore marginalize Singapore's national identity of economical progress.
Studies show that while Singaporeans point out that they experience a countrywide personal information through materiality and accomplishments of the nation, this form of personal information will not conjure up a feeling of allegiance. Neither would it evoke a love that folks may deal with and pass away for, nor will it arouse a sense of differentiation between other civilizations.
Singapore's success history as a national identity
Very similarly to the idea above, Singapore's success history of economic improvement, which led the Republic to obtaining a worldwide personality, could reduce Singapore's national identification. In what this paper views as the Singapore paradox, the goals of the state of hawaii, which is to support the nation, could be threatened by the successful integration of its people into a de-nationalizing globalized personality. It is because globalization propagates factors like transnational migration that undermines the national identification of the Singapore.
Conclusion
This conversation of globalization's results on Singapore's countrywide identity increases several conclusions that are relevant not only to Singaporeans but to other countries undergoing techniques of globalization.
Singapore's administration has embraced globalization as a vital method of not only monetary growth but also the Republic's success. This paper has portrayed the way the embracement of globalization exerts pressure on Singapore's difficulty to construct an effective connection between the country and its citizens through a quest for national identity. The very strategies of globalization that have led to the surge of Singapore's overall economy have compromised the country's shared identity and opportunities; and as a result of the climb of Singapore's affluence through globalization, it is difficult to reduce the negative factors of globalization and take full advantage of the positive factors of localization in building a national identity.
