Introduction
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.
Political Economy of Evolution in Singapore
The rapid growth rates in Singapore can be attributed to the various economic and political factors such as the role of the state, debacles between states and countries and effect of the international environment. What we expect is that, at the end of an influential dispute there will be many changes in the international environment which may end, leading to huge effects related to globalization in production. Singapore is a unique city-state without a rural population (Shatkin, 2014). The implication is that it will be difficult to understand the difference in the situation between rural and urban sector, which are important prerequisites in the study of...
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If Tan were to examine Althusser’s argument, he would not agree that ‘ideology has a material existence’ (Ferretter, 2006). For Althusser, ideology is accompanied by actions and it is evident through rituals and practices. He claims that these practices of a person would give rise to his or her beliefs, and that ideology exists in apparatuses. Hence, ‘it is because of the Ideological State Apparatuses that we hold certain beliefs’ (Ferretter, 2006). As oppose to Althusser, Tan’s critic of Singapore’s culture industry highlights his point of view that ideology is materialized through ideas rather than actions. He argues that the ‘ideological division of Singaporeans into cosmopolitans and heartlanders’ (Tan, 2008) is a disguise by the PAP government to assert control. They do so by crafting new policies in the name of its citizens. For example, censorship is a hotly debated issue in Singapore and the government has restricted contents, which they deem unsuitable, from reaching the public’s eye. This is done in the name of the heartlanders, who are traditional and conservative. As such, this reiterates Tan’s argument that the ideology of the government is manifested within an idea of exercising their power in a subtle way, in contrast to Althusser’s thesis that ideology is followed by rituals and practices. Tan’s theory is more hopeful in comparison to Althusser, who focuses his arguments on the hypothesis that ‘ideas are not the property of individual subjects but the results of the situation of those subjects, in class society, within a set of ISAs (Ferretter,
In States vs. Markets, Herman Schwartz presents two economic development strategies that have been employed by late industrial developers in order to either take advantage of existing comparative advantages or facilitate rapid industrial growth through state intervention and provision in order to gain a competitive foothold in world markets. Schwartz demonstrates how China was able to employ elements of these development strategies to generate capital from an abundant rural labour supply in order to pursue industrial development and attract foreign investment through economic reform starting in the late 1970's.
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,
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We will find out how Singapore manage to raises it economic development in such rapid growth aftermath of war and separation.
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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
It has three major island groups which are the Luzon, the largest island and where the capital is located; Visayan, and Mindanao. Eleven islands make up 94 percent of the Philippine landmass, and two of these--Luzon and Mindanao--measure 105,000 and 95,000 square kilometers, respectively. They, together with the cluster of the Visayan Islands that separate them, represent the three principal regions of the archipelago (many scattered islands in a large body of water) that are identified by the three stars on the Philippine flag.
This thesis is to understand and study the public housing system that has been sustaining in Singapore. Singapore is one of the country that has suffered from Housing crisis in the past, however, now they have 90% home ownership. “In 1960, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was set up to solving the nation’s housing crisis, and important goal of the HDB was also to push home ownership in order to foster a stronger sense of Singapore as the home country.” (HDB, s.d.). Within this thesis the argument about how the public housing in Singapore differs from other
Looking back on the history of Singapore its hard not to sit back and rivet at all the progression and improvement that have made Singapore a more relaxing and astonishing haven and must-see destination. Starting chronologically, from the Sanskrit words “simha” (lion) and “pura” (city) Singapore or Singapura, the “lion City” shows the rich history and the beginning of a new era that Singapore went through, and describes the city-state and the city life of people whom live or visit Singapore. We then move into how the city-state flourished as a trading post for a lot of sea vessels, which include Chinese junks, Portuguese battleships, and Indian vessels. The nineteenth century was an important time for Singapore because it was when modern Singapore was founded. On January 29, 1819 Sir Thomas Raffles (the...
Further investigations in urban form and social pattern changes in the developing countries have been made by Isswai (2001). He believes that the new changes started when the Middle Easter...
Frank, Barney (1999), “The Correct Approach to Globalization,” Congressional Record, [http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap05_comp_govpol_glob_42253.pdf], accessed 17 May 2012.
The increase in population have both pros and cons on the effect of Singapore’s economic growth and standard of living. High population growth rate cause difficulty for countries to raise or maintain its current standard of living. As higher population means competition over household, foods, healthcare, and education. Government needs to pump more money to
Urban village is a particular consequence of urban development in every city, including China. At the earlier time, urban village concept was mentioned by the famous American economist, Arthur O’ Sullivan. In his book, Urban Economics (2007, p68)[ ], he mentioned about American Urban Village. He said that American’s urban village is the mass concentration located in the suburb of modern cities, called “hypo-centers.” He also mentioned that those kinds of urban villages are an outcome of suburbanization and the decentralization of shopping malls and office buildings.
Urbanization is the process of becoming a city or intensification of urban elements. Since modernization, the meaning of urbanization mostly became the transformation that a majority of population living in rural areas in the past changes to a majority living in urban areas. However, urbanization differs between the developed and developing world in terms of its cause and the level of its negative outcomes. Korea, as one of the developing countries, experienced what is called ‘ overurbanization,’ and it experienced a number of negative consequences of it, although it could achieve a great economic development by it. This paper examines how urbanization differs between the West and the rest of the world, the characteristics and process of urbanization in Korea, problems sprung from its extreme urbanization, and government policies coping with population distribution.