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Education - 2 Comments » - Posted on July, 13 at 11:59 pm
Thomas Friedman in his book ‘The World is Flat’ talked about how the Internet has helped in globalisation by ‘flattening’ the world. Indeed the Internet is one major driving force in globalisation, and the flattening effect that it has caused has affected our world in many ways, including terrorism. The movement towards globalisation is of course not limited only to the Internet. Globalisation is actually a convergence of our world from various segmented entities segregated by boundaries like geography into a single solitary unit. Terrorists activities meanwhile is defined as the acts or threats done to strike terror and fear into people’s minds and hearts to achieve a certain ideological, economic or religious goal. The crux of the issue here is, has globalisation increased or decreased terrorist activities? This essay would serve to examine the various links between the movement towards globalisation and the rise or fall of the number of terrorist activities.
Globalisation has brought about various convergences in our world. The first convergence is that of the mass media. The advent of the Internet has increased the flow of news multiple times as compared to before. News can now be passed on almost immediately throughout news websites, live radio and live television broadcasts. The improvement of these media structures has increased the reach of the media to many more people. Ironically though, this increased in reach has also been tapped by terrorist organisations seeking to propagate their causes. The wide reach and coverage to news especially news that caused destructions provides the platform for terrorist organisations to be heard and be well known worldwide. For example, the Bali bombings and its subsequent extensive coverage by the media made known Jemaah Islamiyah to the whole world. The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre made Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist organisation synonymous with today’s language. The kidnappings of tourists from the Sipadan resort island off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia made known the Abu Sayyaf terrorist organisation to a wider audience. The use of these globalised entities by the terrorists have increased the magnitude and effect of terrorist activities many folds. It also serves to inspire other fellow terrorists worldwide on the acts of terror committed. The manipulation of the mass media by the terrorists only serve to benefit their causes and in this sense helped increased terrorist activities in the world.
Besides that, the movement towards globalisation with the creation of the Internet has seen the free flow of information across the globe without many boundaries. The Internet has made it easier for terrorists to share radical religious views and doctrines perpetuating for a holy war against Westernisation and Americanisation. Previously, radical views can only be spread by radical imams mostly found in the areas near Pakistan and Afghanistan. But with the Internet, this new form of anti-Americanism via radical Islamisation can be spread through the formation of radical Islamic websites, forums, blogs and the list goes on. Osama has also used the Internet to release recorded video and voice messages for his fellow comrades urging them to fight the Western powers. Many more people have access to this free flow of information on the Internet. There are in fact many cases of people becoming self-radicalised after reading these radical websites and made effort to becoming a terrorist without any recruiting effort by the terrorist organisations. Clearly, the Internet has helped increased terrorist activities and provide terrorists with the platform to share their radical ideas among themselves.
Thirdly, the movement towards globalisation has seen the boundaries that exist in the financial market between nations being torn down by the day. As our world becomes more interconnected, our financial market is also being made more unified to better facilitate the transfers of funds. Although this encourages investments, it also serves to help money laundering by terrorists organisations. It is becoming increasingly hard to conceal to source of funding as laws in certain countries like Switzerland provides for it. This helps the terrorists to easily transfer funds between countries. Thus funds from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan can easily be transferred to Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia now compared to previously. Profits from shadowy businesses run by terrorist organisation or ransom money can now be easily be ‘legitimised’ into the complex financial markets these days. Thus the convergence of the financial market in this drive towards globalisation has made available more sources of funding for the terrorists and thus increased terrorist activities.
On the other hand, the movement towards globalisation, although making available many tools for the terrorists to use at their disposal, has also helped governments and policing agencies like Interpol to be more cooperative among themselves. As we become more connected, police in countries are becoming more aware of the need to share information to stop the common enemy of terrorists. The sharing of information by the Singapore government for example has helped the Indonesian authorities in nabbing Mas Selamat Kasturi last time in Indonesia and more recently two more suspected Singaporean terrorists in Indonesia. The flow of information has also help governments freeze funds and bank accounts of suspected terrorists in different countries. All these convergence of information between governments has helped quell terrorist activities.
In conclusion, to determine whether the movement towards globalisation has increased or decreased terrorists activities require a thorough analysis of the subject matter. It is simply too inconclusive to provide a judgement with an analysis on only a few of the causes without taking into consideration all the causes. To ensure that the movement towards globalisation has helped reduce terrorist activities, the authorities have to always be one step ahead in this cat and mouse game. The most important thing is for the authorities to be flexible and responsive. They should also aim to silence the radicals and to make the voice of the moderates be heard.
Posted in Education | 2 Comments »
Education - No Comments » - Posted on July, 13 at 8:41 pm
Has the movement towards globalisation given rise to increased terrorist activities?
Intro:
Define – globalisation, terrorist activities
Movement towards globalisation can mean a convergence of the world from various segmented entities to a solitary unit.
Terrorist activities mean things that people do to strike terror into people’s mind and hearts to achieve a certain objective be it ideological, economic, religious etc
Focus – globalisation increased or decreased terrorist activities? If yes then why, if no then why….
Content:
YES
1. Convergence of Mass Medias (news network n internet serve to help terrorist activities – worldwide coverage of osama. Media helps spread osama’s messages. Setting of radical terrorist cults online. Internet easier to spread radical doctrines.
Eg fitna n prophet muhammad’s cartoons created massive outroar coz reach was massive to whole world. Self radicalisation is a common thing nowadays.
2. Convergence of Financial Markets – easier to transfer funds. Using internet solicit donations. Setting up of shadowy businesses whose profits are used to fund terrorism. Swindling of funds from zakat charity for poor people into terrorist activites (eg abu sayyaf in moro, Philippines) ji n al-qaeda
3. Convergence of Geographical Locations – easier to travel btw nations. 15 out of 18 911 terrorists Saudi….all non-americans travelling on domestic flight. Easier to travel to Pakistan, Afghanistan to obtain terrorism training.
4. Convergence of Information & Technology – Communications (Hp, Internet), Bomb detonating tech using hp, information…..internet info/videos are burned into vcds n passed to rural folks lacking internet access….
NO
1. Convergence of Information within Policing Organisation (Sharing of Information btw Countries) – help stop flow of funds, freezing of funds, restrict travelling for suspected terrorists, education, provision of basic necessities (eg jobs, security – making terrorist organisation less attractive). Eg mas selamat n several other sg terrorists caught in indonesia by Indonesian authorities due to intelligence passed by sg gov. sharing of info btw msian n thai gov on border patrol to quell insurgency in southern thai – patriot act – allow us authorites to track email, tel calls, library books borrowed
Conclusion:
Terrorism n globalisation is a cat and mouse game. Whether globalisation helped terrorism or not is dependable upon many factors. The most important thing is for the authorities to be flexible n responsive to changes in terrorist’s strategies and always be ahead in the game to protect the lives of the masses
Authorities aim is to silence the radicals and make the voice of the moderates be heard
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Management/Leadership - No Comments » - Posted on November, 2 at 7:14 pm
I was surfing around the net for some interesting content and I did stumble upon some real interesting thing.
I found out a list from BusinessWeek regarding the 25 most impressive young entrepreneurs running their own businesses in the USA.
Reading through their success story is truly inspiring. Most of the successful businesses are related to the internet but there are certain businesses which have nothing to do with the internet. While reading the list, I ask myself the question, how far am I from becoming like one of them? Or am I even making baby steps to being something like them?
Well, I must really make my steps to be some young entrepreneurs before it’s too late. And one thing is for certain - Who says young people can’t be rich and successful?
For a detailed profile of the 25 most impressive young entrepreneurs of the USA, hop on to the site here.
Posted in Management/Leadership | No Comments »
Education - 1 Comment » - Posted on September, 10 at 12:47 pm
- Globalisation and Culture
Globalization literally means, “to extend to the world as a whole.” This can be applied to many different fields. For example, in economics, “globalization” may mean a economic trend that used to be limited to one place but now extends across the globe, to many places. Of itself, it is usually assumed to include all fields, cultural, economic, technological, etc. It is most commonly understood as a unitary process[dubious – discuss] inclusive of many sub-processes (such as increased economic interdependence, increased cultural influence, rapid advances of information technology, and novel governance and geopolitical challenges) that are increasingly binding people and the biosphere more tightly into one global system.[dubious – discuss] An example of a technology which enables globalization is the invention of the telephone, or any other communication technology for that matter.[dubious – discuss] This, making the transmission of messages globally easier. Email, the internet, and internet market places are other technological enablers of globalization today.
There are several definitions and all[dubious – discuss] usually mention the increasing connectivity of economies and ways of life across the world. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that globalization is the “process by which the experience of everyday life … is becoming standardized around the world.” While some scholars and observers of globalization stress convergence of patterns of production and consumption and a resulting homogenization of culture, others stress that globalization has the potential to take many diverse forms.[1]
In economics, globalization is the convergence of prices, products, wages, rates of interest and profits towards developed country norms.[2] Globalization of the economy depends on the role of human migration, international trade, movement of capital, and integration of financial markets. The International Monetary Fund notes the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions, free international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. Theodore Levitt is usually credited with globalization’s first use in an economic context. [3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-globalization
http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v25n3/globalization.pdf
- Environment & Biodiversity, Sustainable Development
- Terrorism and War
Posted in Education | 1 Comment »
Society, General Paper - 2 Comments » - Posted on September, 3 at 5:57 pm
According to the American Medical Association, sexual orientation is not chosen but born with. However according to the 2003 Spitzer Report on the ‘Archives of Sexual Behaviour’ journal, 64% of males and 43% of females consider themselves heterosexual after leaving their homosexual lifestyle for 5 years. Put these two research findings next to each other and any neutral individual will have a tough time choosing which is right.
Science have not shown us which is true, whether sexual orientation is in-born due to a defect in DNA or a self-chosen lifestyle that can be corrected through mental-psychological means. Most religious books on the other hand either condemn homosexual acts or do not have provisions regarding the issue.
Living in an Asian society where conservative values are still practised, the homosexual issue is a definite sticky topic to touch on. Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s recent comment on the issue that Singapore’s legal system of criminalising gay acts are outdated as provisioned in Section 377 of the Penal code is a breathe of light onto this topic.
As the homosexuality debate takes a more public approach these days, the question of legalising same-sex marriage arises. My stand to this issue is that we should strive for equality in this globalised world and slowly eliminate all prejudices that we have against others and this includes discrimination against homosexuals. So in a gist, I would support the legalisation of same sex marriage in society.
In this age of globalisation, I believe secularism is the best way forward to achieve development. As we become a more globalised society, people of different religions will intermingle more frequently. Although a significant majority of us subscribe to a religion, there exist a certain group of people who call themselves atheist. We can of course coerced these groups of people into going the “right” way in life but these people have rights in choosing their religion. And if these people have the rights to choose their own religion, then I believe these people should also be given equal rights to choose who they wish to spend their life with, so as to create a fair, just and equal society free of prejudices. My stand here is that in a secular system, the state should not interfere in the individual’s decision to choose his/her sexual preference. But what the state has to do is to provide a platform to ensure equality for all its citizens even if that means legalising same-sex marriage.
Currently, in many countries same-sex marriages are not allowed. In certain countries such as the UK, civil unions have been created. This is a big breakthrough because it ensures equality in many aspects especially issues concerning adoption rights and economic benefits. Same-sex marriages does not strive to be a special type of marriage where its members receive more benefits from the state compared to heterosexual marriages. However it only strives to give gays equal rights to things which would have benefited “traditional” marriages.
Many people expressed their concerns that parents of the same-sex are not fit to raise a child due to the simple fact that they are of the same sex. They try to justify their reasons by saying that the child will grow up confused about his/her own gender and will have a gender identity crisis later on in life. However this might not be necessarily true. In our modern society where the average kid spends just a few hours daily with his/her own parents, and the bulk of the time in school, it is the school, teachers and friends that the child interact which will mould the child into realising his/her own sexuality. It is a big assumption to make that children of gay parents will grow up to be gays simply because their parents are gay. If this assumption is true then how can the opposite happen?
Most scientific journals will write that sexual orientation is not chosen, but is one that is born with. If this is the case, we should not discriminate against our fellow human beings for being born different. If we can learn to not discriminate against the handicap and disabled, what is the difference between treating gays equally? What they are demanding is not something extreme and more privileged from the others. What they are requesting is the right to be normal. So are we prepared to be equal and to finally treat them normally?
Technorati Tags: sexual orientation, homosexual, gay, Section 377, homosexuality
Posted in Society, General Paper | 2 Comments »
No category - No Comments » - Posted on August, 24 at 11:13 pm
Have you ever wanted to send a huge large attachment over email but failed cause there’s a limit on the file size that can be sent? It’s irritating right? But just in case you don’t know, there’s such a thing called online file sharing that makes this possible. What you do is upload the file to the company’s server temporarily then provide the link to your friend.
Ok, normal stuff. But what I found out recently is different and greater in many sense. I’ve seen other websites offering similar online file sharing services, but with limited upload size and short file expiry time-frame.
Driveway is very different from the rest. Driveway allows a user to upload files up to 500MB in size! And there’s no expiry date so long as the file is accessed in the past 90 days. This is way better than some who expire after only 7 days…
And Driveway’s new feature – the widget showing all my uploaded files is the most unique attribute. It is sleek and beautiful. This makes my file-sharing super simple especially for my blog, Friendster etc…..
*This post is brought to you by Driveway*
Posted in No category | No Comments »
Society, General Paper - 1 Comment » - Posted on August, 19 at 2:29 pm
Ever since societies of man have been present on Earth, revolution and crime has been part and parcel of the human life. Many philosophers since the time of Aristotle have tried to link these two aspects to poverty. However, to what extent is this statement true? In my humble opinion, this statement is not accurate to a large extent.
Revolution is the uprising of a group or groups of people against a certain organisation for a certain cause while crime is any action that goes against the law. Poverty on the other hand means the financial situation that an individual is in that is below the recommended amount required for a comfortable life. The two parameters of measurement here – minimum recommended amount and comfortable life is a variable relative to the location of the individual.
So what is the main reason supporting the statement saying that revolution and crime is due to poverty? The reason supporting the first half of that statement that is the mother of revolution is due to poverty can simply be explained in economic terms. Put it this way. Most people will only revolt against a certain cause if it affects their income because if their income is taken away they instantly have nothing. However if a person is living a comfortable life, with a certain fixed income, any small non-monetary issue will not trigger a revolution. A peaceful demonstration? Maybe. But definitely not a revolution. The equation just doesn’t balance out. Do your own calculation. Will you sacrifice your life or put yourself in great harm just to revolt against a certain cause that does not even affect your rice bowl in a direct way?
However on the contrary, this statement might not always necessary hold true. We have seen in recent years how terrorism led by the Islamic jihad revolutionist are willing to do whatever is required to bring back the Islamic glory days of yesteryears. Although a significant majority of radicals/jihadis come from poor background, evident in the backwards development of the breeding ground of jihadis in rural Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine (Hamas group), southern Lebanon (Hezbollah group) – all locations where war have recently occurred, there exist a small amount of terrorists who come from well-to-do background. Take for example the mastermind of the al-Qaeda terrorist group. Its leader Osama bin Laden comes from a rich Saudi construction conglomerate family. Why did he choose this radical approach to revolt against the West? Or take for example the recent foiled London car bombings where Muslim doctors tried to detonate a empty Mercedes cars in crowded area. Why did they choose to revolt in this way even though they are clearly not destitute? Clearly in these cases, revolution is definitely not due to poverty.
For the second part of the statement by Aristotle, he stated that the mother of crime is due to poverty. This is only true up to a certain extent. If this statement is 100% true, then in a country where there is zero poverty rate, then crime rate should also be technically be zero. But in the world that we are living in, the scenario is clearly a mockery of the statement by Aristotle. Petty crimes such as theft, pick pocketing and robbery are mostly economical in nature and is closely correlated with poverty. However crime does not only constitute of those crimes. In fact those are minor crimes as suggested by the term petty. Violent crimes such as murder are caused by people across all social strata and can be caused due to revenge or alcohol and drug abuse. White collar crimes such as corruption are committed by people who have stable jobs and are mostly down to greed. Are these people in poverty? Most of them are not and it is therefore downright wrong to label all crimes are committed by people in poverty.
Coming back to revolution, let’s relate certain events to the local Malaysia-Singapore context. Have you ever wondered why these two countries have been mostly peaceful without any racial or religious conflict for the past few decades even though it people are so diverse? It’s down to economic reasoning again. Ever since the 1969 racial conflict in Kuala Lumpur, we have not seen any significant clashes. The reason behind the 1969 racial conflict is due to the low income levels of Malays, who have a high poverty rate. The Malaysian government has reacted by introducing the affirmative action policy to help the bumiputeras while the Singaporean government on the other hand put in place a fair meritocracy system on their independence day (no relation to 1969 KL racial conflict). Both countries have since achieve great economic progress and consequently people will not risk their financial capabilities of leading a good life to revolt against racial or religious issues which will not bring about any benefit in their income levels.
Let’s have one final example. In 1989 there was a revolt in China where university students and intellectuals demonstrated at Tiananmen Square to demand for greater political reforms. There were unsatisfied that the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaopeng had brought about many benefits to the farmers and factory workers but not to the intellectuals. Although they are not in poverty, they felt that political reforms should be created for democracy to come about to bring about progress to the intellectuals. They went on a hunger strike but the government reacted harshly through the use of military actions. The protestors definitely have not thought that the government will use the military to clear up the revolution since they represent the brightest brains of the country. Many civilians died and it was clearly a wrong move by the government to use force. If the protestors knew the government would have used force, they might have considered their revolution.
In conclusion, I would say that the statement by Aristotle that the mother of revolution and crime is poverty is not entirely true. Many revolutions like the farmers uprising in numerous countries have happened due to poverty but for most people with moderate incomes, revolutions involving the risk of lives will not be considered as the consequences are more far-reaching than the potential benefits it might bring about. However as for crimes, poverty only affects petty crimes to a certain extent but for more serious and violent crimes, they are committed by people from different social spectrum whether rich, poor or destitute.
Posted in Society, General Paper | 1 Comment »
Education, General Paper - 1 Comment » - Posted on August, 10 at 2:43 pm
Lookism - (Wikipedia) Lookism is discrimination against or prejudice towards others based on their appearance.
Lookism is a form of discrimination of individuals, which is based on their outward appearance. The term lookism is meant to designate the hierarchization of individuals on the basis of bodily traits, which are rated positively or negatively and therefore enlarge or diminish an individual’s value.The perception of certain traits as positive or negative with regard to one’s appearance depends on various factors, e.g. a particular concept of gender roles.
IS LOOKISM UNJUST?: THE ETHICS OF AESTHETICS AND PUBLIC POLICY IMPLICATIONS
http://www.lookism.info/eng/definition.html
http://www.geocities.com/s_cullars/lookism.htm
Ageism - (Wikipedia) Ageism is stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age.
http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageism.html
http://ageconcerneastbourne.org.uk/ageism.html
Ageism: Negative and Positive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageism
Disablism (aka Ableism) - Wikipedia It is used to describe inherent discrimination against people with disabilities in favor of people who are not disabled.
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/departments/closerlook/000947.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disablism
Discrimination against Foreigners (Xenophobia) - (Wikipedia) Xenophobia is a fear or contempt of foreigners or strangers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia
Posted in Education, General Paper | 1 Comment »
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