YAY!
Yay! I've gone through my notes once already. Now I just have to do past year papers.
There's the G20 talks going on in Melbourne. Managed to catch some video of the protesters' march from my room. I was watching the news today and it actually looks pretty violent, the clashes w/ the police, even throwing urine at them!!! And I realised that it's not like what you see on TV at all. I mean when you see violence on TV you get this idea it's widespread and everyone is affected by it. But actually, if not for the fact I happened to hear the protestors' music (they had people playing band instruments) and the fact that the violence is shown on TV, and the stupid whirring of the security helicoptor above the Hyatt hotel the whole damn day, you really wouldn't have a clue there were protests going on unless you actually walked along the street where it's happening. Just a reminder about how much in a bubble you can be, even with such major things happening just ONE street down from you!
Just yesterday I went out w/ my housemate to get dinner, and on the way back we stopped by the McD's for her to get McFlurry. And just after that I get home, and see a picture of the very same McD's on the online Aussie newspaper; in front of it there are policemen on their horses surrounded by protesters! Either the media really provides a skewed view of things, or security does a DAMN fine job keeping the violence in check. It's probably a combination of both but I mean...I was JUST THERE and there was NO hint of the violence that had occurred there. I mean...the empty McFlurry container was still sitting on my housemate's desk, right in front of me, just beside her laptop which I was using to see the picture online!
Anyway, since I desperately need to go out for longer than 30 min (haven't properly gone out for the past 4 days or so), I'm gonna pop buy the region where all the violence is taking place and take a look for myself. Gonna bring along my video cam but until I think the coast is clear I'm not gonna take it out. Apparently yesterday the media's cameramen were attacked too. So I don't want to be mistaken as some amateur cameraman working for the media and have a mob attack me or something. I don't get it though. Why would you attack the media? Don't you WANT them to broadcast the protests, bring more awareness to your cause? Strange. Maybe it is mob mentality. Once you've gone crazy w/ violence you can't think straight. Or maybe there is some reason I just haven't thought up. Maybe they think the media aids the spread of globalisation, which is kind of a double-edged sword, 'cos you protest so that your government knows you disagree, but how would they know unless you're on tv/newspapers etc???
Personally I'm all for liberalisation and quite anti-protectionist, but then again in Singapore we kind of grow up w/ a myriad of imported domestic products out of necessity, so I suppose I'm just used to it already, and who am I to disagree w/ people who still plough and till the farms and depend heavily on domestic consumerism to survive? Nor am I going to say economics proves that open markets will be better for them in the long run because there probably is some economic theory somewhere that proves protectionism is best for them to prosper. On the other hand, if you consider the foreign 'talent' that our government strongly encourages to come to Singapore...I guess you would feel a little 'protectionist' in that sense, because...well your country is your safety blanket, where you've put in all your consumer dollars and you'd expect something back, but then I feel that in turn there are jobs offered to us in other countries too. A give and take situation...so how to complain? And MNCs who come into your country, headquarters of world class institutions, don't they create more jobs? I suppose the point of reference is the lower class in society, where well...how could we really understand unless we were the really poor? The giving and taking does not necessarily benefit them. Okay...I'm gonna stop...I'm not a major in economics so I'll just shut up now.
There's the G20 talks going on in Melbourne. Managed to catch some video of the protesters' march from my room. I was watching the news today and it actually looks pretty violent, the clashes w/ the police, even throwing urine at them!!! And I realised that it's not like what you see on TV at all. I mean when you see violence on TV you get this idea it's widespread and everyone is affected by it. But actually, if not for the fact I happened to hear the protestors' music (they had people playing band instruments) and the fact that the violence is shown on TV, and the stupid whirring of the security helicoptor above the Hyatt hotel the whole damn day, you really wouldn't have a clue there were protests going on unless you actually walked along the street where it's happening. Just a reminder about how much in a bubble you can be, even with such major things happening just ONE street down from you!
Just yesterday I went out w/ my housemate to get dinner, and on the way back we stopped by the McD's for her to get McFlurry. And just after that I get home, and see a picture of the very same McD's on the online Aussie newspaper; in front of it there are policemen on their horses surrounded by protesters! Either the media really provides a skewed view of things, or security does a DAMN fine job keeping the violence in check. It's probably a combination of both but I mean...I was JUST THERE and there was NO hint of the violence that had occurred there. I mean...the empty McFlurry container was still sitting on my housemate's desk, right in front of me, just beside her laptop which I was using to see the picture online!
Anyway, since I desperately need to go out for longer than 30 min (haven't properly gone out for the past 4 days or so), I'm gonna pop buy the region where all the violence is taking place and take a look for myself. Gonna bring along my video cam but until I think the coast is clear I'm not gonna take it out. Apparently yesterday the media's cameramen were attacked too. So I don't want to be mistaken as some amateur cameraman working for the media and have a mob attack me or something. I don't get it though. Why would you attack the media? Don't you WANT them to broadcast the protests, bring more awareness to your cause? Strange. Maybe it is mob mentality. Once you've gone crazy w/ violence you can't think straight. Or maybe there is some reason I just haven't thought up. Maybe they think the media aids the spread of globalisation, which is kind of a double-edged sword, 'cos you protest so that your government knows you disagree, but how would they know unless you're on tv/newspapers etc???
Personally I'm all for liberalisation and quite anti-protectionist, but then again in Singapore we kind of grow up w/ a myriad of imported domestic products out of necessity, so I suppose I'm just used to it already, and who am I to disagree w/ people who still plough and till the farms and depend heavily on domestic consumerism to survive? Nor am I going to say economics proves that open markets will be better for them in the long run because there probably is some economic theory somewhere that proves protectionism is best for them to prosper. On the other hand, if you consider the foreign 'talent' that our government strongly encourages to come to Singapore...I guess you would feel a little 'protectionist' in that sense, because...well your country is your safety blanket, where you've put in all your consumer dollars and you'd expect something back, but then I feel that in turn there are jobs offered to us in other countries too. A give and take situation...so how to complain? And MNCs who come into your country, headquarters of world class institutions, don't they create more jobs? I suppose the point of reference is the lower class in society, where well...how could we really understand unless we were the really poor? The giving and taking does not necessarily benefit them. Okay...I'm gonna stop...I'm not a major in economics so I'll just shut up now.
posted by A.Yu at 9:11 AM
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