Table of contents

I.Introduction
 Economic Globalization
 Cultural/Social Globalization
 Political Globalization
II. Globalization: Impact and Challenges on developing nations

III.Malaysia:
 Approach to globalization
 Impact of Globalization
 Making Globalization work
 Challenges to Globalization

IV. South Africa:

 Approach to Globalization
 Impact of Globalization
 Making Globalization work
 Challenges to Globalization

V. Beyond Globalization

VI.Bringing it all together : Malaysia, South Africa

VII.References
 INTRODUCTION
In a world where country borders exist only as a physical attribute, access to
information virtually right at the click of button and communication between people in
different parts of the world being as easy as a simple phone call, the growth and spread
of Globalization has become an epidemic. From developing nations to developed
nations, Globalization has had an impact. The phenomenon comprises different
dimensions and affects several areas of life particularly economic, cultural and political.
Defining Globalization has been more of a challenge depending on who you ask and the
criteria used. Some define it with an economic perspective across country borders. This
involves an export mindset, use of outsourcing/subcontracting between nations and the
usual growth of the informal sector. Political dimensions involve increased acceptance
of pluralistic systems, multiparty democracy, free elections and surprisingly the call for
human rights (Ghai 1987). It is safe to safe that political globalization has brought the
dissemination of democratic norms and pluralistic parties to nation states. Culturally
defining globalization involves development of the globe into a more homogeneous
market with change ‘in lifestyles, buying patterns and social norms information is
exchanged across borders. An interesting phenomenon attributed to cultural globalization
is the growth of English as a global language. Especially in developing nations, where
English was more for the educated and elite class, it is now seen as a way of life.
Whatever the case, it is harmoniously agreed that Globalization remains an inexact term
for the strong, and perhaps irreversible, changes in the economy, labor force,
technologies, communication, cultural patterns and political alliances that is imposing on
every nation. A useful definition would be a set of processes by which the world is rapidly
being integrated into one economic space via increased international trade, the
internationalization of production and financial markets, and the internationalization of a
commodity culture promoted by an increasingly networked global telecommunications
system (Gibson-Graham, 1996 p121). Setting aside controversies of period and place,
social scientists blame or credit globalization for a panoply of social ills and goods, from
economic inequality to economic growth, from political domination to democratization,
from the decline of national sovereignty to the renaissance of the state, from social
engagement to xenophobia, and from cultural homogenization to ethnic conflict.
Meanwhile, others see a feeble globalization. Here, this entry reviews some of the key
arguments for what globalization does.

 ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION
  CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION
The role that globalization has played on cultures cannot be contested and can
predominantly be seen in developing nations. What is most obvious is a trend toward
homogeneity of values and norms. What contributes to this trend is the ease of access
to information through the internet but also mass media (TV, Social Media,
Radio). Through these channels English has developed to being a global language and
a lifestyle termed as “American way of life”. As Ruth Hill Useem terms it as a third culture
kid (tck), the youth today have more in common with their counterparts on the other side
of the globe than with their parents who they live with. This is an exclusive example of
how cultural roles illustrated in media forces, alter traditional roles and experiences in
people. According to cvetkovich and Kellber 1997 old traditional ways of seeing and
being in the world are being challenged and new ways of life are being constructed out of
the “multifarious and sometimes conflicting configurations of traditional, local, national
and now global forces of the present time. Some countries like Malaysia see this as
oppressive and are against it, others like South Africa embraced the new ideas (discussed
further in the paper). Either way, globalization fosters a greater synchronization of
demand as well as a greater similiarity in taste and preferences within national
markets. Realistically speaking, this homogeneity is necessary to ensure a more
standardized and thus easier to produce supply of products and services such as leisure
and foreign travel. It is creating forces that that will divide people economomically but it
might all generate forces with the potential to offer new bases for solidarity (kenway,
1997).
A very interesting approach is acquisition of knowledge and higher learning as a result
of globalization. The way knowledge was acquired a decade ago was definitely slower
than it is today; a shift is definitely evident today in regard to access of information and
the speed at which this information is available. Globalization increases interaction and
this in turn provides greater opportunities for learning. Globalization and its sophisticated
use of technology implies a prominent role for postsecondary education. The growth of
the knowledge –based economy has led not only to competition among employers
worldwide for the best brains but also among institutions that train the best brains. The
traditional cross-border flow in higher education has been for students to migrate from
one country to another to advance their studies. Malaysia and South Africa being two of
the major players in the field. Several economic and social factors encourage
international student mobility and competition between countries for foreign students.
With such competition comes adopting to international curriculum to gain competitive
advantage (discussed further in the paper).
  POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION

MALAYSIA

Malaysia is no doubt one of the countries that hasn’t been shy when it comes publicly speaking up
against globalization. In a speech by the Prime Minister Dr Mohamed Mahathir he clearly states
that although Globalization may bring benefits to the country but the idea of the ideology
destroying the country should not be forgotten. He does however acknowledge the benefits that
have risen as a direct result of FDI and foreign trade but the policies that are envocked by
developed countries to developing countries in efforts to change nations may outweigh the benefits
and shift norms in these nations. Malaysia has embraced, redefined and rejected
globalization. The proof in this lays in the approaches and challenges faced by the country in
terms of cultural, political and economical aspects of globalization. In Malaysia, globalization can
explained in as the widespread use of internet, increased investment in foreign institutions of
higher education, the closer connection of muslims to mecca, increased economic expansion,
foreign immigration among many other things.

Economic Approach of globalization in Malaysia

Economic globalization generates opportunities for developed and developing countries
to gain access to foreign markets beyond their own nation’s borders. By 1990s,
developing countries including Malaysia have been liberalizing their trade policies. In
many cases, financial liberalization has been much more rapid. Privatization has also
served to deepen integration of developing countries into the global production and
financial systems by encouraging capital inflows and bringing foreign ownership of state-
owned enterprises. The state implemented a series of liberalizing measures in the
country’s economy, including the privation of electricity and telephone companies. The
government also introduced sweeping changes in tax policy and reduced direct taxes.
The aim was to make Malaysia more attractive to foreign capital. In addition to this tariffs
were reduced and a wider tax incentive for foreign investors. These changes in policy
coincided with the adoption of new, grander goals in economic development. However it
is safe to note that the government did not utilize strictly market friendly policies for
developing the economy. Instead the government chose “open policies” in certain sectors
while protecting others for the sake of national interest. In order to achieve growth, a
concerted effort was made to develop the manufacturing sector with open policies such
as export and FDI promotion. This goal led to restrictions on foreign equity ownerships
in all sectors. This ultimately led to a gradual and selective approach towards opening
the economy. It would be more accurate to describe the country’s approach as one of a
selective integration.within the world economy.
With record levels of economic expansion, a labor shortage occurred in
Maaysia. To combat this the government had to come up with initiative encourage
immigration into the country particularly from neighbourly muslim countries. Immigration
controls were relaxed at borders to attract workers in industrys that the Malaysia
themselves weren’t willing to work in. These workers were mostly employed in low-paying
jobs in construction and agriculture playing a crucial role in expansion of the country. In
efforts to maintain competitiveness for further economic development and maintain its
attractiveness as a magnet for foreign investment the government liberalized the
regulations governing portfolio capital and projected itself as a financial centre.
Economic globalization has some significant impacts on the spatial economic
policy of the country. In Malaysia, development policies have undergone several phases
of change. During the past two decades after independence (1957), the government had
given more emphasis on developing the under developed regions. Rural development
programme were carried out by opening up new land for agricultural expansion and rural
urbanisastion. Rural industrialization programmes were also carried out in the less
developed areas as a strategy to correct rural-urban and regional as well as ethnic
socioeconomic imbalances. These policies were spelt out in the country’s past
development policies. However, beginning 1980s the presence of such powerful
globalizing forces had liberalized the government policie

Political Approach of globalization in Malaysia

Malaysia has traditionally been open to international capital and allied with the west and
in 1980, the government though to intensify this integration even further into the
international environment. Initially politically. Dr Mohamed Mahathir opened up the
political system by encouraging debate among groups, in forums such as budget
dialogues and meetings with Islamic groups in the country. Mahathir set in place
conditions that would contribute to the rise of a domestic NGO community and rising
Islamic fundamentalism within the country. These changes at home concided with
increased environment in international organizations including the UN and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Politically, Malaysia became more
democratic and internationally prominent.
The Impact of this
Capital flows, labour migrations, use of information technology
CULTURAL APPROACH TO GLOBALIZATION
Globalization as a key feature of our contemporary social world doesn’t just affect
economic and political aspects of our lives but culturally as well. The cultural aspect of
globalization is said to be both a process of change and social transformation emanating
from the spread of global culture as well as a direct consequence of nation-state
embracing economic globalization. In Malaysia the phenomena has created new social
classes, lifestyles and globally connected ICT-driven modern sub-cultures. An interesting
observation in Malaysia would be the acceptance of English as a new way of
communication and the increasing investment of higher education institutions in the
country. One aspect to be noted of cultural globalization is the widespread of religious
ideas, religious inspired ideologies derived from several faith traditions, in Malaysia most
importantly Islamic globalization.

One of the most important developments of recent years in that governments have
come to realize the key contribution of higher education in global national positioning,
creation of national wealth and attracting significant foreign exchange, Malaysia not being
far behind. Globalization has impacted the development of education in Malaysia in 2
ways. Because globalization intensified the economic competition among nations it has
led Malaysia to recognize the urgent need to transform itself from a production to a
knowledge based economy. This recognition has directed the state to transform the
economy from a production to a knowledge based. This has forced the state to expand
the education system into a private higher education one to order to meet the skilss
demanded by the golabl economy. Secondly the country’s effort to upgrade its human
resources was assisted by the fact that globalization had also given rise to privatisn of
higher education in the country. A dramatic change in the private higher education in
Malaysia has been to adopt the higher education of foreign developed nations. By this
adaptation many foreign campuses have been set up to cater for a vast majority of local
students and international students. Malaysia is thus seen as an educational hurb by
foreign partners who are keen to work closely with private education institutions for a win-
win situation. What led to this increasing investment of higher education on the part of
the government was the increasing number of Malaysians studying abroad, this cost the
country millions of dollars. The solution was to transform the private sector thus reducing
currency outflow and eventually the country turning into a net exporter of tertiary
education. The government passed the Private Higher Educational Institution (PHEI) Act
with the goal of encouraging investment in tertiary education. The reform worked, by
the end of 1999 the proportion of young Malaysians between 17 and 23 had increased to
an outstanding 22% in enrollment in higher education. Another important factor that led
to increased expenditure in this sector was the increased need to develop a knowledge
based economy to compete globally. This required increased allocation of development
allocation and expenditure on the education sector as well.
 The presence of a large number of foreign programs in Malaysia has brought
trade benefits but most importantly the countrys goal of becoming a major exporter of
tertiary education is slowly becoming a reality. Higher education in Malaysia is used as
a system to build national unity, alleviate citizens from proverty through opportunities that
may appear as a result of new knowledge and as a bridge between social gaps. This
nationhood agenda is of paramount importance to the policymakers in light of the ethnic
diversity of the country. Bearing this in mind, the massification of higher education, the
increasing cost burden, and the global trends in restructuring higher education, the
government response can be seen in various policy initiatives that paved the way for the
liberalization and privatization of the higher education sector
Higher education systems have become sites for competition and contestations of
various kinds in various societies. The competition and contestation for access and
equality has become inevitable as there are higher levels of demand for fewer places in
higher education and employment and therefore calls for the attention of policy makers
and sociologists to examine the impacts of globalization on strategies adopted to include
the hitherto historically excluded social, ethnic and racial groups on the one hand and to
achieve the requirements of the emerging labor market, industry and the global system
of higher education on the mother.
Globalization has forced Malaysia to adopt policies that will eventually achieve
excellence and reliability in the education system. On another hand, this globalization in
terms of education is seen to create pressure to produce decontextualized and human
capital-oriented knowledge. To meet the demands of the new world order, the highly
globalized sectors of the economies require that students in schools lean certain basics
but also learn strategies to become creative and innovative. To meet these demands,
Malaysia is seen to be developing from a harbor of production based economy to one
that is knowledge based
Globalization pressures have forced governments to enforce policies to ensure
these institutions become more competitive in the global market. The universities and
university colleges ac of shows the way for corporatization of public institutionz and
through this process the institutions are expected to generate more of their operating
sources from other soruces apart from the government. The drive to make Malaysian
institutions world class also sees the growing emphasis on research and greater
accountability of research productivity. This requires greater liberalization of public higher
education from the bureaucratic shackles of the central administration, to allow for greater
dynamism at institutional level to response to changes quickly.
Despite Malaysia’s rapid and extensive integration into the world economy after
the 1970’s so far pressures of economic globalization have not severely constrained the
governments freedom to establish and pursue preferred objectives. None the less, it has
had considerable influence on many apects of policy. Globalization has with no doubt
improved standards in the country with the most obvious one being rapid growth as a
direct result of FDI.
Globalization and language reform is often presented as a set of practices and
relationships to which educators must adapt in order to compete or maintain relevance‘
in contemporary society. English is claimed to be the most efficient and sensible
language of trade and communication as the world's political economy becomes truly
global in its reach. The language's rise in this regard and political transformations that
discipline societies to adhere to a utilitarian and commercial regime of global proportions.
English is the discipliing language of the transnational movement of capital, normalizing
in its wake the universality of economistic values. Globalization thus is grounded in an
ideology that transforms the variety of cultural identities in the world after its own image
(Cox, 1996: 23). Proponents of English as the language of globalization include
political, business and academic leaders in both the industrialized and industrializing
countries. All of them speak the same language, its morphology and syntax is English,
but its norms and substance denote transnational capital. Nevertheless, globalizers
actively promote English as a purely functional and even neutral language that is
synonymous with economic growth, technological advancement, and modernity as a
whole. Reflecting the influence of this idea, Malaysia's political leadership actively
promotes English, quite innocent, it appears, of the deeper implications of the language's
expansion in the country. The Minister of Education thus notes with little reflection: 'It is
important for Malaysians to have a good command of English, particularly if we want to
be an important global player' (quoted in Sprague, 1999).