How Globalization Affects

Singapore, Bahrain & Bolivia

Singapore's History
In order to really understand the position Singapore holds in the world-system nowadays, we first have to look at its
history.
The earliest records of Singapore are from when the first settlements were established in AD 1298-1299. The
settlement was known as Temasek, which means Sea Town. Legend says that it wasn’t until the 14th century that
Singapore earned its official name. When a prince from Palembang founded a city, at the place where he caught an
unknown animal, he called it Singapura, “The Lion City” (Van de Waal, 2018). During this period the city flourished as a
trading post for ships, which turned Singapore into a fishing town. This was only the beginning of the immense harbor
activities taking place in the Port of Singapore today, which is ranked the world's maritime capital (Lim & Swaminathan,
2017).

In the 19th century, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore as a trading post of the British East India
Company. With the establishment of several institutions, the city continued to grow (Silver Media, n.d.).
During the second world war, Singapore was attacked by Japan. Despite the large numbers of British military, the allied
forces had to surrender to the Japanese. After the war, the island was handed back to the British Military
Administration, but the trust in Britain was demolished. Anti-colonial and nationalist movements eventually led to the
country’s independence. Singapore merged with Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia. Two years later Singapore
separated itself from Malaysia over ideological differences, and became a sovereign, independent city-state (Mykura,
n.d.). This was a very important development, as Lee Kuan Yew became the first prime minister of Singapore. It was
under his leadership that Singapore developed from a poor third-world fishing town, to the prosperous and affluent
nation it is now.
Political, cultural and economic globalization

The world-system consists of numerous nation-states: independent, bounded and unique units which are all
different from each other. In the present day we cannot see the world as all separate units anymore, we must see
the world's past and present in terms of movement, networks, and complexity between these units (Wallerstein,
2004). Globalization is therefore seen as the interconnectedness between large parts of the globe within systems of
political, cultural and economic networks and flows. In all three of these perspectives, Singapore is doing
exceptionally well. We will thus look at the developments the city-state has gone through from these perspectives,
so that we can properly look at the outcome of globalization in Singapore.

Political development of Singapore

Since the new political regime, which was first introduced by Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore has come out of its earlier
state of a city characterized by poverty, with people living in bad circumstances. Singapore was characterized by race
riots, unemployment, shortage of food, and violence after WW II and during the independence period. Yew’s
politics, which were based on Confucian concepts, paved the way for the totalitarian state (Teon, 2016). Some
opponents of the totalitarian state argue that the political regulation restricts people from their political rights, but
in Singapore this government system worked out pretty well. Lee Kuan Yew’s emphasis on economic growth, his
support for business and the limitations he placed on democracy were the ground breaking rules on which
Singapore thrived. Economic success was seen in the dropping of the unemployment rate, higher wage incomes, and
the presence of technological industries. They established their own airline and the already existing harbor grew
immensely during this period. At the same time Singapore also became a huge tourist destination (Wikepedia
contributors, 2018). Thus, we can conclude that Singapore’s political system, the almost totalitarian government,
can be seen as a key component in the globalization of Singapore. The stability the totalitarian state causes paved
the way for the growth of the economy, politics and cultural events.
The political system and the stability that comes with it, makes sure that Singapore is also extremely
attractive for foreign multinationals and business organizations.
We can, thus, look at Singapore as a micro-hegemony in the world-system as described by Immanuel
Wallerstein (2004). A hegemony is "a state who establishes the rules of the interstate-system,
dominates the world economy, and get their way with minimal military force". Now, Singapore is not
the hegemony of the world, but we can certainly look at it as a micro-hegemony. This is because a
(micro-) hegemony creates stability "within which capitalist enterprises thrive". A hegemony makes sure
that their set of political and cultural rules are aligned with the hegemony's need for the accumulation
of capital. This is precisely what Lee Kuan Yew tried to achieve with his political system: stability and
with that the growth of Singapore.

Economic globalization

As stated above, the political system emphasizes economic growth. Singapore has one of the largest
and most thriving business centers of the world, but in the past Singapore’s economic comfort was far
from what it is now. After Singapore became an independent, sovereign city-state in 1965, much of the
population was unemployed. Most people were living in slums under bad circumstances: there was a
huge lack of infrastructures, sanitation needs, water supply and most importantly for the industry, lack
of natural resources. Singapore was forced to look beyond its own nation state to constitute its
industrial development. Lee and the other leaders of the government knew they had to experiment
with globalization. They needed to connect with the developed world and persuade them to place their
multinational companies in Singapore. Singapore had to create an attractive environment, which would
be characterized by safety, freedom of corruption, low taxes and few restrictions with regard to
manufacturing. These laws made Singapore very attractive to international businesses, in contrast to its
neighboring countries, which had conflicting political and economic climates (Zhou, 2018).
One characteristic of globalization is the circulation of knowledge and information (Wallerstein, 2004),
which are settled in a core nation of the world. With the investments from foreign countries, Singapore
could focus on improving its own infrastructure and human resources.
Singapore was one of the first countries to start globalizing in Asia, which gave it a head-start in becoming
a core nation surrounded by (semi-) peripheries. The huge economic development I described above thus
paved the way for Singapore to become a center in the capitalist world-system. Immanuel Wallerstein
(2004), explained this concept as “when the system gives priority to the endless accumulation of capital
and wherein the efficacy of labor is what holds it all together”. The global division of labor and profit is
thus the main feature of capitalism.
But not everyone has equal access to new technologies, infrastructures, and capital. The world-system
consists of a core and (semi-) peripheries, and it is exactly the capitalistic inequalities between these zones
that drive the capitalist world-system (Wallerstein, 2004). The law of unequal development also applies to
Singapore and its surrounding countries, as we will see under the heading "A center and peripheral
neighbors".

Cultural superdiversity
Singapore’s tourism is also thriving, not only because of its cultural heritage but also because Singapore
takes up a special place in Asia. Compared to the countries that abut Singapore, it is a very safe, clean and
developed country. Although it has a relatively small surface, Singapore is characterized by many cultures,
religions and languages. Singapore’s culture is now a combination of Asian and European cultures, and
shows influences from Malay, South Asian, and East Asian sources. Since 1819, when Singapore served as a
trading post for the British East India Company, the country has flourished and has attracted many
migrants. When Singapore became independent, many of its foreign citizens were uneducated workers
from Malaysia, China and India. As a reaction, the government began creating a Singaporean identity and
culture. Regardless of your cultural background, the government makes sure that everyone has access to
education and they also emphasize mutual respect between religions and cultures (Singapore Expats,
2018).
The main religions in Singapore are Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism; the four official languages
are Tamil, Malay, Mandarin (Chinese) and English as seen on the road sign below. Besides these four
official languages, Singapore has recognized 20 other languages.
Language and culture are immensely intertwined. English-speaking Singaporeans lean towards the Western culture,
Chinese speaking citizens towards Chinese culture and Confucianism, and Malay native speakers lean towards Malay
culture (Seah, 2018). This paves the way for cultural and linguistic superdiversity, which implies not only the
increased diversity of many immigrant and ethnic groups, but also within them. Globalization and superdiversity
lead to the emergence of immigrant communities. People from the same nationality, language or religion go live
together in the same places, in the same zones (Vertovec, 2006). In Singapore there are many distinct ethnic
neighborhoods, like China Town, Little India and Kampong Glam. The diverse ethnic groups of Singapore can be seen
in its linguistic landscaping. Although English is commonly used in the business center, because it is the working
language of Singapore, in the rest of the city there is not at all a monolingual landscape. Tourist attractions, road
signs, street names, official buildings and hospitals are almost always presented in several languages. This is not just
to serve the diverse citizenry, but also the immense tourist flows. Thus, looking at the economic, cultural and
political development Singapore has gone through, we can argue that the city-state is a core nation in the capitalist
world-system in all of these three perspectives. To have a closer look at Singapore as a center in the world-system,
we must look outside the country, we must consider Singapore’s globalization in a global context. We will do this in
the next section, where I will compare Singapore to its neighboring countries.

Singapore in the world system

By looking at Singapore’s history, the political, economic and cultural changes the country went through because of
globalization, examining Singapore from outside the nation-state and comparing it with other Asian countries, we
can conclude that Singapore is indeed a core nation in the capitalist world-system. The main reason for this is, thus,
that the government of Singapore focused on making the country attractive for foreign countries, multinationals,
and institutions, while at the same time improving the infrastructures, technologies, and education-system in the
city-state itself. This made sure that Singapore stood out, and still stands out, from other Asian countries. Taking into
account the future plans of the nation, we conclude that Singapore is not done growing and will keep growing for a
long period of time.