Open-Day – get there!

Foreign Affairs
educating its people. Any family is focused on
educating its young. Any sacrifice is not too big for a
good education.
Try to get into a Japanese university? Unless you are
at the very top (globally) forget it.
In Singapore, chewing gum is banned as it pollutes
the pavements and the entire country.
We may laugh at it, but it creates
dedication and respect shared by
all.
True that manufacturing in
China or Korea are tops (cars
for instance), true that IT
companies (TATA, etc.) are
tops, true that consumer
electronics from Asia are
tops, but… is it all rosy? Is
it all where we should be
heading? Maybe not, because
it is not without problems.
Wiki says: Asia’s large economic
disparities are a source of major
continuing tension in the region. Some nations
like Japan, India and China are topping the chart, but
not all are.
The large number of cheap labour in the region,
particularly in China and India, cannot continue.
The rising standard of living will eventually lead
to levelling of salaries and wages. That means the
competitive advantage will go away.
India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers and not
exactly the best of friends. That means that military
spending is a factor. China is arming as well and the
expenses have to be met from the national coffers.
In essence: it cannot be spent on alleviating poverty
and creating more jobs.
The more interesting threat for the future is the
potential global danger posed by the economy of
Asia as it grows the accumulation of foreign exchange
reserves. The countries/regions with the largest
foreign reserves are mostly in Asia :
• China (Mainland) $2 454 billion
• Hong Kong $245 billion
• Japan $1 019 billion
• India $ 284 billion
• Taiwan $ 372 billion
• The Republic of Korea $ 286 billion
• Singapore $ 206 billion
This increasingly means that the interchangeability
of the Euro, USD and GBP are heavily influenced by
Asian central banks.
Isn’t this good? Well, yes. But if we look at what
happened in Middle East in the 1970’s, we might see
the same happening now. Asia is pooling so
much money that they have problems
spending it. The oil producers
of Middle East had the same
problem.
Commitment of untold
billions to long-term
projects is good, but if
there should be a hiccup?
As happened in the 1980’s
when the oil producers
(Iran being one of them)
had to re-prioritise? Then
suddenly the infrastructure
projects will have to slow
down, the social system might
have to take a knock… and then we
have 4,4 billion unhappy people. And
that will not be great for anybody.
Pollution and energy consumption will be a growing
problem. China has tons of coal, but coal is not green!
The day that 4,4 billion people will be consuming
energy (electricity, oil, gas, heating, air con, industry,
the works) as we see in Europe and US will be the day
where we are seriously running out of energy. Unless
we do something.
Is it all doom and gloom when
looking into the future?
No, as long as we have the chance to eradicate
poverty and to bring the rest of the world into the
same standard as we otherwise see in US and
Europe. Never mind that countries like Japan,
Singapore, Taiwan and so on have passed Europe in
living standards. We talk about the other countreis
that is not-so-well-off.
Sustainable energy (wind, solar, wave) is a reality
and we see Asia being on the forefront. Universal
standards will mean something. The millennium
goals will be achieved. And isn’t that what we want
as humanity?
So, the question is: Asia – where art thou going?>HOLA MAHIGH-SCHOOL 43