Globalisation's Challenges are Multiplying

"Globalisation has reduced the bargaining power of unskilled workers and pushed up inequality in many Western countries... the OECD said this week.. urging governments to improve their social safety nets...

The prospect of off-shoring was likely to have increased the vulnerability of jobs and wages in developed countries... (However)... Offshoring, where companies reallocate production or services to cheaper places, was not as big a job-killer in OECD countries as believed... (as) it is not the preserve of 'Anglo-Saxon' economies such as the UK and the US...

"Millions are benefiting from globalisation but at the same time, there's a feeling that something's wrong with the process," said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria...

The report pointed to a 'remarkable' fall in the share of wages of national income in OECD member countries in the past decade... Also rising wage inequality...

The OECD urges governments to resist protectionist responses and instead adapt employment policies to help people move from one job to another with greater ease and sense of security.

"The job for life is dead... In order to reap the benefits of globalisation, you have to move. People have to move into new areas... The thing now is to protect people, but not protect jobs, because some jobs have no future."

- 'Globalisation's Challenges are Multiplying,' Ashley Seager, The Guardian
Taipei Times, June 22, p.9

Musings

You feel free in Australia. There is great relief in the atmosphere - a relief from tension, from pressure, an absence of control of will or form. The Skies open above you and the areas open around you.

D.H Lawrence

Duan Wu Jie photos

Picturesque views down by the Jilong River,

on a beautiful warm Monday in Taipei


More Dragon Boat races on the river

Duan Wu Jie

Dragon Boats on the water. The person at the front of each boat tries to grab a flag to signal the end of the race, stretching themselves as far forward from the bow as possible.

Dragon Boat Festival

Apologies to any of you that have been hanging out for another post! We've been a little slack on the blog front lately, so there's a few things to catch up on.

Firstly, Simon has been quite sick over the past week. About a week ago he started complaining of sore throat and a fever. After a few days we realised that it was a little more serious than a cold, so we've since fed him a bunch of antibiotics and its done him a world of good! The difference has been a little startling, to be honest! This definitely confirms what we've heard so far about the quality of the health system here.

Also, we've had much more time for R and R than usual, being a long weekend here in Taipei. (We've also got tommorrow off, hooray!) This is because the Taiwanese are celebrating 'Dragon Boat Festival' ((端午節, Duānwū Jié). It's a traditional festival held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and its said that once the festival begins, so too does summer.

The exact origins of Duan Wu are unclear, but one traditional view holds that the festival memorializes the Chinese poet Chu Yuan (c. 340 BC-278 BC). He committed suicide by drowning himself in a river because he was disgusted by the corruption of the government. (One of our good friends shares in his ancestry!)

The local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river to feed the fish so they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. They also sat on long, narrow paddle boats called 'dragon boats', and tried to scare the fish away by the thundering sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking carved dragon head on the head of the boat. Other thoughts are that after Qu Yaun committed suicide, that because the people loved him so much, they raced out to recover his body, and the races signify the boats skimming across the water to find him.

However, researches have also revealed that the festival is also a celebration that is characteristic of ancient Chinese agrarian society: the celebration of the harvest of winter wheat, because similar celebrations had long existed in many other parts of China where Qu Yuan was not known. As interactions between Chinese residing in different regions increased, these similar festivals were eventually merged.

In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Duan Wu was also celebrated as "Poets' Day," due to Qu Yuan's status as China's first poet of personal renown. Today, people eat bamboo-wrapped steamed rice dumplings called zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fish) and race dragon boats in memory of Qu Yuan's death. (Delicious!)

So our celebration of Dragon Boat Festival was shared today with some of our fantastic Taiwanese friends, Margaret and Leo. Being life-long Taipeiers, they offered to take us to Jilong River (on the city's outskirts) to see the famous Dragon Boat races. It was fantastic! Lots of teams competed, including local high schools and the Taipei Police. The event had the air of a high school sports day, with lots of people running around and lots of eskies filled with ice-creams and watermelons to combat the heat. I guess the photos really say it all.

From there Margaret and Leo took us for a tour of the area surrounding National Taiwan Normal University ('Shi-da' for short) where we'll be learning Chinese in a few months. Being a student area, it has a really different vibe to other parts of Taipei - heaps of well-priced food (especially Malaysian and Indonesian to cater to the international student community) and funky little stores, just gorgeous. It's definitely the place for us. So we had a lazy afternoon lunch over noodles (also v. delicious!) So we'll be back there over the week or so to look for houses with those guys, which will be great.

So that's the update for the moment. Simon's having a peaceful nana nap beside me, as he's pretty zonked from his first day out and about since he got sick. When he wakes up, it'll be time for some more West Wing (there's a few duds in season six, I must say... not cool!) and perhaps some online Lateline too!

When it rains, it pours...

The weather here over the past few days has been absolutely incredible... It's just rained and rained, absolutely pouring most of the time, for at least three days now.

The city is still functioning as per normal, thank goodness. It's just strange seeing so much water around the place after coming from drought-stricken Australia.

It's also really strange being in the pouring rain whilst it being so warm - it was a balmy 27 degrees here today and 25 degrees overnight.

Beitou, in northern Taipei - our favourite little hot springs spot, so close to the city! - has experienced some of the heavier floods over the past few days.

We've been told stories about the floods of 2001 in which Taipei City received four months of rain in one day; flooding houses and low-lying areas, soo too was the whole metro (subway) system forced to go down. Sounded like chaos.

The weather is set to continue like this for the next week or so, with most people staying indoors when they can. Hopefully, our little island will be spared from anything more drastic than that.

KTV!

Last night I indulged in one of the most popular Taiwanese night-life activites... KTV! For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's basically Japanese-style karaoke and is one of the most popular things to do in Taiwan.

Some of the teachers here organised for a small group of us to go along - since its quite expensive on weekends, we chose to go last night between the hours of 11pm and 2am.. which felt a little strange. Simon has been working very hard and decided to give it a miss as his Thursdays are quite busy... hard-working lad that he is!

Basically, you're ushered into what looks like a plush little lounge-room with big couches, a large table and a big TV. (There's also a private bathroom.) Then you can choose from a little screen either English or Chinese songs. The English selection is absolutely hilarious, with numbers from Billy Ray Cyrus, the Pussycat Dolls and Britney Spears alike! You could also choose from a couple of Eric Clapton numbers... With Eric Claypton's Chinese name translated as "beautiful old man", it's generally pretty funny.

So then, of course, there's beer to dissipate any nerves on the microphone. Needless to say, I'm a little tired today and my heads a little sore (I think it was the vodka that did it.) Oops, must run, student has arrived... :)

Transcript - Taiwan's Regional Security

TONY 'Gorgeous' JONES: "If the Chinese leadership regard this missile defence system in the same way that the Russian leadership have regarded the one that the US and Europe want to put into Eastern Europe, you're going to have a serious diplomatic problem on your hands, aren't you?"

BRENDAN NELSON: "Well Tony, it is a concern if it is held... which is not a reality on the facts that are being developed. Australia's relationship with China is such that under no circumstances would we be wishing to be supportive of something which was destabilising to the security of the region..."

TONY: "... Here's the point. Should Australia's defence not look at worst-case scenarios? And the worst-case scenario in our region would be a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan. And the question in the Chinese' minds and in my mind right now is whether that military system could protect Taiwan in those circumstances."

BRENDAN: "..As far as any military capability being developed by Japan and the US, having an extension to any other nation or indeed any other part of the region, such as Taiwan, is not something I'm willing to discuss publicly..."


- Lateline, www.abc.net.au
June 6, 2007
Brendan Nelson with Tony Jones, discussing the Australia/Japan/US trilateral Military Ballistic System