Ladies and Gentlemen, do you realise that if it is not for Globalisation, you wouldn’t

be sitting here in this venue? Have you realised that you owe your existence to
Globalisation?

If not for globalisation, I won’t be living in Singapore. Globalisation has the power to
open the doors of opportunities to many throughout the world. My grandfather
benefited from the 1st wave of Globalisation to Singapore. Born in Calcutta, India,
he wanted to earn a better living by doing business in Singapore. On a large sailing
ship, he rode on the Suez route, on the waves of globalization, to start a life in a
global city state, Singapore.

Do you know that some of your forefathers came earlier, sailing on the Chinese
Junk, British Indianman, Malay Parhu or Bugis Palari--- to partake in the global
entreport trade; to take roots in this global city-state. Your forefathers, our
predecessors and nation-builders settled in Singapore. They not only interacted and
integrated, but initiated the building of a new united nation—Singapore, a multi-
ethnic society, the melting pot of globalisation, the oasis of harmony. A new
possibility for the divided world that they lived in.

You, seated here today, are the products of globalisation. You are the children of
globalisation. Globalisation has united all of you here to this Lecture Theatre today.
But wait. Do you all embrace globalisation, or despise it?

Today, more foreigners are coming to Singapore, not by sailing ships but by the
Airbuses and Boeing 747s; not from Calcutta, Tamil Nardu, Sulawasi or Fujian, but
from the metropolis of Mumbai and Shanghai to the backwaters of Dhaka and
Manila. The new migrants, like our forefathers, ride on the waves of globalisation,
to look for jobs and opportunities. To experience a coming together. To build a
better future.

But we don’t feel comfortable. Reluctantly, we welcome the new migrants. Quietly,
we wish that they go home. Why? Because we came here first, and they came
later; Because we fear they may take our space, jobs and even places in school; we
cringe at their alien cultures, dialects and accents. Globalisation, we think is
dividing, not uniting us. Globalisation is rupturing the sinews of our society, tearing
the fabric of our nation.

Insecurities; Intolerance; Xenophobia.

But how ironic that some of us here, the heirs to our forefathers’ sweat and toil, the
children of globalisation now despise, deride discard the basis of our very existence
—globalisation. Today, we fear competitions by globalisation. But in the past, our
forefathers thrived on competitions provided by globalisation, Today, we are averse
to new cultures and people. But in the past, our forefathers were able to adapt and
adopt, to appreciate the flowering of diversities and the fruits of coming together.
Today, we believe that globalisation divides but our forefathers believed that
globalisation truly unite us

Indeed, we, the children of globalisation, should not forget our globalising lineage--
the spirit of coming together, the reason for our success, the answers to even more
possibilities. Your forefathers, our ancestors understood the unifying beauty and
possibilities that lie in force of globalisation, embraced it and thrived on it. Let us
too, like our forefathers, learn to embrace the diversities and opportunities provided
by that this force—globalisaiton. Let us too, like our forefathers embrace, the fusion
of peoples, the unity of a common purpose and mutual-ness provided by
globasliation.