Wednesday 10 October 2007

Modern Colonisation

During the olden days, the British were a powerful empire that spreads across the globe with countless colonies. Of course, colonisation was not only the habit of the British, the French, the Portuguese and the Spaniards all had their fare share of colonies too. With the exception of Japan who tried and failed, most olden days colonial masters originated from the west.

While being colonised, all the wealth of the colonies in the form minerals, spices or produce were transferred back to their home country. Our country’s reserve, once said to be the highest concentration in the world, were all repatriated back to England. There were also gold, mainly from India and other reserves being sent back to England. All these are achieved by using the local population as cheap labour. Once they have sucked a country dry, they leave in the name of ‘granting independence’ to the colonies.

Basically… they came…they invade… they repatriate…

The days of colonisation are over… or are they?

Former colonies like ours, which have been granted independence spent years in developing themselves in order to reach whichever state they are today. Let’s just leave out the notion of corruption or mismanagement of funds in our country for the time being. That aside, our country have indeed made much progression from whatever that was left with us when the colonial masters left.

Now, with whatever wealth that we have gathered, we asked the west, or anyone who has money to come and invest in our country. With much potential, many came and some are still coming. They pour money into our country… employ us as their employees… make us slave ourselves in trying to make profit for them… and finally send back the profit to them in the form of dividend.

So now… we ask them to come… they invest… we repatriate…

In the old days, they came with their warships carrying troops and invaded our country. They put our forefathers into a somewhat slavery state to plough our lands of our resources and took all our wealth away.

In the modern era, they come with their Multi-National Corporations (“MNCs”) carrying cash. They pay us and tempt us into believing that we will be paid better and better thus most of us are willing to slave ourselves for them. Unknowingly to most of us, they will only pay us a nominal amount. All the wealth in the form of profits of the MNCs will be sent back to them by way of dividend. Worse, some professional mistakes makers here are willing to slave day and night to trying to package the repatriation process in order to maximise rewards for them… and then feel proud about it.

You will be surprise that there are a lot of MNCs whose domestic operations are not making much money; some are even making losses domestically. But they are seen as giant on the world stage simply because the money generated via overseas operations is tremendous… simply because operations from overseas keeping sending money back to the MNCs.

It has been years since the colonial masters left their colonies. But where once there were invasions, there are now investments. Where they were once invaders, they are now investors. Where we were once slaves, we are now employees. Where there was once this land is a colony, it is now flooded with subsidiaries.

This is indeed… modern colonisation.

P/S: Thanks Rinnah for the “Fabulous Award” and also to Mumsgather for the “Creative Blogger Award”. I feel very honoured indeed.

41 comments:

Jun said...

makes me wonder if "business ethics" really IS an oxymoron then...

Angie Tan said...

Bingo!! You and I share somewhat of the same vision that the world would soon be controlled by corporations and that countries will no longer exist in the future!

It is true somewhat, the modern corporate is very much like what the East India Trading Co and Dutch Trading Co did, they went in to trade, conquer and eventually colonize a country.

Except that these days, it is done in a very "subtle" manner. ;-)

NYPT said...

without the british and their system they laid for us, this rich land would be like pakistan. And i would be born in China.

better colonised by greedy MNC's than leave it completely in the hands of greedy fools.

Pak Zawi said...

zewt,
Something to ponder. Are our leaders doing the right thing for the country's future? Are they thinking about the future generations or the just immediate fat commissions that they could put their dirty paws on?

Anonymous said...

I see you noticed too...:)

But the one thing you can do is buy the shares of these companies. You can then too, profit...:P

rinnah said...

That holds true for the MNCs. But what of the local companies that also enslave their staff?

Anonymous said...

Congrats on both your awards, I do agree with Rinnah and Mumsgather that you are indeed a creative and fabulous blogger.

LX said...

Sounds familiar. In our BM essays in school last time, we use the term 'penjajahan minda'. Or 'kolonisasi era moden'.

Anonymous said...

Look at what happen to the US, the little people are being push to the edge. The rich are getting richer and the rest ........watch out for China, oneday ........

mr jp said...

I don't quite understand your "In the modern era.." paragraph. When you mention pay us, do you mean pay us as employees ?

Cause I know MNCs definitely pay more than local companies ... @_@

Unless you own that local companythat is ..

whisperingshout said...

Countries that have clear policies to acquire the know-how from the MNCs will eventually grow backbones for their economy. Parasitic govt like..hehe

Slaves are still slaves regardless of MNC or local firms :)

Helen said...

Oops, I lost my previous comment..

The truth is, the weak need the strong to survive. The bargaining power of an individual is directly in proportion to his/her worth. The more worth you have, the more bargaining power you'll have to make things work in your favour.

Exploitation do not only come from the West. It might come from our own backyard...:-)

H.C. Tan said...

but politics + economics + social are correlated. without the MNCs we'll be a very ulu country..but i do think that we can flourish better if we had a better gomen la. if u noe wat i mean. man im not good in this deep deep topics one.haha

Anonymous said...

you put that nicely bro. and congrats on the awards .. more to come eh? :)

Bee Ean said...

Remember Malaysians also "invade" the ex-colony countries like USA and England. These people are not working only as low cost labors, but fight with the locals and could be as intelligent. So aren't we doing the reverse invasion as well?

lynn-w said...

wow, this is really a wonderful post! very well said!
=)

TH said...

I can't explain, so I'm not going to comment because it'll be complicated. But like bee ean said, many of us are trying our luck elsewhere too (although small minority). Congrats to your awards.

Anonymous said...

Sigh! Communism, anyone?

Horny Ang Moh said...

U know I know & most of those who poke around in the net also know.But all this knowing is only for our own 'general knoweledge'.At the end of the day I still have to search for $$$ to feed my stomach!Have a nice day!

Huei said...

"come and invest in our country. With much potential, many came and some are still coming. They pour money into our country… employ us as their employees… make us slave ourselves in trying to make profit for them… and finally send back the profit to them in the form of dividend."

yah meh?? i tot whoever who wana invest here will hafta pay hell loads of tax to our "beloved" gomen..that is why u see more empty factories lately..n more n more ppl r loosing their job..thus there r more n more robbing case cos less n less ppl have jobs? =P

Huei said...

wah! anymore awards..ur sidebar will drag down very very very long!!!! hehehe

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Purple~MushRooM said...

Hi there... I just returned from my holiday break. Lotsa blogs to catch up. Hope to read all those postings that I've missed.

Good to be back and reading blogs again. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, just to let you know that I have pass you the "Blog I Love" award. I have been following your blog for half a year of so now. Been a quiet reader.

My visit here is usually marked in your BlogLog by my other identity from another blog.

Anyway, hope you will accept the award from my Babbles blog.

missironic said...

I guess no matter in wat century or era, the real meaning for colonisation will never fade away. it's just the methods use that change only. but all in all..the stronger power will always 'stomp on' the weaker ones..

u noe, wifout u mentioning it, i also dun really see it that way..i guess tis time around, it comes quietly unlike the time before.

Jorji said...

multinational corporation genocide of the starving nation....

zewt said...

Jun - I may not be in the corporate world long, but I think I am here long enough to know that ethics are a dying breed in business practices.

Angie Tan - very subtle indeed. i guess things didnt really change much since the olden days. in fact, the scale of corporations domination has actually increased, dont u think?

democratic junkie - true, which is why i didnt say modern colonisation is bad.

zawi - i think our countries need modern colonisation in order to survive. as to whether the approach and method is currently efficient, that is very debateable. another post perhaps.

anon @ 9.09pm - hahaha... that's not a bad idea.

rinnah - i think they have to do that in order to compete with the MNCs... so... blame who?

Eileen said...

Very nicely linked... I truly agree with your MNC thingy... Coz I am also victim of these stupid modern colonisation. I am pathetic... sigh... not feeling well & working.. pat on the shoulders... wukaka... going siao :P

Jacss said...

zewt, another style of the slave tales huh?
i see that yr post always ended up a forum or somethg ......goooood analysis though!

zewt said...

firehorse - thanks, they are too kind to me.

lynnx01 - hi there and welcome to AZAIG. Looks like this notion is already in discussion in schools. I think it’s good. Thanks for dropping by and hope to see ya around.

anon @ 10.47pm - well, I think the rich must continue to get richer in order for this world to move. Shall blog about this soon.

Jason Phoon - yeah, they do pay us, but to say that they pay more than local firm can be a myth. There are some local firms which pay considerably high compared to MNCs.

whisperingshout - I think china companies have mastered that art… ‘stealing’ technology haha. Indeed, slaves will always be slaves.

Helen - yeah, which is why I didn’t say this modern colonization is bad. We need it indeed…

zewt said...

HC Tan - I know what you mean la… totally! But we cant talk much la, right?

cibol - well, hopefully :)

bee ean - don’t quite understand you though.

l y n n w e i - hi there and welcome! Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

twisted heels - it’s complicated and in fact, most countries including mine needs them.

communism - that one too much la.

hor ny - yeah, we need them. It’s a form of simbiosis I think. Stomach needs to be fed and pokeing must continue.

zewt said...

huei - they pay tax… but the pass the burden to the employees, trust me, that’s the strategy. And they employ ppl like me to make sure the costs are passed to the employees… sigh.

purple mushroom - welcome back. Yes, you will need a lot of time to do catch up.

babbles - hi there and welcome. I went to your blog but couldn’t see the awards though. Perhaps you can give me the actual URL? Thanks for the awards anyway.

missironic - I did some googling about this and apparently, a lot of ppl are talking about it. we Malaysians are just sheltered I guess.

j or ji - hahaha… brilliantly put.

princess eileen - haha, we cant live without it. since you said you got new boss… have to la.

Jaccs - well, I do enjoy forum-like discussion. Good for the mind don’t u think?

LuciusMaximus said...

sound the socialist drums! defend the motherland! for the country and the proletariats!
*grin*

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about exactly this the other day..Many people get sucked in to working for MNC's over here thinking that they are working for the prestige, name and benefits etc fo that MNC. YES, they do pay you marginally more than a local company would and the benefits are slightly better and you have something insiginificant to brag about to your mamak buddies but on the larger scale of things, wherever that companies main office is , is where the main money is being made and where its all going to. You are all still little yellow/brown slaves working for the white task master at the end of the day. MNC's want to bring their business over here but they dont want to bring their local working culure over here for example: the 35 hour french working week, and all the other benefits in the west.

Azlan Zed said...

wah so many awards la you. hehe. yup, we're still being 'colonized'. sad eh ?

guaisaujai said...

Rat race rat race...
The sooner u get rid of it...
The better u r....

missironic said...

hmm..yeah, probably the 'power above' covered up the real issues like this and only let us know of what can be known only... i guess shud thank google for always always providing the never ending info of the world.. lolz..

zewt said...

Lucius Maximus - hahaha... dont think i have reached that level yet.

FriendFromTaiwan - damn right... the west continue to work less and less... they claim they are more efficient... but is it true? one thing for sure... they are getting paid more, and when they cut cost, they will cut asia's operations first.

alan zed - sad indeed... cant help it though.

guaisaujai - be more ambitious... let us conquer the west! haha...

missironic - the power of the internet... not all things can be swept below the carpet anymore.

Melissa said...

You had just given a new meaning to colonization my friend!

Good read..can't help think you may be right?? Something to ponder on.

Anonymous said...

The URL to collect your award:

http://babbles.wordpress.com/2007/10/11/blog-love-lets-pass-it-on/

narrowband said...

This is a good piece, man. I mean you hit the bulls-eye on the colonialism thing. But then again, how about globalization? We gotta open up our economic doors too, no? Maybe I should read up basic economics...

zewt said...

melissa - :).... i think a lot of ppl share my same sentiment. it's certainly something to ponder at.

babbles - thanks... got it! :)

narrowband - yeah, a lil info on econs would be good for all really. things are moving so fast now, we really need to keep ourselves abreast with things.