The term `global village' has become extremely common in the past decade. In fact, one might even say that it has been repeated ad nauseum in the media, and with good reason. Countries are no longer isolated units functioning on their own, but instead, are like discrete families within a small, closely knit community. Such a worldwide phenomenon is enabled by technology that makes the world seem a much smaller place, with increased mobility and ease of communication. In such a community, whatever happens to one country can send reverberations throughout the rest of the world. As a small country, Singapore's interest is inextricably integrated within the developments going on elsewhere. Thus, globalisation is an immense impact on Singapore, especially in the socio-economic sense.

The economy of Singapore has always been firmly plugged into the world's. With globalisation, it has become even more sensitive to the dynamics of...