Singapore′s globalization strategy

For singapore, it is not a question of whether to globalize, but how to globalize. While Singapore may be handicapped by its small size and lack of natural resources, it seems that these drawbacks could be less of a problem as the world economy becomes more sophisticated. Physical size and natural resources will become less important for economic growth when compared with human capital, information, and knowledge in the future. To build the city-state, the Singaporean government adopted a number of bold strategies to develop its economy, making it a leader among the newly industrialized nations involved in the region. Singapore's export-oriented industrialization evolved in several stages and had to overcome obstacles along the way. Its success was dependent on enlightened government policy in cultivating good relations with multinational corporations and cooperation between the government-run and private enterprises. A review of the economy in the last decade gave birth to the Strategic Economic Plan of 1991. Besides underlining the importance of the manufacturing and service sectors, the plan also emphasized the regionalization and globalization of the economy. While the Asian economic crisis has affected Singapore's development, it has not changed Singapore's determination to globalize and liberalize its economy. An earlier version of this article was presented at the conference on “Globalization and new Governance,” hosted by the Semin Foundation and Asia Pacific Public Affairs Forum in Suwon, Korea, 7–11 October 1999.     

Climate change adaptation in the Alpine Shire of Australia: a decision process appraisal

This study aims to integrate scientific knowledge from a variety of disciplines with local experience to describe, contextually and in detail, the impact of flood events on the community of the Alpine Shire and current mitigation efforts to alleviate and reduce these impacts. The Myrtleford Floodplain Management Study was the cornerstone of the strategy to address the goal of reducing flood damage in the community. It was found that the most consequential deficiencies in the Myrtleford flood mitigation scheme decision process are related to flaws in four elements of the process: the articulation of goals; the development of appropriate knowledge support; the effectiveness of promotion; and the ability to move from invocation to application. The Alpine Shire can be used as a microcosm that can represent adaptation challenges in other communities to climate change and extreme events. This research contributes to the development of the conceptual and analytical framework of integrated assessments, while making concrete contributions to the development of adaptive policies in Alpine Shire.     

Evaluation of a sexual abuse prevention program for preschoolers

Many sexual abuse prevention programs have no research basis to support their claims of effectiveness. The Sexual Abuse Prevention Program for Preschoolers (SAPPP) was developed by modifying a popular prevention program to include behavioral training and rehearsal, and evaluation components. Children were taught to identify different types of touch, to say “no,” and to “tell others.” Each of the six SAPPP lessons included a topic introduction, stories related to the topic, target behavior rehearsal: This was followed by class discussion. Four university preschool children, three females and one male, between the ages of 3 and 4 participated in the program. All of the children showed improvement from pretest to post-test. The improved post-test scores were the result of correct verbal responses. Correct behavior demonstration responses did not increase for any child. A successful child sexual abuse prevention program should train children to demonstrate appropriate preventive behaviors. Suggestions for improving preventive behavior skills demonstrations and increasing the number of children in future research are discussed.