Sunday, April 3, 2016

Critical Reflection: My Academic Writing

My journey of ES1102 had been useful, from taking my QET to writing this final exercise. Upon knowing this module is burdening but helpful, I tried my very best during the QET and obtained a band 2. Thankfully, I do not need to take the previous module but ES1102 is unavoidable. I came to the lesson knowing that it was an extra workload but still I wanted to improve my English.

On the first lesson, we do not know who was our tutor. My friend told me that his tutor from previous semester was good which coincidentally became my tutor as well. Ms Toh is really friendly and she wanted us to bond with each other. Surprisingly, our class only consists of males. We went around knowing more about our classmates and introducing ourselves while sharing some of our interesting happenings. I find that this was a good start as it was not like those typical class where students come because they needed to. Besides that, I was "lucky" when I picked my favorite number and was selected to be the Monitor.

English used to be one of my weakest subject, but when I attended ES1102, I really picked up more knowledge to improve my English. During the class, I have learn about grammars, verbs, writing peer reviews, assessing my own essay, citations and many more. Writing the readers's response was one of the interesting exercise as we get to read an essay and give our review on it. Unlike writing Facebook or Twitter comments, this was a good experience to learn and write a professional review. Next,we have our first essay writing. During the journey, my tutor gave us feedback on how we can improve on our essays and I feel that it is really helpful.

I have learn that to be able to write a good essay, firstly we cannot start writing without planning what to write. It is similar to programming, you cannot start coding without planning the algorithm. The problem solution essay taught me to do an essay outline. We start by writing down our ideas and then try to focus on the main idea as much as possible instead of adding new minor ideas. Then we separate them into different paragraphs then try to link them so they could flow smoothly. First paragraph must consist of a brief idea of the essay and the thesis statement. The subsequent paragraphs must consist of a topic sentence to get the readers to understand what this paragraph will be talking about. The concluding paragraph will be a brief summary of the whole essay and restate your stand or give your opinion on what is the possible outcome.

After we wrote finish our essays, we exchange with another classmate for peer evaluation. My partner who was very good in English evaluated me. I wondered why is he in this class. He gave me quite a number of feedback which are concise and understandable. I learn from my evaluation and improved my essay. I feel that peer evaluation allowed me to learn from my peers and also get to socialize with more people.

In my opinion, my strengths are able to write my essay in a proper structure, good citations and reference list. My weakness would be grammars, vocabulary and word choices. There may be more strengths or weaknesses but evaluation is needed. My plan for improving my English writing is to read more books,articles,essays to learn from the professional writers. I will also need to practice writing on more essays myself even if it was a short essay.

Words of wisdom - Practice , practice and practice more. Seek help from tutors to evaluate and give feedback is the way to improve and prepare for any assignments and final exam.

My journey of ES1102 is coming to an end, I have learn a lot from my tutor and my peers. Even though this module offers 0 module credits, it is still worthwhile. Being pushed into this module does not mean I am lousy, it just means that I needed a guide to go on a better path. Lastly, I would like to thank Ms Anita Toh for guiding us throughout this module.

Problem Solution Essay Final

Globalisation is defined as the increase in trades and services around the world which allows the country to gain profits (WHO, n.d.). China is one such country that makes use of the advantages from globalisation to promote their market in increasing their gross domestic product (GDP). Although globalisation has aided China in overcoming the economic downturn, it has also created several forms of inequalities. Zhang and Kevin (2010) has also stated that globalisation has contributed in income and regional inequality. The most common form of inequality would be the income inequality. This essay will discuss how globalisation leads to income inequality, the impacts on China and the existing measures taken together with proposed solutions to tackle the growing income gap.

Globalisation which has widen the income gap therefore causing income inequality. The salary of the workers in the rural areas is lower due to lack of skill while the ones in urban area were higher because of their higher skillset thus it shows the presence of bias that leads to income disparity. Li Shi (n.d.) stated that the policies implemented by China tends to be more biased towards the urban areas which caused the income inequality between the urban and rural. Therefore, leads to unequal education system between areas. Residents from rural areas were more inclined to have lesser skills and education as compared to the urban residents. This can be support from Li Gan (2013), who states that lower-income households are likely to have lower education levels. The education gap among rural areas leads to consequential income disparity.

The existing measure in China to tackle the income inequality among urban and rural areas is the taxation payable by its people. In this case, China’s income growth was able to stay at the top because of its focus on the higher growth rates. China was able to have a faster income growth because the rich was given preferential treatment so they will not resent the government while the poor was neglected due to their incompetence (Cevik and Correa cited from Talley (2015)). Therefore, raising the taxes on the rich could help narrow the income gap. However this should not be based on earning money but rather used to fund education, health care and other social services. The Government need to attempt to increase the skills of this population to better bridge the income disparity gap.

Education is a good way to improve skills of the people because both urban and rural areas could develop more skilful people therefore bridging the income disparity gap. However with consideration on how large the population is in China, it is difficult for most people to be able to afford higher education. Therefore, education became a form of investment rather than a necessity. By having higher education attainment could lead to more opportunities of having a decent paying job. Hence, this would help to contribute to society and hence leading to higher economy. However, the poor would not be able to afford education as easily as the rich. Therefore, funding from the government is another possible way to aid the poor. Additionally, increasing the amount of educated people would not only assist China in reducing the income gap but also raising the income growth. According to Ning (2010), encouraging more people to be educated would be beneficial in reducing inequality. However with more educated people could lead to corruption problem due to greed and will attempt to corrupt its economy for their own benefits.

Gupta et al. (1998) states that income distribution will be affected by corruption. China under the leadership of President Xi Jinping has been tackling the problem persistently (Ting Shi, 2016). The Government has adopted policies such as the anti-corruption measures that aided in educating their officials aiming to prevent corruption at its roots. However, the credibility of the Government was not strong as it is difficult for the Government to supervise the large amount of the probable corrupted officials (Qian & Wen, 2015). Hence, in order for the Government to give assurances to its people, they must have no tolerance to its corrupted officials as argued by Reuters (2014), stating that the Government has adopted zero tolerance approach to corruption. Consequently reducing the income disparity that was brought on by the corruption.

Nonetheless, the solution of balancing the taxes payable for the higher and lower income people, it could help improve the regional income inequality however it may not be accepted by everyone. Increasing the skillsets of people could also help balance the inequality however the affordability is still a problem. However with these solutions, corruption could still continue to worsen the inequality if the Government does not tighten their state.

Word Count (excluding cover, references and other texts): 780

References

Gan, L. D. (2013, August). Income Inequality and Consumption, 1-20. Retrieved from http://international.uiowa.edu/files/international.uiowa.edu/files/file_uploads/incomeinequalityinchina.pdf

Gupta, S., Davoodi, H., & Alonso-Terme, R. (1998). Does Corruption Affect Income Inequality and Poverty? Fiscal Affairs Department. Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/wp9876.pdf

Li, S. (n.d.). Changes in income inequality in China in the last three decades. Institute of Income Distribution, Beijing. Retrieved from http://uschinacenter.as.nyu.edu/docs/IO/32612/Li_shi_paper.pdf

Ning, G. J. (2010). Can Educational Expansion Improve Income Inequality in China? Evidences from the CHNS. Nankai University and IZA. Retrieved from http://ftp.iza.org/dp5148.pdf

Qian, N., & Wen, J. (2015). The Impact of Xi Jinping’s Anti-Corruption Campaign on Luxury Imports in China. Retrieved from http://aida.wss.yale.edu/~nq3/NANCYS_Yale_Website/resources/papers/QianWen_20150403.pdf

REUTERS. (2014, Febuary 23). China's premier unveils more measures to tackle corruption. (M. Perry, Ed.) Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/r-chinas-premier-unveils-more-measures-to-tackle-corruption-2014-23?IR=T&r=US&IR=T

Shi, T. (2016). Xi Calls for a China in 2016 Where `Nobody Dares to Be Corrupt'. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-13/xi-calls-for-a-china-in-2016-where-nobody-dares-to-be-corrupt-

Talley, I. (2015). China Is One of the Most Unequal Countries in the World, IMF Paper Says. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/03/26/china-is-one-of-most-unequal-countries-in-the-world-imf-paper-says/

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Trade, foreign policy, diplomacy and health. Retrieved from WHO: http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story043/en/

Xiaobo, Z., & Kevin H., Z. (2003). How Does Globalisation Affect Regional Inequality within A Developing Country? Evidence from China. The Journal of Development Studies, 39:4, 47-67. doi:10.1080/713869425

Xue, J. J., Luo, C. L., & Li, S. (2014, Febuary 11). GLOBALIZATION, LIBERALIZATION AND INCOME INEQUALITY: THE CASE IN CHINA. The Singapore Economic Review, 59(1), 1-21. doi:10.1142/S0217590814500027

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Problem Solution Essay Draft 2

Globalisation is defined as the increase in trades and services around the world which allows the country to gain profits (WHO, n.d.). China is one such country that makes use of the advantages from globalisation to promote their market in increasing their gross domestic product (GDP). However, with globalisation, China has been presented problem inequality. Although globalisation has aided China in overcoming the economic downturn, it has also created several forms of inequalities. Zhang and Kevin (2010) has also stated that income and regional inequality were contributed by globalisation. The most common form of inequality would be the income inequality of which will be the main focus point in this paper. This essay will discuss on the how globalisation leads to income inequality, the impacts on China and the existing measures taken together with proposed solutions to tackle the growing income gap. This has been a growing issue in China, though hard to eradicate, requires a sustainable amount of measures to reduce the impact of inequality.

China being one of the fastest growing economy for three decades, tolerated a side-effect from globalisation which has widen the gap of income distribution therefore causing income inequality. The salary of the lower-skilled workers decreases while higher-skilled workers increased thus shows the presence of biasness that leads to income disparity. Li Shi (N.D.) discussed that the policies implemented by China tends to be more biased towards the urban areas which caused the income disparity between the urban and rural. Income disparity also leads to unequal education system between the urban and rural areas. Residents from rural areas were more inclined to have lesser skills and education as compared to the urban residents. This can be support from Li Gan (2013), who states that lower-income households are likely to have lower education levels. The education gap among rural areas leads to consequential income disparity. Furthermore, the situation has worsened when corruption was found amongst bureaucrats, and the area impacted. Xue Jinjun et al. (2014) noted that corruption has a strong impact on the equality and integrity of China’s income distribution.

The existing measure in China to tackle the income disparity among urban and rural areas is the taxation payable by its people. In this case, China’s income growth was able to stay at the top because of its focus on the higher growth rates. Evidence from Talley (2015), who quoted from two economists, Cevik and Correa stated that China was able to have a faster income growth because they were targeting more among the rich and neglecting the poor. Therefore, raising the taxes on the rich could help narrow the income gap. However this should not be based on earning money but rather used to fund education, health care and other social services. Additionally, China could also lower the labour taxes from the low and middle income families. In addition to providing more for families with lower income, the Government should attempt to increase the skills of this population to better bridge the income disparity gap.

Education will be more beneficial for the higher income residents than the lower income residents due to the affordability. Although education could be a solution to these problems, it is difficult to sustain for a larger population. With consideration on how large the population is in China, it is difficult for most people to be able to afford higher education. Therefore, education became a form of investment rather than a necessity. By having higher education attainment could lead to more opportunities of having a decent paying job. Hence, this would help to contribute to society and hence leading to higher economy. However, the poor would not be able to afford education as easily as the rich. Therefore, funding from the government is another possible way to aid the poor. Additionally, increasing the amount of educated people would not only assist China in reducing the income gap but also raising the income growth. According to Ning (2010), encouraging more people to be educated would be beneficial in reducing inequality. However with more educated people could lead to corruption problem due to greed and will attempt to corrupt its economy for their own benefits.

The impact of corruption as supported by Gupta et al. (1998) states that income distribution will be affected by corruption. This therefore leads to an increased disbelief in the Government. However China under the leadership of President Xi Jinping has been tackling the problem persistently (Ting Shi, 2016). The Government has adopted policies such as the anti-corruption measures that aided in educating their officials aiming to prevent corruption at its roots. However, the credibility of the Government was not strong as it is difficult for the Government to supervise the large amount of the probable corrupted officials (Qian & Wen, 2015). Hence, in order for the Government to give assurances to its people, they must have no tolerance to its corrupted officials as argued by Reuters (2014), stating that the Government has adopted zero tolerance approach to corruption. Consequently reducing the income disparity that was brought on by the corruption.

Nonetheless, globalisation has its merit in helping China but could also trigger the unnecessary inequalities. The issues are possible to mitigate but would not be completely eradicated. Even though the measures could be sustainable, the disparity in income gap among the urban and rural areas could only be reduced. The limitation in providing education remains and corruption would be an interminable hurdle.

Word Count (excluding cover, references and other texts): 889

References

Gan, L. D. (2013, August). Income Inequality and Consumption, 1-20. Retrieved from http://international.uiowa.edu/files/international.uiowa.edu/files/file_uploads/incomeinequalityinchina.pdf

Gupta, S., Davoodi, H., & Alonso-Terme, R. (1998). Does Corruption Affect Income Inequality and Poverty? Fiscal Affairs Department. Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/wp9876.pdf

Ning, G. J. (2010). Can Educational Expansion Improve Income Inequality in China? Evidences from the CHNS. Nankai University and IZA. Retrieved from http://ftp.iza.org/dp5148.pdf

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Trade, foreign policy, diplomacy and health. Retrieved from WHO: http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story043/en/