wisp - france

franceFRANCE WISP ASSIGNMENT 2

Li Ching-Sze

Shermaine Yeo Janice Chia

Elaine Chai T69

CONTENTS

!!Part A:

!! France in 2005

!! France in 2006

!! France: 2005 v.s. 2006

!!Part B:

!! Singapore in 2009

!!Part C:

!! Preventing the Imagined Future of Singapore

PART A – FRANCE IN 2005

!! Civil Unrest

!! October & November

!! Sparked by accidental

deaths of two teenagers

(of Malian and Tunisian

descent) in Paris’s poor

outer suburbs

!! Large African and Arab communities form in the suburbs of Paris

!! Unemployment is higher than the national average

!! Residents complain of racism and discrimination


!! Rioters were mostly unemployed teenagers from poor

suburban areas

!! Many rioters were youth of north and west African

descents

!! Born in France but lack a clear place in French society


!! Mid-1970s,

!! France's attitude

toward immigration

changed

!! The Maghrebian

immigrants were

thought of as cultural aliens

!! Impossible to adopt

and therefore a

threat to the integrity of the

French national identity


!! Riots in France linked to the

limits of the traditional

French model of

assimilation

!! Stresses adherence to French

cultural norms

!! Government attempted to

link rioting to other

practices

!! Illegal immigration, Muslim

separatism, and polygamous practices


!! Youth Protests

!! February, March & April

!! Unrest was in response to a

new law

!! The First Employment Contract

!! Perceived to compromise job

security, lower wages, and the

rights of French workers


!! The new bill:

!! Allowed employers to fire young employees less than 26 years old

!! Within the first 2 years of employment

!! Without reason


!! Purpose of the law:

!! Stimulate job creation as

it is difficult to fire

employees in France after probation period

!! Makes employers more

keen to take in more workers

!! However,

!! Youths were unhappy as

it compromised job

security

!! Makes it easier for

employers to exert

pressure on employees


!! Caused extensive and violent rioting by youths,

strikes and occupations of French universities

!! As a result of this public pressure, the government

revoked its youth employment law

PART A – 2005 V.S. 2006

!! Discrimination

2005

!! Ethnic minority faced

discriminatory acts and

unequal opportunities compared to

contemporary French people

!! Racial profiling by police

2006

!! Young people faced high unemployment rates, yet

new law was introduced

!! Age prejudice

PART A – 2005 V.S. 2006

!! Social

2005

!! Riots caused by racial

tension

2006

!! Riots caused by high youth

unemployment rates

!! Youths could be pressurized at

work, even by underhand means

!! Social inequity – Higher

unemployment rates among

young immigrants and the ethnic

minority

PART A – 2005 V.S. 2006

!! Political

2005

!! Poor treatment of ethnic

minority by French

government

2006

!! Introduction of unpopular bill/law

PART A – 2005 V.S. 2006

!! Economic factors were similar for both cases

!! High unemployment rates and lack of opportunities

PART B – SINGAPORE IN 2009

!! Similar instances of prejudice and discrimination?

!! Muslim schoolgirls not allowed to

wear the traditional Islamic headscarf to school

!! A government ban was placed on the

garment

!! In an instance, the education ministry

said that the girls had been

"suspended from school and are not allowed to attend classes unless they

are in the prescribed school uniform”

!! It added that "The wearing of the school uniform is an important

means of building unity among students without distinction of race, religion, and social status."



!! Chinese majority outnumbers the Malay and Indian

communities by three to one

!! Singapore experienced violent race riots in 1964 but has

largely enjoyed ethnic peace since then



!! Middle income group pay more income tax, but do not get as

much help as the lower income group (progress packages,

government aid, etc.)

!

!! Widening income gap and lower-income group receive lower

wage increase compared to other income groups

!! The financial divide between the income groups may cause

disharmony



!! Singapore has an aging population

!! Government has been encouraging employers to continue

keeping elderly workers

!! Vie for jobs with young people who do not have as much

experience, thus possibly less opportunity for youth

!! Year 2061

!! Singapore’s population: 6.1 million

!! 47% born in Singapore

!! The rest are foreign-born citizens/workers/talents

!! Robust economy took a dramatic turn

!! Has been in recession since 2048

!! Tensions rising due to increasing unemployment

!! Protests:

!! Daily protests by local-born unemployed citizens against

cheaper foreign labour

!! Protests against naturalized Singaporeans accused of being

“fair weather” Singaporeans who are not loyal to the country

PART C – THE IMAGINED FUTURE OF SINGAPORE

!! Protect the interests of locally born Singaporeans

!! Give incentives for employers to employ local staff – e.g. lower corporate tax per local staff hired

!! Implement a cap on number of foreign workers per organization

PART C – PREVENTING THE IMAGINED FUTURE

!! Continue to provide help to lower-income Singaporeans


!! Create jobs in civil

service for locally born Singaporeans

!! Allow partial

withdrawal of CPF funds to tide over the

recession period


!! Problems we may face:

!! More Singaporeans migrate overseas to

“better” countries – e.g. China, for more job

opportunities

!! Prolonged recession also means that

government is less able to fork out money to

help

!! Singapore history may repeat itself with

most of its people immigrants and few locals

!! National identity may have to be rebuilt

from scratch

THE END Thank you! "

wisp - france

Spiritual

b singapore

riotsin france

lowerincome group

imagined future of singapore

income groups

youth protests

similar instances of

high unemployment rates