A story of: Gio, Latif and the Laksa

When Gio was a second-year international affairs student in a university in Cebu City, he obtained
funding to join the school team participating in an international Model UN competition in Sydney,
Australia. At the height of the competition, Gio made plenty of friends and became particularly close to
Latif from the Malaysian team. The two first started talking when Latif asked Gio where he was from.
Upon discovering that the Gio was from the Philippines , Latif lit up and declared the he was a big fan of
Filipino actors Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa. Gio was pleasantly surprised to learn that Latif had
seen every episode of the ABS-CBN telenovela Pangako Sayo (‘’The Promise’’). The show had aired on
the Malaysian TV a few years back, and its two stars had developed a modest.

Ashamed that he did not know as much about Malaysia as Latif knew about the Philippines, Gio asked
latif what his country was like. Latif, he discovered, was from a Muslim university in Kuala Lumpur. Gio
asked him what he liked best about living in ‘’KL’’, and Latif immediately mentioned the food. Latif
explained that in Kuala Lumpur, one can find Chinese, Indian and Malay cuisines. He told Gio that this
assortment of foodways was the result of how the British reorganized Malaysian society during the
colonial times. According to Latif, Malaysia eventually became famous for these cuisines which can be
found in the various ‘’hawker centers’’ across the nation’s cities and towns. These food stands are
located in outdoor food parks where locals and tourists taste the best of Malaysia, from nasi lemak to
laksa.

Gio interrupted Latif and asked,’’ What is Laksa?’’ he felt more ashamed at his lack of knowledge. ‘’Ahh…
let me show you what it is and how it is prepared!’’ replied Latif.

The next day, Latif took Gio to a Malaysian restaurant a few blocks away from the university. Gio was
surprised to discover that Malaysian food was readily available in Sydney. Having noticed this, Latif
explained to his Filipino friend that, over the years, as more and more Malaysian students moved to
Sydney to study, Malaysian restaurants followed suit. Soon after, they were catering not only to these
students, but to Australia-born ‘’Sydneysiders’’ as well, whose culinary tastes were becoming more and
more diverse.

Gio finally had his first taste of Laksa—a rice noodle soup in a spicy coconut curry sauce. He found the
flavors intense since, like most Filipinos, he was not used to spicy food. However, in deference to his
friend, he persisted and eventually found himself enjoying the hot dish.

The new friends promised to stay in touch in after the competition, and added each other on Facebook
and Instagram. Over the next two years, they exchanged e-mails and posts, congratulated each other for
their achievements, and commented on and liked each other’s photos. Latif sent his mother’s recipe to
Gio and the latter began cooking Malaysian food in his home.

A few years after graduation, Gio moved to Singapore, joining many other overseas Filipino workers
(OFW) in the city-state. The culture was new to him, but one thing was familiar; the food served in
Singapore was no different from the Malaysian food he had discovered through Latif. After he settled
down in his apartment, Gio sought out and found a favourite laksa stall in Newton Hawker Center. He
would spend his weekends there with friends eating laksa and other dishes.

One Saturday, while Gio was checking his Facebook feed along the very busy Orchard Road—Singapore’s
main commercial road—he noticed that Latif had jusr posted something 5 minutes earlier. It was a
picture from Orchard Road. Surprised but also excited, Gio sent Latif a private message. Latif replied
immediately saying that he too had moved to DSingapre and was, at that moment, standing in front a
department store just a few blocks away from where Gio was. The two friends met up, and after a long
hug and quick questions as to what each was up to, they ducked into a café and renewed their
international friendship…by ordering a pair of flat whites.

What is Globalization? Examples, Definition, Benefits and Effects

Global Experiences

Gio and Latif’s story is fictional but very plausible since it is, in fact, based on the real-life
experience of one of the authors. It was through such friendship that one was able to appreciate the
meaning and impact of globalization.

We begin our definition of globalization with this narrative to illustrate how concrete the
phenomenon is. The story shows how globalization operates at multiple, intersecting levels. The spread
of Filipino TV into Malaysia suggests how fast this popular culture has proliferated and criss-crossed all
over Asia. The Model UN activity that Gio and Latif participated in the an international competition
about international politics. Gio met Latif (a Malaysian involved in the model UN) in Sydney, a global city
that derives its wealth and influence from the global capital that flows through it. Sydney is also a
metropolis of families of international immigrants or foreigners working in the industries that also sell
their products abroad. After the two had gone back to their home countries, Gio and Latif kept in touch
through facebook, a global social networking site that provides instantaneous communication across
countries and continents. They preserved their friendship online and then rekindled this face-to-face in
Singapore, anotherhub for global commerce, with 40% of the population being classified as ‘’foreign
talents.’’

Globalization: A Working Definition

Most accounts view globalization as primarily an economic process. When a newspaper reports
that nationalist are resisting ‘’globalization’’, it usually refers to the integration of the national markets
to a wider global market signified by the increased free trade. When activist refer to the ‘’anti-
globalization’’ movement of the 1990’s, they mean resisting the trade deals among countries facilitated
and promoted by global organizations like the World Trade Organization.

The best scholarly description of globalization is provided by Manfred Steger who described the process
as ‘’the expansion and the intensification of social relations and consciousness across world-time and
across world-space.’’ 1. Expansion refers to ‘’both the creation of new social networks and the
multiplication of existing connections that cut across traditional political, economic, cultural, and
geographic boundaries.’’ 2. These various connections occur at different levels. Social Media, for
example, establish new global connections between people, while international groups of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) are networks that connect a more specific group – social workers
and activists- from different corners of the globe. In the story, Gio was able to join a Model UN
competition because his university was part of an international network.

Intensification refers to the expansion, stretching, and acceleration of these networks. 3. Not only are
global connections multiplying, but they are also becoming more closely-knit and expanding their reach.
For example, there has always been a strong financial market connecting London and New York. With
the advent of electronic trading, however, the volume of that trade increases exponentially, since
traders can now trade more at higher speeds. The connection is thus accelerating. Apart from this
acceleration, however as the world becomes more financially integrated, the intensified trading network
between London and New York may expand and stretch to cover more and more cities. After China
committed itself to the global economy in the 1980s,for example, Shanghai steadily returned to its old
role as a major trading post.

The final attribute of this definition relates to the way people perceive time and space. Steger notes that
‘’globalization processes do not occur merely at an objective, material level but they also involve the
subjective plane of the human consciousness.’’ In other words, people begin to feel that the world has
become a smaller mouse-click away. One can now email a friend in another country and get a reply
instantaneously, and as a result, begins to perceive their distance as less consequential. Cable TV and
the internet has also exposed one to news from across the globe, so now, he/she has this greater sense
of what is happening in the other places.

Steger posits that his definition of globalization must be differentiated with an ideology he calls
globalism. If globalization represents the many processes that allow for the expansion and
intensification of global connections, globalism is a widespread belief among powerful people that the
global integration economic markets is beneficial for everyone, since it spreads freedom and democracy
across the world. It is a common belief forwarded in media and policy circles.

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