Lectures and Assignments

YKT 214 on Monday was supposed to be on video screening on Debate between 3 scholars. Herbert Schiller, Brian Winston and Ithiel de Sola Pool but sadly technology let us down. The video tape in form of VHR not functioning thus technician cant do anything but to convert the VHR to CD format. Sigh.. so it was postpone to Thursday and hopefully by then we get to watch it as it will help us in our assignment, very much indeed.

So instead of Video we had lecture on the development in Communication Technology. One interesting part of the lecture was when Pn Wang tried explaining on dependent development/development of underdevelopment. Literally, Andre Gundre Frank from his radical studies says that the transnational corporation with the backing of the developed nation/the European government trying to expand their business/military to the poor nations who is looking to improved their country in one way or another. With this transnational who have this technology and machinery stuff, they tried to promote their technology so that this poor lil nation could buy it and use it to “developed” their nation. By this, it means that it is a dependent development when we say this poor nation have to buy this machine, technology and etc to build their nation without knowing the other aspect of this huge/domination TNC who tried to manipulate them for the sake of business to gain more $$$$$$$.

So these poor old lil nations who have bought this technology from TNC of course will owe them a great amount of money. So instead of this poor nation becoming more develop with all the technology that they now have and with the debt amounting, they are actually becoming poorer and poorer. Which here means, development of underdevelopment. They developed yet at the same time they are underdeveloped.

Example here is on Indonesia who owed greatly to IMF(International Monetary Fund) during the Asian Economic Crisis in 1997 and this country is still owing to IMF and cant afford to pay back resulting in the nation becoming poorer and not helping them to become a developed nation. Sometimes I wonder how cruel could this people be. But then again, this is the greed of people. Like, ppl always says, this is life… whoever have the power will conquers all and whoever don’t will be conquer.

Like what was mentioned during tutorial, examples of transnational corporation or better known as multinational companies(MNC) in Penang are like Intel, Dell, Agilent, Motorola, Seagate, Solectron and lots more. Reason being here is the cheap labour. Using our manpower for their own sake. Profits that they make will be brought back to their respective countries. And we the labourers, is still is and will be in the state just as we are without us becoming richer.

Finally to conclude my entry this time, status quo is still there. =)