Categories
Economics Politics & government

[2563] Why I do not want to see a Eurozone break-up

I understand the case for the breaking up of the Eurozone. I do appreciate the virtue behind a flexible exchange rate, especially for cases like Greece. There is a need for rebalancing that a monetary union cannot provide. Yet, I am uneasy at the suggestion of a break-up, of Grexit, because deep inside of me, I am more or less an internationalist.

The internationalist sentiment is derived from my libertarian belief. It is about freedom of movement. Free flow of labor. Free flow of capital. All around the world.

I dream of a world where I would not have to present identification whenever I land in some foreign airports. I dream that I would be free to be anyway I choose without the need to ask permission from the state.

Unleash the ideal world and what I call the crazy me would come out as an anarchist. Specifically, an anarcho-capitalist. Freedom unbounded.

But I am not an anarchist because I understand anarchism is inherently unstable. I settle for the second best option available and that is free-market libertarianism.

Just as anarchism is the ideal but unattainable and thus the second-best solution is libertarianism, internationalism is the ideal but the second best approach is regionalism, for now.

This fuels my sympathy for the Eurozone. I want the Eurozone to be intact because of my bias. It has nothing to do about being western or Europe-centric.

I want it intact so that in the future, the Asean version can emerge. An Eurozone failure will likely inform decision on a more integrated Asean. Already the Indonesian President warned Asean of repeating the European mistake. The warning is appropriate but as I have argued, there are appropriate lessons to learn from the European crisis without jettisoning a closer Asean idea.

And I do think Europe will succeed, if recent history is of value.

The end of World War II saw closer cooperation between European countries: observe the Marshall Plan. Not all and definitely it was easy to cooperation when your opponent is dead, but the cooperation happened and that is the point.

The Cold War saw closer integration: observe the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community.

Post-Cold War saw even more: observe the European Union and its expansion.

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism crisis brought closer cooperation: observe the introduction of the Eurozone.

Now, the latest Eurozone crisis may bring in closer cooperation: observe the fiscal union proposal.

So, do not ring the bell yet. The regionalist game is not over yet and the outcome of death is not certain.

As a libertarian, the issue is the creation of a stronger state but I think, this can be a largely enlightened state, with a federal structure is can be a counterforce to the central government.

Categories
ASEAN History & heritage

[2367] From Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands

I meant to write this more than a year ago when Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the Malaysian government agreed to relocate Keretapi Tanah Melayu’s terminus from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands. News that the Tanjong Pagar Station will finally close on July 1 encourages me to open up my archive of unfinished writings and finish this particular entry.

While the agreement has improved relations between Malaysia and Singapore, which is good, I was disappointed with the decision, and remains so today.

It is a disappointment because Tanjong Pagar is the last visible link that exists between the two countries, harking back to a time when Singapore was part of colonial Malaya and later modern Malaysia. It reminds Malaysians and Singaporeans alike that we share a common past. There was a dream unrealized; Singapore to Kuala Lumpur as New York to Washington D.C.

For regionalists who dream of a closer Southeast Asia, the link provides concrete infrastructure to that dream.

The dream will live on, even without Tanjong Pagar. And of course, the link is not severed at all. It is only shortened. Woodlands is still in Singapore after all.

Still, the link to Tanjong Pagar is special. It is special not just because of the past but also for what it can be. A high-speed train between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore will greatly enhance people-to-people interaction.

Even so, the KL-Singapore high-speed train link is only part of a bigger dream. Imagine a Penang-KL-Singapore link. Imagine a Bangkok-Penang-KL-Singapore link. Imagine bigger.

Of course. Of course. Of course there is still Woodlands. But the experience will be vastly different. Trains are not supposed to be like airports, detached from cities with all the associated hassle. Trains are supposed to be convenient. One embarks in a city only to disembark in another city.

Woodlands is nowhere. Like Changi. Like Sepang. Unlike Brickfields. Unlike Tanjong Pagar.