By: Reagan Hadinata, Junior College 2 Grace

Globalisation refers to this worldwide interaction in which each and every country is encouraged to spread and share their respective cultures and values to one another through different means with the purpose of creating or strengthening a global connection.  Despite many people being against it due to the risk that globalisation might make our societies more vulnerable to negative factors such as loss of culture, etc., globalisation has never been and will not be put to a complete stop as countless number of people support it.  

There is a prevalent thought when it comes to globalisation which is on how it might create or cause more vulnerability within any country's society. To explore upon this topic, three perspectives will be used which are the economic, cultural, and social perspectives.  In the country of Indonesia, most people in power, such as the current President Jokowi, believe that globalisation is a pathway and a clear road to a creative and prosperous society and nation.

A recent and memorable example of globalisation that has made it onto a handful of social mediums whether it be social media or word of mouth is the 2021 ASEAN Games.  This event allowed all South-East Asian countries to showcase their athletic talents and gain merit while competing in a friendly yet competitive manner.  Aside from the athletes, people from all the countries that came as fans, country representatives and delegates, and many others were given a chance to interact with one another.  Sharing and understanding with people from different countries was built through this event and inspiration was also drawn from the athletes' performances.  Although it was not as easy to pinpoint where globalisation was taking place in this particular event in comparison to an event like world economic forums and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this is just an example of how globalisation can take on different shapes and forms and occurs at times where we do not necessarily expect it.  

On the other end of the spectrum of globalisation, free trade agreements are examples of economic globalisation. Multinational corporations which operate in two or more countries, play a large role in economic globalisation.  
According to a study conducted by the UMS (Universiti Malaysia Sabah), 'the establishment of ASEAN as one of the most highly-integrated regional organizations is the reflection of the process of globalization. This study proved that globalization contributed some benefits for ASEAN countries such as the development of education and health system, employment opportunities, employment growth, technology information, and competitive advantage. With the current economic situation that is going on all over the world, it is of utmost importance that countries are exposed to globalization and free trade. The benefits of these can bring about positive changes in countries, not only in ASEAN but all over the world.'

With everything that has been stated, there are still a large proportion of the Indonesian people still against globalisation.  Reasoning out that globalisation causes Indonesia to be vulnerable in a way that Indonesia's culture experiences a shift and some might lose essential nationalistic and cultural pride.  However, this cannot be proven in any way and even Indonesians who live abroad still choose to hold onto their Indonesian passport and citizenship, roots, and values, planning to return to their home country. Also, globalisation promotes a country's unique cultural identity instead of losing it.

Globalisation has both desirable and undesirable effects on Indonesia. It is unquestionable that globalisation accelerates progress in some countries, but at the same time it has also widened the gap between the rich and the poor and might cause cultural shifts.  We can surely hope for more advancement in the global economy due to this process and globalisation will continue up to the future as it brings upon more advancements.