In the travel memoir Eat, Pray, Love, the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, has an interesting conversation with an Italian friend, Giulio, and Giulio puts forth this idea that each society in the world has a word which tallies with its beliefs and values. For example, the word in the Vatican City could be “power”. Similarly, I think that America and China each have their own word; America’s being “freedom”, and China’s being “collective”. In my opinion, America is a nation which stresses on the rights of every individual, with liberty being the most highly regarded value amongst the nation. Many monuments have the word liberty in their names, like The Statue of Liberty, or Liberty Bell, etc. Whereas, China, under the guidance of selected Confucianism values, is more of a pluralistic nation, and people share a common goal. For example, under Mao Zedong’s regime, China moved together in one direction, like during the “Great Leap Forward” campaign. Although the values upheld by China and America do not directly coincide, I think that America’s values focus on the power of the individual, while China’s emphasises the need to work as one. This is further reflected in the work cultures of each nation; in Google, a rather representative company of the USA, the employee feels that he/she is able to make a difference and that is very important to the individual. I am not sure whether this is felt in China too, but when we studied Lenovo, I realised that the way of management was the typical “big boss” method, a very paternalistic one with a figure of authority at the top and minions slaving away without question. In my opinion, this doesn’t really empower the individual.
Singapore is affected very much by China, because of economic interest and cultural roots. For example, as a nation, our education system is largely Chinese; children sit in a classroom and are expected to listen to the teacher but not ask questions, as the teacher holds authority over them. This is a very clear example of the Confucian value of “mandate of heaven”: obey your superiors totally, without questioning their authority. Furthermore, from my experience, studying was more of a moral obligation, or a duty to the family and country, than a desire to improve oneself and this is a manifestation of how society comes before self. People should serve the society more than they should serve their own needs. Even if one does not want to do something expected of them, they eventually will do it. In the book Wild Swans, an autobiography of life in China from the 1910s to the 1980s, it was written that betrayal of family was tantamount to treason. This shows how important duty is to the Chinese, and his duty overrules the desires of the individual.
There are also upsides to these Chinese values, such as gratitude, and modesty, both of which come from the Chinese perception that the self is a beneficiary of the education bestowed on by the society. Modesty is practiced in Singapore very often, according to JoAnn Meriwether Craig in her book Culture Shock!, and it is good that such values are inculcated in Singaporeans from a young age.
Of course, the impact American values have on our lives is very significant too. Democracy is an American value, and so is freedom of speech. Individual rights are also American, and even societies like AWARE or Singapore’s Women’s Association are influenced by American values; in the Chinese hierarchy, women rank the lowest. All the above mentioned could not have come about without influence from the American perceptions of self. More than legislature or individual rights, our economy is also American in nature; Adam Smith’s ideas about free market are applied to our economy, and protectionism is abolished.
Again, there are downsides to these American values. People nowadays seek more self-fulfilment and pleasure than in the past, a result of the self-seeking industry America has created from promoting the “pursuit of happiness”. Furthermore, youths nowadays do not face problems, but rather escape from them, as evident from the article Pathological Video-Gaming among Singaporean Youths, which states that 30% of youths responded yes to using “video-gaming to escape from problems bad feelings or stress”, with an additional 24% responding sometimes.
I think that the Chinese perceptions of self impact my life more than the American perceptions. This is because firstly, as a predominantly Chinese population, we uphold the traditional Chinese values passed down to us from our ancestors, and secondly, our government also puts in place certain Confucian values to guide our development as a nation, such as making education compulsory, which further reinforces the Confucian idea that knowledge and education is very important. Thus, we as a nation are able to absorb the Chinese perceptions of self.
800 words
Dear Nathan,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I like how you quoted many different examples for storybooks to support your point and have stated the book and author, which is commendable. You also gave a very clear picture of what are the Chinese and America perception of self, giving many explanations and examples. This allowed readers to understand what the topic is about. You have also mentioned how our current society has been affected by the Chinese and America perception of self. However, I feel that as this is a reflective journal and not a review on the Chinese and America perception of self, you should focus more on how have these impacted you. You did mentioned in which areas did these perceptions had affected but I feel that what's lacking is the link to how it impacted your life. You said, “Furthermore, from my experience, studying was more of a moral obligation, or a duty to the family and country, than a desire to improve oneself and this is a manifestation of how society comes before self”. This explained how did the Chinese perception affect the students in Singapore. Thus, if you could go on and explain how it changes and impacted your life. If you provided the link to how it had impacted your life, I believe that your reflective journal will be more personalized.
Thanks!!! :D
Dear Nathan, I feel that your post is very meaningful, and I enjoyed reading your journal very much. I like the fact that you included several examples and quotes, which added life to the content of your post. “Eat, Pray, Love”, “Wild Swans” etc. are all some interesting sources which you you’re your information from. Overall, I agree with the gist of your post. I agree with your main idea, that Singapore has adopted much of the Chinese cultures, such as Confucianism which inculcates in us modesty and respect. However, I would like to question the fact that you said Singapore’s education is very much like the one in China, where it is very passive. I disagree with you on this. Take this assignment for example; this piece of work encourages us to express our opinions. In class, for SES, we are expected to do research before hand, in order for a smooth and interactive discussion to take place. How then, is this considered an education where we are only supposed to “listen to the teacher but not ask any questions”? However, upon some deliberation, what I just said might be an assumption, because perhaps, other schools in Singapore might not be as interactive and liberal as ours. But, overall, I still feel that Singapore’s education is growing increasingly towards the American’s, because discussion and voicing of opinions is encouraged on the whole. It is quite obvious that the America style of education is better than the Chinese style of education, for the fact that there is increased creativity and more suggestions, opinions. Thus, I feel that what the government can do is to enforce compulsory subjects like “SES” in all schools in Singapore, to provide a common ground to voice opinions. After saying so much, my main point is that, I feel that Singapore is growing towards America in many ways, in terms of working and education. All in all, I believe that Singapore’s perception of self has the best of worlds, the liberal, creative American working style and the traditional Confucian values. However, I also agree with your last statement, that Chinese perceptions have a greater impact in our lives than American, though they are more or less balanced in our society, because after all, we are Chinese.
ReplyDeleteDone by: Ng Wei Sing Darren (19) 3S1