We have discussed and debated on the Chinese and America perceptions of self. Reflect on the impact of these beliefs in your life.
I feel that our lives are greatly influenced by both the Chinese and America culture and some of the factors leading to such phenomena are media, education and the type of government and leaders we have in Singapore.
Firstly, I would like to discuss how the strict hierarchical system in the Confucian ideology has been adopted in my family. Ever since I am young, my brother and I had always respected the decisions and words of our parents and our elders as we trusted them and believed that they are more knowledgeable than we are. I believed such practices and traditions are probably passed down from our ancestors, who originated from China. However, my family also practices much individual freedom where all of us can pursue our own interests or do anything as and when we enjoy without having restricted. Hence, I would prefer to say that my family actually integrate the American and Chinese cultures together in our daily lives.
Next, I feel that Singapore’s educational system has reflected some of China’s education system. Both education practices meritocracy where those who more hardworking or perhaps more talented gains better opportunities in entering higher level education such as university education. As meritocracy is part of the Confucian ideology, I feel that China’s exam-oriented educational system do have an indirect impact on Singapore’s as our educational policies are implemented by the government which could be influenced by China’s educational system. Honestly, I dislike studying in an educational system that practices meritocracy as I am always worried of losing out to my friends and constantly face lots of stress and peer pressure, which I believe is not ideal for someone like me who prefers to work things out at my own paced instead of being forced. Even when American cultures such as creativity is being included into our curriculum under project work, I feel that such assignments are still being forced upon us and poses more stress problems for me. I would think that a less exam-oriented curriculum would benefit more as it allows more time and opportunities for me to explore my own interests. However, such policies may not work today as many students in Singapore are still unable to take their own initiatives and responsibility in pursuing their areas of interest. Hence, an exam-oriented educational system is needed to provide students with the essential skills and knowledge for scoring well in an examination so that they can further studies in tertiary education – and this is exactly the main goal of many local students.
I feel that the American’s democratic society has also influenced the Singapore government to adopt the same practice in our society. Our government believes that citizens deserve their own rights and their freedom to comment on the policies made by the government and to vote for the political party the citizens prefer most. From the 2011 General Elections, we can actually observe that an increasing number of citizens, especially youths have developed interests in political activities and have also voiced out their comments through online platform such as Facebook or Twitter. I feel that a democratic society is very beneficial for the country as it allows the citizens to feedback on the government’s actions and the government can also listen and adapt to the alternative voices from the public. Although I have not reached the minimum voting age yet, I am glad that Singapore has used the American style of governing the country as democracy usually welcomes changes, which allows the country to adapt to crisis within or outside the country. On the other hand, I feel that Singapore’s government is more of an authoritarian rule in the past 40 over years since its independence. Even though there were policies that caused unhappiness among the citizens, most of the citizens willingly followed the government’s decisions and voted for PAP for all these years. Honestly, PAP had indeed done exceedingly well in developing Singapore. However, the fact that the citizens respected PAP and voted for them all the time reflected the ‘harmony’ mentioned in the Confucianism ideology where the people accept whatever the leaders do, and the leaders treat the people with care.
All in all, I felt that the Chinese and American perceptions of self have different roles and purposes to play in society today. It is important that we adapt or integrate these values and beliefs system in our society because they can be beneficial in one way or another, depending on their effectiveness on the various areas they are applied in.
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