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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Hi Gary, I would like to comment on your point on the education system in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I dislike studying in a meritocracy environment where we work hard to get our results and then get into a good university to get a decent degree and get a decent job. However, this cycle evidently repeats itself in Singapore.
I like how you mentioned that we are often under a pressure to do better than our peers, a competition which puts a barrier around the creative freedom in our projects and assignments. I believe this is due to the grading system of our project work. Take our school's project competition for example. This projects competition takes up a large portion of our independent studies grade, which is reflected in our report book. Fail this, and our report book would reflect a bad grade in Independent Studies. I feel grades should not be imposed on a qualitative measure such as creativity in the form of project work. Apart from grades, there are fixed categories in which we must adhere to and we have to follow certain structures in order to pass the criteria to get more marks in our grade. This imposes pressure on us to do what helps us get more marks rather than according to our own interests and creativity. Another example would be the expository essays in our English syllabus. Many times, we write an essay which can help us get the most number of marks instead of an essay which we truly believe in.
The point I would like to stress here is that in a meritocratic system, part of the Chinese perspective of self, it is difficult to incorporate creativity and freedom, the American perspective of self as it simply contradicts on another. Thus, I believe that we should not have grades imposed on subjects which encourage freedom of choice and there should be less structure in order to obtain optimal results from the students.
Just like you, I do feel stressed at times because of the fact that our education system is very much focused on meritocracy (or some might point out, sheer hard work) and the competition can be weary. Although the case in countries like China is probably more stressful for the students, I believe we are no more looking for hardcore ways of studying, but smarter ways as well. I agree with you that such an education system is necessary (as you pointed out that a less exam-oriented curriculum may not work well since not all students will take initiatives to pursue their interests or studies) in order to provide us with the skills needed for our future. But besides that, I think that subject-wise, our school is doing a good job exposing us to subjects and allowing us to pursue the subjects we are generally interested in as long as we show that we are determined, which is of course reflected on our test scores and project grades and such.
ReplyDeleteI am glad, too, that Singapore could adapt US’ political system whereby we can vote for our leaders. Actually, I’m not entirely sure if this is a system established by the US. Now that I think about, I cannot come up with any other countries that formed before the US which had the democratic voting system. I realized this only now, probably because I am used to only Singapore’s governance, which utilizes the voting system as well.
Quek Yong Jie 3S2(20)
I agree with your statement that our lives are greatly influenced by the American and Chinese culture by the media, education and government as Singapore is a culturally-diverse nation, therefore exposing us to both cultures.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that you dislike studying in a meritocratic society as there is much pressure, and would very much prefer an education system that is less exam-oriented. By reading your blog post, I have the impression that you think that a meritocratic society has an education system that focuses on the academic aspect. However, I would like to point out that meritocracy refers to a society governed by the gifted or skilled people, and so your description does not really illustrate the definition of a meritocratic society.
You feel that a less exam-oriented education system would benefit more as it provides more time and exploration of areas of personal interest. I agree with you on this point. The reason why there are exams is because there is a need to measure the students’ aptitude and understanding in a given topic. This creates a competitive education system where exam results are an indication of a person’s intelligence and the students are streamed accordingly. Even for additional subjects that are not considered in the academic grades, grades such as A, B and C are also reflected in report books. Everything we learn in school needs to have a grading system. Instead, I feel that, in addition to the normal subjects, students could be offered electives in their areas of interest which do not count towards their exam grades so that students can learn in a more carefree manner, thereby promoting creativity.
Lin Yulong (3S217)
All in all, it was very well-written, and I enjoyed reading it very much.
Dear Gary,
ReplyDeleteRegarding your point on meritocracy, I feel that you have raised a valid point. To some extent, I do agree that meritocracy can be pressurizing because there is peer pressure and the stress to keep up with the rest. However, we can also look at it from another angle. Because the education system in Singapore is based on merits, there are more reasons for us to study hard. You know that if you get good grades, you will get into a good school which will land you in a good university and eventually get you a good paying job. Furthermore, I think that healthy competition is good. It pushes you to work harder and do better which is actually good for all of us in the long run.
I empathize with your worries about losing out and fear of not doing well. Just like you, I do have occasional doubts about the things I want to do. I fear that I will not do them well. And like the rest of us, when we fail, we think we are useless. I also think that way myself. But I have learnt not to be so harsh with myself. I realized that most times, it is about moderating our own expectations and staying positive. We should always give ourselves a second chance.
At the end of the day, there is no prefect education system that will make everyone happy. There is so much that the government can do for us, the rest is up to each of us to make the best out of the system.
Also, it is indeed true that PAP has a good track record and I also feel that as long as they are doing a good job, they deserve to remain in power. That is what Confucianism has taught us.
I am actually glad that Singapore has a voting system. Just look at Libya, they used to have one king, and the citizens of Libya had to accept whoever he was to lead their country. They had no choice. I feel extremely blessed to be in Singapore when I compare myself with them. Countries like Libya and Tunisia have shown us that people would not take a non-democratic system for too long.
While the people should have a say in the government to vote for, I feel that when it comes to major issues, the government should listen to the opinions of the layman with care. Everyone has vested interest and not all of can see things beyond the immediate term. So while it is important for government to lobby support, it should also be ready to stand firm if certain tough and unpopular decision must be made.
Thank you.
Regards,
Alastair (3S2 19)