Firstly, China places more emphasis on modesty, while America places higher value on self-promotion. Modesty is deeply rooted within Confucianism teachings, and has manifested in the behaviour of the Chinese today. For example, when a person is invited to perform, he will say that he will “xian chou”, meaning that he will be incompetent, even though this might not be the case. Today, when I hear people use this term, I find it very strange that they will say that. Why should we demean and lower our abilities if we really do possess them? I feel that we should be proud of our achievements, and by praising oneself, one is able to take pride in what he does, and serves as a morale boost. However, boasting should not be done to the extent where we look down on others. In Singapore, we value the Chinese values of modesty, which I feel can be incorporated with America’s beliefs of self-promotion.
Next, the Chinese, as compared to the Americans, place more emphasis on societal needs as above individual needs. I feel that society and individual needs have to be balanced, but there is an extent to which the latter should come before the former. According to Max-Neef classification of fundamental human needs[1], the only section which I feel can be compromised is the part on freedom, which relates back to individual rights. An examples of how freedom has been limited is censorship, which are present in every country today. In Singapore, censorship is present in print media and the Internet, among many others. It mainly targets racial, political, sexual and religious issues, which are essential to censor to maintain harmony in the nation. Personally, I do not feel restricted with the censorship here: if notions which deviate from the accepted norm are allowed to be expressed publicly, it could possibly garner supporters who disrupt the social and political stability of the nation. In this aspect, I feel that society needs should come before individual needs as it directly affects the individual needs of other people, which according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs[2], belongs to the second level of “safety” and security.
Lastly, the perception of respect between China and America is also different. As mentioned in my previous post, the Chinese strongly believe in respect to elders, while the Americans focus more on mutual respect. Foremost, there is a significant distinction between filial piety and respect. While respect is defined as deference to someone or something, filial piety narrows down to showing respect to one’s parents and ancestors. This is important as we are showing gratitude for what our parents have done for us. However, isn’t it obligatory to show a certain degree of appreciation to people who have helped us and guided us in our lives?
The Chinese believe in having an inherent obligation in respecting one’s elders, while the Americans don’t. In fact, respect to seniors is not only inherent in the Chinese culture. In Japan schools, juniors have to bow to seniors when they meet them along the corridor, and they will use formal speech instead of informal speech when conversing with them, as conveyed to me by my Japanese teacher. Though this might go against the values that have been inculcated into me since young, after prolonged thought and reflection, I start to feel that this argument is fundamentally flawed. For instance, if we meet a stranger who is older than us on the street, do we thus have an immediate social and moral obligation to show respect to that person? I prefer the American view of respect, where respect has to be earned, and is not a moral obligation. Even though this is so, “respect” is still a very broad and vague term. When I say that respect has to be earned, it does not mean that we ignore basic courtesies and individual rights like interrupting others when they speak, but rather how we should modify our behaviour and attitudes towards a person when we start to admire him and his contributions. Our culture has been largely influenced by traditional Confucian values, which is not the only “correct” philosophy we have in our modern world. We should start to question the reasons and objectives for these values, and how relevant they are to our modern society.
In conclusion, the consciousness of self plays an important role in the societal and economical culture of a country. As a Singaporean, I feel that we all ought to reflect upon how this has impacted our values, and we should make meaning of our existence.
800 words.
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1 http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/maxneef.htm
2 http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/conation/maslow.html
