Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore’s Regulated Society
During the last decade of the twentieth century, when the Berlin had been tumbled down and the Soviet empire had collapsed, the liberal ideology, which bases on the concept of individual freedom, flourished as the only idea of governing politics. In the wake of the liberal triumph, Fukuyama (1989) proclaimed about “the end of history” of the ideological contestation. Despite the gospel of the superiority of the liberalism, some Asian political leaders, such as Lee Kuan Yew, proposed a set of counter-ideas that can be classified as “Asian-values”, which prioritize the stability and order of the society over individuals’ rights (Lee to Zakaria, 1994). In particular, Lee not only articulated his
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However, this idea was by no means a result of his backgrounds of living as a member of oversea “Chinese” household in Singapore. Although he was in the privileged status of the eldest one of the Strait-born Chinese (baba), he had been instructed in English, and forced to abandon his Chinese culture before he went to school (p. 162). Likewise, he had learnt Chinese in Kokkien dialect, not Mandarin. On the contrary, his idea on social management was gradually shaped by the growing admiration of Mandarin and Chinese knowledge on culture and philosophy when he had entered the adulthood (p. 165). This admiration might come into the existence during the Japanese Occupation on which Chinese-educated citizens seriously opposed Japan’s military. In spite of anti-communist attitude, his opinion on the successful socialist revolution in China somewhat highlighted Lee’s appreciation of Chinese culture. Notably, Lee suggested the communist party had exploited the strengthened cultural power, which was developed by the nationalist movement, to drive violent and revolutionary actions …show more content…
Interestingly, Lee’s persuasion method both directed to ordinary people’s material interests and recognition of the superiority of the elite in guiding the society. Lee’s government, which based on PAP (People’s Action Party), applied the social policies, especially housing and healthcare, to remold the behavior and incentive structure of the voters. Since Lee believed that the ownership of house would foster people’s commitment to the society, the PAP government implemented a series of the large-scale of public housing programs. (Hong, 2002: 553-554). Similarly, PAP also introduced “co-payment” health insurance system, which employees have to allocate a part of their salaries into the national insurance account because Lee supposed that the shared responsibility of healthcare expenditure would incentivized people to take care of their health. Both public housing and co-payment health insurance reflected Lee’s belief on the failure of welfare state in improving productivity. Lee (2000:104) argues that universal welfare system would undermined self-reliance, so that the people would not improve their ability and productivity to take care of their families and became dependent on state assistances. Accordingly, PAP government applied housing and healthcare policies not only won the support from the voters but also disciplined them to be productive
Until reading Red Scarf Girl, I believed in that the ideal society could, no, would someday exist. But now I have been convinced otherwise. The youth of China believed that Mao’s purpose of the cultural revolution was to unify and strengthen their country. While this was later discovered to be untrue, they tried to accomplish that by bringing
Chinese peasants and the Chinese Communist Party between circa 1925 and circa 1950 had had more close relationships. The major relationships that are shown in the documents is that relationship of peasant and Communist party supports to spark the nationalism in the peasants, creates an anti-Japanese sentiments, and to promote a sense of social equality. Documents 1,2, and 3, demonstrate that peasants had raised the national pride due to Chinese communist party. Documents 4 and 5 show how the Communist Party fosters the sense of anti- Japanese sentiments. Documents 6,7,8, and 9 illustrates the the sense of social equality through the Communist Party associating with the peasants.
The Chinese communist party gained much power after going after and attacking the Kuomintang and its anti communist policies into Taiwan. With the growth of the communist party’s power, the peasant and lower class experienced major influence that would change the course of their lives forever. Chinese peasants and the Chinese communist party between circa 1925 and circa 1950 had a relationship in which the party fostered and cared the state of the people. This created a sense of nationalism and pride for the peasants, while they were advocating social equality, and showing anti-Japanese sentiment. First of all, the Chinese communist party greatly influenced the peasant class in sparking and igniting a sense of nationalistic unity into the
In nursing school, students were introduced to the idea of cultural competence. It is a concept that I am familiar with due to my cultural background. Being respectful and aware of the beliefs and values of other traditions cannot be neglected and ignored. We are all global citizens that hold different views and perspectives, therefore leaders must equip themselves with the understanding that people expect and will act differently based on their cultural beliefs.
The impact of Lenin’s victory over a capitalist monarchy defines an important change in the way Sino-Vietnamese relations would occur, since the focus on nationalism would slowly convert to communism as the dominant ideology to resist western capitalism. The rise of the communist resistance Ho Chi Minh in the early 20th century defines the overarching influence of Chinese/Soviet communist policies, which he followed by building a military force on the northern border of China and Vietnam in the 1920s: “By late 1924, Nguyen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi Minh) was in southern China, building a new revolutionary organization meant to operate inside Indochina. These efforts culminated in 1930 with the establishment of the Vietnamese Communist Party” (Ward 45). In this historical perspective, it is imperative to understand the impact that the Soviet Union had on Chinese Communism, which had been steadily growing as a counter-ideology to the capitalist nationalism of Sun Yat-sen.
One day when the Liberation Army Dancer visited, Ji-Li told her dad that evening, “I [am] an Outstanding Student, an Excellent Young Pioneer, and even the da-dui-zhang, the student chairman of the whole school” (20). Explaining she was knowledgeable, through examples of her success, meant she knew that her political background would not get in her way of participating in the Cultural Revolution. A few years later, during the Cultural Revolution, Ji- Li was in junior high,
“The Sacred Willow” portrays four generations of a Vietnamese family that stretches from the traditional mandarin culture of northern Vietnam, the French occupation, the Vietnamese war, to life in the US. A main portion of this book is centered around the narrator Mai’s father Duong Thieu Chi and his struggle of working in the government while raising a family during the time of French Occupation. Throughout Mai’s accounts, her father’s internal conflict between good and bad as well as modern and traditional are highlighted to symbolize the 20th century Vietnamese sentiments towards their country and their call for independence. The books begins by Mai retelling her great grandfather and grandfathers’ lives which are important because it gives reasoning to explain how the French occupation drastically changed her father, Duong Thieu Chi’s life, career, and decisions.
On the other hand, it leaves a kind of profound thinking about the typical ordinary Chinese ideology and how great is the impact of such a decision on people’s
It came to dominate my understanding of the discussion on the social and historical scene and to restrict my ability to participate in that discussion.(444) If we go back and use the reference again of the electronic tool we can see the struggle of being at home and communicating with her family and having an influence of capitalistic viewpoints and living the life of a capitalist, then immediately having to communicate in a different language at school and being surrounded by socialistic views and living the life of a socialist. Her thoughts were constantly flip-flopping and this became very frustrating for her. If we bring all these struggles into one main purpose, Min-Zhan Lu’s mother falls into silence two months before her death and Min-Zhan Lu attempts to “fill up that silence with words that I have since come to by reflecting on my earlier experience as a student in China.(437) The struggles that she faced growing up in China as a student and her past experiences have really helped her overcome life obstacles and develop her as a better reader and writer.
Book Review #1: “Confucius lives Next Door” When T. R. Reid became chief of The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau, he and his family moved to Japan for an extended stay. Moving from the wide-open spaces of Coloroda to the noise, rush and crush of Tokyo. As Reid and his family were opting for total immersion in Japanese culture, they decided to live in a Tokyo neighborhood and send their children to public schools within Toyko. The book “Confucius Lives Next Door” is T.R Reid's account of their experience as an American family living in a country with the population of roughly 28,000,000 people. The book is also an analysis of East Asia's postwar economic miracle and what Reid sees as it’s even more important "social miracle," the creation of ordered, civil societies marked by "the safest streets, the strongest families, and the best schools in the world," where lost wallets are returned to their owners with cash intact, baggage can be left unattended in the busiest train station, and no one locks their cars or bicycles.
Nowadays, many of the characteristics of both the Korean and Japanese cultures are traced back to Chinese influences. China was seen as a model society by growing nations because of large size and historic success in all sectors of the country. China played a crucial role in the maturity of Japan and Korea since they were able to advance both culturally and politically. In most cases, the cultural interworking’s of the three countries are
Atwood parallels the Cultural Revolution in China to the how the Gilead government gains power and control over the United States. The Chinese communist leader, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution to assert his control over the Chinese government. Zedong ordered the nation to cleanse themselves of “impure” aspects of Chinese society. This was done by shutting down schools and a massive youth mobilization. The students formed groups called the Red Guards, they attacked and harassed members of China’s elderly and
Li was restricted to ideas and beliefs he had since growing up, he was not allowed to have an identity of his own, under the restriction of Mao’s Communist
Secondly, the Cultural Revolution and the chaos and disaster this had on the Chinese population, especially through the “Down to the Countryside movement” and finally, the Cult of Mao and what the idolisation and glorification of Mao meant for the future of China. Mao’s introduction of the Great Leap Forward policy and the impacts and effects this had on the Chinese population as well as its role in the introduction of the Cultural Revolution played a key role in shaping China into what it is today. The plan’s failure lead to Mao’s loss of power, which resulted in Mao introducing the Cultural Revolution in China. Unfortunately, Mao’s five-year plan was a disaster, and caused the death of an estimated twenty to forty
In this paper, we’ll study some of their famous pedagogy thought to explore what influences they have brought to the Chinese and westerners’ cognition and behavior and why the two civilizations developed in same period would diverge in such a degree. Furthermore, I