Of course, I already had some background knowledge on the Confucian ideology. However, my knowledge was only limited to the fact that it emphasizes respect. I do not think that is a lot, unfortunately. However, by the end of the lessons (even though I missed one due to Council Investiture), I managed to understand quite comprehensively the basic idea of the Confucian ideology.
This ideology didn't really appeal to me initially. This is because I didn't like the stifling atmosphere it created. I will not be allowed to question my elders, no matter how valid my point is. At that point of time, I sincerely preferred the free Western ideology.
Thus, I found that I was quite comfortable preparing for my term presentation the next week, about the Western consciousness of self. However, many problems faced me. Unfortunately, I was not very well informed about the American War of Independence, French Revolution and other events that shaped the ideology of liberty and equality. Thus, a lot of time was put into research. I found it quite tiring, but in the end I feel that my presentation was not that bad.
I like the Western ideology of freedom. This is because it allows me to express my opinions properly and allow my thoughts to be heard. I feel that this can help to benefit the community because all sides of the issue will be heard and understood. In most ways, freedom of speech can improve a society greatly.
However, after a few sessions of class discussions, I finally realised how hard it is to actually implement the full Western ideology in Singapore.
As of now, Hwa Chong is probably giving us students a lot of autonomy. This can be seen from the fact that many leadership opportunities are given to us students, and that we are also allowed to choose the course we would like to take. However, in some ways Hwa Chong restricts us as well! The existence of the Q classes serve to demonstrate that.
What would be of Hwa Chong then, if the school decides to give full autonomy of students? I foresee that many people would be coming to school late, and no one would actually take studying seriously. The Asian culture is vastly different from the Western culture, and one does not benefit from trying to mix the two together.
On the other hand, it is very possible that the restrains that we have are so ingrained into our minds that life would be no different even after an implementation of a fully autonomic system. "Self-discipline", this might be called.
Thus, this leads me to wonder, are we actually restrained by ourselves? Perhaps it is not the government who prevents the implementation of a fully autonomic system in Singapore, but the people of Singapore ourselves who prevents that.
After the two weeks of lessons, I am glad to say that I have changed my views about both Western and Easter culture, and that both have their advantages and disadvantages.
On a sidenote, I was absolutely horrified upon receiving my first reflective journal grades, which is why I am taking extra effort in making sure I complete my second reflective journal and term paper properly. I hope I put in enough effort...
Hi Akira,
ReplyDeleteI like how you organize your blog post. It is very structured and coherent. Your points are concise and clear as well. However, it gets quite descriptive at some parts.
I think content-wise you did give how it impacted you but there are some points I do not agree with you. Firstly, I do not understand what you mean by “The existence of the Q classes serve to demonstrate that (HC restricts us).” I do not see how the existence of Q classes is actually restricting us. The existence of such a class is to have a safety net for all those that are less academically inclined to fall back on. If they are to take the Integrated Programme (IP) and end up failing ‘A’ levels they would only have their Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) certificate to fall on. I find that this is not really a restriction.
I think that you should elaborate and explain more about the examples that you give as it is quite confusing. (e.g. How does Western Ideologies allow you to express your opinion freely?, How does freedom of speech improve society greatly, etc).
Moreover, I do agree with you that there are great differences between the Chinese and American perception of self and society. But, I do not agree with you on the point that Singaporeans are restraining us from a fully autonomic system. The government does implement compulsory Primary School education to all Singaporeans. Furthermore, it is not the self that restrains one but the society. It is the societal norm to go to Secondary School and thus most Singaporeans just do so. It is not the societal norm to have home schooling, so practically no one does it. I think this is a result of sheep thinking whereby people just follow one another’s view and dare not be different. As the saying goes, it is safer to follow the herd.
Cheers,
Leonard
Hi Akira,
ReplyDeleteStructure-wise, I like the way your reflective journal is effectively paragraphed and straight to the point most of the time as it makes both reading and comprehending a lot easier.
Content-wise, I feel that there should be more discussion on the assigned topic, which is how the 2 ideologies impacted your life, even though your journal is very holistic and discusses several issues. I agree with your points on the disastrous effects of Hwa Chong giving the students full autonomy. In fact, giving Hwa Chong students more autonomy is already bad enough. Assuming that Dr Hon decides to give us freedom in arranging the timeslots of our timetable with a supervising teacher instead of a subject teacher in class and also the need to complete the courses for at least 4 subjects in a year, most of the Hwa Chong students I know will either fill up the timetable with their favourite subjects or rush through the courses near the end of the year. Most of the slots in my timetable will be filled up with Chemistry and Biology and SES and English will take up the remaining slots but I am not so dumb to start work at the 11th hour. This will result in students having a weaker foundation in the ignored subjects and in the future, we may have problems doing interdisciplinary studies that is a very important form of research since it link different disciplines together to improve lives and make the world a better place, or possibly the opposite since the outcomes of researches are unpredictable. In that case, how can the aim of developing leaders be achieved? Hence, I feel that the current level of autonomy is enough. As the saying goes, too much of anything can make you sick. As for the point on Singaporeans being restrained by themselves in terms of autonomy, I feel that this point is too vague as it can mean that the actions of Singaporeans result in the government not giving us more autonomy or that Singaporeans do not realise the autonomy we were actually given and I will assume that you mean the latter. Personally, I feel that Singaporeans were blinded by societal norms that they do not realise the autonomy they were given. For example, if you do go on Newspaper forums or Stomp often, you would have realised that Singaporeans complain about our government a lot. However, there are no or few protests on the issues presented in such media. This is probably because of the strict laws Singapore have on protests. However, this does not mean that protests are prohibited. The Speaker's corner in Hong Lim Park is where protests can be held but why are they so rare even when Singaporeans seem so discontented with the government? This is probably because of a pretty common societal perception that the government is the highest authority we depend on and hence we should listen to them, something my family, neighbours and even friends agree with which I think is utterly stupid. It is true that we rely on them a lot but that does not mean that we should listen to them all the time, they too should listen to our opinions which is why a little opposition in the government is good since they often present a complete opposite perception of certain issues which may complement the public's opinion.
Anyway, a holistic and organised but reflective journal but please try to stick to the topic.
Regards,
Gareth
Hi Akira,
ReplyDeleteFirstly,you said that the presence of the Q classes are restricting the Hwa Chong pupils. I do not agree with you on this matter. I believe that the Q classes are just classes that are more structured and allow the academically weaker students to be under watchful eyes to make sure they are on task. I do not think that the presence of the Q classes affect the other students.
I agree with you that the people must definitely have self discipline before full autonomy is given. I believe that we as students are not very matured yet, hence I believe that we do not have enough self discipline to get full autonomy. I believe that the school would not be like a school but rather a resort if full autonomy would be given to the pupils.
I actually agree with you that full autonomy is not given to the people of Singapore is partly the fault of the Singaporeans. Some Singaporeans have proved that they have no self discipline, as seen from the crimes that happen in Singapore. Hence, I believe if the government were to give full autonomy to Singaporeans, the country would definitely go haywire and the economy will take a deep plunge. Hence, I believe this is where the government steps in and hands a bit of autonomy to the people but still have a strict hierarchy system to maintain order.
Additionally, I think you could have explained more about how the different ideologies impacted your life.
Regards,
Jiunwei