Next, is the Western perception of self. It is about the need to attain one's individual rights and liberties. The right to speak, the right to protect self, the right to their property are examples of individual rights.
Also, we learnt about the dichotomy between China and America. Some see America is individualistic, where higher value is placed on personal freedom and liberties. I feel that the Chinese government adopted the Confucian ideology so as to have better control its people, with harmony and respect. This can be seen in corporate culture, where Chinese employees follow orders without asking and are not encouraged to voice out their own opinion to their employers, while in America, employees are encouraged to voice their own opinion or ideas to increase innovation.
Last but no least, we discussed the synthesis of Western and Confucian ideologies in today’s society, of different countries such as Taiwan and Singapore. Singapore is a great example of a Confucian society that adopted Western ideologies. An example inclides in school, where students have to obey their teachers without question, such as handing in of work on time. This shows the Chinese perception of self where students are supposed to respect someone who is older than you. However, students also have personal rights, such as the right to talk. This shows the Western perception of self.
After all, I truly enjoyed myself during the lesson :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Marcus,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I feel that your blog entry is too short. There are quite a few things that you can improve:
1) You can elaborate on how the Western perception of self come about.
2) You can elaborate more on how the Chinese and Western perceptions of self affects your life, as yours is too brief.
3) Do you think the dichotomy between China and America is a myth
or reality?
All in all, I feel that you did not really understand the lesson as your blog post is too brief and simple, or maybe, you should just put in more effort to improve your blog post.
Dear Marcus,
ReplyDeleteAs I had not participated in the CDE module last year, I felt that your post was informative and serves as a good reflection of 2012 CDE. However, I beg to differ on some of your points.
First of all, although it can be argued that the individualist American culture encourages innovation on the part of employees, it might also encourage a culture of vicious competition and office politics, as well as spur the prevalence of office politics.
Also, Confucian culture is not just 'respect someone older than you' as you say, but instead 'respect someone more learned than you', which could be seen in the Chinese proverb 贤者为师, meaning "the more learned is the teacher", instead of authority being based purely on age. Chinese society is also becoming more open and liberal, with students increasingly starting to challenge the words of their teachers.
It would be more balanced overall f you could mention those points in your points as well.
Lu Wen Hao
4B213
Hi Marcus,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your journal entry. However, I would like to address some parts that can be further improved.
1) You wrote in the entry that men and women have “almost equal job opportunities” and that is a “major improvement” from last time. While I agree that there is major improvement, I do not agree that men and women have “almost equal job opportunities”. Your point is contradictory for you proceed to say that “very little women have entered the government or positions of high power in the country” and many women resort to lying about their marital status to safeguard their employment and promotional opportunities. These are significant indicators that there still exists a great disparity in job opportunities between men and women. The lack of women in governmental proceedings further impedes the progress of gender equality because they have less influence in political decisions.
2) You cited the example of “women make(ing) the foundation of production-line workers in China’s private, export oriented factories” to justify the “major improvement” towards “equal job opportunities”. I think such is inappropriate does not justify your point because the very fact that women dominate “low-end” manufacturing jobs like the abovementioned show that many are still discriminated against and denied employment opportunities for better jobs, and thus have to resort to being low-end manufacturing workers to make a living. Also, the repetitive nature of their jobs do not require much engagement of their intellect or knowledge, suggesting that women are still denied education opportunities and are therefore deprived of choices, and can only work as low-end manufacturing workers, which may be attributed parents’ reluctance to provide their daughters education because they did not see it as a worthy investment, since women were traditionally viewed as possessions of their husbands after marriage.
Signing off,
Jiawang.