Reflections -- Women in the World (T3W4)

The past few lessons saw us looking at the stature of women in China and America. Expressed below are some takeaways and views I hold regarding the issue of the position of women in modern society.

From the readings provided, we saw how women can most definitely be on par with men in the economic sphere. Some women are rich and powerful enough to be speaking with CEOs from other companies as CEOs themselves. Given that women and men both receive the same education, it is a logical deduction that they should, in theory, get the same positions as any man to whom they are academically equal. After all, women can be doctors, or politicians, or writers, or researchers, just as men can be.

Yet, reality for most other women is harsh. From other readings, we see how society, especially in China's rural areas, makes it such that women cannot claim to be equal to men. This is because the men work, as they should, but the women are expected to adhere to tradition and remain at home. If they do go out to work, it is to "distant factories and cities, where they often work as poorly paid waitresses or nannies" (Hornby, 2010). And as China's rural population is still very large, it would be so that for the majority of women, they are not equal to men in that economic sphere that was mentioned.In China as well, there are accounts of women lying about their marital status to secure jobs - it seems that employers do not hire married women for fear of them needing to take more leave for family affairs. This phenomenon is also observed in America, where employees who get pregnant can face a dismissal. Evidently, due to women's traditional role as the domestic parent (in contrast with men, who work outside), certain prejudices still exist, disallowing women to rise to complete equality with men from a societal standpoint. Yet, this seems to be the case more in China than in America. I attribute this to feminist movements in America, which have not been seen in China yet.

Susan B. Anthony (supposedly) once famously refused to pay a hundred-dollar fine for going down to the voting station, and was acquitted of all charges upon this action in court. The woman suffrage movement in America saw women gain more power and political equality to men, and I believe that is one of the reasons why America now sees women in high positions of power - Hillary Clinton even managed to run for President, and though she did not get voted in, this is a far cry from how women could not even vote a long time ago. Regardless of the opinion that Clinton failed in her campaign due to her career largely riding on her husband's name, her running for the post is already impressive. As the former Secretary of State, she was akin to a Minister for Foreign Affairs, an important role, considering America's interest in the world as the global policeman. Whereas in China, women seem to take a backseat role when it comes to governance. "All nine members of the Party's top ruling body, the Politburo Standing Committee...are men", and it is with this Committee "where the real power lies" (Hornby, 2010). In fact, the only politically prominent woman in China would be, in my opinion, the First Lady, but again, I doubt her prominence had she not been the wife of the top man in China. It seems to me that her ability to foster ties with Africa comes direct from her husband's ability to bring her there and not her own achievements as any major political figure. And I firmly believe this is because there has yet to be a woman's revolution in China for true equality - but who knows, in China where no voting is allowed anyway, perhaps even a revolution of men will result in women joining the push. Yet, considering how young Chinese are given to political apathy, perhaps there will be no such revolution. Perhaps the urban women feel they are already equal to men (women even reject suitors if they have no house), and rural women are too busy making ends meet to care about equality.

References:

1. Bakst, D. Pregnant, and Pushed Out of a Job (2012, January 30). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/opinion/pregnant-and-pushed-out-of-a-job.html on 2014, July 27
2. Dowd, M. A Flawed Feminist Test (2008, February 13). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/opinion/13dowd.html?_r=0 on 2014, July 27
3. Hornby, L. China's women struggle for a foothold in power (2010, March 7). Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/03/08/us-china-parliament-women-idUSTRE6270FZ20100308 on 2014, July 27

Nothing to do

What a record! No CDE for 13 days!

Since we are supposed to be learning about Chinese and American cultures, I will now type 3 Chinese poems from memory. Believe me when I say I memorised them if you want.

赠花卿
杜甫〈唐〉

锦城丝管日纷纷
半入江风半入云
此曲只应天上有
人间能得几回闻

For the benefit of English readers, this poem is a satire hidden beneath a façade of praise at the beauty of some music. 花卿 refers to a certain official Hua (花), from whose house beautiful music "fit only for the heavens" emanates. It would be no more than a poem praising the music's beauty if not for the last sentence, which reads "how often can the commoners hear such music?" I think of the biblical quote "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God" when I read this, partially because of the presence of "heaven" in the Chinese text, and partially for no good reason at all.

春题湖上
白居易〈唐〉

湖上春来入画图
乱峰围绕水平铺
松排山面千重翠
月点波心一颗珠

碧毯线头抽早稻
青罗裙带展新蒲
未能抛得杭州去
一半勾留是此湖

(I didn't memorise the 6th line...
But the version I have been memorising differs from online versions...
青罗裙带展新蒲 is 青图裙带展新蒲 on my folding fan. Hmm.)

This is a poem praising the breathtaking beauty of Xihu (West Lake, 西湖) in Hangzhou. I received a folding fan from my friend who travelled there, and on that fan was this poem, thus I took to memorising it. Will I ever go there someday?

水调歌头
苏轼〈宋〉

丙辰中秋，欢饮达旦，大醉，作此篇，兼怀子由。

明月几时有？
把酒问青天
不知天上宫阙
今夕是何年？

我欲乘风归去
又恐琼楼玉宇
高处不胜寒
起舞弄清影
何似在人间？

转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠
不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？
人有悲欢离合
月有阴晴圆缺
此事古难全

但愿人长久
千里共婵娟

(Again, I couldn't remember some of the words. I almost know the song version by heart, but when it comes to writing it, ehh.)

I simply love this poem because I learnt it when I was very young. It has stuck with me ever since then, and as my Chinese slowly improved, I came to know more of the meaning, and enjoyed it even more. The last lines especially: "May it be that we can enjoy the same full moon (on the Mid-Autumn Festival), even if we are a thousand li apart." To my cousins in America, when will I see you again?

I wonder if knowledge of long, ancient poetry is helpful in impressing persons of the opposite gend--ah, let's not worry about such things now. I have CDE work to do.

Thank you for reading!

Im tésavbia fléidunol,
Blade Chong

Reflections -- The American Way (T3W1)

First post in over a year!
Unorganised thoughts and scattered rants below --

In this week's lesson we learnt about how Americans think. There were 15 American notions in total:-

Individualism, Efficiency, Work for Work's Sake, Progress, Material Comfort,
Science and Technology, Achievement and Success, Humanitarianism, Freedom, Democracy,
Equality, Racism and Group Superiority, Education, Religiosity, and Romantic Love.

The list is not particularly important for this post, as I will only be reflecting on a few that struck me.

So let's begin.

I have always held that humans across the globe prize certain values and detest certain flaws in others. No matter where you are on the planet, you are not going to enjoy the company of an arrogant person, but will welcome the assistance of a kind person. As such, some of the values prized by Americans are not such a huge surprise to me, because they seem to be only human: Efficiency, for example, would be prized by any culture in the world - who wouldn't want their staff to be able to do things quickly and well? And which culture has never valued Progress? To be constantly a notch higher than your rivals is a vital method to survive. Continual improvement means better quality of life, safer societies, and a sense of achievement. To yearn for Efficiency and Progress, among others, is only human.

Then there is the clash of Racism and Group Superiority with Equality. Americans believe that all men are created equal. Yet, a social experiment showed some very different results: a white man was seen sawing away at the lock chain of a bicycle in a park in broad daylight, but few passers-by raised any objections and left the man to his own devices. When the white man was swapped with a black man, though, a throng of people soon surrounded the black man, shouting, questioning, calling the police. The perception that African-Americans are just thieves and crooks and up to no good is evidently still present in America. And why wouldn't it be? - white peoples' net worth is many times more than that of black peoples'. Black people tend to find it harder to make ends meet, and perhaps fail to obtain as good an education as whites, and have to resort to crime to support themselves. This produces the image that the blacks are just crooks, and locking offenders up does nothing to solve the problem of black's relative poverty. Evidently, not all groups are equal from an economic standpoint. Still, there is a redeeming factor, which is that blacks and whites are equal before the law. Perhaps, with effort and dedication, the notion of Group Superiority will be dispelled as people become more equal and society more democratic. Or perhaps it will not, for humans sub-consciously create the "Other", and those who are seen to be racially or ethnically different are viewed with more apathy. I would think that Racism and Group Superiority is human, while Democracy and Equality are ideals created by enlightened people. As not everyone is enlightened, it is likely that Racism is here to stay. It might take an alien invasion to change that perception.

And finally there is Achievement and Success. I am sure everyone aspires to these. I am not surprised that Americans should value these. But from my aunt who lives in America, the public school her children goes to does not avidly encourage them to score well. It does not motivate my cousins to aim higher. Being "smart" is good enough, you don't need to be "smarter". My aunt frets that the school environment encourages her children to slack off, and achieve less than they actually can. I find it quite likely that this is only an exception to the rule. But I was somewhat upset when I saw this value during the lesson, as I think all humans want to succeed, but perhaps the reason why my cousins are being told to be sub-standard is because the teachers are white and they are Asian. It could be just a matter of racism. Without focus on Achievement and Success, how else would Harvard be such a prestigious university?

I find it interesting how Humanitarianism, Achievement and Success, Equality, and Progress are sometimes hindered by racism. Still, as mentioned, it is hard to expect unenlightened people to stray from human instincts and appreciate the ideals. Nevertheless, societal notions need to change. I hope that sometime in my life, we can wipe Racism and Group Superiority from the list.

On Confucianism -- What does Confucianism mean to you? How far has it influenced your life? 

Ignoring all this argument about its effectiveness in modern politics, Confucianism provides a comprehensive value system that is the cornerstone of human interaction. Confucian ideals include filial piety, loyalty (to the monarch), gratitude, honesty, bravery, and a multitude of others that need not be named; they should be known by heart to all if not most Asians, in fact, to all the world. Therefore, I tfeel that Confucianism is a good thing.  

Confucianism has been the target of criticism in recent years, most prominently in the Mao era, and even then ever since Confucianism made its debut two thousand years ago it has been criticized by its rival schools of thought. During the Late Qing Dynasty, revolutionary writer Lu Xun “criticized Confucianism heavily for shaping Chinese people into the condition they had reached by the late Qing Dynasty”. In Korea, “[m]any Koreans believe Confucianism has not contributed to the modernization of Korea”. Writer Kim-kyong-li “said that (Confucian) filial relationships are one-side and blind. He writes that if these circumstances continue, social problems will continue to be caused by society and the government forcing Confucian filial obligations onto families.”

There are certainly flaws in Confucian ideology, as there will be in any school of thought or any method of governance, but in the modern world, some of these criticisms do not apply, or are simply stupid. Take for example the Korean writer’s statements. “Forcing Confucian obligations onto families”? This is nonsense. Is he trying to say that filial piety is not necessary? Imagine a world without filial piety, or a world where unfilial actions are tolerated. Adult offspring would simply lord it over their ailing, fragile, aged parents. If everyone did that, think how cold and emotionless human society would be! Only the most heartless can watch as their greatest benefactors – those who fed them, clothed them, taught them, accompanied them, loved them – suffer under their foot. Is it humane to let others suffer so? Is it tolerable? If humans can condemn the most tyrannical, draconian emperors, how would they ever tolerate an unfilial child? There is not a single religion in the world that teaches humans to disregard their parents or to not show filial piety. Laws have been enacted to preserve filial piety. Are we to lower ourselves to the level of animals to achieve progress, Mr Kim? In fact how would there be progress if the young do not bother to learn from the old? Experience and insight are great teachers, but if we decide to shy from them and dismiss them, who loses out? Experience and insight or us?

Confucianism promotes harmony in society, and harmony is the way forward. It is after harmony that progress can follow. After every revolution, a country flourishes. After every war, the countries grow again. Such is the cycle of countries. But during the revolution is there any progress at all? During the Eight Armies’ Invasion of China, did the Middle Kingdom’s economy grow or shrink? Did new inventions appear even once? No! There can be no progress in a disharmonious society. Even in China’s imperial history, there has always been great stability and wealth following every successful revolution against a corrupt regime, simply because there has been harmony. For that matter, even the value of respecting the monarch is fair – if you do not respect the “monarch” you voted for, why vote him in? And if it was a close fight as in the case of Mr. Tony Tan Keng Yam and Mr. Tan Cheng Bock, I think it would be safe to trust the other half of the population in their decision; they can’t be that stupid. Confucius told us that “a father should act like a father, a son should act like a son”. While this does promote hierarchy as some will choose to see it, it really is meant to promote harmony and stability in a society.

To be picky, Confucianism plays a huge part in my life. As discussed, its value system is very comprehensive, and it covers most of all the values that I try to show in my daily life – filial piety, courage, loyalty, and so on. All schools of values and morals, not just Confucianism, teach us the same things, which we then apply (or not) to our everyday lives. And as we exercise these values every day, we are, in effect, applying Confucianism everywhere. Listening in class – respecting the teachers; calling our parents upon return home – filial piety; helping a person up – care for others; exercising restraint – not doing unto others what you would not others do to you. In so many ways, we are already practising Confucianism. Hence, I would say that it has largely impacted my life, the way I live, even if I don’t purposely study it.

(798 words)

CDE -- Opinion

Cultures differ from country to country, and even in geographically close regions, cultures can be very different. So the understanding of the fundamentals of as many cultures as possible, broadly split in this class into the Western and the Eastern cultures, is necessary to achieve multinational success, or at least to not offend the next foreign guest to come along, such as immersion programme students to my school. I think this class has the potential to give us that understanding, though there will not be much real interaction with the culture of the East, as it were -- Singapore is far too diluted in terms of culture, and anyway our own culture is popping up: tissue paper as "RESERVED" signs, sitting on reserved seats in public transport, complaining about others giving up their seats unwilling in public transport, and the list goes on in this land of complain-kings and queens, myself included.

The sweeping division of cultures into that of the West and that of the East is already quite inaccurate -- the West or East, strictly speaking has many different cultures inherent in them, since "West" could mean America, Canada, West Europe; while "East could refer to Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Japan...

The West therefore refers to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and EUROZONE COUNTRIES; The East refers to CHINA.

And isn't it strange that we are only learning the cultures of these economic giants? The point of this class can therefore be seen as a means of preparing us for the projected market of the future, in which we can use our cultural knowledge to please our foreign clients and others. But does it not seem to sideline other cultures of this diverse world that we would do well to know?

For example, we are completely missing out on cultures closer to Singapore: Thai culture, Malaysian culture, Indonesian culture, Indian culture, so on and so forth. Why? Is it that they are not worth investing in in future? No, Thailand is a great place to look to for business, with its low labour rates. Is it that they have less history than the 400 years of USA, the 2500 years of Europe, or the 4000 years of China? Perhaps yes to China and Europe, but India has a rich history too, what with the old feudal lords, and Buddhism, and Mahatma Gandhi with his famous pacifist fight for independence. Is it because of their political power and military might that we should learn to placate them? If so, India, Russia, the Middle East, North Korea, and more and more countries now have WMDs, so why not learn about them? And isn't the neighbourhood an easier place to invest in?

Perhaps it is because of time constraints, that we are obliged to learn about the world powers only; perhaps it is due to the influence they exert, that we learn to follow their cultures of millenia ago; perhaps it is for our roots that we should learn the insular Eastern culture of order and diligence, and for our knowledge that we should learn the dominant Western culture of enterprise and freedom. Whatever the case is, these cultures are important. But so are the cultures of the rest of the world, and I can only hope to learn more about them in future.

Hello World

Perhaps a little greeting would do for the starting of any blog.

I am Chong Han, and this blog is specially dedicated to my class, Cultural Differentiation Elective. Here I will post journals about my travails through the cultures of the world as I explore them thoroughly. I only hope to survive, but I'm certain that at the end of the dark tunnel, after groping my way through and stumbling into pits and walls, I'll find it worthwhile...I hope.

Chong Han
3B1 03 2013