For me, the Chinese values are more dominant in the society I grew up in as I was born in Malaysia. Since the moment I was born, my parents would teach me to respect omy elders, treat others kindly, be generous, thrifty, and follow many other Confucian values. They may not have noticed that these were all Confucian values as most Chinese families in Malaysia teach these same values to their children. Confucian teaching has been applied to children to ingrain the roots of these values deep inside them so that they would, as the parents feel, be a person who is valuable to the society. Various practices such as reunion dinner during CNY was common among Chinese, even though one might have to endure more than 20 hours of travelling time in the car. In Chinese primary schools, students read passages of Di Zi Gui twice a week before the lesson time. This is to further enforce the Confucian values in the student's mind so that they will follow the Confucian values.
The result of Confucian teachings from young has its effects: and it is rather clearly reflected in the students of Malaysia. Most students show great respect for their teachers, and do not doubt what their teachers tell them. This may stifle their critical thinking skills, which were already neglected in the education syllabus of Malaysia. I personally feel that Singapore provides a better environment for studying as topics are more open for discussion and students are often asked to provide their views on the topic. This allows us the freedom of speech as we can express our views and it will not be shut down immediately without consideration.
American views their rights as first priority, and will react strongly if they feel their rights have been violated. These rights include freedom of speech, action, thinking and others. Other than that, the public should have the right to choose their leaders. America is one of the countries that hold great authority and has greatly influenced the world. Instances of American culture in our lives are found aplenty, such as democracy, social networks and forums. All of these systems show clearly that the American's perception of freedom has influenced us, and this is proved by the craze over social networks because teenagers are able to express themselves freely through status updates, sharing of photos and others, which provides us the freedom of expression.
American views their rights as first priority, and will react strongly if they feel their rights have been violated. These rights include freedom of speech, action, thinking and others. Other than that, the public should have the right to choose their leaders. America is one of the countries that hold great authority and has greatly influenced the world. Instances of American culture in our lives are found aplenty, such as democracy, social networks and forums. All of these systems show clearly that the American's perception of freedom has influenced us, and this is proved by the craze over social networks because teenagers are able to express themselves freely through status updates, sharing of photos and others, which provides us the freedom of expression.
Both American and Chinese values have great impacts on our lives. For most Chinese people, the traditional Confucian values are deeply rooted in the Chinese culture itself, while the American values has shaped and changed the society physically through its beliefs, introducing systems that offer equal rights to all. In conclusion, I feel that the Chinese values have a greater cultural impact on my life as I am a Chinese and that the American values have greater impact on our daily life experiences. Both values have very great impacts on my daily life and I believe that it will continue to influence people for the generations to come.
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Hi Guan Hong,
ReplyDeleteI am quite impressed with the way you linked the Chinese perception of self to your background and identity, and substantiated your point with pertinent examples, including Reunion dinner and the implementation of Di Zi Gui in the curricula of Chinese schools in Malaysia. I also liked the fact that you managed to arrive at a balanced conclusion by stating that both Chinese and American perceptions of self have a degree of impact on your life, which is true.
However, one thing I am surprised about is your word count. Given that the maximum number of words in a journal entry is 800, you should at least write 700 words so as to provide more concrete and specific examples instead of generic ones to substantiate your points (mainly about yourself) and address the disadvantages of the American perception of self. The number of words does have an impact on how in-depth you can go into the impact of perceptions of self on your life, especially the American one which you did not elaborate on and could have done so (social networks is something which you could have expounded on). You should have also related this to your life instead of the general population.
In conclusion, you have done a good job this time round by comparing the education systems of Malaysia and Singapore so as to bring up the disadvantages of conformity which I believe is quite an unique perspective. Another thing is that you were able to string relevant examples together in the same paragraph to further illustrate the impact of the Chinese perception of self in your life. Last but not least, you were able to arrive at a balanced conclusion and state the coalesce of both perceptions of self will continue to influence people for generations to come, and that is commendable and a food for thought too.
Regards,
Dewei