I believe that history will always cast a shadow to the present. America and China are very rich in history which I believe have strong association to America’s and China’s perception of self, also, these perceptions have shaped the societies over the decades which affects me in my life.
A period in China history, ‘Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Era’, many philosophers and idealist sprung out to offer more ideologies, some of them include Confucius, Lao Tzu etc… China’s infamous Emperor Qin, who unified the diversified parts as one, however, he killed such philosophers and idealists and burned the analects. This was because he wanted to control the people’s thoughts and mindset, not allowing any other ideologies to go against him. Therefore, as people fear for their lives, they all obey quietly and follow commands, daring not to question the system and ideas. We can observe that the conforming oppression was present a very long time ago.
I feel that this way of treatment in the olden days have had its effect in the society of China today. Also, since most of our ancestors originate from mainland china, meaning that these ideas are passed down from them to us, this generation. We as Chinese are also affected by such stiff and obeying mindset originated from China. ‘Stiff’ refers to inflexibility and not to think differently and question existing rules and systems critically. An example is school, where students conform to school rules very strictly. Such as attire, all badges must be present, school pin on left collar, socks above ankle, hair not touching eyebrows. How many students would go against this regulation and argue with the disciplinary masters that it is their rights to wear whatever they wanted? Realistically no one would. This is because we as Chinese who hear by rules are afraid to question the system and declare our rights as a form of support because we are afraid to get into hot soup and actions like this would only spell trouble for us. Another example would be stringent law in Singapore, which includes banning of chewing bubble gum. This law may seem ridiculous to most, but why haven’t anyone successfully challenged it yet? There must have been feedbacks but there was neither effect nor change, meaning to say that people had just accepted it or merely withdraw their argument due to the punishment that awaits them. We could have argued that it is our rights to chew whatever we what and that the system in a way has violated our rights. I feel that the constriction Emperor Qin gives portrays an image that power and authority is not to be questioned and drastic punishment will be given, is passed down from generations to generations. Therefore, I think that China’s conscious of self has apparent effects on the students, society and law around us.
America broke free of British colonization and achieved independence by the American Revolution in the 1970s. The Declaration of Independence of 1776 was introduced, claiming that people have inalienable rights. America did have rights to resist Great Britain. America’s belief on freedom, rights and liberty has certain relevance to the Enlightenment belief that reason should guide all human affairs. I feel that as every indivisual reason differently, it should be an indivisual’s reason that guides his or her acts and not the government’s, kings’, emperor’s reason that guides the people action. Therefore America has developed strong perception in liberty and rights.
The American conscious of self, freedom and indivisual rights, has also have its effect on our lives. I would say that the influence of such American conscious of self is spread through American media, pop culture and law. For media, Facebook became a medium where we get to update our status and post what we like, what we feel without any constrains or rules. With Facebook’s growing popularity, most Singaporeans would have an account and through it, obtain freedom of speech, where there is no rules and regulations, a huge relief more individuals dying to voice their opinions without having to get into trouble. America’s pop culture has been rather well-received and the song choices and lyrics tell us a lot of the beliefs of the society. Songs such as ‘Its my life’ by Bon Jovi clearly shows the freedom and rights we all should have, after all, it is my life! As we listen to such music, we would understand more and start to have our own opinion instead of what others tell us to do, like law and rules. Lastly for law, an example would be an indivisual’s rights to carry arms and guns. The rationale is the indivisual rights and liberty to be prepared to defend oneself. In Countries like Singapore, having such weapons would mean jail, fine and arrest.
With such examples and evidences, these clearly show the apparent contrast in the beliefs of both sides and how it has affected us, shaping our mindset, making who we are today. The background that we originate from would probably define what mindset we possess and what is right to us may not be right to them in their society, just like how the Chinese and Americans and deferent perceptions of self. However, through factors like media, pop culture, we are partially influenced by the other perception of self and I can say that Singapore have achieved a good mix that bring an appropriate compromise between the two styles.
(910 Words, Sorry for the exceed)
