The Elusive Goal of Nation Building: Asian/Confucian Values and Citizenship Education in Singapore During The 1980s

Tradition meets pluralism: the receding Confucian values in the Taiwanese citizenship curriculum

“…Marshall (1950, p. 27) where the focus is on the public domain and the entitlement to civil, political and social rights. It can be observed that while Western CE tends to pay attention to involvement in community activities and public affairs and supports democratic principles, CE across East Asia tends to look inwards towards the fostering of prescribed individual and family values (Chia, 2011;Cummings, Gopinathan, & Tomoda, 1988;Print, 2000). Based on this logic stemming from the Confucian vision of education, a thorough reflection on the self is essential before the discussion on the citizen's position in society and the world can start.…”

“…Some of the New Confucians further attend to the politico-economic dimension of the Confucian societies and attribute the successful economic development of Japan and "four Asian tigers" to the effectiveness of authoritarian governance, and the Confucian work ethic, thereafter leading to the proposition that Western liberal democracy is not applicable to Asia (Chia, 2011). This proposed positive link between Confucianism, economic growth, and political stability still failed to lure the committee into believing that collective or national goals justified sacrificing freedom and the autonomy of the 10 C.-Y.…”

New Approaches to Countering Terrorism

“…In 1990, the Moral Educational Programme was also scrapped and the Shared Values Programme (SVP) was put in its place (ShanLoong, 1999. Also see Chia, 2011;Nichol and Sim, 2007).…”

“…But the Singaporean state has come to rely almost completely and solely on the Muslim community to counter radical ideology and activism. But the Chinese majority, accustomed to a strong state that mandates and manages everything from the top, has become 'passive', continuing to rely on the state for protection, and have thus failed to engage sufficiently and properly with the Muslim community (Cahyadi et al, 2004;Chin and Vasu, 2007;Shan-Loong, 1999;Nichol and Sim, 2007;Chia, 2011). While the Singaporean state indeed presented the VEt threat as a national problem, the Muslim community was left to manage all aspects of Counter-de-Rad policies and efforts.…”

Some Unresolved Ethical Challenges in Healthcare Decision-Making: Navigating Family Involvement

“…The population in Singapore and its South East Asian neighbours is culturally diverse, with a mixture of eastern and southern Asian, as well as western cultural influences, and therefore varying attitudes about who should make treatment decisions (Tao 2000). Nevertheless, the ethnic majority in Singapore are of Chinese descent, and the strong influence of Confucian principles has meant that family involvement in treatment decision-making is rather pervasive, although the extent, type and whether the involvement is supportive of the patient having a say vary (Chia 2011;Koon and Krishna 2014). Despite the Confucian influences in Singapore, competent patients have the legal right to make their own treatment decisions, and the professional codes for doctors reflect the same right (Re LP 2006;Singapore Medical Council 2016a).…”