Reflection on the impact of the Chinese and America perceptions of self in my life.

The Chinese and America perceptions of self are 2 of the most contrasting beliefs in the current era of Chinese and American dominance - or at least it is perceived as so. The Chinese perceptions of self are mainly based on the Confucian ideology which postulates the belief in collective well over individual welfare whereas the Americans favour individual welfare over collective interest with an accentuation on individual rights.

Having been living in a cosmopolitan society of Singapore, both beliefs have had a somewhat equal impact on my life - albeit in different ways. For example, Confucianism has helped in shaping my moral beliefs. The Confucian ideology promotes the notion of obedience and respect to the elders. This idea is due to filial piety which Confucianism promotes - that the younger ones are to obey the elder's orders without defiance. My moral beliefs have also been influenced by the moral education system in the schools I have attended and my family background. I have been receiving education in 2 schools with one of them HCI, which places a huge accentuation on Confucian values such as 仁，礼. I am also born in a family where my parents inculcate into me Chinese Moral values, in which a huge part is related to Confucianism. Hence, having grown up in such an environment, it is an undoubted fact that my moral beliefs are largely influenced by the ideas which Confucian ideology emphasizes.

On the other hand, American perceptions of self are influenced western ideology of individual rights, which postulates the presence of individual interests for everyone. I believe the western ideology has also influenced my life in terms of the way Singapore is governed. In our democratic country, citizens are given equal rights to vote for their favoured leader whom they believe could lead the country to greater heights. Singapore also practices freedom of speech by granting citizens the right and providing the optimum medium to voice their opinions, such as the speaker's corner. Moreover, Hwa Chong also emphasises on freedom of speech through optimum platforms such as the principal’s dialogues in the various level assemblies, which encourages all students to provide their insights on an issue. Hence, living in such a liberal environment which encourages free speech, this has shaped my belief of handling matters at massed events where I trust that everyone has a right to voice their personal views. For example, as part of the Executive Committee in my CCA, I believe that the ExCo leading the CCA has to give every member a chance to voice out their views on how the club is run. In my CCA, every member gets to fill in a form every 6 months in which they can pen down their thoughts on the CCA. Though this is not exactly providing freedom of speech literally, it still provides the platform for members voices to be heard.

To sum it up, both Chinese and American perceptions of self have influenced my different beliefs. My contention is that we should select the pros of both perceptions while not being extremely inclined to both types of perception in order to achieve a balanced perception.

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CDE Journal Entry 1 

At the end of term 2, we were asked to make a choice of the elective we wanted to take. I chose CDE as I strongly felt that it would definitely aid in my understanding of Chinese and western cultures, which is a vital springboard to develop ourselves into billingual leaders with the ability to handle cultural situations when we work in both China and western countries in the future. Having cultural intelligence is in fact an essential tool of communication in our lives as we have to work and live with people from different cultural backgrounds. A lack in it may result in conflicts which may be our stumbling block to successful partnerships with others. Hence, i believe CDE would give me  a good start into appreciating and understanding other cultures in the modern era. 

Currently, I feel that the CDE lessons I have been attending are enjoyable. The unique part of this module is that we have to do a lot of pre-reading before the lessons, which means the lessons can only be fruitful for us if we put the effort in studying the articles and doing some pre-research on the issue. The pre-lesson articles which we have to read are informative and insightful. For the past few weeks, the class discussions have been intriguing and fruitful while aiding in my understanding of the topic and the case study analysed. 

In the first lesson, through the analysis of the "Google Way", I have fathomed how a creative and unusual way is used to manage Google by comprehending the benefits which such management styles bring, such as wide variety of innovations which may boost the company’s revenue. Another example would be Apple, where dictatorial leadership of the CEO of the company calls the shots. Both companies employed different management styles yet both are earning high revenues. This was indeed something new to me as I used to think that there is only one success formula for companies to bolster their revenues. After this lesson, I have been exposed to the different ways of company management which can yield the same results. However, I would favor the Google Way as workers are given more freedom to display their creativity and innovative abilities, rather than the rigid way of Apple. This is because I am a strong believer that creativity is an essential part for a company to boost its revenue. Moreover, Google's method is more appealing to its employees, which limits talent loss to the company's rivals.

In the second lesson, we discussed on the difficulties Lenovo faced in expanding its company to the global market. We learnt that the main reason behind Lenovo's failure is the management failing to comprehend the cross-cultural challenges it faced. This highlights the need and ability to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds. A company may have the most innovative ideas or the top-quality employees, but if it is unable to manage cross-cultural challenges (just like Lenovo), it would be confined to doing business within its country. Successfully managing such challenges and comprehending the different cultures is an integral part for a company to expand beyond its country into the global market. This case-study, at the same time, further emphasized the aim of taking CDE - to become more culturally sensitive which allows us to cope with the varying cultures, which is  an essential tool for us to communicate and interact with different people in the contemporary era. 

I must say that the course has by far, met my expectations as the difficulty level is manageable and the topics discussed are thought provoking. However, this has not fully allayed my fears that as we proceed further into the course, the topics may require a much higher order thinking to fully comprehend the topic at hand. As much as this is so, I am ready to take on the challenges posed.

Moving on to the mode of assessment, I feel that it is indeed a refreshing method to assess the students through their oral presentation skills in terms of holding a discussion on a topic with others. Most lessons prefer the use of writing as the primary mode of assessment for the students, thus encouraging rote memorisation of facts within the students. However, in CDE, through the use of oral presentation as an assessment method, it encourages students to think through the different perspectives of the issue and be exposed to the differing viewpoints from their peers. Essentially, this also trains students’ verbal communication skills, which is a vital tool of communication when students enter the workforce.  

To sum it up, I feel that taking CDE is one of the choices I would not regret as it prepares me sufficiently for live whether in terms of cultural knowledge or oral presentation skills.