Of writing

Writing is becoming part of my job, and rightly as a PhD student. And recently, I am writing about culture, of US and China. However, it became difficult for me to find representative materials on China, and English sources often see China relatively to democracy - their ideal in US or Europe.

So I turn my readings to Frederick Mote, Lee Kuan Yew, and Fei Xiaotong for inspiration.

After reading their perspective of Chinese societies, in some aspects Asian, I am more than convinced that Chinese, or even Asia, required some sort of justice in terms of how their societies should be viewed upon. Mainly to say, Chinese culture is not yet ready to face with full blown free market economy. People make use of every opportunities to make money, even at the expense of others. Law, often harsh ones, are often necessary to keep people in line. However, we saw less of these problems in Europe and US. People monitor their own actions, or others will monitor them.

We have to be aware, as Lee Kuan Yew often say, Europeans have 400 years to develop to the point that they are ready to adopt real great personal autonomy. On the other hand, even the most advanced Chinese societies - Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, were barely more than half a century old since their people were educated.

Culture, on the other hand, takes even more time to crystallize. When I refer to culture, i refer to social protocols that enable people to work well with one another, they when you contacted a stranger to collaborate, there will be enough trust to begin with. This is very important for knowledge economy, where collaboration between strangers often reap the greatest benefits.

However, even for Singapore, I am not sure if we are culturally equip to compete in these arenas. When i search online for names, say in a government institution, more than likely, I found department emails rather and personal contacts. People are less likely to build civic groups, attend public events, or work with a total stranger.

In such environment, Asian societies are perhaps better off, at this point, to focus on technical skills, efficiency, and hardwork. These are skills that allow one to shine even when they are working relatively alone, non-collaboratively.

Yet, when I write, I have to focus on my audience, who are mostly western. This is not wrong and rightly so. There is no point writing for Asian societies, since in the first place, a US university funded my research. I will be doing a disfavor for myself, for the university, and I am not even sure if anyone in Asia would read it. However, this means I will be writing of knowledge, of creativity, and perhaps of democracy.

At times, this upset me, however, reading Lee Kuan Yew and understanding his pragmatism and realism often bring my senses back to me. After all, it is a small world. There may be no need to differentiate between you and me.