15
This article was downloaded by: [Universitaetsbibliothek Giessen] On: 19 November 2014, At: 04:54 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Moral Education Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjme20 Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth Elwyn Thomas Published online: 07 Jul 2006. To cite this article: Elwyn Thomas (1990) Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth, Journal of Moral Education, 19:3, 192-205, DOI: 10.1080/0305724900190305 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305724900190305 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub- licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http:// www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

  • Upload
    elwyn

  • View
    220

  • Download
    1

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

This article was downloaded by: [Universitaetsbibliothek Giessen]On: 19 November 2014, At: 04:54Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Moral EducationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjme20

Filial Piety, Social Change andSingapore YouthElwyn ThomasPublished online: 07 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Elwyn Thomas (1990) Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth,Journal of Moral Education, 19:3, 192-205, DOI: 10.1080/0305724900190305

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305724900190305

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information(the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor& Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warrantieswhatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purposeof the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are theopinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor& Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should beindependently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francisshall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs,expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arisingdirectly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use ofthe Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expresslyforbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

192 Journal of Moral Education Volume 19 Number 3, October 1990

Filial Piety, Social Changeand Singapore Youth

Elwyn Thomas

AbstractThis paper examines adolescent perceptions of filial piety mainly from a psycho-logical perspective. An attempt is made to explain why Singapore youth appear tohold the principal tenets of filiality in such high regard while newer perceptions offilial piety are also emerging among them. In spite of an ever increasing presenceof modernization in Singapore, its youth continue to respect one of the mostcardinal of Chinese virtues namely filial piety. This respect however, is becomingmore tentative as adolescents question and in some cases challenge the filialethic on cultural and societal grounds. The first part of the paper examines thenature of filial piety and its durability; this is done with reference to China andother countries which have Chinese populations. The main part of the paper willfocus on the author's research concerning adolescent perceptions of filial pietyin Singapore.

Some of the problems relating to social change and its influence on the accept-ance of filial piety are treated. It is urged that a more balanced view needs to betaken about the future place of filial piety in a changing society, for the benefitof the individual, the family and those responsible for the moral education of itscitizens.

IntroductionContrary to what many may believe, the Chinese concept of filial piety was notcreated by Confucius, for it existed long before his time (Hsu, 1986). However,what Confucius did achieve was the elaboration of filial piety into a formidableChinese ethic. It has remained for many Chinese, in spite of social change, a keyfactor in moulding their thinking and social behaviour. The strong appeal whichConfucius clearly had for his compatriots, induced them to follow his teachingsand ensured that virtues such as filiality, still occupy a central position in the valuesystems of many Chinese people to this day. The crucial influence filial piety hashad on the day-to-day lives of most Chinese, is clearly an important factor in tryingto understand Chinese thinking. However, to try to assess the place of filial pietyin the later 1980s, and into the 1990s, while there are profound social changesafoot, it is necessary to be aware of a nation's social and political structure andparticularly the intentions of those who control the nation.

Dr Elwyn Thomas is Senior Lecturer, Department of International and Comparative Education,Institute of Education, University of London, WC1 0AL, UK.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 3: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

Journal of Moral Education Volume 19 Number 3, October 1990 193

What follows is a distillation of the author's five years' working and researchexperience as an educational psychologist, which brought him into daily contactwith Singapore adolescents and adults.

This paper is principally about adolescents and their perceptions of filial pietyas seen from a psychological perspective. It tries to explain why adolescentsattending schools in the city state of Singapore, appear to hold the principaltenets of filiality with such high regard and in some cases zeal; yet parallelingthis, other visions of filial piety are emerging among them.

It is the position of this paper, that in spite of an ever increasing presence ofmodernization in the city state of Singapore, its youth, so far, appear to hold one ofthe most cardinal of Chinese virtues, namely filial piety, with considerable respect.However, this respect is becoming more tentative as they question, and in somecases, challenge the filial ethic on cultural and societal grounds.

Filial piety is considered in this paper to be an extended concept involving notonly the central son-father relationship but children's relationship to mother,relationships to kin and even to their community.

The first part of the present discussion examines the apparently durable natureof filial piety against the changing background to its acceptance. This is done withreference to countries where the entire population is Chinese, and countries wherethe Chinese form only a minority.

The second part of the discussion focuses on the research carried out by theauthor when working in the Republic. Finally, some of the problems relating tosocial change and its influence on the acceptance of filial piety in a societyundergoing rapid modernization are discussed. In the final section it is arguedthat a more balanced approach needs to be taken to the place of filial piety in achanging society. This would not only affect adolescents but also parents, teachersand others held responsible for the moral education of its citizens.

Filiality as an enduring value systemWhat is magnetic about Chinese filiality is its profound durability. Notwithstandingthe effects of momentous social and political changes in the People's Republic ofChina since the start of the present century, much of the 'canonical status' of filialpiety appears to remain, although in a manifestly different form.

In pre-communist China, all the emphasis on filial piety was directed towardsthe parents, loyalty to family clan and emperor. After the creation of the People'sRepublic, the emphasis was changed to get all Chinese to unite and work forsocialism as a vehicle for national well being. The collective appeal of filial piety,in which the individual is held responsible to the family and friends, was extendedduring the Mao Zedong period, to the body politic. This continued to emphasizecollective rather than individualistic goals. This reflects an interesting but complexinterweaving in the Chinese moral value of filial piety of elements of Pre-Confucian,Confucian and Maoist strands.

Ho (1982) has pointed out, that for a researcher to understand the psychologyof the Chinese people and other Asiatics, he must be aware of the influence of'social existence' on the individual's behaviour, and the role of the individualwithin that 'social existence'. This theme of 'social existence' is also echoed byBond and Hwang (1986). They suggest that Confucianism defines man's existenceabove all by his relationship to others - a theme that is crucial for the constructionof a Chinese social psychology. Unlike many of their Western counterparts, theChinese individual views life almost exclusively in relation to his or her group.This usually means a large group, that is family, extended kinship. Reference toChinese literature, both classical and modern, shows few if any, novels involvingcharacters looking for an individual identity.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 4: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

194 Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

Since the beginning of this century, social and political changes have not onlyaffected the perceptions of the mainland Chinese towards filiality, but Chineseelsewhere have also needed to reexamine it. Growing numbers of those referredto as 'overseas Chinese' living in Singapore, Malaysia, Europe and America areexamining the place of filial piety and other Chinese virtues in their life styles.Even in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where almost exclusively Chinese populationsexist and where the Chinese way of life predominates, filiality is being questionedby the younger generation. In many overseas Chinese populations, concern hasbeen expressed about the preservation of what is valuable in their Chineseheritage. This includes the eight virtues, loyalty, benevolence, love, sincerity,righteousness, harmony, tranquility, and, of course, filial piety.

According to Jordan (1986), filiality in modern day Taiwan can be summed upas follows: ' . . . it is a focal concern not only in discussion of child rearing. It iscentral in all thinking about human moral behaviour...'

In Singapore, the Ong Report (Ong,1979) produced a framework for developinga programme of moral education in schools and colleges in the Republic. Thereport strongly emphasized the so-called cardinal values of Chinese culture. Filialitywas among several moral values which were given pride of place. Between1983-4, the Singapore government went further and invited key Confucian scho-lars from overseas. Their role was to advise the authorities on what to includein the school curriculum and to stimulate public debate on the introduction ofConfucianism in the schools, mainly for the benefit of the ethnic Chinese studentpopulation.

For Hong Kong, Janet Salaff's (1981) perceptive study of Chinese working daugh-ters has provided us with an unusual glimpse from the standpoint of the Chinesewoman and her adherence to cardinal values such as filial piety. In spite of theimmersion of Salaff's women in the sweat shops of a modern industrial city andtheir contacts with Western life styles and values, these women's sense of theirfilial responsibilities towards parents and siblings were not eroded in the least.

Most of the large overseas Chinese minority which live in Malaysia adherestrictly to filiality as a cardinal virtue. Any keen observer of that Chinese minoritywould sooner or later perceive that the old Chinese proverb: 'Of the hundredexcellent things, filial piety is the first', can be witnessed in the lives of most fami-lies. In fact, it could be argued that in the Chinese Malaysian context, filiality withall its familial ramifications is an essential ingredient of ethnic Chinese cohesion.It provides a safeguard against the erosion of traditional Chinese customs andpractices. Chinese filiality in Malaysia may be closer to the traditional Chineseinterpretation than the current practices of many Chinese living in Hong Kong.In Western countries, such as the United States, Britain and elsewhere, there isa growing interest in the extent to which the overseas Chinese compromise oradapt their family life patterns, and especially their perceptions of filiality.

In the United States, Wu (1974) studying Mandarin-speaking Chinese in LosAngeles, found that they were the victims of political, social, economic and culturalchanges, which led to changed conceptions of filiality. Yu (1974) researched filialityin a mid-western campus town. She found that elderly Chinese immigrants hadto modify their traditional values to support the transition from living in Chinato living in the United States. In an extensive factor analysis of Chinese valuesacross 22 countries. Bond (1987) found four emerging Chinese Value Systems(CVS). Filial piety appeared in a CVS factor labelled Integration. The high andnegatively loaded value of r = -.70 for filial piety suggested that filiality providesa check and balance to the integrative nature of Chinese values. This findingunderlines the importance of filial piety in the total context of the Chinese ValueSystem and demonstrates the durable nature of the filial ethic.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 5: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

Journal of Moral Education Volume 19 Number 3, October 1990 195

Let us now turn to an examination of filial piety in the context of social changewithin the second half of the twentieth century.

The nature of filial piety and social change in the twentieth centuryLawrence Wu (1986), writing about Confucianism as Social Humanism, refers tothe way Confucius shifted the emphasis from ancestral worship to filial piety(Hsiao). Other key concepts of Confucian philosophy are human heartedness(Ren), righteousness (Yi), conscientiousness (Zhong), altruism (Shun), gentlemansuperiority (Chun-Zi) and propriety (Li). To Confucius, Hsiao is an attitude ofreverence towards parents which includes genuine concern for their emotionaland spiritual welfare. However, we can honour the memory of our ancestorsthrough our parents by fulfilling the unfulfilled aims of the parents. Hsiao,although originating in the family, is more than a family virtue. It has a widerappeal and is often perceived as the basis from which all moral teaching grows.This wider vision of filiality is shared by Hsu (1986), who develops the idea ofan ever increasing nexus of the filial ethic. His conception of filiality concernsnot only a central son-father relationship, but extends the ethic of filial piety tomothers, to collateral kin in the patrilineal line, to more distant relatives and evento members of one's community.

Jordan (1986) concludes that for most Taiwanese, filiality is the central guidingvalue which ramifies through all aspects of Chinese society. One may say thatbefore we can understand Chinese culture and thinking, it is essential to appreciatefully the pervasive presence of filiality. Sih (1961) in his book entitled The HsiaoChing, reinforces the widely held view that filial piety as a central concept can bedefined as loyalty, respect and devotion to parents. To this he adds: 'It representsone of the basic social and religious concepts of Chinese people. It is consideredto be the virtue of all virtues and the soul of Chinese culture.'

In present-day China, there has been a radical re-assessment of filial piety in linewith communist ideology, and the status of the father in the community has beenthreatened. The work of Raddock (1974) has shown, that a more open approachby some children to their father's status has resulted in a trend away from thetraditional perceptions of the father as a repository of severity and aloofness.This is seen to strengthen the self-identity of today's Chinese youth. At one timethe young man who rebelled against his father and severed ties with his family,was considered to have committed an act of 'moral violence'. However, a figurelike the young Mao Zedong attained a community role in contemporary Chinesesociety due to his rebellion against his father and against traditional Chinesesocial philosophy. It would seem from the author's experience of students frommainland China, that there is a 'healthy correction' in the way they perceive filialpiety in the 1980s compared to adolescents in the pre-1950s and adolescentsfrom present-day Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. It would appear that filialpiety is a more reciprocal and mutual affair as far as the mainland Chinese areconcerned. In fact, the word 'respect' is preferred to that of 'obedience' by youngmainland Chinese in any discussions about filial piety. The filial relationship isthus becoming more akin to Western family behaviour, where all sides of a familyproblem may be argued through by the father, son and other members of thefamily.

Therefore, one cannot disregard the fact that filiality in the familial sense haschanged, as Raddock's (1974) observations make clear. Filiality has become abroader concept which embraces the principles of communism and changestraditional conceptions of the filial ethic.

However, filial piety in post-revolutionary China never really disappeared;instead, a transformation took place from a traditional to a modernized ethic

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 6: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

196 Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

and one to which strict observance of political ideology has been added. In otherwords, filiality became politicized, ending its family monopoly. It has becomereorientated and perhaps revitalized for the purpose of promoting politicalideology, as well as playing a role in enhancing Chinese cultural identity. There-orientation of filial piety in post-revolutionary China is in fact reflective of Mao'sgeneral view, on how the new displaces the old, yet the new is actually derivedfrom the old (Mao, 1965). This re-orientation of filiality may not only be a featureof the People's Republic of China, for it can be observed, to varying degrees,in other Asian countries with large Chinese majorities. The central tenets of afilial ethic, namely loyalty, devotion, respect and obedience have endured andremain the backbone of filial piety. Social and political changes have reorientedthese tenets. They now serve political, cultural and religious ends, and allow thefamily and individuals to reassess the value of filial piety. This enables them tomeet the needs of a changing society.

Filial piety and modernization in a city stateThe affluent city state of Singapore in 1988 has approximately two and a halfmillion people, 76 per cent of whom are ethnic Chinese. The remainder is madeup of Malays, Indians and some Eurasians. In the 1950s, Singapore went throughprofound social and political changes. The anti-colonial struggle had been resolvedby the later part of the decade, and an important social reorganization set thescene for the forthcoming modernization. The isolation from China since 1949had put the overseas Chinese in Singapore in a position of 'weaning them-selves away from their motherland' (Kuo, 1986). The rapid population growthand the extensive urban renewal programme in the 1960s, together with thepublic housing policies, industrialization, economic development, family planningpolicies to restrict family size and the promotion of the English language, havehad far-reaching effects on family structures and attitudes. Furthermore, schoolinginevitably undermined traditional family values among young people, leadingthem to seek greater independence.

The authorities in Singapore were aware that such changes were likely to leadto problems of cultural alienation. To meet these problems, impressive effortswere made by the Government to lessen their impact. The efforts includedthe introduction of a bilingual policy; that is pupils must now learn Englishand another language such as Mandarin, Malay or Tamil. Another especiallyinteresting measure was the gradual introduction of a new moral educationprogramme in which traditional values would be taught.

The injection of Confucian ethics into a moral education programme alreadyin progress, serves to underline the concerns felt by the authorities. TraditionalChinese values are based upon Confucian ethics, with filial piety being part ofa Chinese child's education and growth in a modern and changing society. Kuo(1986) has pointed out that the concept of filial piety is difficult to operationalizesociologically. It it is defined as absolute submissiveness and obedience of thechild to parental authority, then the child's attitudes are likely to reflect a certainset of mostly traditional expectations. On the other hand, if filial piety is seenin terms of childrens' concern about loving, and caring for their parents, theeffect would be more in line with modernized thinking about filial piety. It maybe possible to overcome this problem of operationalization by using a varietyof psychological approaches. The structurally oriented, cognitive-developmentalapproaches to the study of moral development by Piaget and Kohlberg suggestone way of tackling the problem of operationalization. If these approaches areadapted to a particular culture by emphasizing conceptual equivalence, stimulusfamiliarity and so on, one is likely to be able to measure authentic conceptions of

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 7: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

Journal of Moral Education Volume 19 Number 3, October 1990 197

filiality. The method of values ranking, as used by Rokeach (1973) in the USA andothers elsewhere would be another method of fielding research into filial piety.

The strength of the cognitive-developmental approach is mainly based uponthe use of the interview methodology. Open-ended interviews can provide richinsights into an adolescent's perception of a particular concept such as filial piety.While cognitive-developmental methodologies have their disadvantages, they dogo beyond Rokeach's Values Survey approach which gives one information aboutvalue recognition and preference, but not about how respondents understand andjudge values.

The rapidly changing social conditions due to modernization and technologicalindustrial influences make an interesting scenario for the examination of a cardinalmoral value such as filiality. In the next section of the paper, two contentions willbe discussed; first, that many adolescents in Singapore appear to hold filial pietyin high regard; and, secondly, that this regard may have a tentative quality to it.Both contentions will be discussed in the next part of this paper and examined onthe basis of research which the author and others have carried out in Singaporeover the last seven years.

Filiality and Singapore youthThe author's research into filial piety in Singapore needs to be seen against thebackground of several influences. First, filial piety was researched in the contextof a Moral Education Report written by Ong Teng Cheong in 1979. This was partof a wider scenario of educational reform of the school system. The Ong Reportspecifically mentions filial piety among other values which should be promotedmore actively and effectively in the schools of Singapore.

The second influence on the author's research is an amalgam of three psychologicalapproaches namely; the cognitive-developmental, the socio-psychological and thecross-cultural. The cognitive developmental approach was based to a limited extenton Piagetian-Kohlbergian methodologies, but did not include a rigid adherence tothe idea of stages. The socio-psychological approach included borrowings from thework of Rokeach. The cross-cultural approach, used especially in studies of moralreasoning cited in this paper, attempts to develop measures which adequatelyreflect local situations-what cross-cultural scholars call 'an emic' or intra-culturalmethodology.

A third influence on the author's research concerns the growing awarenessamong many ethnic Chinese Singaporeans of the need to safeguard againstthe erosion of values such as filial piety (Hsiao), righteousness (Yi), humanheartedness (Ren) and others. This awareness is supported by the current climatewhich favours the re-establishment of Confucian ethics accompanying the processof schooling.

The research discussed below can be clustered into two types. The first clusterof studies attempts to find out through ranking how important filial piety is toadolescents. The second cluster tries to find out through contrived contemporarydilemmas how well adolescents can identify and understand the notion of filialpiety and how they judge its role in everyday situations.

Filial piety and studies of value recognition and value preferenceIn a study by Thomas and Eng (1985), 126 Singapore adolescents, mean age17 years 6 months, and all from the first-year intake of one junior college,were asked to rank a list of terminal values and instrumental values based onRokeach's Value Survey. The findings gave some pointers to the adolescents'recognition and perceptions of the relative importance of a set of values. It wasfound that, like their Western counterparts, these adolescents manifested a need

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 8: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

198 Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

for independence and autonomy by moving away from parents towards the peergroup. Yet they also retained some dependence on the family as a stable anchor.Values such as honesty, responsibility, achieving freedom and true friendshipwere clearly important to them. The research results compared favourably withsocieties whose level of affluence satisfies basic physical needs such as safety andsecurity. The ranking instrument did not include filial piety as an item. However,in an additional section students were asked to rate the importance to them offiliality in caring and respecting parents. The results were as follows:

Statement Rating Percentage Respondents

Caring and respecting my Strongly agree: 71.2 per centparents is important Agree: 25.4 per centto me. Disagree: 3.4 per cent

The results of the above study prompted the author to carry out further studies onmoral values and to include items that were culture-specific to Singapore. Theseincluded the incorporation of filial piety, thrift and others (Thomas, 1990). Sevenhundred children aged between 12 and 19 years from Singapore governmentsecondary schools and pre-university centres were asked to complete a RokeachValues Survey (modified for use in Singapore). The list of values was shorter thanthat of the original Rokeach Survey. Ten items described terminal values such asfreedom, love, national security, and 12 items described instrumental values suchas honesty, ambition and filial piety. The instrument was administered in Englishsince English is the medium of instruction in all Singapore schools for studentsfrom six to 19 years of age. The main purpose of the research was to explorehow Singapore adolescents perceived the importance of a variety of values,including items which were new to the Rokeach measures. Only the results forthe instrumental values concern us here.

Broadly speaking, the findings showed that regardless of age and gender, filialpiety was ranked as the most important value, with honesty, responsibility andself-control coming next, and in that order. Striving at being logical and thriftyoccupied the lowest ranks, respectively.

We can see from this sample of Singaporean adolescents, that the introductionof a culture specific value like filial piety, enabled subjects to respond to a valuethey could recognize and that is highly important to them. However, recognitionand ranking of a moral value such as filial piety does not necessarily mean it is fullyunderstood by the respondent. Nevertheless, by including filial piety in a well-triedinstrument, a picture of the hierarchical position of the moral value emerges.

The high value position suggests that there is a strong awareness of the placeof filial piety in the minds of these adolescents. In earlier work on values byBalhatchet (1980), 1882 Singapore secondary students were asked to rank a listof values which did not include filial piety. His findings showed that honestytopped the list whereas it came second in the author's study. We may ask wouldBalhatchet have found the same results as the present author, had he includedfilial piety in his list of values?

In Eng's (1986) more recent Environment for Values Learning Project, aSingapore sample of 3088 lower secondary school children aged between 13-15years were given a test of moral values. The test contained 24 stories whichpupils were asked to read. They then had to choose one of the three optionswhich were labelled 'peer oriented', 'reflecting moral awareness concept' and'self-centred'. Below is an example of a typical item.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 9: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

Journal of Moral Education Volume 19 Number 3, October 1990 199

Story item:When a boy asked Kuo Ming to donate for charity, he gave one dollar. Whydid he do that?Choices:

1. The boy was his classmate when they were in primary school (peer-oriented)

2. Kuo Ming thought he should give as much as he could to help (moralawareness concept - generosity)

3. Kuo Ming did not want to look stingy to other people (self-centred)

From similar stories about filial piety, 94 per cent of the respondents chose themoral awareness option. This lends further support to the author's findings onthe importance of filial piety. A more representative picture of the awareness ofculture specific moral behaviour is likely to emerge if more examples of culturerelated values such as filial piety (Hsiao) and human heartedness (Ren) are addedto the list of universal values such as trust and honesty.

Filial piety and studies of moral reasoningSo far, only studies that use instruments which either require the respondentto rank a list of values or ask the respondent to make a choice of values havebeen discussed. While ranking, rating and option choice have provided usefulinformation about the childrens' moral profiles a fuller picture of adolescentperceptions can only be obtained through the use of interviews which probemore deeply into the understanding and judgement of values. The interviewas a research tool is preferable to the other measures mentioned earlier if theresearch aims to find out how well the respondent understands a certain value,and is able to judge the value in a particular context.

A recent study by Thomas (1986) included 153 ethnic Chinese adolescents,aged between 12-19 years, who attended Singapore Government secondaryschools. Fifty students, mean age 12 years 6 months, came from lower sec-ondary school classes; 53 students, mean age 15 years 1 month, were uppersecondary students, and 50 students were pre-university adolescents with amean age of 17 years 7 months. The numbers of males and females for eachgroup were approximately equal. The students were interviewed in Englishabout their perceptions of some moral values which included filial piety. Mostof the values had previously appeared in the Ong Report and were consideredto be important for the moral education of children in the Republic. The study setout to explore whether children were able to identify and understand a particularmoral value and how they judged a situation in which the value was portrayedas a dilemma.

The dilemma as a methodological device, is used to project the respondentbeyond his or her own personal experience, thereby hopefully promoting moreobjectivity from the respondent. Dilemma situations are characteristic of bothPiaget's and Kohlberg's approaches. In the present study, the dilemma situationswere devised in terms familiar to Singapore adolescents. Furthermore, no attemptwas made to apply Piagetian or Kohlbergian 'stage' criteria to the adolescents'responses, as they would have imposed unrealistic Western interpretations.

It was thought that by exploring adolescent perceptions set in culture-specificsituations, a truer picture of the moral ethos in which ethnic Chinese Singaporeanadolescents operate would be obtained. Of the six moral concepts, four wereclassified as personal values and two as altruistic values. The personal valueswere patience, perseverance, obedience, industriousness and the altruistic weretrust and filial piety. All values except industriousness had also been previously

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 10: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

200 Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

cited in the Ong Report (Ong, 1979). The choice of the selected values was madeon the basis that they reflected certain highly desired values among most, if notall, Singaporeans.

Each adolescent was interviewed and asked to read a short extract depicting amoral value, set in a dilemma situation. After each reading, three sets of questionswere posed. The first set probed the respondents' ability to identify and describethe moral behaviour in the dilemma {value identification), the second set exploredwhat the moral value meant to the adolescent {value comprehension). Finally,the respondent was asked to give a judgement on the person or persons in thedilemma situation {value judgement).

Judgements were scored as 'objective judgements', if they expressed the prosand cons of a situation and did not adhere to an inflexible and dogmatic attitudeto the moral situation. Phrases which included 'well it depends on' are consideredtypical of an objective judgement.

An example of how a dilemma on filial piety was posed to respondents andhow questions were phrased relating to the dilemma is as follows:

Item on filial piety - caringAlvin Dilemma Story:Mr and Mrs Lee have two sons, Alvin and Steven. Mr Lee is a retired schoolteacher and Mrs Lee suffers from tuberculosis. Steven went abroad for furtherstudies and will not be back in Singapore for another three years. Recently,Alvin was offered a scholarship to study in France. The whole course wouldhave taken two years. But just before Alvin accepted the offer he thought abouthis parents being without him for such a long time.

Question in Embedded Format Cognitive Processes

1. How would you describe Alvin's behaviour? ) Identification2. Why do you say that? )

3. Do you think we could call that.. .*? ) Comprehension4. Why do you think we could call that.. .*? )

5. Is it always a good thing to be .. .* )or are there other times, when being .. .* )might not be a good thing? ) Judgement

6. Can you tell me why .. .*? )

(*word or phrase given by respondent)

The embedded format acted as a guide giving each interviewer a degree of latitudeto establish good rapport. Some questions were repeated and even rephrasedwhile their meaning was maintained.

Table 1 shows the results for the total sample and indicates that over three-quarters of the subjects interviewed, irrespective of age, were able to identify themoral values. Comprehension is seen to be a more difficult process reflected in thelower numbers of adolescents responding to dilemma situations. The judgementalprocess, particularly when it is an objective one, is clearly more difficult judging bythe reduced number of adolescents able to give such responses.

Figure 1 shows that a progressive developmental pattern emerged for all cog-nitive processes, although the trends were more marked for Comprehension andJudgement.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 11: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

Journal of Moral Education Volume 19 Number 3, October 1990 201

Table 1: Percentages of adolescents able to identify, comprehend and judge (objectively) each ofthe six moral concepts for the total sample (N=153)

Moral Concept

PatiencePerserveranceObedienceIndustriousnessTrustFilial Piety

Mean %

Identification

808185858472

81

Cognitive Processes

Comprehension

636682,686550

66

Judgement

504357514942

49

As noted earlier in this paper, filial piety was rated highest on a value rankingscale and as the most readily recognized value. Yet when the adolescents wereinterviewed about their perceptions of filial piety, it was found that the conceptwas identified and understood by the fewest adolescents. As far as their judge-mental behaviour is concerned, less than half of all adolescents could providejudgements which were considered objective.

One must be cautious about generalizing the findings of the above study due tothe limited number of adolescents interviewed. Nevertheless, a fuller and rather

Figure 1: Percentage of adolescents awarded positive responses to identification, comprehension,and objective judgement of situations depicting filial piety

Key: A Group - Mean Age 12 years 6 months (N:50)B Group - Mean Age 15 years 1 month (N:53)C Group - Mean Age 17 years 7 months (N:50)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 12: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

202 Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

different picture about filiality emerges from the interviews, when compared tothe values survey.

The wider informative nature of the interview provided valuable insights intothe adolescents' cultural backgrounds and their perceptions of filial piety. Prelimi-nary studies had shown that filial piety as perceived by Singapore adolescents,appeared to incorporate three culture-related dimensions (Thomas, 1985). Thesewere ancestral remembrance, familial harmony and caring for parents as they getolder. Therefore, by creating a series of culture-related contexts for filial piety, wewere able to gain further insights into how young ethnic Chinese Singaporeansactually perceived this highly revered value.

When the instrument was used with non-Chinese Singaporean adolescents,mostly Malays and Indians, ancestral rememberance did not feature as a dimen-sion, as this aspect of filial piety is essentially Chinese in nature. However, bothMalay and Indian Singaporeans gave similar responses to dilemma situationsreflecting familial harmony and parental care, as did the ethnic Chinese. Theseare shown in the examples cited below:

Alvin Dilemma Story

Identification'Concerned about his parents' Subaria, 16 years

(Malay)'Considerate son' Ranjit, 15-% years

(Indian)Thoughtful about his parents' Zainal, 16-% years

(Malay)

Comprehension'Thinks about his parents' future' Ibrahim, 14-% years

(Malay)'Worried about his mother's illness,and he should be dutiful to her' Puspa, 17 years

(Indian)

Objective judgement'He has no qualification so he mustgo although difficult. He must think ofhimself.' Fedli, 16 years

(Malay)'Sometimes one can be too caring andcan hurt our own future' Zubaidah, 17-% years

(Malay)

Absolute judgement'One must always care for your Nirmala, 14 yearsparents whatever happens' (Indian)

This shows that when respondents gave objective judgements they were objectiveirrespective of ethnicity. Yet when absolute judgements were given they were alsogiven in absolute terms irrespective of ethnic background.

The use of the interview method as a means of probing adolescents' perceptionsof moral values provided valuable insights at two levels. At the first level, a fullerpicture of the adolescents' cognitive growth emerged based upon the mentalacts of identification, comprehension and judgement. For the 'Alvin dilemma',the following quite typical responses were obtained from the ethnic Chinese.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 13: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

Journal of Moral Education Volume 19 Number 3, October 1990 203

Identification'He is filial, caring''He cared about his parents''He is thoughtful'Before he does anything he thinks ofhis parents first'

Comprehension'Since his brother was abroad already,Alvin saw his responsibility in caring forhis parents. He knows that his parentswould be lonely''When he was offered the scholarship hecould have accepted it immediately;instead he thought of his parents andtheir welfare.'

Objective judgement'It is not a good thing to be filial all the time,because parents can become toodemanding.''It is a good thing to be filial to parents, butthere are occasions when being filial maybe undesirable. But when parents insist,one should obey, for parents shouldhave the last say in all matters.''Our parents may not even want us tocare for them anyhow.'

Absolute judgement'It is good to always obey parents, becausethey are always right and they wantwhat is good for the children.''One should be filial all the time to showone's gratitude to the parents forraising us up.'

Chee Meng, 16 yearsDavid, 18 yearsAlice, 15 years

Kee Meng, 15 years

Siew Lin, aged 16 years

Bernard aged 15 years

Mei Wah, 16 years

Meiling, 14 years

Andrew, 17 years

Zenuan, 14 years

Angelina, 13 years

Such data provided us with a more detailed picture of the adolescents'perceptionsof moral values. On a second level, additional cultural and subcultural insightswere obtained. The responses by Mei Wah, Meiling and Andrew show how moraldilemmas specifically contrived to reflect Singapore cultural contexts producedboth ambivalence and realism in their responses. The examples quoted aboveprovide some illustrations of the way some adolescents perceive moral valuessuch as filial piety. The absolute and objective features of their responses, appearto support the position taken in the present paper. In addition, the emotionalambivalence reflected in some of the responses (see Meiling's response) suggestsa rather tentative acceptance of filiality by some of the respondents.

Filial piety and change: achieving an acceptable balanceEarlier in this paper, filial piety was referred to as a durable ethic. It is also oneof paradox, particularly so when one observes it in present-day Singapore. Whilethe concept of filial piety is strongly held among most Singaporean Chinese, thecapacity for social change within the nation seems limitless. Economic success

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 14: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

204 Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

resulting in the rising standards of living for all who live in this tightly knitand efficient society, has produced higher social expectations, increased levelsof job aspiration, and more competition among children and adults. There arealso changes in the family structures. No longer is the extended family thenorm. Satellite or confederated family arrangements in which married childrenand siblings live separately, but visit their parents frequently have replaced thetraditional pattern of all persons in the family living under one roof. These familystructures are made possible by the compactness of Singapore and the existenceof effective communication networks within the Republic.

With the above scenario in mind, one might be led to think that the filial ethiccould be weakening among Singaporeans. Yet according to Kuo (1986), 'We findthe value of filial piety is still strongly held among the Chinese in Singapore. Theconcept, however, has apparently been given new interpretation.'

Evidence from the author's research shows considerable support for Kuo'scontention, although there are changing attitudes to filial piety especially byolder adolescents.

These changing attitudes may indeed be part and parcel of Kuo's 'new interpre-tations'. These observations also fit in with Wu Teh Yao's (1979) interpretationof the Chinese make up; that in spite of deep seated traditional beliefs, changehas also been of value since ancient times. In other words, the value of changeis perceived and sometimes accepted while established and dearly held virtuessuch as filial piety endure, even if in a changed form. Ancestral remembranceappears to be less crucial to the expression of filiality than caring for parentsand maintaining family harmony. This shows a shift from a more esoteric andabsolute view of filiality to one which is pragmatic, and truly interpersonal.

This observation is not exclusive to Singapore, for C.H. Hwang (1977) found asimilar trend towards a more caring and interpersonal conception of filial pietyamong Taiwanese adolescents. If however, we pursue the changing nature offilial piety even further in the case of Chinese Americans, it is filial erosion thatbecomes the main concern and not just change.

The work of Yu (1974) and Chen (1982) is concerned with the erosion of filialpiety in Chinese Americans, and with the parallel weakening of the extendedfamily for this minority in the United States of America. Chen in particular,advocates that more efforts be made on behalf of the aged parents by state andfamily in order to halt the erosion of filial piety. However, this may be much moredifficult to achieve in the USA than in places like Singapore and Taiwan, wherethe ethnic Chinese predominate and where a stronger Chinese ethos exists. Theolder Chinese American citizens may suffer because the filial ethic appears to bethreatened because it is threatening to their sons and daughters.

In Singapore, it is not erosion of filial piety that is the problem; it is theattainment of some form of balance between retaining a dearly held, durableand traditional ethic and its place in a rapidly changing society. The SingaporeGovernment's policy of introducing Confucian ethics into the school curriculum isboth controversial and challenging. It is controversial, since Confucian philosophyis considered by many to be an archaic tradition. It is challenging, since anyteaching of Confucian ethics, and one of its core values - filial piety - must bedone against a background of changing adolescent attitudes to family, identityand society.

Filial piety, which is entering a new phase of change in Singapore, needs to beharmonised with the aims and organizational structures of a rapidly modernizingsociety. If this can be accomplished successfully, not only will filial piety proveyet again a durable ethic for the youth of Singapore but one that can be madeto adapt to change by those who desire it.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 15: Filial Piety, Social Change and Singapore Youth

Journal of Moral Education Volume 19 Number 3, October 1990 205

ReferencesBALHATCHET, R.P. (1980). Survey of Moral Values. Interim Report on Progress of Moral Education

Project, Singapore: Singapore Ministry of Education.BOND, M.H. (1987). 'Chinese values and the search for culture free dimensions of culture', Journal

of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 18, 2, 143-64.BOND, M.H. and HWANG, K.K. (1986). 'The social psychology of Chinese people.' In: BOND, M.H.

(Ed). The Psychology of the Chinese People. New York: Oxford University Press.CHEN, P.N. (1982). 'Eroding filial piety and its implications for social work practice', Journal of

Sociology and Social Welfare, 9, 3, 511-23.ENG, S.P. (1986). The Environment for Values Learning. Paper given at 4th Asian Workshop on

Child and Adolescent Development, Singapore.HO, D.Y. (1982). 'Asian concepts in behavioural science', Psychologia: An International Journal of

Psychology in the Orient, 25, 4, 228-35.HSU, F.L.K. (1986). 'Confucianism and its culturally determined manifestations.' In: SLOTE: W.H.

(Ed.) The Psycho-Cultural Dynamics of the Confucian Family: Past and Present, ICSK Forum SeriesNo. 8. Seoul: Yougin Compographic.

HWANG, C.H. (1977). 'Filial piety from a psychological point of view', Bulletin of EducationalPsychology, 10, 11-20.

JORDAN, D.K. (1986). 'Folk filial piety in Taiwan: the twenty four exemplars.' In: SLOTE: W.H. (Ed.)The Psycho-Cultural Dynamics of the Confucian Family: Past and Present, ICSK Forum Series No.8. Seoul: Yougin Compographic.

KUO, E.C.Y. (1986). 'Confucianism and the family in an urban-industrial society.' In: SLOTE: W.H.(Ed.) The Psycho-Cultural Dynamics of the Confucian Family: Past and Present. ICSK Forum SeriesNo. 8. Seoul: Yougin Compographic.

MAO, Z. (1965). Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, Vol. 1. Peking: Foreign Language Press.ONG, T.C. (1979). Report on Moral Education. Singapore: Singapore Ministry of Education.RADDOCK, D.M. (1974). 'Growing up in new China: a twist in the circle of filial piety', History of

Childhood Quarterly: The Journal of Psycho History, 2, 2, 201-20.ROKEACH, M. (1973). The Nature of Human Values. New York: The Free Press.SALAFF, J.W. (1981). Working Daughters of Hong Kong: Filial Piety or Power in the Family? New

York: Cambridge University Press.SIH, P.K.T. (1961). The Hsiao Ching. New York: St John's University Press.THOMAS, E. (1985). Perceptions of Filial Piety an Emic-Etic Approach to the Development of a Moral

Concept in Singapore Adolescents. Manuscript, Institute of Education, Singapore.THOMAS, E. and ENG, K.H. (1985). Value Preferences of Junior College Adolescents in Singapore.

Research Report, University of London Institute of Education/Institute of Education, Singapore.THOMAS, E. (1986). Perceptions of Moral Concepts by Singaporean Adolescents. Paper given at

4th Asian Workshop on Child and Adolescent Development, Singapore.THOMAS, E. (1990). The Development of Values in Singaporean Adolescents. Research Report,

University of London Institute of Education/Institute of Education, Singapore.WU, F.Y.Y. (1974). Mandarin-speaking aged Chinese in the Los Angeles area: needs and services.

Los Angeles: University of Southern California, Doctoral Dissertation.WU, L.C. (1986). Fundamentals of Chinese Philosophy. Maryland: University Press of America,

pp. 15-22.WU, T.Y. (1979). Politics East - Politics West. Pan Pacific Books Distribution, pp.218-20.YU, L.C. (1974). Minority Aging in a Pluralist Society: Conflicts and Adaptations. Unpublished Report,

University of Michigan.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

itaet

sbib

lioth

ek G

iess

en]

at 0

4:54

19

Nov

embe

r 20

14