Perception is the way one regards, understands, or interprets something. What one perceives is the result of interaction between one's past experiences, including one’s culture, and the interpretation of what is perceived. The processes of perception routinely alters our interpretation of an experience or incident. When people view something while having a preconceived concept about it, they tend to take those concepts and see them, regardless of whether or not they are there. This problem stems from the fact that humans are unable to understand new information, without the inherent bias of their previous knowledge.
On September 9, The Straits Times published a forum letter from a Mr. Peter Huber, who expressed his opinion on why Singapore has a low birth rate. Essentially, he believes that young people in Singapore stay with their parents until they get married because they cannot afford a place of their own, and as a result do not learn skills necessary to become parents. This is in contrast to the West, where young people are expected to move out and get a place of their own once they graduate. Secondly, since their parents will object to them bringing home their lovers, they do not have the opportunity to have more relationships to find the right partner quickly. His perspective is an interesting one, suggesting that Mr. Huber is not local.
However, Mr. Huber does not seem to realize that the alien (to him) phenomenon of children staying with their parents until they are married is not just due to expensive housing. In Singaporean society, if children were to move out without starting a family of their own, it is tantamount to abandoning their parents, and is seen as a sign of disrespect; an unfilial act. Mr. Huber's preconceived notion that young adults who stay with their parents are strange, immature, and lacking in independence is therefore applied to all such Singaporeans, even though they do not have a choice in the matter, due to financial as well as cultural constraints. Furthermore, premarital sex and pregnancy is still frowned upon in Singapore, with the Ministry of Education emphasizing abstinence in their sex education programme. The government also attempts to discourage illegitimate children, by not allocating unmarried mothers the same benefits as married women-they are not entitled to maternity or childcare leave, and their children do not get any of the benefits allocated to children born in a traditional nuclear family. The culture of the land also dictates that young people only bring their partners home to meet their family only when they are in a serious relationship.
Due to his different cultural background and values, Huber’s perception of the issue differs greatly from that of locals, and Mr. Huber should not have attempted to judge a local situation by his own yardstick. If he had discussed the issue with local friends or colleagues, even casually, he would have better understood how things stand. After all, if Singaporeans are as obedient as Mr. Huber believes them to be, the Singapore government probably would not have to dangle so many incentives in an attempt to get couples to have more children.
Nevertheless, that is not to say that Mr. Huber’s perspective should be totally disregarded just because he misjudged the situation. He may not have offered a viable suggestion to the low birth rate issue, but his beliefs may just be a clue as to how people out there actually view Singaporeans. If we do not wish to be tarred by this same brush, we should pay attention to our behaviour, least we inadvertently end up reinforcing such viewpoints.
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Hi!
ReplyDeleteFamily ties are certainly important in our eastern culture. Someone from another culture would find it difficult to understand. Why we believe so strongly in family ties.
I'm sure the government would come up with interesting ideas to combat with the low birth rate. ;)
Personally, I think that the reason why Singapore or in fact, most developed countries are facing a decrease in birth rate is simply just because people are more educated and feel that the priority of having a stable career is higher than that of having a family. After all, without a stable career, it's difficult to maintain a family.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I also feel that people of the newer generations are pretty much spoiled from young and they fully understand the difficulties of bringing up children. As a result, they do not wish to shoulder this life-long burden. That is the reason why I think even though Singapore government has been thinking up of many incentives lately but the birth rate is still relatively low.
Thanks for your comments. If the government wants to encourage more births I think monetary incentives aren't enough, especially since they are targetring the middle and higher-income groups. (they actually give women with fewer than 2 children from low-income households $50 000 to get ligation done.)
ReplyDeletepart of the problem is probably the indiviualistic "me" mindset that is prevalent nowadays. Young couples don't want to have to deal with the care of someone else for the next twenty or so years. Even couples with children try to foist them off on relatives or a childcare centre.
Thanks for your comment Viv. Mr. Huber does not appear to accept the opposing views to his opinion, and has written in again(http://www.straitstimes.com/ST+Forum/Online+Story/STIStory_431669.html). He switches tact from blaming this for the low birth rate, and gives a few extreme personal anecdotes to illustrate the point that some people hate to stay with their parents but still do so. Next, he claims that people who stay with their parents end up in a situation where the parents support the child, and so become too comfortable with this, and so never get married.
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't seem to understand that just because one stays with their parents, one needn't be totally dependent on them. Fact is, the retired parents may be the dependent on their working child. If young people were to care only about themselves, they could probably afford a rented apartment with friends as Mr. Huber claims youth in the West do. However, they feel it is their filial responsibility to support their parents, and perhaps even younger siblings who have yet to enter the workforce. If one has to support an entire family even before they get married, how can one take on the additional burden of rent? In the West, middle-class older people will have their pensions to fall back on, but pensions are not common here.
You have used a good forum article as your choice of media text. I find it very creative of you.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree that Mr Huber's perspective of Singaporeans is very different from our traditional local point of view. HIs assumptions are that Singapore has a very westernised lifestyle which is not the case for our family issues. However, I am thankful that this is not the case yet for us.
But nevertheless, Mr Herbert point of view is still relevant for our application and understanding.