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Introduction 1. Literally, They Are Called Asia's Four Little Dragons. Some

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Introduction 1. Literally, They Are Called Asia's Four Little Dragons. Some Notes Introduction 1. Literally, they are called Asia's Four Little Dragons. Some prefer to call them Asia's Gang of Four. 2. This is particularly a view stressed by the theory of dependency, according to which colonialism has benefited the industrial countries in terms of the colony's supply of raw materials or cheap labour for the development of industries in the advanced countries. For a brief introduction of the concept, see Nicholas Abercombie, 1984, p. 65. 1 Social Background 1. In Singapore, considering that US$111 per month was the poverty line of the year 1976, the allowance of US$47.4 per household under the public assistance scheme was far below subsistence level (Heyzer, 1983, p. 119). In Hong Kong, most of those who receive public assistance have only about US$2 a day for their living expenses (HKAR, 1988, p. 150). Moreover, neither unemployment insurance nor the International Labour Organisation Convention (No. 102) on Social Security has been introduced. 2. The term 'caste', as suggested by Harumi Befu (1971, p. 121), refers to its 'class' frozen characteristics. Due to the limitation of stipends and the disposition of the Edo samurai to lead extravagant lives, the samurai faced considerable financial difficulties. These financial difficulties forced them to join in merchant activities and even to rely on the financial help of merchants. Thus more and more daimyo and samurai were in debt to merchants (see 1971, p. 122; Lehmann, 1982, pp. 70-1, 85). 3. The definitions of "art" is far wider in Japan than in the West. Art is not separate from "ordinary life" but is an integral part of it', Tames maintains. Besides Kendo and the tea-ceremony as art created out of everyday activities, crafts such as ceramics, lacquer-work and sword- fittings can hardly be distinguished from art (see Tames, 1978, p. 107). 4. The Imperial Rescript on Education: 'Our imperial Ancestors have founded our Empire on a basis broad and everlasting and have deeply and firmly implanted virtue; Our subjects ever united in loyalty and filial piety have from generation to generation illustrated the beauty thereof. This is the glory of the fundamental character of Our Empire, and herein also lies the sources of Our education. Ye, Our subjects, be filial to your parents, affectionate to your brothers and sisters; as husbands and wives be harmonious, as friends true; bear yourselves in modesty and moderation; extend your benevolence to all; pursue learning and 242 Notes 243 cultivate arts; and thereby develop intellectual faculties and perfect moral powers; furthermore advance public good and promote common interest; always respect the Constitution and observe the laws; should emergency arise, offer yourselves courageously to the State; and thus guard and maintain the prosperity of Our Imperial Throne coeval with heaven and earth. So shall ye not only be Our good faithful subjects, but render illustrious the best traditions of your forefathers (excerpted in Tsunoda et al., 1958, pp. 646-7). 5. As Chinese culture dominates Hong Kong and Singapore, the discus­ sion concerning the traditional family patterns of the two societies below will focus on the Chinese family pattern. For the general characteristics of traditional Asian families, see Lazar, 1979, pp. 6-9. For the similarities between Malay and Chinese families, see Tham, 1979, pp. 91-7. 6. Singapore's independence marked a break from British rule. With regard to the Chinese link, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew asserted, 'Slowly the world will learn that the Lees, the Tohs, the Gohs, the Ongs, the Yongs, the Lims in Singapore, though they may look Chinese and speak Chinese, they are different. They are of Chinese stock and not apologetic about it. But most important, they think in terms of Singapore and Singapore's interests, not of China and China's interests' (cited by George, 1973, p. 16). 7. The Financial Secretary in 1968 advocated the necessity of authori­ tarianism: 'If people want consultative government, the price is increased complexity and delay in decisions. If they want speed of government, then they must accept a greater degree of authori­ tarianism' (cited by Rear, 1971, p. 93). Leonard Mills (1942, p. 396) uses the term 'benevolent despot' to signify the Hong Kong Governor as he is vested with power but still gives due consideration to public opinion: 'He is a benevolent despot who keeps himself well informed by compromise and persuasion rather than by insistence upon his legal authority'. 2 Becoming Modern and Forces of Change in Education 1. This dichotomy actually constitutes a paradox in modern society, which will be discussed in Chapter 9. 6 Problems of Education for Technological Development 1. The zaibatsu were giant family trusts, which grew in the last quarter of the nineteenth-century and were dissolved after the Second World War by order of the Occupation forces. Many have since regenerated (see Nagai, 1971, p. 50). 8 The Changing Educational Scene 1. Classroom flotation refers to the optimised utilisation of all the rooms available, so that a school may accommodate more classes than the classrooms designated for every class available. 244 Notes 2. Whilst teacher training is available in universities or junior colleges in Japan, in Hong Kong, there are special Colleges of Education for training teachers to become Certified Masters who generally teach in primary schools or in secondary schools up to the junior secondary level. These colleges offer a two-year programme for students with Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination qualifications and a three-year programme for those with the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination qualifications. They also offer part-time in-service training courses for serving teachers. 3. Unless otherwise stated, the following analysis will be based on the data in Sweeting's work. 9 Problems of Rapid Changes in Education 1. The enrolment figures of the private schools include those of the private independent schools and those private schools under the 'bought place' scheme which was inaugurated in 1971. Under the scheme, the government selected a number of private schools to be subsidised. The amount of subsidy was based on the number of pupils allocated to these schools by the government, as a means of expanding subsidised school places. 2. The percentage referred to the proportion enrolled in private indepen­ dent schools only. Those enrolled in the private schools under the 'bought place' scheme accounted for only 0.3 per cent. 3. Cummings et al. (1979, p. 4) asserted, 'Although parallel protests were occurring around the world, few compared with the Japanese ex­ perience in terms of length, the number of school days lost, and the extraordinary mental anguish experienced by those responsible for higher education'. 4. The number of university disturbances amounted to 49 in 1965, 25 in 1966, 38 in 1967 and 65 in 1968. The extremist students moved from using logs and stones to Molotov cocktails, explosives and time bombs. As a result, in 1971, five policemen and seven students died; in 1972, two policemen were killed and a suspect student spy was tortured to death; in 1973, two students were murdered; and in 1974, three students were murdered (Shimbori, 1964, pp. 263-4; Nagai, 1971, p. 245). 5. Although moral lessons are compulsory at the lower secondary level, it is not graded as the other subjects. Consequently, many lessons are turned over to mathematics or science when examination pressure is felt (see Casassus, 1986b; Miyauchi, 1964, p. 137). 6. For example, H. Hazama's (1976, p. 49) study shows that the life-style of industrial workers in modern Japan is Westernised in many respects. H. Kato (1983, p. 84) reports that Japan's first post-war generation is totally different in character from the older one. T. Akiyama's (1982, p. 73) study suggests that Japanese young people today tend to be more self-centred than community-centred. T. Sakaiya (1981, pp. 26-9) contends that loyalty and lifetime employment is vanishing today. The 1980 Report of the Prime Minister's Study Group on Economic Management in An 'Age of Culture' concludes that Japanese people Notes 245 today are becoming individualised, self-expressive, carefree, self- protective and disunited (see Hamaguchi, 1981, pp. 45-6). Of course there are also scholars holding the opposite view. However, these examples suffice to show that cultural changes are taking place in Japan today, which cannot be overlooked or ignored. Becoming Credential Societies Collins, in addition to his findings, cites the observation of Gordon and Howell that industry employs people with degrees not because the degrees ensure technical competence but because they provide a dividing line between the more trained and the less, the more motivated and the less, and those with more social experience and those with less (see Gordon and Howell, 1959, p. 121). Those who cannot conform to the values that are promoted in schools are likely to drop out (see Collins, 1979, p. 32). Dore and Oxenham (1984, p. 34) also come to similar conclusion. They suggest, 'In some countries private schools and possibly universities are the preserve of relatively small groups of better-off people. In part they help transmit the culture of the rich, and in part they enable the rich to sustain superior scholastic levels.' Collins (1979, p. 66) cites two examples of inflation in the cultural price. In China from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, when increasing numbers of people sat for the civil service examinations but the number of government positions was kept virtually constant, it led to a more elaborated system of examination. In Germany around 1800, when a mass of applicants for government positions crowded the universities, extended educational requirements were resulted.
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