Reflective Journal 5, Term 4

Reflect on the course of study, discussions and assessment for Cultural Differentiation in Year 4, Semester 2.

This is the final semester; the year is finally coming to an end. During this semester, I have taken Cultural Differentiation Elective (CDE), a comparative study on the themes of feminism, youths and leadership of two nations, namely the United States of America and China, with the aid of case studies.

With regards to the course of study, case studies based on the Harvard Business School are given in the form of tutorials, which the student is expected to be familiar with before the class. I have enjoyed reading these insightful case studies, with many new perspectives involved. However, I feel that there should be a platform (forum, wiki) for fellow students to discuss their views before class, thus allowing them to gain greater insight even before class commences, instead of going to class with addled brains. The three main themes, feminism, youths, and leadership is vital to the future of us students, and I greatly appreciate the effort taken to link these themes to ourselves. For example, questions such as "Would you prefer Communism or Democracy?" and "Would you like to stay in the US or China?" are asked during discussions as food for thought. However, although we have identified the benefits and disadvantages of each style, I would suggest that we also understand how the other countries (i.e. Singapore, Britain, Japan) are dealing with these issues, to understand if there is a growing trend or the ones we have studied are isolated cases (and if so, why?).

Of course, I understand that it is already difficult enough with the current scheme of work, which is why I figured that our discussions would play an important role in the module. To ensure that the discussion proceeds smoothly and achieve its target, students must contribute with quality. However, there are many type of contributors during discussion, including those who are dysfluent, banal or even those pretentious ones who give lots of statistics but do not bother to explain the interrelationship of these facts. Thus, although one may have complete understanding of the discussion, another may have no inkling of what has been going on, yet nods his head sagely the whole time. I thus suggest that groups of students take turns to produce a summary of each discussion, so that a better understanding of the subject can be attained (for those "blur" students).

Last but not least, the assessment of the module comes into play. This is a very important section of the module to us students, as it is recorded in our grades. The assessment involves oral presentation, assignments, reflective essays and a research paper, a fair way to ensure that we students have grasped the necessary knowledge and understanding of the various themes. However, I notice that there is a flaw in the system. We are given 2 hours a week for our discussion, but that is seldom the case. Giving some buffer time for the class to get ready or calm down after an intense debate, the actual time we have left is probably an hour and a half. With a huge class of 39 students, the discussion can be quite fast-paced. As a result, several points prepared in advanced may have already been expressed by the other students before one gets to speak up. I find that this may prove to be a disadvantage as there may be times where the topic of discussion moves ahead rapidly before one can express his views on the matter, often leading to backtracking. I thus feel that the weightage of class discussion should be reduced and transferred to the reflective journals, where it is easier to analyse the understanding of a student.

In conclusion, CDE has been very enriching for us students to learn about the contrasting ideals and mindsets, and will prove useful in our future careers, but as the saying goes, "Nothing is perfect", and there is always room for improvement. I would like to thank the teachers for their dedication, for nurturing our passion for this module, and for bothering to clarify our doubts patiently in our times of need.

Reflective Journal 4, Term 4

Reflect on the leadership in China. China's ruling Communist elite has brilliantly managed to reform its economy without giving up power. Three hundred million people has been moved out poverty within the last 25 years, and China is currently the greatest producer of coal, steel, cement, and many other materials.

However, these stunning economic reforms are not matched evenly by political reforms. After 2009 December’s contentious Copenhagen climate meeting, China was heavily reprimanded for failure to exercise leadership. But it’s important to consider the speed at which China is evolving into a global leader, and the implications for both China and the world. Despite all these challenges, I feel that the most challenging of all would be to nurture a new generation of leaders that will lead China to the top. Without them, Beijing's public promises of a prosperous, democratic future will go unfulfilled. With predecessors such as Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong to raise the leadership standards, there is a huge burden on the next generation of leaders to perform well.

China's "Fifth Generation" is set to take the reins of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by 2013. The most defining collective experience for these leaders was the hardship of the Cultural Revolution and the resulting missed opportunities for formal education. The Fifth Generation lacks the strong political bonds of previous leadership generations and consists of leaders from a variety of class backgrounds. Their educational credentials differ from the fourth generation, reflecting a shift from technical disciplines to economics, politics, and law. These emerging leaders also have more extensive foreign education than their predecessors. Can they perform the political breakthroughs required for China to be a world leader?

Also important is the issue on democracy. Should China require a breakthrough in democracy to become a world leader? True, it has progressed thus far with the wisdom of its leaders, but can this continue forever? All it requires is one wrong decision by the ruling elite to bring decades of effort to naught. If democracy is to be introduced, however, then more discussion could be made and there could be greater insight into the various issues. It can also be argued that democracy is less efficient than communism with all the discussions causing delays in implementation.

For example, during the 2008 Sichuan Great Earthquake, Premier Wen Jiabao arrived at the disaster area just 90 minutes of the incident. This, and many other measures taken won praise globally for the efficiency and instantaneous response. Compared to Taiwan, during the Typhoon Morakot in 2009, where Taiwan's ruling democratic party Guomintang has been heavily criticized for reacting slowly after Morakot. According to Radio French Internationale, widespread media criticism accused the President of being too proud to ask for outside help from the United States, Japan and Singapore. (http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/116/article_4747.asp)I believe this reflects the efficiency between Communism and Democracy, where communism is capable of speedy responses, unlike democracy which requires much discussions and hence more delays. With that in mind, China should consider if it truly should incorporate democracy into its political system.

Last but not least, we should reflect on what the current (and past) leadership has contributed economically. Chinese President Hu Jintao came into office eight years ago with the ambitious goal of closing a widening wealth gap by equalizing economic growth between the rural interior and coastal cities. Some coastal urban areas fast approaches Western standards of living, while much of the interior remains mired in Third World conditions. And the faster the coast grows, the more dependent China becomes on the money from that growth to facilitate employment and subsidize the rural population.

It is also of no help that some international companies operating in China already are beginning to consider relocating manufacturing operations to places with cheaper labor or back to their home countries to save on transportation costs Chinese wages are no longer mitigating. For example, Foxconn, a contract manufacturer with renowned products such as the iPhone and the iPad, has been pressured to raise its wages to ward of suicides and protests happening this year. This has led to a "domino effect" where other foreign companies based in China are also pressured to raise their wages. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7807903/Foxconn-suicide-factory-raises-pay-70pc.html)

To conclude, China's ruling elite faces many challenges politically, the most pressing matters including the recruitment of the next generation of leaders, as well as the issue of democracy. However, apart from politics, economic reforms still have to be made to resolve the major rich-poor gap in China. The leadership in China has progressed far, but definitely have more room for improvement.

(761 words)