This entry was inspired by my professor, who, during a lecture, reminded us that for all of the Singapore government’s rhetoric about Asian values, they are not true to their word.

It was a media law class I attended, and she took issue with our Singapore leaders’ constant assertion that the Western style of “confrontational journalism” is not appropriate in Singapore. I had previously written an entry responding to PM Lee’s recent assertion that the media should improve lives without being “aggressive”.

Well, it is perhaps true that confrontation and aggressiveness are not typical characteristics of Asians (well, the term Asian is problematic, but that’s discussion for another day). Asians tend to believe in harmony over everything else. Yin-yang is a popular Asian (well, it’s more of a Far Eastern concept) about harmony. It is an Asian concept that espouses harmony, and by extension, it can qualify as a symbol of harmony, which is presumably an Asian value.

For the uninitiated, let’s take a look at the yin-yang symbol below:

 

Yin-Yang Symbol

Yin is a feminine in nature, while Yang is masculine in nature. In the yin-yang symbol above, there is equal proportion of black and white, indicating an equal proportion of the feminine and masculine. This is what makes the yin-yang symbol a sign of harmony. It’s because there is balance between the two extremes.

What has this got to do with journalism? Well, my opinion is that Singaporean mainstream media is in a state of yin-yang imbalance. There’s too much positive news and not enough negative news. In my opinion, too many stories paint a rosy picture of our PAP dominated government. I rarely see strong political criticisms or alternative views that are different from the government rhetoric being published.

The way I see it, so much for our Singapore government claims of being Asian. Yes, we believe in harmony, but to achieve harmony, we need balance, as evident from the concept of yin-yang. Too much of something is not good at all. I used to think that the whole Asian values argument might have an ounce of truth, but with this gentle reminder by my professor, I think the argument sounds very shallow now. I fail to see which Asian value promotes lack of diversity of opinions.

And of course,  by extension, our political system is in a state of yin-yang imbalance as well. Gross imbalance, if I may add. Let’s take a look at the United States. The Democrats have just taken back the House and the Senate from the Republicans. I think that’s a perfect example of the restoration of the political yin-yang balance. The Republicans, having full control of House, Senate and Presidency had the power to make unilateral decisions. The good thing was that they could make decisions without being hampered. The bad thing was that they made alot of bad decisions because they were not hampered. I almost forgot to mention the various scandals that were covered up (or at least attempts were made to cover up) and then exposed.

With an imbalance of political power causing unhappiness and disharmony at various levels, the voters restored the balance bringing the Democrats back in power to check on the previously belligerent and arrogant president.

In Singapore, I think we need some yin-yang balance in our government too. 83 to 3 is really, imbalanced. And certainly, this is not the Asian way of balance and harmony.