A belated posting
This is something I wrote while in Shanghai but never posted due to the internet blockade. Here it comes with minimum edition.
About children and competition
It's been a while since I last wrote and I do have to apologize. This week will hopefully give to additional insight into the lives of Chinese people by illuminating an area that is important no matter where you are. (see my earlier blog at yunfengli.blogspot.com)
Children take up a lot of the political debate in all countries, mostly because the voting power of the demographic segment "Parents" is so large. Here in China, the reason that the topic is so much discussed at the dinner table owes more to the one child policy that was introduced almost 30 years ago. Now days, it is not as strictly enforced but families usually can't afford more than one child anyway.
The competition is fierce among parents for their child to get into the best schools or sometimes even pre-schools. This has driven up the cost of raising children, not even considering all the extra-curiccular activities that is expected. One interesting phenomenon is house prices is higher in areas with good schools, thanks to rules that only allow children living in close proximity of the schools to attend to them. Thus far, all is according to market forces and all is well.
What is interesting is the psychology behind it all. One common phrase among Chinese parents is "Don't let the kid lose at the starting line". Meaning that it is the parents responsibility to prepare their son or daughter for the lifelong race that they are going to face. This has created a huge market catering to the needs of faint-hearted parents trying their best to put their kid ahead.
Most democratic countries and Sweden in particular would stress the equality for all children and sometimes even for adults. People should rather be sheltered from the harsh reality forever and never need to take consequences for their faulty decision. Somehow, this will lead to a friendlier society but is it really how it works? Is Europe or America really as free and equal as we imagine it to be? We'll just have to accept that these should are be measured in relative terms and different societies need to exist to uphold the scale.
We can attribute part of the difference to much fiercer competition for the Chinese but the simple fact of matter is that parents are no different from each other. I don't believe that Chinese parents love their children more and Swedish ones rather care for other people children and make sure they get a good education. The major difference is that Chinese parents have accepted the status quo while the moral fiber of liberal democratic societies prohibit Swedish ones from doing the same. This has lead to the distinctly different actions taken by both parties.
Both are living under social tabus, one afraid of not caring enough for their children and one of being too selfish. So which way is right for the modern society? I don't know. There probably is no right answer or perhaps both are right. What we need to do is to acknowledge and accept both views. For me, I just know that I should stay away from it all in the foreseeable future.
Your voice, now from Beijing, until next time.
/Y
About children and competition
It's been a while since I last wrote and I do have to apologize. This week will hopefully give to additional insight into the lives of Chinese people by illuminating an area that is important no matter where you are. (see my earlier blog at yunfengli.blogspot.com)
Children take up a lot of the political debate in all countries, mostly because the voting power of the demographic segment "Parents" is so large. Here in China, the reason that the topic is so much discussed at the dinner table owes more to the one child policy that was introduced almost 30 years ago. Now days, it is not as strictly enforced but families usually can't afford more than one child anyway.
The competition is fierce among parents for their child to get into the best schools or sometimes even pre-schools. This has driven up the cost of raising children, not even considering all the extra-curiccular activities that is expected. One interesting phenomenon is house prices is higher in areas with good schools, thanks to rules that only allow children living in close proximity of the schools to attend to them. Thus far, all is according to market forces and all is well.
What is interesting is the psychology behind it all. One common phrase among Chinese parents is "Don't let the kid lose at the starting line". Meaning that it is the parents responsibility to prepare their son or daughter for the lifelong race that they are going to face. This has created a huge market catering to the needs of faint-hearted parents trying their best to put their kid ahead.
Most democratic countries and Sweden in particular would stress the equality for all children and sometimes even for adults. People should rather be sheltered from the harsh reality forever and never need to take consequences for their faulty decision. Somehow, this will lead to a friendlier society but is it really how it works? Is Europe or America really as free and equal as we imagine it to be? We'll just have to accept that these should are be measured in relative terms and different societies need to exist to uphold the scale.
We can attribute part of the difference to much fiercer competition for the Chinese but the simple fact of matter is that parents are no different from each other. I don't believe that Chinese parents love their children more and Swedish ones rather care for other people children and make sure they get a good education. The major difference is that Chinese parents have accepted the status quo while the moral fiber of liberal democratic societies prohibit Swedish ones from doing the same. This has lead to the distinctly different actions taken by both parties.
Both are living under social tabus, one afraid of not caring enough for their children and one of being too selfish. So which way is right for the modern society? I don't know. There probably is no right answer or perhaps both are right. What we need to do is to acknowledge and accept both views. For me, I just know that I should stay away from it all in the foreseeable future.
Your voice, now from Beijing, until next time.
/Y
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