What is identity to me? I’ve been brought up thinking I’m Singaporean, Chinese and Taoist. These are the most common, basic identifications we are given living in Singapore, perhaps internalized by the government.
I however feel that the Singaporean identity is mostly one united by desire for economic gain. It has existed since the PAP came into power. When we were unceremoniously booted from our merger with Malaysia, the state had to form an identity for the nation-state (as opposed to the people having a common identity and thus forming a nation). It thus formed one that is committed to economic achievement and pragmatism, which has existed till today. The state has created a sense of national pride in Singapore as country which rose from a third world to a first world country, with nothing but the people’s hard work and the state’s administration. This has also developed a shared identity of worrying about jobs and our children’s studies.
The ideology of multiculturalism prescribed by the state (with me being Chinese) which accords equal status to the various races has functioned as a powerful force against ethnic discrimination, thus fostering solidarity. There is a shared fear of racial strife, which occurred in the past.
I feel the state though placing a great emphasis on the material chase, also emphasizes practice of religion in our daily lives. This is because organized religion is “the opiate of the masses”. Religions usually teach conservative values. As such, citizens will be docile and obedient, willing to listen to the state’s policies even if the policies would affect us negatively.
I read an article that was deeply interesting. It was about how neo-Confucianism in South Korea serves to sustain a legitimizing identity in women in South Korea through plastic surgery.
In South Korea, parents offer their children cosmetic procedures as high school graduation presents. 62% of women have undergone cosmetic surgery before. This is built on neo-Confucianism, what I interpret as Confucian fundamentalism suited to our modern times. In Confucianism, the ever-flowing life force called Chi permeates everything. That which flowed through your ancestors’ bodies now flow through yours. But only males have Chi; females are mere receptacles of it. Women are only valued for their bodies as the means of reproducing the larger body – family, society.
Today, neo-Confucianism is the essence of the Korean identity and the state ideology. With consumerist desires and the Korean War idealizing Caucasian bodies as perfect and Asian bodies imperfect, women pursue plastic surgery. As they have internalized the notion that they are bodies and have no selves, and the larger body is more important than themselves, they go under the knife to express sameness; to look alike, not different. The pressure on women to conform to neo-Confucianist rules has turned into pressure to follow this new rule of bodily self-improvement for the unity and stability of the larger body and social harmony. The closer one is brought to the Caucasian ideal, the better her prospects in finding a better job and husband.
References
Ho, Andy. 9 October 2008, “Korean women’s plastic pressures”, The Straits Times, pg A29
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