Cultural Relativism

Cultural Relativism

Lee Kuan Yew VS Kim Dae Jung

Is Culture Destiny?

Culture Is Destiny.

Singapore and Republic of Korea

• Both have Confucius culture
• Different leadership styles
• Different local contexts (Singapore independence 1965 VS replacement of military rule in ROK 1987)

Kim Dae Jung

"not to foist their system indiscriminately on societies in which it will not work"

"...family-centered East Asian societies are rapidly moving toward self-centered individualism. Nothing in human history is permanent."

• dissident, human rights activist
• 8th President of the Republic of Korea (1998-2003)
• Nobel Peace Prize recipient (2000) "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular"

Terror of Police State

"Asian governments intrude much more than Western governments in daily affairs"

Ethical Education

Spiritual Values

Culture and the Arts

• Prime Minister of Singapore from Independence to 1990
• took on role as 'Senior Minister' & 'Minister Mentor'
• 'soft' authoritarian regime, 'paternalistic' democracy
• 'poverty to plenty' in terms of economy
• achieve economic growth while retaining political stability & control

Likes: free, easy, open relations between people regardless of social status, ethnicity or religion, accountability

Dislikes: guns, drugs, violent crimes, excessive individualism at the expense of orderly society

Democratic

Institutions

Democratic

Ideals

State of Democracy in Asia

Lee Kuan Yew

"Asia should lose no time in firmly establishing democracy and strengthening human rights. The biggest obstacle is not its cultural heritage but the resistance of authoritarian rulers and their apologists. Asia has much to offer the rest of the world; its rich heritage of democracy-oriented philosophies and traditions can make a significant contribution to the evolution of global democracy. Culture is not necessarily our destiny. Democracy is."

"Let's go around the world to help other anti-narcotic agencies to try and stop the suppliers by paying for helicopters and defoliating agents!"

I think that the value of Human Rights are found in the way the Singapore government runs the country.

"& if they provoke us, we can capture the president of Panama & bring him to trial in Florida!"

Running a country on the basis of Asian values does not necessarily equate to the abandonment of Human Rights.

Invasion of Individual Rights!?!

Are Asian values completely different from Human Rights? Can they be reconciled?

• Man (evil nature) and has to be stopped from doing evil
• Individuals exist in the context of the family (building block)
• xiushen qijia zhiguo pingtianxia
• education (parallel to UDHR Art 26)
• seek government that we will be comfortable with, meets our needs, maximizes opportunities
• one-man, one-vote not necessarily best

"We don't have that option. We

can't go to Burma and capture warlords there! Let's just pass

a law which allows us to detain anyone who is suspected of being under the influence of drugs!"

If culture is destiny, what explains a culture's

failure in one era and success in another?

-Fareed Zakaria

The Myth of Asia's Anti-Democratic Values by Kim Dae Jung

A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew

by Fareed Zakaria