MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1989 TO 31ST MARCH, 1990
May I suggest to the Member for Potong Pasir that, besides reading the Confucian ethics school textbooks as suggested by Dr Aline Wong, he consult the hon. NCMP on matters related to Confucianism before he makes further pronouncements on the subject. The problem is not a new one. A decade ago, in an attempt to correct the situation, the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Ong Teng Cheong, at the request of Dr Goh Keng Swee, led a Committee to investigate the teaching of Moral Education in schools. This resulted in the publication of the "Report on Moral Education 1979", development of special curricular Moral Education materials and setting up of Moral Education teaching in our schools. Today, 10 years down the line, there is much evidence to suggest that modernization has made even greater inroads into Singapore lives, and there is fear that we may be losing our roots in our culture and our values. Indeed, Mr Speaker, Sir, in the last five months, while there has been much discussion about the identification of core values, and vehicles and methods for their transmission, there has been no one who has stood up to say that we as a nation do not need core values. To identify desirable values and to select from these core values is not an easy one in our multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious society. It is like picking out the prime colours from a colourful mosaic. After the values are identified will come the need to disseminate these values with the aim of establishing them in our society. The first major task given to me on taking office was that of investigating the dissemination of core values. Consultation and discussion with a cross section of the population through the Feedback Unit and with teachers' unions and organizations have yielded a listing of important values and concepts on how these values ought to be taught. Sir, I shall not take up your time with a complete listing of the desirable values identified by our population. Suffice it to say that the listing is available to Members who may be interested. The values identi- fied covered the total societal spectrum, ie, from self, to family, community, the nation and the world. However, it is needful for me to report that many identified the need to consider the following factors when formulating these core values: Firstly, the sensitivities of the different groups in our multi-racial, multi-religious society, each with its particular cherished values and shades of interpretation of the same. Secondly, the need for judicious balance in promoting core values, taking into account the differences between Asian and Western values and influences. Thirdly, the values to be incorporated should go beyond a listing of virtues, but should instead be those principles that are relevant and desirable, and which can be practised in the present-day context. Fourthly, the forging of consensus and commitment to the desirable values takes time. There was consensus that for maximum impact and effective inculcation, values have to be taught young, that means at the primary school level. However, there was much emotion, and some variance, in the discussion of the language in which it was to be taught, with more advocating that core values should be taught in the mother tongue. Grandparents, parents and teachers were also firm in advocating the need for improvement of curricular material and teaching methods, to impart culture, stimulate interest and participation in the value-learning exercise through the teaching of the mother tongue and through the moral education syllabii. Recognizing that values are not only taught but also caught, many expressed the need to teach core values indirectly through the whole school curriculum and co-curricular programmes. It was further emphasized that, as values are inculcated at home, taught and reinforced at schools and practised in society, it is necessary to have the involvement of the whole society, especially the media, in the fostering and teaching of core values to our children. Much public interest was generated recently by the study trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong, resulting in advice from the Member for Moulmein cautioning us not to act impulsively from superficial glimpses, as both Taiwan and Hong Kong are racially and culturally homogeneous societies. We won't. As to his suggestion that we should look in our own backyard, I wish to assure him that the curriculum team is one involved in the Good Citizen programme and three of our own home-grown experts went with me on the study tour. We do not wish to reinvent the wheel. If we are wise, we will learn from those who have done it earlier, and who, in our thinking, have done it well. We can benefit from their experience, and the pay-off accrued will provide us with a headstart, and long-term gains. Our trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong was not intended to identify core values to be taught, but to examine the approaches used by these countries in teaching traditions and values through the primary school, and the outcome of these approaches, and, also, to study their system of training primary school teachers. What did we find? Moral Education in Taiwan's primary schools is targetted at teaching pupils in good habits for wholesome living, fostering in pupils virtues like loyalty, filial piety, kindness, etc, and developing in pupils good character and lofty national sentiments. Mr Speaker, Sir, Members may say that we do almost the same here, and I am in total agreement with them. There is, however, a major difference. In Taiwan, the teaching of morals pervades the curriculum. Besides Moral Education taught in the syllabus, there is moral content in other subject areas, particularly in language teaching and the social studies curriculum. And there are many supportive activities which buttress the teaching, eg, formation of pupil councils, participation in service projects, participation in school cleanliness, assembly talks, etc, and parent education programmes where the pupil's personal conduct, social development, as well as academic progress, are monitored and discussed regularly with the parents. Sir, in teacher education in Taiwan, in the training of teachers, great emphasis was placed on personal development of the teacher, fostering in teachers a commitment to serve as role models to their pupils. The whole environment of the Teachers' Colleges from the dormitories to the lecture halls centres on this theme. Indeed, the central role of the teacher as exemplar contributes to the success of the Moral Education programme in Taiwan. And it is worthy to note that the social status of teachers in Taiwan remains high. Are there problems? Yes, there are problems of internalization of values taught. Some experts spoke to us of the futility of teaching old rules in traditional ways, which tended to produce external compliance and conformity, without the moral maturity and judgment to apply the knowledge gained to current and new situations. To address this problem, current traditional didactic methods commonly used are being replaced in some schools in Taiwan, with more progressive pedagogical methods, and a school we visited, for example, is justifiably proud of the curriculum materials the teachers have developed, using the values clarification approach. A major problem identified was the ubiquitous nature of television and its negative effect on Taiwanese society as a whole. The effects of media explosion in the Taiwanese experience is not dissimilar to our situation. If a country with one single language, race and culture, steeped in value teaching for four decades finds itself vulnerable - how much greater is the problem for Singapore? The media problem has to be addressed if core value teaching and implantation is to be effective. In Hong Kong, as Moral education is not taught as a subject, it was not possible to see the cross-curricular effects, if any, in the short time we were there. We cannot learn from the experience of one country only. We will, as earlier planned, visit Japan to see how moral education is taught and how values are caught, and we will, in time, be making trips to Malaysia and Indonesia to study how the Rukun Negara and Pancasila were formulated and how they are imparted, especially to the young school children. We cannot learn from single study trips alone - it is needful for follow-up work to be conducted. We therefore have plans for short term attachments of some of our principals of schools to schools where moral education programmes are actively and well taught, and practised, so that they can observe during the attachment, and learn from their counterparts and teachers in the host primary schools. We plan to conduct these attachments during the November/ December holidays this year. The teaching of core values is an all-pervasive exercise and our principals will need to feel, see, hear and taste this in practice. We may also invite visiting authorities from these countries to conduct lectures and workshops for our educators thereby tapping on their expertise, and, benefitting from their wide experience in the planning and implementation of the programme. The Member for Braddell Heights has touched on, what I termed earlier, an emotive issue - the language in which core values is to be taught. I thank him for his points and we will take them into consideration in our discussions. At present, core values, through the Moral Education programme, is taught in the mother tongue, which is Chinese, Malay and Tamil in primary schools and, at the secondary level, in the child's most proficient language, which in the case of most schools, is English. Mother tongue languages are generally perceived to have their roots in Asian traditions and cultures and are hence considered suitable vehicles for the transmission of core values. Furthermore, it is the language of competence of more than 75% of our children entering Primary 1. Values education has to fill the hearts of children to do good, and the language which is better in moving this desire is one closest to their hearts, and, in many cases, this is the mother tongue. Mr Chairman, the teaching of core values is, however, not confined to Moral Education lessons alone but also through other subjects like Language, Social Studies, Literature, Geography, History, Art, Music, etc. Even through the hidden curriculum like ECA, cultural activities, school functions and celebrations, pupils imbibe core values. The medium of instruction should, therefore, not be the only consideration for teaching core values in our schools. One point needs to be noted regarding teaching of core values in the mother tongue languages - their use necessitates grouping of pupils along ethnic lines for instruction. This is undesirable since pupils should be encouraged to interact with each other in the learning, developing and practice of our core values. Mr Chairman, Sir, I wish to conclude with a truism. If we have the will, we can and will find a way. Indeed, when discussing the issue with my Taiwan counterpart, he said that while they in Taiwan have a difficult task in Moral Education, we in Singapore have a much, much more difficult path to tread. I believe that we in Singapore have the will to meet the challenge of core values teaching and inculcation and, while the going may be rough, and difficulties seemingly insurmountable, given the will we can succeed.