Asian Values: Do they exist?
On the face of it, the existence of ‘Asian Values’ seems illusory. After the humiliation of the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, the sounding of the death knell for the Asian-values debate seemed imminent. Yet with the recent ascension of China as an economic superpower and similar economic miracles in the East, some began to speculate about ‘Asian Values’ and its inherent superiority in the political, economic and social structures in countries.
‘Asian values’ can be termed as a set of values shared by people of many different nationalities and ethnicities living in East and Southeast Asia. Often seen in the context of religion, Taoism, Islam and Buddhism have fashioned or influenced the basis of many values. Despite some minor differences in the value systems of these religions, they generally agree on certain areas. These include a stress on the community rather than the individual, a reliance on the moral fabric of human relations and conventions, a particular emphasis on thriftiness and hard work, and a respect for political leadership amongst others. In order to examine whether these Asian values still have credence in today’s world, we must look at four areas of study: the influence of globalization, the policies of government, adoption of Asian values into economics, and the changing social fabric of Asia.
