Abstract The rising of Asian values was spiritual and psychical revolution resulting from the confidence of some East Asian countries¡¦ considerable economic achievement. Asian values were also instinctive defense from losing self-personality or individual particularity in the process of modernization that to great extent means westernization whose relatively liberal elements or individualism may destabilize social harmony. As a matter of fact, Asian values have close relation with some Asian country leaders¡¦ political challenges coming from domestic and international arena. For Singapore, it has inward and outward functions: 1. Inward functions By means of promoting Asian values¡¦ virtue including social order, consensus and community-oriented characteristics, the People Action Party¡]PAP¡^can rule the plural society racially, shape the atmosphere and national culture that the ruling party wants, and soften the tension of anti-Chinese and racial conflict that can be seen usually in Malaysia and Indonesia. On the other hand, domestic anti-governmental power or faction can be under PAP¡¦s control and PAP can maintain it¡¦s political domination. In addition, the priority of the rights of development not only transferred Singaporean¡¦s attention from politics to economy, but also created seemingly economic miracle worthy of admiration. Most important of all, the middle class¡¦s expectation and desire for political participation could be satisfied to some extent by so called good government¡¦s excellent and wonderful performance. As a result, the Asian values could be seen as official ideology and strategy of governance. 2.Outward functions If Asian values could be espoused and preserved by most Asian, Asia will to a large extent get rid of impulse and intervention from western countries, and more autonomous than ever before. Intrinsically Singapore is a tiny country with least resources, territory and people. In geo-political position, Singapore was located in one of the most politically sensitive area in Asia, so it must make good use of diplomatic means. In such view, Asian values would be effective way of survival that can acquire regional countries¡¦ identity and support in Southeast Asia.

Presenting an authoritative one-party rule since fifty years, the case of Singapore does not concord with the various theories of democratization. After proving that Singapore is not a Liberal-Democracy, we argue that the country manages to create a model of stability both in terms of politics and economy, that act as trade- offs to liberal characteristics. The approach uses a qualitative analysis of the electoral framework, a cultural comprehension of contemporary elements and data on its economic success. Ultimately, this thesis aims at studying the idea that Liberal-Democracy is not a model that necessarily needs to be implemented for the functioning of all nations.

Abstract This essay elaborates in a historical perspective on some controversies concerning the human rights conception. The reason why I take a historical perspective as my analytic standpoint lies in the essence of the human rights conception which is recognized as a human-made thing, rather than a natural phenomenon. In other words, the human rights conception is a kind of interpretation, knowledge and narrative. In this essay, I will firstly examine the main changes of philosophical and social conditions influencing the development and evolution of human rights conceptions. After a brief introduction of human rights conception, the following work of this essay is premised on the questions of what might be broadly termed ¡§universalism vs. relativism¡¨, ¡§individual rights vs. collective rights¡¨ and ¡§sovereignty vs. human rights¡¨. Accordingly, it is concerned with focusing scholarly attention on the place of diverse values and cultures in contemporary international society. Besides, I will take ¡§Asian value¡¨ as an object to embody those controversies mentioned above. Briefly speaking, there are four premises on which the ¡§Asian value¡¨ is founded, namely ¡§priority of the socio-economic rights over the politico-civil rights¡¨, ¡§priority of the cultural particularity over the universality of human rights¡¨, ¡§priority of individual rights over collective rights¡¨, and ¡§priority of sovereignty over human rights¡¨. Finally, I will examine the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer. It is argued that the notion of the ¡§fusion of horizons¡¨, which Gadamer derives from the linguistic and nature and historicity of human existence, provides fruitful responses to those competing opinions outlined above. I suggest that an application of Gadamer¡¦s inspiring ideas opens the way to a more convergent and inclusive human rights conception.

Leadership behavior theory and practice¡ÐResearch of the case Leadership behavior Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore. Abstract Leadship capability is not only inherent, it must be created by leaning and training also. And the leadership should have characteristics, which depends on the surroundings. Basically leadership has three types, which are dictatorship, laissez-faire, democratic. A leader must be responsible for his subordinates, team and superintendents. Excellent morality and advanced knowledge are the requisites for a good leader. The goal of leadship behavior is to prevent the troubles about people and things, then furthermore start his career and make contributions to the peoples. Finally he is to earn the sympathy of the crowd and erect his enterprise. The leadership behavior is show of creative intelligence and skill during solving the problems of ¡§people¡¨ and ¡§matters¡¨. It condenses the moral, wisdom, experience, ability and social relationship of the leader and displays the outstanding enchantment and boldness. It depends on the brain to operate powerfully, make use of main theme, depend on concentrate one¡¦s attention. Leadership is an very important intellect, it needs both theory and applications. In the daily life and the process of dealing the human affairs, people experience the tastes of leading and being lead. However, in the history, it is not difficult to find that some leaders are very prominent and bring happiness to human being, while some are very bad, caused masses in anguish and distressed. The public would justify that he is a success or a failure. Singapore is well known as a ¡§garden city¡¨ as well as a lawful nation. The government is famous for it ¡§being small with strength and being capable with uprightness¡¨. The leader, Lee Kuan Yew is the greatest contributor. Although he is criticized as tyrant, arbitrary, authoritative, he had been always persisting in his idea, not excited by the Western merits, advocacy ¡§Asian Values¡¨ and ¡§Confucianism¡¨ executing his ¡§Eastern authoritarian leadership style¡¨. Under his conduct, Singapore changes from head to feet and is praised as a miracle of ¡§politics and economics¡¨ in the world. Surely, that a country is strong or feeble depends on many aspects but the leader with sapience and characteristics of a statesman plays the main role. As is said, ¡§soldiers moves around their general¡¨, a leader constantly creates environments, then the people become accustomed in the district and go with his action as the leader go along with the timely opportunity, topographical advantage and social harmony. Lee Kuan Yew and his elitist cadres established the stable foundation for burgeoning by means of subjugating, candid, sagacious and practical leading style. We can examine the political leadership manner of Lee Kuan Yew carefully¡HHow he exert the leadership ability to confront challenge, break through predicament, overcome troubles and finally win the victory, shows boldness, intelligent resolution, braveness of a statesman everywhere. Anyway we can learn much more from Lee Kuan Yew.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka den påstådda universala naturen av mänskliga rättigheter genom att använda mig av debatten kring asiatiska värderingar, som en kulturrelativistisk teori. De grundläggande argumenten som poängteras av försvarare av asiatiska värderingar är att de asiatiska och västerländska stater tillhör olika kulturer som även skiljer i deras uppfattning av etik och moral, vilket påverkar deras olika uppfattning av mänskliga rättigheter. I argumentationsanalysen kring asiatiska värderingar har jag använt mig utav texter från Xiaorong Li, Amartya Sen, Lee Kuan Yew och Mahathir bin Mohamad, då dessa forskare och politiker representerar åsikterna av de två teorierna jag använder mig utav i argumentationsanalysen, universalism och relativism/kulturelativism. Kopplat till denna debatt diskuterar jag även hur ett större konsensus kring internationella mänskliga rättigheter skulle ske, eller ifall det finns en möjlighet för en nedgång av ett internationellt konsensus. Jag har kommit fram till att argumenten från båda sidor i diskussionen presenterade i denna studie har fört fram viktiga åsikter som är av stor betydelse för framtida samarbete mellan stater. I studien framgår det att ett större konsensus (och därför större respekt för mänskliga rättigheter?), kan skapas ifall vi skapar internationella plattformer för diskussion kring kulturella skillnader. Jag har också kommit till slutsatsen att vi förmodligen inte kommer att se en nedgång av konsensusen kring mänskliga rättigheter utan snarare en utveckling av dem. / The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the alleged universal nature of human rights by using the Asian values debate as a cultural relativistic theory. The basic arguments emphasized by defenders of Asian values is that Asian and Western states belong to different cultures that also differ in their perceptions of ethics and morality, which affects their different perceptions of human rights. In my argument analysis on Asian values I have used texts by Xiaorong Li, Amartya Sen, Lee Kuan Yew and Mahathir bin Mohamad. Their opinions regarding the debate will come through in the analysis where they represent two different perspectives on human rights, i.e. universalism and relativism/culture relativism. After the analysis I discuss how an even greater consensus on international human rights would develop and if there is a possibility for a decline of an international consensus.I have come to the conclusion that the arguments from both sides of the spectrum have put forward key arguments in this study that are of great importance for the future cooperation between cultures. The study shows that a greater consensus (and therefore greater respect for human rights?) can be created if we develop an international platform for discussion of cultural differences and I have also come to the conclusion that we probably won’t see a decline of the consensus surrounding human rights but rather a development of them.

This Master’s degree thesis analyses the generational cleavage present in the South Korean electorate, according to the results of the 18th presidential election that took place in December 2012. The focus of the thesis is on the changes of political ideologies and the generational change within the past decade, since the shift within electorate’s political orientations has exposed the slowly emerging generational cleavage. The object of the thesis is to find out whether there really is a generational cleavage within the Korean electorate and if so, what are the main reasons behind it. The object is being pursued by using descriptive analysis of primary and secondary sources and an in-depth interview with open questions. / Šis magistro laipsnio baigiamsis darbas tiria kartų skirtį Pietų Korėjos respublikos visuomenėje pagal 2012 m. gruodžio mėnesį įvykusių aštuonioliktųjų prezidento rinkimų rezultatus. Pagrindinis dėmesys yra telkiamas politinių ideologijų pokyčius ir kartų kaitą praėjusiame dešimtmetyje, kadangi elektorato politinių ideologijų pokytis išryškino pamažu atsirandančią kartų skirtį. Pasitelkiant aprašomąją pirminių bei antrinių šaltinių analizę bei giluminio interviu metodą atviro tipo klausimais siekamas darbo tikslas – išsiaiškinti ar Korėjos elektorate tikrai pasireiškia kartų skirties fenomenas ir jeigu taip, kokios yra jo priežastys.

This research was inspired by a pressing question which formed the main aim of the current study--What factors contribute to the differential academic performance of adult learners in the formal setting in Malaysia? It is hoped that by addressing this question, insights obtained may be useful for the Malaysian policy makers in attempting to implement the government's initiative--Malaysia Vision 2020. The current literature informs that in order to achieve the desired goals, Malaysian adult learners, must now more than ever be conscious of the effect of learning values and approaches to learning. Hence, there is a need to develop a more holistic understanding of the interrelated dynamics between learning values and approaches to learning. The current study adopts a transdisciplinary, etic/emic approach, using two culturally sensitive questionnaires, Revised Study Process Questionnaires-2 Factors Malaysia (RSPQ- 2FM) and Learning Values Survey (LVS) on 858 Malay and Chinese adult learners in Malaysia. The study found the significant others can have substantial influence on the 'face value' for both Malay and Chinese adult learners generally, but was more pronounced for the Malay adult learners. This in turn may encourage Malay adult learners to submit to pressure from others in influencing how they perceive the importance of learning and motivation in learning. Because Malay adult learners are constantly driven by external factors to compete with other cultural groups in education or economic achievement, they may tend to avoid challenging tasks such as deeper approaches to learning in order to rapidly achieve their immediate learning goals. Engaging with deep approaches and meaningful learning are effortful and the pressure to save face may result in the likelihood of adopting surface approaches. This coupled with the finding that they do not appreciate the middle way principles as much as the Chinese adult learners suggest that they may be less flexible and/or pragmatic learners. The findings suggest that practice of middle way principles (such as 'Willing to compromise one's own values to suit the situation/issues when I learn') can indeed enhance certain positive learning approaches which implies that Malay adult learners may be disadvantaged in the learning settings due to their lack of appreciation of the middle way principles. It is also interesting to find that Malay adult learners appreciate time factor more than their Chinese counterparts when engaging with Deep Approaches to learning. In contrast, the middle way principle practiced as a way of life by the Chinese culture has made Chinese adult learners more malleable, resulting in a relatively less face conscious cultural group. Being less externally driven and less restrictive, Chinese adult learners are more likely to adopt deep approaches to enhance meaningful learning. In addition, the Chinese culturally ingrained learning approach, Understand and Memorization was found to be more likely to produce positive learning outcome. Unlike their Malay counterparts, Chinese adult learners view work experiences more essential in helping them to engage with Deep Approaches to learning. The above findings are novel and add to previous studies on approaches to learning by introducing the effect of learning values. While previous research has referred to cultural variable in learning, they have not sufficiently explored the effect of culture. Learning values is one significant cultural variable that is considered in the study. The findings underpin the different emphasis placed by the two cultural groups as they engage with professional development activities. It is hoped that by identifying values pertinent to learning in this competitive globalized economy, the study has provided insights for Malaysian policy makers to develop holistic future education plans to assist in achieving Malaysian Vision 2020. Insights gained can also support plans where Malay can be encouraged to become competent global leaders and workers, capable of competing in this knowledge economy.

Researchers have identified significant relationships between parenting styles and child outcomes. However, these associations might vary in different cultures because parenting behaviors could link to cultural values. Additionally, understanding the cultural values of parents would help researchers better understand the reasons of parents’ behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between parental Asian values, parenting styles, parenting practices, and child outcomes. Parents of preschool-age children (N = 273) from Taiwan completed a series of parenting values and parenting behaviors questionnaires. Teachers rated child prosocial behaviors, modesty, sociability, and impulse control. Results revealed that some domains of parents’ cultural values were associated with parenting behaviors, and in turn, associated with child outcomes. Maternal and paternal effects varied. These findings suggest that researchers or practitioners should not simply assume the relationship between certain parenting behaviors and child outcomes are the same across cultures.

Résumé La démonstration qui est ici à l’œuvre s’apparente, dans une certaine mesure, à celle qu’élabore Amartya Kumar Sen dans 'The Argumentative Indian'. Dans cet ouvrage, Sen discute de l’héritage intellectuel et politique de l’Inde et de la manière dont cette tradition est essentielle pour le succès de la démocratie et des politiques séculières de l’État indien. Pour notre part, nous ne nous intéressons point à l’Inde, mais à la Chine, notamment à l’héritage intellectuel, politique et moral des lettrés confucéens de l’Antiquité chinoise et à la pertinence de revisiter, aujourd’hui, la réflexion confucéenne classique pour mieux penser et fonder les droits humains en Chine. Plus précisément, notre réflexion s’inscrit au sein du débat contemporain, qui a lieu à l’échelle internationale, entourant les soi-disant valeurs asiatiques et les droits humains. Pour les partisans de la thèse des valeurs asiatiques, les valeurs asiatiques seraient associées au modèle de développement dit asiatique, lequel se distinguerait du modèle « occidental » en étant en outre réfractaire aux droits humains. Ces droits ayant une origine occidentale et étant, à maints égards, en rupture avec les valeurs asiatiques, ils ne seraient ni souhaitables en Asie (notamment en Chine) ni compatibles avec les valeurs asiatiques (spécialement avec les valeurs confucéennes). Dans notre thèse, nous réfutons ce point de vue. Par l’entremise d’une analyse de la 'Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme' de 1948 et d’un examen des quatre textes fondateurs du confucianisme classique que sont : les 'Entretiens' (Lunyu), le 'Mencius' (Mengzi), la 'Grande Étude' (Daxue) et la 'Pratique du Milieu' (Zhongyong), nous démontrons que cette compréhension des choses s’avère injustifiée. Les droits humains ne sont pas incompatibles avec les valeurs confucéennes et leur adoption est souhaitable en Asie (notamment en Chine), tout comme elle l’est en Occident. De fait, la philosophie des droits humains et la pensée confucéenne classique ont de nombreuses affinités conceptuelles, axiologiques et normatives. Loin d’être en rupture, ces univers théoriques convergent, car ils ont tous deux à cœur l’être humain, ses besoins vitaux et son épanouissement au sein de la communauté. Notre démonstration s’appuie, pour une large part, sur l’analyse d’un concept phare de la pensée éthique et politique confucéenne, soit la notion d’humanité ou du sens de l’humain (ren) ainsi que d’une autre notion qui lui est étroitement liée, soit celle de l’homme de bien ou de la personne moralement noble (junzi). / Abstract The demonstration elaborated here is similar, to a certain extent, to the one developed by Amartya Kumar Sen in The 'Argumentative Indian'. In his work, Sen discusses India’s intellectual and political inheritance, and the way this tradition is essential for the success of the democracy and secular politics of the Indian State. For our part, our interest lies not with India, but with China, quite particularly with the intellectual, political and moral legacy of the early Confucian scholars, and the relevancy to revisit, nowadays, Classical Confucian teachings in order to conceive and establish human rights in China. More precisely, our reflection lies within the contemporary debate, which takes place on an international scale, surrounding the so-called Asian values and human rights. For the advocates of the Asian values thesis, Asian values would be associated with the so-called Asian development model, which would distinguish itself from the « Western » model by resisting for instance human rights. These rights, having a western origin and being, in many respects, in breach with Asian values, would be neither desirable in Asia (particularly in China) nor compatible with Asian values (specifically with Confucian values). In our thesis, we refute this point of view. By the intervention of an analysis of the 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' of 1948 and an examination of four texts founders of the Classical Confucianism who are: the 'Analects' (Lunyu), the 'Mencius' (Mengzi), the 'Great Learning' (Daxue), and the 'Practice of the Mean' (Zhongyong), we demonstrate that this understanding of things is unjustified. Human rights are not incompatible with Confucian values and their adoption is desirable in Asia (including China), quite as it is in Western countries. Actually, the philosophy of human rights and the Classic Confucian thought have numerous conceptual, axiological and normative affinities. Far from being in opposition, these theoretical views converge, because they both care about the human being, his vital needs, and his self-fulfillment within the community. Our demonstration leans, for the most part, on the analysis of a key concept of the Confucian ethical and political thought that is the notion of humanity, or humaneness (ren) and the closely related notion of gentleman, or morally noble person (junzi).

This master thesis deals with the current situation of the media environment in two selected countries from the Southeast Asia region - Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and Singapore. The main object of the text is to create a descriptive analysis of Hong Kong's and Singapore's political and media systems and to compare the media environment of the two countries with a special focus on the freedom of the media. The comparison is based on the definition of their political systems, their constitutions and how they are respected, as well as on data published by international nongovernmental organizations focusing on the freedom of the press and the freedom of the speech. All findings will be illustrated with examples from Hong Kong and Singapore. The work is divided into four chapters. The first theoretical part defines basic terms and indexes, which measure the freedom of the press, as well as outlines the concept of Asian values and the concept of civil society. The descriptive section provides a brief summary of the history and political systems of both countries and introduces their constitutions, laws and power of political leaders. The third part of the thesis concentrates on the media environment of both countries and the role of local media. The...