Would Tensions in Korea Over Warship Sinking Lead to War?

July 18, 2010 at 1:00 am (Current Affairs)

On 26th March this year the Cheonan, a South Korean warship with a crew of 104 onboard, mysteriously exploded and sank almost immediately with a loss of 46 lives. The others were subsequently rescued at sea.

This incident occurred in the Yellow Sea, at a stretch of waters that has been claimed  by both South and North Korea to be within its territorial waters. It lies 16 km from the North Korean coast and 160 km from the South Korean mainland. Regrettably, the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953 did not cover the sea boundary line dividing the two Koreas. Since then tensions had from time to time arisen between both sides and had led to many naval clashes, the latest of which took place barely two months before the sinking of the Cheonan. These waters are rich fishing grounds and are regularly patrolled by the navies of both sides. Also, at the time this war ship was sunk, a joint South Korea-United States anti-submarine naval exercise was being held 75 nautical miles from the scene of this incident, despite objections of the other Korea.

The sinking created a national uproar in South Korea and the finger of accusation was understandably pointed at North Korea. However, the Seoul Government was initially cautious in not wanting to attribute the sinking to the hostile action of  North Korea until more concrete evidence was established to prove that the warship was indeed sunk by them. After the Cheonan was successfully lifted from the seabed, the South Korean Government and its staunch ally the US then convened an international investigation panel, with members representing Australia, Britain, Canada, South Korea, Sweden and United States, to ascertain the cause of the sinking. In late May the panel concluded from the technical and scientific evidence adduced before it that the Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine, similar to the one employed by them in 2003 which the Seoul Government had recovered from the sea.

This finding led to international condemnation of North Korea, especially among South Korea’s allies and countries friendly to them. The North Korean Government emphatically denied their role in this incident and put forth their own theory as to why and how the sinking occurred. China, North Korea’s long time ally also disputed the cause of the sinking which could have been due to the South Korean-American naval exercise activities at the Yellow Sea. An opinion survey conducted in South Korea showed that one in four polled believed that the sinking had nothing to do with North Korea. A research team from the University of Maryland in United States also did not agree with the official findings of the international panel, based on the technical evidence they had relied on.

Armed with the panel findings the Seoul Government  declared that they would take strongest counteractions against North Korea and would defend itself in the event of further military provocation from its arch-enemy. It would also refer this matter to the United Nations’ Security Council with a view to its condemning North Korea over the sinking of the Cheonan and sanctioning international punitive actions against them. The North Korean Government reacted angrily to South Korea’s threat which they denounced as constituting acts of war and  that they would strike back with all its military might and other means at its disposal.

As tensions over the Cheonan episode reached a fever pitch, it did seem possible that a major war could break out between the two Koreas, which might also involve their respective allies, with devastating consequences not only for the two protagonists, but also for the world. Realising the explosive situation and the danger of escalating it, the Security Council urged both sides “to refrain from any act that would further heighten tensions in the Korean Peninsular and it would continue its consultations with both states. Fortunately, sanity prevailed between Seoul and Pyongyang and they had refrained from taking any aggravating actions that could lead to war. With the passing of the ensuing months, the likelihood of war, for the time being, seemed to have receded. However, the strong stands taken by both sides over the warship sinking remains undiminished, pending the outcome of the Security Council’s resolution on this matter.

More than three months after the Cheonan sinking was referred to it by South Korea, the Security Council finally came out with a resolution condemning the sinking of the warship, but did not blame North Korea or any other country as the guilty party. It went on to add that this resolution “underscores the importance of preventing further attacks or hostilities against South Korea”. The resolution had disappointed South Korea and its allies, but was enthusiastically received by North Korea as a “diplomatic victory” for them. Some international political analysts were of the view that the resolution was crafted in this way so as to facilitate the resumption of the long stalled six-party conference between the two Koreas and their respective allies aimed at establishing a nuclear-free Korean Peninsular on terms that would be acceptable to all parties concerned. This prediction was proved to be correct as North Korea immediately confirmed that they would now agree to the re-convening of the said conference that would help bring stability to the two Korean states and elsewhere. After the UN resolution, South Korea and the US reaffirmed that the interrupted naval exercise would be resumed soon, despite protestations  from North Korea and China. We shall wait and see if the danger of war arising from this episode has finally been aborted.

The meteoric rise of South Korea from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War  to become a First World nation in 1980s is matched by only the rise of Japan in Asia in the late 1960s. In 1953 South Korea’s GDP was less than US$100, comparable to the then poorest Asian and African countries. At  more than US$28,000 today, it is not that far behind that of Britain and France which are among the richer countries in Europe. It is also a member of the OECD, a collection of affluent industrialised countries. That is not all. South Korea is now the 12th largest economy in the world, and is among the global leaders in shipbuilding, micro chips, television , mobile phone and motor vehicle productions. Its multinational brand names like Samsung, Hyundai-Kia, LG and others are household names for quality and reliability throughout the world. It also has one of the world’s highest internet and mobile phone users. In the 2007 world financial upheaval, China and South Korea were the first of the major economies to come out of recession and to resume their very impressive economic growth which have continued into the present time.

Unfortunately, Korea is still divided into two separate states, a legacy of WWII. Although ultimate merger between these two ideologically poles apart states has been talked about between the two Korean governments since the last decade, its realisation remains a distant dream and unlikely to be fulfilled for many years to come.

My wife and I had a very enjoyable holiday in South Korea in 1997 in the midst of the Asian Financial Crisis, which adversely affected its economy. It had to be rescued by a multi-billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund in order to get on top of this predicament. To its credit, it came out of this crisis after only one year and was able to pay back the loan without financial strains. We were most struck by its dynamic, creative, efficient and hardworking people and thoroughly enjoyed its scenic beauty and its numerous ancient villages where the traditional way of life still thrives. Our memorable trip there has left a deep impression on us and we look forward to going back there again in the near future. Upon my return from South Korea, I wrote an article of this visit, which was published in Singapore’s Sunday Times in 1997, and I would like to share it  with my readers. It appears immediately after this posting.

Lam Pin Foo

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Preservation of China’s National Treasures Gathering Momentum

June 15, 2010 at 12:00 am (Chinese Culture, Current Affairs, History, Travel)

With a recorded history dating back 5000 years and having one of the largest land masses in the world, it is not surprising that China is well-endowed with varied scenic wonders and a great variety of cultural relics and antiquities that will delight and overawe discerning visitors on a discovery tour of mankind’s longest continuous civilisation. This is despite the fact that  a large number of these man-created cultural and historical relics had already been destroyed in the course of time due to ravages of nature, human conflicts and past failures to maintain some of these as national treasures for the benefit of posterity. Fortunately for China and the world, the saving grace is the abundance of accumulated cultural properties that  are safely buried beneath the ground awaiting discovery to see the light of day again. Although some of these artifacts have already been dug up, much more still remain unknown and undiscovered. In addition to these, a considerable amount of other valuable and rare cultural legacies can still be found in shipwrecks lying below the nation’s territorial waters. All these hidden reservoirs of buried treasures, if and when eventually excavated, will further boost China’s already rich national heritage and cultural standing among nations. Time is on China’s side.

As China becomes increasingly more prosperous since the 1980s, greater national financial resources have been allocated to the preservation and discovery of important historic and cultural relics, both on land and off shore. The resultant successes are evident for all to see. As time goes by, other lesser national monuments and historic relics spread across its vast landscape will also be carefully preserved and restored to their former glory and this will make the country even more alluring to both foreign and domestic tourists. Ever since this country became more tourism-oriented more than three decades ago, foreigners from all over the globe have been flocking there to savour the manifold attractions that this ancient , and seemingly mysterious, land has to offer. Within a relatively short time, China’s tourism and its amenities and facilities have grown tremendously to cater to differing tastes and preferences of their disparate visitors, both from within and overseas. China is now the third most visited country in the world, after France and United States, and is expected to top the list by around 2020.

Another remarkable achievement of China is that, after replacing Taiwan in the United Nations in 1971, it now has 38 World Heritage Sites (WHS) conferred on it by Unesco, a cultural agency of the United Nations. This coveted award covers both natural and man-created attractions which are of unique and universal value to all mankind. They must be preserved and maintained in accordance with the exacting criteria and strict conditions laid down by Unesco and subject to its periodic inspections to ensure their due compliance. Failure of a nation to do so will result in a particular WHS status being forfeited. To date, China‘s 38 WHS are behind only Spain’s 41 and Italy’s 44. However, China also has 30 other sites under consideration by Unesco, more than the number of applications already submitted by any other country. As the third largest country in the world and being an older civilisation than most other countries, my view is that it is only a matter of time before China will earn the accolade of becoming the nation with the highest number of WHS in the world.

In my post of May on the relatively remote Anhui 安 徽 Province in China, I praise this province for winning three WHS, one for scenic beauty and the other two for being well-preserved ancient folk villages surpassing numerous others there and elsewhere in China. They were the reason my family and I spent a delightfully captivating and eye-opening holiday there recently. In this article I will share with you four of these historic villages and unusual monuments, with the hope that you, too, will be inspired to visit these gems of Anhui. Two of these Ming and Qing villages, Xidi 西 递 and Hongcun 红 村, are WHS, the third is a superb collection of rich and famous people’s mansions and the remaining one is celebrated for its unique commemorative archways (pailou 牌楼), unmatched anywhere else in China.

The first sight of Xidi, with its more than 125 well-preserved folk dwellings, clan halls and ancestral shrines, was a feast on my eyes. It was as though I was immediately transported back to the old China of several hundred years ago. All the houses have the distinctive white walls and black roof tiles which enhance their charm and architectural appeal. These houses were built almost back to back to each other, separated by very narrow lanes that sunlight could hardly penetrate. Sewage drains with unpolluted mountain water still run through these back lanes to add to the village’s medieval ambiance. It is a thriving and busy village, with many older folks seated on low stools eating and gossiping, seemingly unperturbed by the throngs of camera-carrying tourists of various nationalities staring at them. Some houses were built as dwellings cum shops, and some of the villagers were still selling traditional hand-made foods, snacks, arts and crafts and souvenirs which are peculiar to this region. Xidi was originally a clan village, with everyone sharing the surname Wang. They still dominate the village today. We spent several hours traversing this stone-paved village, imbibing the ancient feel of the residences of both the humble and the more exalted among them. The mansions of the rich merchants and the retired mandarins are large and elaborately appointed, divided into several sections with open-air courtyards and gardens. They were adorned with exquisitely decorated stone carvings on the exteriors and intricate gold-leaf wood carvings on the doors, columns, beams and wood beds inside, with scenes from historical novels like the Three Kingdoms, Romance of the West Chamber, Journey to the West or with flowers and birds motifs. The rich and famous of old China certainly knew how to live well! The spacious Clan and ancestral halls were the most important landmarks in the village, and important events like weddings, New Year celebrations, funerals, ancestral veneration ceremonies took place here. Xidi truly deserves to be a WHS as it is one of the best preserved ancient villages in China.

Some 10 km away is the other WHS, Hongcun, which has more than 137 old folk residences and communal buildings. For reasons which I failed to fathom, it attracted less tourists than its rival Xidi. It is the more laid-back and less noisy of the two. Its houses and other significant buildings are more neatly laid out and there is a more refined appearance about it. Situated on an elevated altitude, the whole village resembles a pretty picture postcard, with its ancient arched bridges, lotus-filled ponds with gently flowing water, and surrounded by verdant greenery and low-lying hills at the rear. It strikes me as the ideal place for dreamy poets and scholars  to contemplate the meaning of life and to be inspired to compose their best intellectual outpourings! With such a natural and idyllic backdrop, it is no wonder that several of the famed Chinese period films, such as “Crouching tiger, hidden dragon”, were shot on location here. Another interesting aspect of this village is that it is shaped like an ox. The residents liken the hills as its “head”, the two tallest trees on the hill top as its “horns”, the village dwellings as its “body”, the meandering stream that runs through the entire village as its “intestines”, the crescent-shaped ponds at its centre as its “stomach” and, finally, its four arched bridges as its “four feet”. My family and I were completely mesmerised by Hongcun, and we rounded up our memorable visit there by dinning in an 18th century inn that reminded me of the ones I had seen in many a Chinese period films. This village is undoubtedly the most pristinely serene of all the ancient villages that I had so far set foot on in Anhui and elsewhere in China.

The specially created Qian Kou 潜 口 Museum of Ming and Qing residences of well-known Anhui merchants, noted scholars and high-ranking mandarins are both unique in concept and a miniature display of representative architectural styles of houses found in this province. The twenty properties from several counties of Anhui were purchased by the local government from private owners with public funds. They were then physically removed and reassembled in their original structure and appearance at their elevated new home in Qian Kou village. These disparate properties span 15th to 19th centuries. Situated on a hillside and dotting all over the hill slopes, it was a wonderful sight to behold. They give one a good opportunity to compare Ming and Qing architectural styles and building art and the special distinguishing features about them. Just like their counterparts in Xidi and Hongcun, these houses were well built and differently adorned to reflect  the differences in tastes and preferences of the house owners of these two dynasties. Those belonging to the rich merchants tended to be more opulent and loud, with more visible symbols of wealth and somewhat lacking in classical charm, while those of the scholars and mandarins projected classical simplicity and understated elegance. I hope this  successful and innovative initiative of the Anhui government will inspire other provincial governments to set up similar projects in their own provinces to benefit those interested in the history and culture of different parts of this large country.

Tangyue 棠 樾 Village was the country estate of the illustrious Bao family spanning 15th to 19th centuries. Over these centuries, some of its outstanding family members had excelled in public services, scholarship, business and in upholding the Confucian concepts of filial piety, moral rectitude and female chastity. This village is unique in two ways. First, It has the only female ancestral hall in the country to honour one of the family’s female forebears for her exemplary virtue of female chastity. Secondly, the august Baos were conferred an unprecedented seven commemorative archways by the reigning Emperors for their exceptional achievements in the fields of human endeavour mentioned above over an extended period of 500 years.

These two attractions are sufficient magnets that draw numerous Chinese and foreign visitors to this otherwise quiet Anhui village. The female ancestral hall has interesting and moving wall paintings depicting the long years of widowhood of this virtuous lady who bore her fate with fortitude and self-sacrifice and painstakingly bringing up her children successfully to add lustre to the Bao family. Be that as it may, the main reason visitors flock to Tangyue Village is to gaze and marvel at the seven commemorative archways, spread neatly and majestically along a winding path. Measuring about 7 or 8 m high, these richly adorned stone archways have inscriptions reciting the life and achievements of the personage so honored and the year in which it was erected by royal command. These were conferred upon the Bao family members in recognition of their loyal and significant services to the state, high scholarly attainments, moral rectitude and integrity, filial piety, female chastity and for supporting charitable and other public causes generously. In practice, only the Emperor himself can sanction the erection of a commemorative archway, usually on the petition of the local government where the recipient of the honour resided. Once the petition is granted, the recipient would, at his own expense and in compliance with the format approved by the local authority, erect the archway. In exceptional cases, which applied to one of the seven Bao family archways, the Emperor would personally approve the allocation of  public fund for this purpose. As a further royal favour and esteem for this family, the Emperor had commanded that Court officials of all ranks must dismount from their horses before proceeding to view these Tangyue archways. The Bao family’s record of attaining seven commemorative archways had never been equalled or surpassed by any other family in Chinese history.

Besides these four contrasting historic landmarks I have mentioned above, there are many other ancient villages and towns in Anhui province that will also be of interest to visitors, not forgetting the world-famous Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), one of China’s foremost tourist spots, which is only about one hour by road from these places covered in my article. I hope you will find time to visit them like my family and I did. It was a delightful experience which I will remember for many years to come.

Lam Pin Foo

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Ancient Chinese Examination System Made Relevant

April 30, 2010 at 12:00 am (Chinese Culture, Current Affairs, History)

This article first appeared in the Singapore Straits Times on 16 March 1996.

There are few countries that can surpass China in its long tradition of according the highest respect and honour to scholars. The epitome of this tradition is the awe and reverence in which China’s premier sage and scholar, Confucius (551-479 BC), is held by successive generations of Chinese everywhere. His teachings permeate every aspect of Chinese life, 2,500 years after they were first enunciated.

In its long recorded history that spans over 5,000 years, China had traditionally placed scholars at the top of the social hierarchy. This was followed by farmers and labourers, with the merchants occupying the bottom rung. In Imperial China, the most worthwhile calling was to be a civil servant, which was dominated by men of letters steeped in the Confucian tradition. On the other hand, the merchant class was despised as money-making was equated with exploitation and therefore anathema to the Confucian value system.

While Chinese history is replete with instances of military adventurers and other “lesser breeds” mounting the dragon throne through military successes, it was inevitably the scholar-bureaucrat who was called upon to administer the affairs of state and to formulate policies in the emperor’s name for compliance throughout the extensive empire. They were recruited primarily from amongst the literati – men with a classical education who became the custodians of the Confucian value system. It requires its adherents to have moral rectitude and integrity. In a society where every facet of community life came under the state purview, civil servants enjoyed more powers and prestige than corresponding positions in the armed forces and the private sector.

The story is often told of Liu Bang, Founder of the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), who once boasted that, as he had conquered China on horseback, he could rule the country without the help of Confucian scholars. He was promptly cautioned that this would mean disaster; and that, to govern China effectively, the services of Confucian scholars were indispensable. This sentiment is echoed in the Doctrine of the Mean, one of the Confucian classics: “When men of right calibre are available, government flourishes; and when they are not, it declines.”

As early as the Zhou Dynasty (1026-221 BC) rudimentary methods already existed for selecting talents for the state bureaucracy. However, recruitment based solely on competitive written examination was first introduced during the Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD) and became well established during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD). According to historian Northcote Parkinson, author of the famous book called Parkinson’s Law and one-time Professor of History at the University of Malaya in Singapore, the Chinese examination system was once so extensively copied by the other nations, including the West, that few people realised its Chinese origin. It predated the beginning of the European competitive written examination system by more than 1200 years. France was the first to study the Chinese system and introduce it in 1791. Germany followed in 1800, Britain in 1855 and United States in 1883. It was adopted in Korea, Thailand and Vietnam even earlier.

The principal advantage of the Chinese system was that it enabled the selection of civil servants on merit, rather than on the nepotic or corrupt basis that is usually a tempting alternative. Prof Parkinson contended that, whatever the faults of the competitive written examination, it certainly produced better results than any other method that had been attempted since. The competitive examination system had gripped the imagination and excitement of the Chinese people since its inception.

Many parents would make great sacrifices in order to ensure that their children have a good education which would prepare them adequately for the Civil Service. Such a practice would, of course, not appear strange to today’s East Asian parents, many of whom are firm believers in the Confucianist emphasis on education. What better testimony to this than the flourishing tuition industry, one of the most dynamic throughout East Asia?

The passing of competitive examinations was crucial to success in officialdom. It was not uncommon for candidates to spend years, sometimes even decades, in order to pass these examinations. Those in dire financial circumstances were supported by their families, or even by the entire village. A succesful scholar would bring great honour to his family and village.

The traditional Chinese regard for scholarship percolates beyond China, and has spread to the homes of the Overseas Chinese and to other East Asian countries. In Singapore, Chinese Singaporeans’ benefactions to education abound. Among those who will always be remembered for their munificence include Tan Kah Kee, Tan Lark Sye, Aw Boon Haw, Lee Kong Chian and Runme Shaw. The latter two were also founders of the Lee and Shaw Foundations, which still actively support education in Singapore today.

As in many other East Asian countries, the Singapore Government and people are imbued with the Confucian respect for education. A large amount of public funds have been expended on improving the education system. Schemes are developed to encourage continual educational improvement, such as the ability to withdraw the Government CPF funds for the purpose of further education.

While Singapore’s civil service is a legacy of colonial rule, the Confucian heritage has played an important role in making it among the finest in the world. Today, it attracts a good proportion of Singapore’s top talent pool into its fold. Much that is hailed, and at the same time controversial, about the Singapore scholarship system, has antecedents in the Chinese imperial Examination system. For instance, Singapore’s elite civilian Government service, the Administrative service, is today selected primarily from among Scholars. Administrative officers, some 200-strong, occupy key positions at Ministry headquarters such as permanent Secretary, deputy Secretary, divisional Directors and deputy Directors. A scholar fresh from University could begin his career as an Assistant or Deputy Director, whose views would be considered by his Permanent Secretary and Minister. By his late thirties or early forties, the most able administrative officers would have made it to permanent secretary. A few have even been picked for political office and elevated to ministerial positions.

On the positive side, such an accelerated track enables the Government to motivate and retain the best and most ambitious of the annual crop, thus assuring political leaders the continual availability of top quality advice and implementation. The counter argument has, however, always been the unfairness and elitism of selecting so many of the nation’s top civil servants largely on the basis of academic results early in life.

Whichever side one falls on this debate, one cannot help but see the striking similarity between Singapore’s system of scholar-administrators and the Chinese imperial Examination system. The latter was clearly also a system where the top office-holders in government were selected on the basis of examination performance. Another common thread was social mobility.  Just as top positions in the Singapore Civil Service are open to all eligible candidates regardless of their social background, religion or race, top candidates in Imperial China also came from all regions and walks of life. Just as many of Singapore’s prominent civil servants are sons of clerks, shopkeepers and taxi drivers, many of the emperor’s leading advisers had similarly modest antecedents.

What are the special features of the Chinese examination system?  The Chinese competitive examination system had undergone changes in each dynasty. The system described below is that of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

  • First, the would-be scholar must pass a County Examination and earn the title of Xiu Cai (Cultured Talent), probably comparable to a Bachelor’s degree.
  • The next hurdle would be to get through the Provincial Examination.  The successful candidates would then become a Ju Ren (Exalted Man), corresponding to a Master’s degree.
  • The Metropolitan Examination was conducted in the Chinese capital, Beijing, triennially. It was spread over three days of three sessions each.  The candidates must be knowledgeable in Confucian classics and the works of the other sages such as Mencius.  They would write a total of fifteen essays of classical themes including the art of government and current political problems. In addition, they would also compose a poem of eight couplets.
  • The examination would be held in a gigantic examination complex, with a tiny cell allocated to each candidate. He would write, eat and sleep in it until the ordeal was over.
  • Those successful (about three per cent of the candidates) would be conferred the title of Jin Shi (Finished Scholar), equivalent to a Doctorate degree.
  • The final lap was for all Finished Scholars to be invited to sit a Palace Examination, to be conducted with aplomb and ceremony in the august presence of the Son of Heaven. They would compose an essay in a single session, on a political or administrative subject to be personally selected by the Emperor.
  • The examination scripts of the top ten candidates would be submitted to the Emperor, who had the ultimate prerogative to either confirm or alter the examiners’ recommended rankings.

There had been isolated instances where the emperor did revise the rankings, sometimes for whimsical reasons. The Emperor would personally announce the names of the top three candidates. They would be conferred the most coveted titles of Zhuangyuan (Premier Scholar), Bangyan (Second Scholar) and Tanhua (Third Scholar) respectively. They would be groomed for the highest civil offices in the land. All the other Finished Scholars would be offered a variety of lesser appointments in the various provinces.

Two Southern Chinese provinces, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, had the distinction of having produced the highest number of Zhuangyuans than any other province. Among the Zhuangyuans who had become household names in China are:

  • Guo Zhiyi (a renowned Tang Dynasty general who combined brains with brawn)
  • Wang Wei ( a celebrated Tang Dynasty poet)
  • Liu Gongquan (a leading Tang Dynasty calligrapher)
  • Wen Tian-xiang (the revered Song Dynasty Prime Minister and patriot)
  • Shen Kun (a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty who hailed from Xiuning County in Anhui province)
  • Vung Tunghe (a Qing Dynasty high official and personal tutor to two emperors)
  • Liu Chunlin (the last Qing Zhuangyuan who died a pauper but was highly venerated)

The Chinese Competitive examination system was abolished in 1905. What brought about its demise?

By the late 19th Century the Qing Dynasty was already on the verge of collapse because of rampant corruption and incompetence. It had refused to introduce political, educational and other reforms that were badly needed to make China strong again. This led to aggressive foreign military interventions and the imposition of unequal treaties on China by the victorious powers. They also carved China into their respective spheres of influence with extra-territorial privileges.

The Qing Government then began to introduce the necessary reforms in a desperate attempt to prevent the disintegration of China. Scholars were sent abroad to study in western and Japanese universities. Upon their return, some were given important positions at Court in preference to Confucian scholars. Chinese universities, with syllabi based upon the western model, were established in large cities to cater to the emerging needs of China. Consequently, the importance and prestige of the Imperial Examination system declined as it had become outmoded, leading to its abolition.

How would one appraise the contributions of the Chinese examination system? In its more than 1,300 years of history, it had, on the whole, served China well, despite its many shortcomings. It enabled the nation to recruit the best talents into government administration, more than any other alternative systems could perhaps have achieved. However, because of its inability to adapt to the changing needs of China in the 20th Century, an era of industrial and technological revolution, it had outlived its usefulness and had to be replaced.

What implications does the demise of the Chinese examination system have on Singapore’s system of scholar-administrators? In one word, the answer is probably “relevance”. The imperial system declined because it continued to adhere rigidly to a syllabus of classical texts, when the world clearly required administrators who knew more than that. Similarly, Singapore’s system of scholar-administrators will continue to work well (charges of elitism and unfairness notwithstanding) as long as there continues to be a high correlation between academic performance and success in administration. The Government’s present system of awarding scholarships for a variety of academic disciplines and broadening their exposure through further scholarships in public and business administration at Masters level, is an excellent means of ensuring that Singapore has scholar-administrators who are exposed to the latest ideas in the governance of complex institutions and whole countries. It is unlikely that Singapore’s scholar-administrator system would follow the demise of the Chinese imperial system. As Singapore moves into the information age, the ability to grasp and analyse information would become all the more critical. These skills are the precinct of the scholar. Like it or not, many of these skills do become apparent by the time students are in their late teens.

There is, however, such a thing as a late developer. The challenge for the system would thus be one of fine tuning, of finding ways to identify those who might not have excelled at a crucial examination at 18 or 21, but who can nevertheless make a vital contribution to Singapore’s governance.

Lam Pin Foo

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Compilation of Family History Through Genealogical Records

January 27, 2010 at 1:00 am (Current Affairs, History, Science & Technology)

Genealogy has been defined as the study of family origins and its subsequent history through the compilation of lineages and lists of ancestors. The word is derived from the Greek word for lineal descent. In some ancient civilisations like China, some family histories can reliably date back to more than 2500 years as in the case of its most renowned philosopher, Confucius, whose more than one million descendants are distributed not only in China, but also in South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. In ancient times, the recording of family history would be the preserve and past time of a nation’s monarchs. This practice was later emulated by its nobility and other prominent personages. In more recent centuries, when awareness and interest in the value of genealogy became more widespread internationally, more and more families began to see the needs to trace their family roots as part of their heritage.  Be that as it may, to trace a family history from scratch is a complex process that requires painstaking and persevering efforts on the part of the various extended family members to work as a team and a leader to coordinate the data collected and to render them into an easy to digest format , especially when numerous families nowadays are spread in different parts of the world. It also requires changes in the family composition due to births, deaths and marriages to be brought up to date periodically. The unenviable tasks involved for such an undertaking have often discouraged the faint-hearted families from doing so. In the light of this, most families anywhere can, at best, trace their roots to no more than five or six generations.

Recognising that the keeping of genealogical records had become an established international practice, there had been several attempts aimed at reaching an international agreement on a common method of compiling it for universal application. This culminated in the first International Congress of Heraldry and Genealogy, held in Spain’s city of Barcelona in 1928, with only limited degree of success. However, it had aroused greater public awareness in this fascinating subject. A further boost to genealogy came from the well known African-American author, Alex Haley, when he published his novel Roots in 1957. Consequently, more and more people in his country and elsewhere, especially in immigrant societies like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, were moved to the need to finding their roots and cultural heritage. In this regard, it is fortunate that some overseas Chinese families still possess copies of their family’s genealogical records, which have been handed down to them by their ancestors. The more elaborate of these would not only record blood ties among them and their distant ancestors in China but also their migrations to other countries, as well as significant historical events and family achievements. The tremendous value of such a document will enable them to trace and locate their relatives whenever the need arises.

Because of the widespread destruction of family and clan genealogical records during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976),  the Chinese Government in 1988 found it necessary to set up the Chinese Genealogical Research Centre in Taiyuan in Shanxi province in order to encourage the revival of this time-honoured practice, which is an integral part of China’s cultural tradition. The Guo Clan of Singapore was one of the overseas Chinese groups to appeal to them in 1991 for help to trace the clan’s  common founding ancestor. After a year’s research work, the centre succeeded in confirming that this clan’s common founding ancestor was none other than Guo Zhiyi, a prince and hero of the Tang Dynasty (618-917), whose descendants then numbered more than 10-million in China alone and numerous others were scattered all over the world. The centre’s director, Pro Li Ji said: ”Genealogy is an important part of the historical and cultural heritage of the country, as it records the blood relationships of human beings and relates to such areas as sociology, ethics, history, ethnology, folklore and economics.”

In recent months, two interesting media reports on family histories made international news: one concerns a Eurasian Singaporean, Kevin Shepherdson and the other Warren Buffett, an American billionaire and philanthropist and  President Barack Obama of United States. At the launch of Mr Kevin Shepherdson’s book, Shepherdsons around the world, unite! , the writer disclosed that,  after a decade of painstaking research at libraries, archives and history centres in this region and in Britain to ascertain his family roots, he finally succeeded in piecing together that all the Shepherdsons in Singapore and Malaysia are descendants of two English merchants, Captains Robert and Matthew, who had come to Singapore from Britain during the 19th century, married local women and raised their families there. He further discovered that their British ancestors had links to England’s 14th century King Edward III. Another surprise came when the media report revealed that through the study and research into the family trees of these two prominent Americans, an American genealogical research firm has established that both Buffett and President Obama are seventh cousins three times removed. The famous pair had a common ancestor in a 17th century Frenchman, Mareen Duvall, who had migrated from France to America in the 1650s. He is therefore President Obama’s ninth great-grandfather through his mother side , and the sixth great- grandfather of Mr Buffett. These findings must have stimulated even greater interest in genealogy worldwide. This is good for genealogical studies and should spur more people to take an enhanced personal interest  in their own family origins.

This reminds me of an article on this subject that I wrote in 1996, which was published as an essay in Singapore’s national English language daily, the Straits Times under the caption “Tracing one’s roots through the family tree”. I now have much pleasure to share it with my readers immediately after this posting.

Lam Pin Foo

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