首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support one’ s parents. Called the Mai
This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support one’ s parents. Called the Mai
admin
2012-06-18
39
问题
This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support one’ s parents. Called the Maintenance of Parents Bill, it received the backing of the Singapore government.
That does not mean it hasn’t generated discussion. Several members of the Parliament opposed the measure as un-Asian. Other who acknowledged the problem of the elderly poor believed it a disproportionate response. Still others believe it will subvert relations within the family, cynics dubbed it the "Sue Your Son" law.
Those who say that the bill does not promote filial responsibility, of course, are right. It has nothing to do with filial responsibility. It kicks in where filial responsibility fails. The law cannot legislate filial responsibility any more than it can legislate love. All the law can do is to provide a safety net where this morality provide is insufficient. Singapore needs this bill not to replace morality, but to provide incentives to shore it up.
Like many other developed nations, Singapore faces the problems of an increasing proportion of people over 60 years of age. Demography is inexorable. In 1980, 7.2% of the population was in this bracket. At the turn of the century, that figure grew to 11%. By 2030, the proportion is projected to be 26%. The problem is not old age perse. It is that the ratio of economically active people to economically inactive people will decline.
But no amount of government exhortation or paternalism will completely eliminate the problem of old people who have insufficient means to make ends meet. Some people will fall through the holes in any safety net.
Traditionally, a person’s insurance against poverty in his old age was his family. This is not a revolutionary concept, nor is it uniquely Asian. Care and support for one’s parents is a universal value shared by all civilized societies.
The problem in Singapore is that the moral obligation to look after one’s parents is unenforceable. A father can be compelled by law to maintain his children. A husband can be forced to support his wife. But, until now, a son or daughter had no legal obligation to support his or her parents.
In 1989, an Advisory Council was set up to look into ten problems of the aged. Its report stated with a tinge of complacency that 95% of those who did not have their own income were receiving cash contributions from relations. But what about the 5% who aren’t getting relatives’ support? They have several options: (a) get a job that work until they die; (b) apply for public assistance you have to be destitute to apply); or (c) starve quietly. None of these options is socially acceptable. And what if this 5% figure grows, as it is likely to do, as society ages?
The Maintenance of Parents Bill was put forth to encourage the traditional virtues that have to far kept Asian nations from some of the breakdowns encountered in other affluent societies. This legislation will allow a person to apply to the court for maintenance from any or all of his children. The court would have the discretion to refuse to make an order it is unjust.
Those who deride the proposal for opening up the courts to family lawsuits miss the point. Only in extreme cases would any parent take his child to court. If it does indeed become law, the bill’s effect would be far more subtle.
First, it will reaffirm the notion that it is each individual’s—not society’s—responsibility to look after his parents. Singapore is still conservative enough that most people will not object to this idea. It reinforces the traditional values and it doesn’t hurt a society now and then to remind itself of its core values.
Second, and more important, it will make those who are inclined to shirk their responsibilities think twice. Until now, if a person asked family elders, clergymen or the Ministry of Community Development to help get financial support from his children, the most they could do was to mediate. But mediators have no teeth, and a child could simply ignore their pleas.
But to be sued by one’s parents would be a massive loss of face. It would be a public disgrace. Few people would be so thick-skinned as to say, "Sue and be damned". The hand of the conciliator would be immeasurably strengthened. It is far more likely that some sort of amicable settlement would be reached if the recalcitrant son or daughter knows that the alternative is a public trial.
It would be nice to think that Singapore doesn’t need this kind of law. But that belief ignores the clear demographic trends and the effect of affluence itself on traditional bonds. Those of us who pushed for the bill will consider ourselves most successful it acts as an incentive not to have it invoked in the first place.
The Maintenance of Parents Bill_____.
选项
A、received unanimous support in the Singapore Parliament
B、was believed to solve all the problems of the elderly poor
C、was intended to substitute for traditional values in Singapore
D、was passed to make the young more responsible to the old
答案
D
解析
题目考查对“父母保护法案”的理解。通过阅读文章可知,新加坡通过的这项法案,赋予了在道德意义上的赡养父母以法律根据。也就是说,促使年轻人对父母更尽义务。“This month Singapore passed a billthat would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support one’s parents.”所以,应该选择D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/lvnO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Thechild’searliestwordsdealwithconcreteobjectsandactions,itismuchlaterthatheisabletograpplewith______.
Likeanyother(constant)repeatedaction,speaking(hasto)belearned,butonceit(islearned),itbecomesagenerally(uncons
Thedegreeofdownwardslopeofabeachdependsonitscompositionofdepositsaswellasontheactionofwavesacrossitssurf
AnotherexampleoftheexerciseofpowerbyCongresswastheactionittookduringtheReconstructionPeriodaftertheCivilWar
Theparentswhospeak______maycausetheirchildrentobecomeconfused.
Intheirworldofdarkness,itwouldseemlikelythatsomeoftheanimalsmighthavebecomeblind,ashashappenedtosomecave
Inanallergicreaction,theimmunesystemmistakenly______aharmlesssubstanceasaharmfulone.
OneworddescribeswhatmakesSingaporework:discipline.
随机试题
下列各组中,加横线的词属于多义词关系的是()
与检查卵巢性闭经无关的项目是
我国临床最常用哪项检查诊断隐性冠心病
患者,男,58岁,肝痛多年,近日出现腹大,胁下胀满,按之不坚,时有疼痛,纳食少,小便短少,嗳气不爽,食后作胀,苔白腻,脉弦,此属于
患者流产而失血过多,导致月经不调,久不孕,其病在患者久病眼睑开合失司,下肢运动不利,其病在
下列各项中,属于支付结算时应遵循的原则有()。
关于无形资产使用寿命的确定,下列说法中正确的有()。
人民法院主管审理行政案件,对抽象行政行为的合法性进行审查。( )
政府机关组织及其工作人员在政府系统内部以及政府系统与其他社会系统之间,凭借一定的媒介,交流传递政策信息、思想观点,以达到相互理解、协同合作,最终实现政府管理目标的一种管理活动和过程被称为()。
(2021年四川)下列选项中,与党的十九届五中全会精神相符的是()。
最新回复
(
0
)