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
57
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.
By quoting the growing percentage points of the aged in the population, the author seems to imply that____.
选项
A、the country will face mounting problems of the old in future
B、the social welfare system would be under great pressure
C、young people should be given more moral education
D、the old should be provided with means of livelihood
答案
A
解析
题目问:通过引用日益增长的老年人所占人口百分点,作者是在暗示什么?通过阅读文章可知,新加坡正面临老龄化问题,直接体现就是经济活跃者与经济不活跃者之间的比率在下降,这会给国家带来很多严重的问题。第四段“It is that the ratio of economically active people to economically inactive people willdecline.”所以,应该选择A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/qvnO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
1)WriteanessayonWaterShortageinChinaandSuggestionsonRemedies.Thearticlebelowcanbeusedtosupportyourwritingi
AnotherexampleoftheexerciseofpowerbyCongresswastheactionittookduringtheReconstructionPeriodaftertheCivilWar
AnotherexampleoftheexerciseofpowerbyCongresswastheactionittookduringtheReconstructionPeriodaftertheCivilWar
AnotherexampleoftheexerciseofpowerbyCongresswastheactionittookduringtheReconstructionPeriodaftertheCivilWar
Theparentswhospeak______maycausetheirchildrentobecomeconfused.
Intheirworldofdarkness,itwouldseemlikelythatsomeoftheanimalsmighthavebecomeblind,ashashappenedtosomecave
ChaucerhasbeencalledtheFatherofPoetryby______generations.
Naturalistssaythat(thereisevidence)tosupporttheassertion(which)anthropoids,(whetherin)(captivity)orinthenative
Totallyperplexedbythefirstquestionontheexam,hepassedontothesecond.
OneworddescribeswhatmakesSingaporework:discipline.
随机试题
对偶
组织切片可见细胞间隙腺毛的药材是
男同学小陈在课堂上用手机给班上的女同学发短信“曾某,我爱你”,被上课的王老师发现。王老师收缴了小陈的手机,并将小陈的短信向全班同学宣读,同时指责其“思想堕落,道德败坏”。课后小陈要求王老师归还手机,王老师说:“这是罪证不能归还,要交学校教导处。”校长指出
根据所给材料,回答问题。①满足人民基本文化需求是社会主义文化建设的基本任务。必须坚持政府主导,按照_________、________,__________、___________的要求。加强文化基础设施建设,完善公共文化服务网络,让群众广泛亭有免费
中国特色社会主义的发展动力是()。
根据下列文字资料回答问题。2009年1—3月,全国完成房地产开发投资4880亿元,同比增长4.1%。其中,商品住宅完成投资3422亿元,同比增长3.2%,比1—2月提高2.4个百分点,比去年同期回落31.5个百分点。1—3月,全国房地产
大城市的公共运输当局正在同赤字作斗争。乘客抱怨延误和故障、服务质量下降以及车费上涨。因为所有这些原因以及因为汽油价格并不是高不可攀,使得使用公共交通的乘客数目已经下降,增加了赤字。下列哪一项关于使用公共交通的乘客数目和汽油价格的关系被上文所支持?
A、 B、 C、 D、 B
Bysaying"tobehappyeverydayistobenothappyatall",Popmeans______.Thebigpartyoneeveningwasarrangedfor_____
Thispartistotestyourabilitytodopracticalwriting.Youarerequiredtowriteafaxaccordingtotheinformationgivenin
最新回复
(
0
)