The Confucian tradition of respect for the aged shows signs of eroding in one famous island-state. Alarmed by the number of elderly citizens facing financial distress, Singapore legislator Walter Woon has proposed a law permitting parents to sue their offspring for support. Many see the bill thought likely to pass as a cynical effort to shift the cost of caring for the elderly from the public to the private sector. Others resent what they see as an attempt to legislate filial responsibility. Said Lim Siew Imn, a middle-aged mother of two: “We certainly did not bring children into this world just to have them around to look after us when we are old!” Complained a Singaporean in her early 20’s: “The government has such a negative view of youth. Everything we do is wrong.”
