Most young, single Singaporeans live with their parents. But some are moving into their own places as social norms (规范) develop.
When Alan, a civil servant willing to challenge and reform this conventional stereotype (陈规), decided to move out of his family home in Singapore, it still took the 27-year-old a month to talk about the topic with his parents. He feared they wouldn’t understand. After all, Alan’s home was a pleasant place. The family’s three-bedroom condominium (公寓) wasn’t far from the city-state’s central business district. There was homemade dinner on the table each night, and his laundry was always done for him. “There wasn’t a push factor, just pull factors,” he says. “I’d lived with my parents my whole life, so I just wanted to experience what it’s like being by myself, you know?”
In the West, leaving home is just another milestone in adulthood. Yet in most Asian societies, things are different. Culturally, moving out is sometimes considered as showing disrespect to your parents, which makes it even challenging and praiseworthy. In Singapore, living at home until marriage is a common practice; an estimated 97% of unmarried individuals lived with their parents in 2013.
While the trend is in part driven by deep-rooted ideas of filial piety (孝道), it’s also linked to government policies on accommodation for young people. Most Singaporeans live in public housing units, apartments funded by the state that are known as HDBs. About 90% of those who live in HDBs own their home.
Those who can’t buy HDBs can rent via the private property market — but costs are much higher. “These cost restrictions,” says Dr Chua, a professor of sociology, “effectively keep most young, unmarried people living at home with their parents.”
Yet Alan, who now rents a flat in Hougang with two friends from junior college, is among the courageous young pioneers resisting the long-time cultural norm. These commendable young people are deciding that the price of the freedom to organize their own life is worth it and stepping out of their home.
4. What can we know from the second and third paragraphs?
A.The East and the West are very different in most aspects. |
B.Alan decided to live separately mainly due to some objective reasons. |
C.The majority of single young people followed social customs in living in 2013. |
D.In the East, it is culturally acceptable for the young to live separately from the elderly. |
5. What mainly causes most single young people to live with their parents in Singapore?
A.Their parents’ expectations. | B.Their personal wish. |
C.The home environment. | D.The traditional culture and housing prices. |
6. What is the author’s attitude towards the young Singaporeans like Alan moving out?
A.Confused. | B.Positive. | C.Indifferent. | D.Doubtful. |
7. What is the best title for the text?
A.Young Singaporeans’ Relationship with Their Parents |
B.Young Singaporeans Fighting Against Old Social Customs |
C.Young Singaporeans Striking Out Their Way to Independence |
D.Young Singaporeans’ New Way to Solve High Housing Prices |