Teachers in Asia are often perceived to occupy passive roles as citizens, subject to collectivist goals which take precedence over the interests of the individual. This assessment typically stems from a liberal-democratic perspective, which prioritises the individual as autonomous and self-responsible. While many endeavours have been undertaken by scholars outside education research to debunk the simplistic understanding of Asian thinking as passive, there remains a lack of attention to the distinctive features of Asian cultures and thought within the field of citizenship education. This article aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of citizenship education in Singapore, and challenge the perceived passivity of teachers in Asia by exploring--particularly from a Confucian perspective--how a group of social studies teachers made sense of citizenship. We identify three emergent themes from the interview samples: Relationality, Harmony and Criticality and discuss them accordingly.