The Singaporean Student (musings part 1)
I have taught hundreds of students but you know what? There isn't a single type. I guess when you are young you hold daily in your heart simple dreams, dreams as yet uncoloured by worldly worries. But then again, I feel more than ever, young people take on the worries of their parents.
Therein lies the problem. I caught something on Discovery Channel last night about the practice of astrology in Tamil Nadu. Fascinating stuff especially when a "religious writer" in the show said that people nowadays are too materialistic, they want to pre-empt all the problems in the future. There are some things, he says, we should not know.
So I have said previously (last week to be exact) that the Singaporean parent is driven by the need to achieve through his/her child. The best of us (parents, that is) have to remind ourselves that our children's lives just aren't about flying through every obstacle we can foresee in their path. There are some things, I say, we cannot know.
Therein lies the problem. I caught something on Discovery Channel last night about the practice of astrology in Tamil Nadu. Fascinating stuff especially when a "religious writer" in the show said that people nowadays are too materialistic, they want to pre-empt all the problems in the future. There are some things, he says, we should not know.
So I have said previously (last week to be exact) that the Singaporean parent is driven by the need to achieve through his/her child. The best of us (parents, that is) have to remind ourselves that our children's lives just aren't about flying through every obstacle we can foresee in their path. There are some things, I say, we cannot know.
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