<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Growing up in Singapore: Is it the right place?
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I WOULD like to share my thoughts on one aspect of the issue on having children in Singapore, a topic brought up at the National Day Rally.
For some, perhaps many, middle-class couples, monetary incentives are attractive but not the deciding factor in their choice to have children.
I know of couples who want children, but do not want to raise them in Singapore. These couples have shared with me their wishes for the type of society that their children would grow up in, and the current Singaporean society does not fit the bill. I, too, have a young son and share their concerns.
We are alarmed at the way youngsters are turning out in our society and fear that our children will be under the same disturbing influence, despite their parents' best efforts. For example, I read a letter recently from a young undergraduate who asked for her future employer not to saddle her with 'grunt work' which should be left to her secretary, whom she expects to come with her first job.
The sense of entitlement and selfishness demonstrated by that young woman may have been extreme but I do think that the attitude is commonplace.
We see it in our universities where undergraduates expect lecture notes to be handed to them on a silver platter and for professors to patiently wait for them while they saunter in late for appointments or, worse, expect the professor to be on call at all times in the day.
I've seen it in my younger colleagues who cherry pick their assignments, stroll in late for work, think it is absolutely in their right to do so and question the management for trying to get them to show up on time.
These are just some examples of the prevailing attitudes among the younger generation that my friends and I don't want to see in our children.
Of course, parents play a big part in how children turn out, but we cannot underestimate external factors such as society's influence, peer pressure and the education system. While our education system helps students excel in academics, what sort of values does it promote?
In short, I am less interested (but not totally disinterested) in my son's future grades than I am in the strength of his character and the principles he values. I am hoping he'll grow up in a place that gives him the freedom to pursue his interests regardless of their economic returns. I hope that he will grow up to be compassionate and unselfish, resilient and unafraid of failure, and that he will learn these qualities from his society.
Will Singapore be the place to groom such young men and women? Eileen Aung-Thwin (Mrs)
Eileen Aung-Thwin
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=2427037&authToken=CIxc&authType=nameExecutive Director at Ban Hock Hin Co Pte Ltd and Business Supplies and Equipment Consultant
Singapore
<DL id=overview><DT>Current </DT><DD>
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</DD><DT>Industry </DT><DD>Business Supplies and Equipment
</DD><DT>Public Profile </DT><DD>http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/990/651 </DD></DL>
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I WOULD like to share my thoughts on one aspect of the issue on having children in Singapore, a topic brought up at the National Day Rally.
For some, perhaps many, middle-class couples, monetary incentives are attractive but not the deciding factor in their choice to have children.
I know of couples who want children, but do not want to raise them in Singapore. These couples have shared with me their wishes for the type of society that their children would grow up in, and the current Singaporean society does not fit the bill. I, too, have a young son and share their concerns.
We are alarmed at the way youngsters are turning out in our society and fear that our children will be under the same disturbing influence, despite their parents' best efforts. For example, I read a letter recently from a young undergraduate who asked for her future employer not to saddle her with 'grunt work' which should be left to her secretary, whom she expects to come with her first job.
The sense of entitlement and selfishness demonstrated by that young woman may have been extreme but I do think that the attitude is commonplace.
We see it in our universities where undergraduates expect lecture notes to be handed to them on a silver platter and for professors to patiently wait for them while they saunter in late for appointments or, worse, expect the professor to be on call at all times in the day.
I've seen it in my younger colleagues who cherry pick their assignments, stroll in late for work, think it is absolutely in their right to do so and question the management for trying to get them to show up on time.
These are just some examples of the prevailing attitudes among the younger generation that my friends and I don't want to see in our children.
Of course, parents play a big part in how children turn out, but we cannot underestimate external factors such as society's influence, peer pressure and the education system. While our education system helps students excel in academics, what sort of values does it promote?
In short, I am less interested (but not totally disinterested) in my son's future grades than I am in the strength of his character and the principles he values. I am hoping he'll grow up in a place that gives him the freedom to pursue his interests regardless of their economic returns. I hope that he will grow up to be compassionate and unselfish, resilient and unafraid of failure, and that he will learn these qualities from his society.
Will Singapore be the place to groom such young men and women? Eileen Aung-Thwin (Mrs)
Eileen Aung-Thwin
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=2427037&authToken=CIxc&authType=nameExecutive Director at Ban Hock Hin Co Pte Ltd and Business Supplies and Equipment Consultant
Singapore
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<DL id=overview><DT>Current </DT><DD>
- Executive Director at Ban Hock Hin Co Pte Ltd
</DD><DT>Industry </DT><DD>Business Supplies and Equipment
</DD><DT>Public Profile </DT><DD>http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/990/651 </DD></DL>
