In my attempt to put off doing work, I finally got round to reading TIME’s piece on Tiger Moms; y’know, that strict, no-nonsense parenting style that many Chinese mothers adopt? The article opened my eyes to two things – the concept of discipline and China’s undeniable surge.

Being Asian (and Chinese), allow me to clarify that I did not have a Tiger Mom. To be honest, I don’t know of many friends who had such parents. Sure, we were all made encouraged to work hard, and to give our best, but we were never subjected to lost weekends spent on extra-curricular classes or anything like that. Nonetheless, I knew that such parents existed, but I never saw these kids as being any more “tortured” than I was. In fact, I remember ever wondering why my parents never signed me up for those classes. I almost felt like I was missing out on something.

Politically incorrect and supposedly harsh parenting style aside, what struck me most from this piece was this perspective of discipline that I never quite saw until about 3 years ago. Amy Chua, the author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, and the subject of this article says,

By disciplining me, my parents inculcated self-discipline. And by restricting my choices as a child, they gave me so many choices in my life as an adult. Because of what they did then, I get to do the work I love now.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the most disciplined person in the world, heck, probably in my block, even. However, I do believe that discipline is important for success. So growing up, I did what I could to push myself to achieve my goals. They were hardly the most ambitious, but it was what I wanted. Do I regret not being more hardworking? Yes. Am I unhappy with my present situation? Thankfully, no. Because I know I’ve done what I could, and I thoroughly deserve it. And more importantly, I’m happy.

Then there was this bit about the recent results from PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), where students around the world are assessed on their reading, math and science abilities. Look at how China performed:

Is the world finally willing to concede China’s dominance over everyone? The Chinese nationals are better readers than everyone else who supposedly has English as their first language! (Granted, this is not representative of China since it was only conducted in Shanghai. Still!)

I think it’s time for all of us (myself included) to get off our high horses and realise that we need to stop being complacent. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against China’s very rapid success. I’m just concerned that the rest of us have gotten so comfortable that we no longer see the need to work hard, because it is easy to take things for granted and assume that our future will be well taken care of.

And we all know how dangerous assumptions are.

. . . . .

Song of the Day:

It’s The End Of The World, by R.E.M.

I’ve never been too fond of Chinese New Year. I don’t know what it is, but I’m just not a big fan. I love having people over, and when the rellies come, I have a good time being all rambunctious. Then there’s the food, which is always amazing, and incredibly bad for the waistline. But all that aside, Chinese New Year is just a whole lot of “meh” for me. Perhaps it’s the dread of going through the motions and visiting some rellies whom I don’t have much to say to. Or perhaps it’s the fact that we have to time ourselves when we visit families. Seriously, how are we supposed to spend quality time with people when you have a whole list to check off? It just makes the tradition of visiting rellies unfortunately routine, and hardly pleasant.

Sometimes I wish we had all 15 days off. Y’know, like China.

Happy year of the Rabbit, everyone! :)

Song of the Day:

If You Could Only See, by Tonic