On the way to work at 10.30am (that's another story), I witnessed something that was disturbing. A man came up together with a school kid (from St Hilda's secondary school) and was trying to ask him for directions (in Mandarin). They were sitting directly opposite me. The man must have scribbled something on his little notebook and he was pointing at the book and telling the boy that he needs to get to Buona Vista MRT, he wanted to know if it was the right train he had hopped on. The kid had no idea, shrug off to his questions most times, did not even try to see if there was any way he could help but seemed despair. I was on my iPod but I could hear the guy, not that he was loud but I noticed what he was asking. In the end, the man just slump on the chair and gave up. The kid with a nonchalant expression, went back on his earpiece.
I promptly took off my earpiece and said " Sian sheng, ru guo ni yao tao Buona Vista, ni zai tui de che" He was so thankful and immediately sat up.
The immediate thought was: what if it was Nathan or Natasha? I would have so shameful of their little knowledge of singapore and worse, unhelpfulness! this kid could jolly well be like my kids, always being fetched around so they don't really know where does the train lines go. In most cases, parents move nearer to the school their children attends, so that they don't have to travel so *far* and be tired out. We worry so much about children's school results and did not care much about their GK or even allow their survival instinct to run!
when I was younger, I started taking public bus at the age of 8 from Commonwealth to Middle Road. There was this time when me and my sis got lost and we end up at the terminal. The kind bus uncle brought me to another bus and told us where to stop.
Some of my friends argued that it's too dangerous, our time has kind souls but these days, you never know...
Are there too many excuses these days for us to pamper our kids. So much that they are given too much but does not learn how to earn it?
I am as guilty as any parents who pampers but thank God, this is such a good incident that "opened" my eyes to see what is really happening!
Not that I will start to take away lest they suffer withdrawal syndrome, but I would really start to really scrutinise on my givings. It's disastrous to think how painful it'll be for them when they have to vie for themselves and find that they are not at all equipped.
