Parenting on Purpose

These past couple of weeks have been crazy for us. First there were the assignments that I had to complete for my postgraduate course, then there were the workshops that we were suddenly asked to conduct, and finally there were the bazaars that we attended to sell our online store items. It was an extremely busy season, and many of our working hours were occupied with meaningful things; that included taking care of our two little boys and managing both their learning and non-academic needs. One morning,  my older son came to me after I had just returned home from an  early class.  "Daddy," he said. "I'm so glad you're home. Can we go to the Gardens by the Bay?" he asked hopefully.  With a sadness in my heart, I replied, "Sorry Z. Daddy has to go back to work later. Maybe after I come back? Oh. Actually Daddy and Mummy have an important meeting tomorrow and we need to prepare. I don't think we can go today. Er.... How about another day?" &q

How do you teach a young child the meaning of "National Day"? How do you even begin to help them understand the concept of what makes a "nation" in the first place?  Even concepts like "country", "history" and "culture" are alien to the mind of a 4-year-old. How then do we begin the mammoth task of helping our children develop a sense of national consciousness that eventually translates to some semblance of national belonging and identity? As an educator, I've developed a technique of helping children learn by using tangible concepts they can identify with. We then take things one step further by introducing new elements, reinforcing these concepts through various pedagogical tools.  To help 4-year-old Z learn about Singapore's National Day, we decided to teach him about one of the country's national icons - the Merlion. While the origins of this national symbol is shrouded in legend, at least it incorporates a ta

The issue of private tuition has again come to the forefront after a senior education official pronounced in parliament that the Singapore education system is "run on the basis that tuition is not necessary". Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Education, added that schools provide "comprehensive levelling-up programmes" as well as remedial and supplementary classes to support weaker students. In the days that followed, mainstream and social media agencies were abuzz with reports from parents and students alike, many of whom disagreed with Ms Indranee's assessment of the education scene. They argued that private tuition is already a multi-million dollar industry, and that its very existence disputes notions that tuition is unnecessary. From the perspective of an educator in Singapore, I can understand the comments made by the Senior Minister of State, especially since it is the responsibility of the Education Ministry to teach our school childre

Brothers Together The little boy dashed into the room. It was not terribly huge, but definitely bigger than the rooms at home. 3-year-old Z didn't care. He headed straight for the bed, and proceeded to jump up and down on it in wild abandonment, a ritual he performed on all other "bouncy beds" he had visited. Z's 1-year-old brother E soaked in the atmosphere. Following in his footsteps, the little one walked awkwardly to the bed, and managed to climb up with some help from Daddy. He too attempted to jump on the bed, a manoeuvre not as easily performed due to the already uneven bumps caused by a jumping Z. Changing course, the infant crawled towards his Mummy, but was inadvertently knocked over en route by his exuberant brother. Not skipping a beat, an excited Z cuddled alongside the tangled mass of brother, mother and father. He declared happily, "Daddy and Mummy and Z and Didi.... Together...." Holidays are always a special time for the family.

"Singapore is not perfect; no society is perfect." This recent statement, by a senior government leader, reveals that not all is well in the land that has been my home since birth. Mr Tan Chuan Jin, the Acting Manpower Minister, was making these remarks in response to two letters from Singaporeans giving reasons why they no longer want to call Singapore their home. While one writer lamented that Singapore had lost its soul and has developed an "obsession with GDP growth" over social and cultural concerns, the other author expressed frustration at the government's lack of acceptance and tolerance. I can understand why both these writers have such deep-seated grouses; the cost of living is at an all-time high (Singapore has remained on the Top-10 list of most expensive cities for the past three years), and the government-citizen relationship has been at its most strained in years (the last General Elections saw the ruling party returned to power with it

It's difficult not to contemplate the meaning of life when you're 47 years of age. You consider the birth pangs, the moment of anguish when you were expelled from the womb into a harsh and cruel world. Things were different then - no Facebook, no iPhone, not even the ubiquitous medium we now call the Internet. Listening to the voices of yesteryear, you were conditioned to recall a childhood fraught with difficulty - of how you were surrounded by a host of hostile foes eager to bully you and tear you down. Yet you were presented with numerous accounts of how you survived against all odds. And you smile as you look back at your personal accomplishments; still a little red dot in a sea of lines and curves, but a dot nonetheless in the big wide world. This National Day seemed to have gone by for me without much fanfare. The glitzy parade and all its military and societal exhibitions, the thrills and controversies surrounding Singapore's 3rd and 4th Olympic medals, even