Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Daddy's Story
27-FEB-2008:
Yesterday's post (How Can You Tell If a Child Is Color Blind) sparked a little talk (and thoughts) about child development, which then reminded me of a story that daddy told me about his childhood.
Daddy spent a few years of his childhood in the UK when his dad was posted here for an assignment. He received primary education the British style. He learnt to bake, play music and read. He learnt at his own pace and there were no exams at all. Education was based on creativity and experiments.
Then, he moved back to Malaysia where he joined primary school at Standard 2 or 3. According to daddy, it was the worst time of his education years. His report cards were full of red figures and the teachers invited his parents to the school to "talk about their concerns for their child". One of the teachers offered him private tuition (with payment, of course - trying to earn some extra income I suppose). One of them kept calling him "stupid" and actually told his mum that this child "has no hope".
But in the end, daddy went all the way to STPM and even managed to get into the local University of Malaya. Those days, not many people (especially the Chinese and Indians) can get a place in UM, much less for a degree that you actually want to take up. So when daddy bumped into his "mean teacher" after all those years, she was very, very surprised that daddy managed to get a University education, what more with a 1st class Honours.
I think the mean teacher's eyes might actually fall out if she knew that daddy is now a Siebel expert and is working in a Big 5 multi-national consulting company in London.
If there is only one thing I can nurture in Dominic, I would want him to develop a keen interest in books. Equipped with the ability and the interest to read, I believe there is no end to the knowledge he can gain and he will go further than being able to add '2 + 3 = 5' at the age of two. Unfortunately, if we were to move back to M'sia or S'pore, results are what matter the most. No wonder the parents are more stressed out than the kids when come exam time.
Finally, two things I'm happy about today:
- I'm happy that work is so relaxing - nothing to deliver until 11-April actually.
- I'm happy that it's the middle of the week already - 2 more days to go before the weekend.
