The 9 pm show {The Dream Makers} shows different types of typical Singaporean families (parents). Though there may be some exaggerations, but generally you will see similar patterns even at countries other than Singapore. The families and parents affect the children most, whether it is in a good or bad way.
Let’s discuss about different types of parents:
1. The working dad and mum
We need to be realistic: with Singapore high living standard, it is very difficult to have only one parent working and still able to support the whole family. With both parents working, the responsibility of taking care of the children is on the third-party; normally they are the grandparents, the maid and/or the eldest child.
You can see that children nowadays are pampered, the so-called spoilt children (spoiled children in American English). Why? It is because the third-party can only take care of the children. To teach them the basic virtues, children learn from their parents and the parents, out of guilt-driven, always give in to the children.
There is no “authority” to stop them from misbehaving; the spoilt children will not listen to grandparents, the maid and/or the eldest child. They always complaint, sometimes twist-and-turn the incident, to the parents when parents come back from work. The tired parents, who want to get a quick solution, often scold the third-party and the matter rest in favour of the spoilt children.
In the 9 pm show, although NaoNao is not considered a spoilt child, his lack of love from both parents has caused another problem. Luckily, his condition improves (Do we always have happy ending in real life?).
2. The single parent / divorcee
It is difficult enough to have both parents working, it is even more difficult with a single parent is trying to make ends meet and take care of a child. The single parent needs to work and he/she may not have the resources to find a third-party to take care of the child. The child is left on his/her own and the effect is more detrimental than category 1.
Again, in the 9 pm show, we see another happy ending that we may not see in real life.
3. The working father and stay-at-home mum
This seems to be the better version of a family structure. The responsibility of taking care and nurturing the children is on the shoulder of the mum. Nonetheless, the father should also try to spend time with the children so that the mum can rest sometimes.
Comparatively, the children from category 3 are more obedient and polite than the children from the other two categories. Though we cannot choose our family, parents are advised to spend more quality time with the children. Childhood is the most important time for children to learn, whether academically or non-academically. Thus, putting in effort in raising a child is worth the effort and is more important than any other things in this world.
Happy parenting!
Joyful 阅 