Sunday, August 03, 2008

How much shall we love our children?


There is a Chinese saying,"No wealth can pass through three generations." I certainly have to believe in it. Especially having the experiences in selling life insurance and getting close with my clients. Let me share some of my real stories in life.

Mr Zu is currently a very successful corporate lawyer. His bungalow on top of a hill will tell his achievement. His surrounding and possession are amazing. He was born in a simple home 58 years ago. As a child he studied hard and during the school holidays, he worked part-time to earn the extra pocket money. For his excellent academic result, he was awarded a government scholarship to study law in England. Upon returning, he became an effective lawyer. Happily married with another lawyer who later turned full time housewife. Currently they have four children, the eldest is 29 and the youngest is only 12. Both the elder son and daughter have double degrees from England too. The sad thing is both are not willing to work. According to the dad, there are plenty of job opportunities for them, but they are the least interested to gain employment. The father has given everything to them, from driving expensive cars, credit cards and good saving accounts. He is extremely sad and worried over them because they lack personal drive to achieve success. I could only listen from the unhappy friend.

Madam Tham is a retired teacher and is a widow since 10 years ago. Her late husband was a wealthy man, who had left a substantial amount of assets to all his four sons. All the four children had completed their overseas studies with professional degrees again. However the mother is sad and worried too because non of them are serious in their careers. Most of the time, they prefer to be unemployed by living on their royalties. I had spoken to the lady but nothing could be done.

There are many more similar encounters I had experienced. It is so sad to see our younger generation loosing their enthusiasm and interest in lives. They are well pampered, educated and loved upon by their parents but regret their attitude is rather weak without the drive to succeed. Whose wrong was it and who were to be blamed? Can someone enlighten them?

Food for the thought - "You will never know true happiness until you have truly loved, and you will never understand what pain really is until you have lost it."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Young Man!

Nowadays, parents provide a good tertiary education to their children so that they can make more money and can have a more comfortable life. Parents are filial to their children.

In the olden days in China, parents guide their childern to be Great Scholars. They made their children aware of the 5,000 years of Chinese Cultures, Confucius Ethics and filial piety always comes first. They guide their children to fulfill their basic responsibilities as a human being
which is not taught in the universities.

By building virtues, moral values and a strong character, we can lead a meaningful and quality life as shown by our ancestors.

Be Happy & Be Wise !!!

Young Kat

Robert Foo said...

Hi Young Kat...

I am glad you came back and offering your valueable comments again. My blog plus your constant advices could be useful to the younger generation. Please continue to comment. Thank you so much.

Anonymous said...

Just to share with you. My grandfather was from China, he came to Malaysia in his 20s with bare hands. At his age of 40s, he owned his first factory, subsequently open the 2nd and 3rd one. My dad has been helping him on the business and he bought over it 10 years ago. Because my parents have been very busy on the business, 4 of us don't really have much childhood memories with our parents. What they do is to provide us education, make sure we complete our tertiary education. After graduation, we all find our own destiny, is only my sister now helping up on my parent's business. Our parents never pamper us with money, of course once in a while they will buy good stuff for us, at the end of the day, we still need to look for our bowl of rice.

So, as what Young Kat mentioned, it is all about how we are being brought up, just like how the Malaysian being brought up.