Just returned from a whole morning outing with the kids. One woman, 3 kids, pool (the ball game, not the water type). Nope, kids did not ponteng but instead, they have a cuti peristiwa, one day holiday because Saturday was their Parents Meet Teachers Day. Eldest refused to tag along with mommy and three annoying brats. If I am him, I also wouldn’t want to follow. If I have a choice, I also do not want to go anywhere with 3 annoying, noisy brats.
But then, this is what some parents do. Delegating almost everything to others. Leave all responsibilities to others. Blame others.
For e.g. the case that happened in minishort’s blog.
In fact my daughter look up to your blog as a role model blog. Hence, as a parent to my loved ones, I would like to implore you to re-consider your approach to your blog now that you are known nationally.
How easy it is to point finger at minishort’s blog and also blame The Star. What pissed me off from the letter is the lame excuse ‘my daughter look up to your blog as a role model blog.’ Hey, come on, you (MC Fong) are a parent to your daughter. You have the time, rights, opportunity, patience, wisdom, trust with your daughter to show your OWN daughter what ought to be role models and what ought not to be.
Don’t use minishorts and the big bad world as an excuse. Groom your own daughter, show her right from wrong. For God’s sake, you cannot shield her enternally from the big bad world unless you hide her in a tower like Rapunzel. Even that is not safe, if you have read Rapunzel.
I have children of my own. They read Michael Ooi and Dr Liew occasionally. I did not hyper-ventilated, worrying if they are going to blindly follow the ‘evil’ part because I know I am in control of my own kids.
You know what is frightening, MC Fong? The fact that parents are living in their own world. It is time you and every parents start to open the eyes, know what the world is outside and get your kids tune to face the challenges.
Back to the ball game. Your child is the ball that is in your hand. It is a matter of how you control your ball. You cannot blame your opponent. You can only blame your own skills.
While at the snooker centre, there was a bunch of very young teenagers, probably around 14-15 years old who are playing. They are smoking, probably playing truant. It is not the smoking or playing truant part that worries me. It is the question “Where the hell is your parents? How the hell can they not know about this?” Because I believe that no matter what, parents are responsible for their kids. Aren’t they suppose to know by just relying on their parenting instincts, sixth sense or whatever?
HAhahha… so what do you tell your kids? Dr Liew and Michael Ooi are evil?
Some parents think the only way to bring up a kid is by sheltering them from everything. That can never be a practical way. Our weak human nature prevents from following even the simplest orders. Everybody wants to eat the forbidden fruit.
I think parents should also expose their children to ‘evil’ in order to let them know what is the real ‘evil’.
BTW, why people feel that they-art-the-holliest leh? Dirty abit cannot wan ah?
Well said! It would seem that most parents today blame everyone else – government included – when their child goes bad…everyone but the one person that matters – themselves.
A lot of parents nowadays blame the external factors or the environment rather than their kids when things did not go as planned. I am also a parent but i am not going to blame the TV, radio, press, Internet or other people’s blogs if my kids start to pick up rotten habits etc. coz i believe I am their parent and i always have the upper hand of what they do or their behaviour.
wah…your children ada gaya man when main pool!!!
brings back memories. last time when I was still in school. anything related to pusat snooker is tabiat yang tak baik. cikgu akan spot check dan lain lain…. so i never ever step in once.
it was not until pergi melanjut pendidikan di luar negara pada umur 17 baru tahu main snooker. hostel yang kita tinggal ada meja snooker. dan rumah ang moh kebanyakan ada meja snooker, dan sebelum diskusi projek dengan project mate, mereka akan main beberapa round dulu. hahaha…
Wah…pool shark mama LOL
at last… a parent that has common sense to not point the finger in the opposite direction and fire away before looking in the mirror herself…
my first time here by the way, you write some pretty interesting stuff.. for a mom 😛 i’d have to say that the minishorts related in brackets is the one that motivated me click the link 😀
Haha, eh that kid in orange, like waiting impatiently for his turn liddat haha.
JxT – Yalor, give them 2 games and after that, they will start fighting.
seth – Thanks for dropping by and the comments.
romantic – What to do? Gotta find things to occupy them so I have to drag my lazy butt to places like these and also bowling, parks etc.
keropokman – Yalor, our Government usually label places wrongly. It is not the place but the pack of hooligans. Most of the time, they nip the problem at the wrong place.
S-Kay – Invested a lot of money liao so got a little gaya. But their height is still a disadvantage.
moneyminded – Exactly, kids are within our control, if only we start to build the bond and trust from small. Not waiting until big and out of control baru want to start mengelaba (searching?) for a solution.
Mei – Yeah, the teachers get the blame most.
Mr. Kiasi – Yalor, looking at you, you are also very ebil but I know that it is an acceptable kind of ‘ebil’ mah.
James – Hahaha, cannot tell la, nanti they flame me, mati lor.
But seriously, did the parents ever think of those porns and really dangerous sites? How to stem them? So have to act proactive by equipping the kids with the knowledge instead of being defensive.
wah, take children to pool, cool ! wonder why you no1 don’t want to go.
next time i come to penang, i challenge your kids to a best of 5 game of pool. loser bayar supper. hehehe 😉
wah such a cool mom. bring yr kids to shoot pool.
Dear Ms Lilian,
I work in a NICU and I have admired your dedication to the cause of sick kids and their families.
However, I have something serious to say about your opinions on FongMC I feel you have been too judgmental on Fong MC. I’m sorry I have to remain anonymous. There are medical information here which are confidential and cannot be disclosed in detail as required by medical ethics.
Mrs Fong has a serious illness herself and she also had a son who died in NICU because of a neurological condition. That is how I got to know the family well. However, they are unwilling to get involved into another round of names-calling by bloggers. I think you need to know that their two surviving children are her salvation and hope.
I cannot defend or explain what Fong MC really meant in the e-mail. Please read the original e-mail to minishorts and see their fears and pain. The fact that her daughter brought to the parents’ attention of the blog was telling. She had been taught well and certainly not too sheltered, in my opinion. The fact remains that no one can control anyone or anything on the web. They feel that they are just doing their bit in the hope that self-regulation by bloggers is the way to go to protect the kids. The media has a role to play in that irresponsible bloggers, e.g. blogging on use of recreational drugs, use of expletives in classic fairy tales do not deserve any prime time news. Fairy tales may have their morals to tell but not profanities. I believe it is the culture of rudeness that Fong MC is talking about. Most people will agree children should not be over-protected.
What about parents who are unable to help their kids? Not everyone or family is lucky to survive on a single income alone. Sometimes, both parents struggled to get things going. They can’t manage to supervise their kids all the time.
Many of my patients’ parents have had a tough time juggling between home, hospital and work. Please do not add on to their worries. Every little bit helps. That, I feel, is the essence of the plea from Fong MC.
The Fongs are not living in their own world. They are living for other parents’ kids as well.
I’m sorry that you choose to ignore that. Please be kind and open you own eyes wider as well.
Respectfully,
NICU doctor