Tiger Mum Amy Chua not representative of Chinese parenting - moderation the best policy

The controversial book has thrown up more uproar. The is no one single Asian / Chinese mothering style.

I suspect Amy Chua with all her impressive qualifications is really a "banana" mother who tried to resist the overly relax parenting style and strived to summon some of the good old traditional parenting style.

 She came with her parents at a young age to America and thus is considered a westerner in all her ways but she values the cultural traits and values that her parents had inculcated in her. I believe she is married to a Jew as she had threatened her youngest daughter with no Hanukkah if she did not put in all her efforts.

Seriously! Do you actually believe it was hell all the way? Amy Chua must have exaggerated and spiced up her stories and presented them tongue-in-cheek.. I can't believe any Chinese parents living in western countries would do all those horrible and evil things to their kids they love. Child abuse? The jury is out there.

Arguments for

The average kids are alot tougher than you think. They should be trained to be tenacious and able to take hard knocks in life. Kids are kids. If you let them be, they will choose to have the easy way. Do they know what is good for their future? Children given too much freedom don't know what they want to do. Parents need to identify the children's strengths, encourage and nurture them to bring out the best and push them to realise the full potential. The hard fact is there is no gain without any pain.

All these talk about self esteem is ridiculous. This make belief self esteem that democratic parents give to young children too much freedom. Don't western horse breeders break the animals before they could be trained and do useful work? Do you know what sort of military training commandos and marines go through before they can considered the best fighting force? Don't make our kids "si-sis".  Most children who have endured strict discipline masters in school and at home actually turned out be quite grateful when they realise the benefits from hindsight.

Kids growing up in western societies have a lot, in fact, way too much freedom ...not only of choices in studies, free time and ample cash to spend. If not properly guarded and given a structured life, they will slack and eventually lose out to kids from families who know how to guide their young ones. Statistics have already indicated the poor performances of American and European kids as compared to kids from Asian countries like China, Korea, India and Singapore. Economic competitiveness is sufficiently important to merit our attention for the long term viability of any country, the government and citizens included.

I have personally known of some parents who have raised successful kids who are either forgetful or in denial. They tried to hid the fact that they had been strict enforcers of draconian rules on curfews, long hours of studies, music lessons, exam coaching, and no boyfriends or girlfriends. I challenge those who claim that totally non-Asian parenting produced high rate of success to come clean with how they deprived or provided for their children during their growing up years.

If you build up children's ego with undeserving praises, it will turn them into spoilt brats and delay the problems. When the time comes and they find study or job opportunities lacking, they will grow up and learn about life the hard way, a rude shock that shatters their big ego.


Consider this likelihood that being lenient may not be helpful, it's just hiding and postponing the harsh realities from your beloved kids.

How to land your kid in therapy : Why obsession with our kids’ happiness may be dooming them to unhappy adulthoods --  A therapist and mother reports  (by Lori Gottlieb)

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/07/how-to-land-your-kid-in-therapy/8555/

Arguments against

On the other hand, not every child could take the rigour and stringent regime. It could make or break different personalities. The difficulty is finding out the unique characteristics of your kid to get the right balance of prescriptions. There is not one certain fool proof way in parenting, arguably, the most challenging process in one's life time.

Solution?

There's no simple answer to parenting. I think the author was deliberately overstating her case to make a point. In the end, there's no single answer I guess. Every child is different and needs an approach tailored for him/her. But a couple of common sense principles probably hold no matter what - set clear and firm parameters. Within those parameters, give kids the leeway to explore and discover. The tough part is figuring out the parameters."

Chinese parents themselves have taken issue with the book. There are disagreements with her methods among the Chinese community, not just in areas where Chinese assimilated with western and indigenous cultures, but in East Asia where Confucianism has strong influence on family relations.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110112/tiger-mothers-chua-110112/

Parents would give up anything for their children and do not love them any less regardless of their cultural backgrounds.  The results of many "western" style parenting are cut both ways, just like the Tiger mum method. Children growing up in relaxed environment learn through trial and error, a mix bag of good experiences, hard knocks that go into lessons in life. To be sure, not everyone is academically inclined, musically talented, or motivated to make it to the roll of honors. But hey, I think they have a happier childhood, more interesting personalities and social skills. Success depends on networking and good fortune as well.

The main setback is making up for lost time. If most of us have an average lifespan of 70 years, each individual should come across opportunities to make up for lost time or errors in our upbringing. Parents too have chances to make amends. It is just a matter of working harder in later life to catch up. Again, the outcomes vary.

Finally, not every child is the same. Some improve and thrive under pressure. But there are a minority who will break down under stress. Parents must be sensitve to their children's needs and not push over the limits. What is the ideal balance? There is no magical formula. We have to try and find out what suits us and our children best. There is no one size fits all formula. Parents must be perceptive to know what parenting style suits each child. Some children may not understand and think that parents show favouritism. 

Chinese and Jewish parents have very much in common. A broad stroke judgemental casting the good and bad of East versus West and which is better is too simplistic.There is no easy solution and a challenge to find the right balance. You reap what you sow. Let us see who has the last laugh. You don't know till you reach old age.

Declaration of currency and trade war - new economic weapon of mutually assured destruction?

War or cooperation. Take your pick.

Nouriel Roubini of New York University and Richard McGregor of the Financial Times

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11941

Hypocrites who blame China for American troubles need to address fundamental productivity and structural problems

This columnist succinctly sums up the fallacies behind US politicians who blame China for its economic woes. William Pesek's Commentary in Bloomberg : `Made in China’ Tag Makes Hypocrites of Us All


Let the truth be told. Many of us should be aware that the blame game masks quick-fixes to satisfy personal vested interests which could be disastrous to citizens led astray in the long run. I won't chastise some American workers who have no interest or do not have a good grasp of economics being misled by rightists. However, I was really surprised to have met a couple of highly educated Americans were chanting the same mantra. They were studying international economics no less. Hopefully, the course and some of us who are widely read would have tempered their radical thinking. So work out the pros and cons and calibrate our responses before more of Americans join the bandwagon of hypocrisy to blame those who have succeeded under the very framework, terms and rules of the game established by the advanced economies. 

Quote : 

Hypocrisy is the defining element in all the wrangling over China’s currency.

October 11, 2011

The debate seems deceptively simple: As China booms and America implodes, how much blame does Beijing’s undervalued currency get for chronic U.S. unemployment? China says none -- it’s a developing nation and needs to create the hundreds of millions of jobs to keep the peace and satisfy its citizens. A vocal chorus in Washington says China’s trade advantage hogs all the growth.

The trouble with these disparate views is that they are both partly correct. The yuan does hinder growth, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke points out. It’s “blocking what might be a more normal recovery process in the global economy,” he said last week. Meanwhile, the risks of social upheaval in China are rising. Subsidizing exports is an obvious way to avoid it.

The real question is: What can Americans do? Three things: Blame the Jon Huntsmans in their midst, focus on trade access and rediscover their entrepreneurial soul.

The doublespeak from Corporate America is breathtaking, and few personify it better than Huntsman, the Republican presidential candidate. As Huntsman pledges to create millions of American jobs and touts his business acumen as proof he’ll deliver, the namesake Huntsman Corp. (HUN), a chemical maker, downplays the central role that cheap Chinese labor played in building a fortune partly “Made in China.” After the U.S., China is Huntsman’s biggest market.

Naming and Shaming

Sure, Congress can slap tariffs on Chinese goods. More success may come from naming and shaming the politicians, business leaders and companies making piles of money by moving jobs to China and, out of the other side of their mouths, demanding lower taxes and denouncing President Barack Obama as an economic simpleton. The U.S. long championed the globalization model that it now blames for its woes.

Hypocrisy is also at play in how Bernanke and his Chinese counterparts are embroiled in a race to the bottom.

“It’s pretty evident that a weaker dollar is part of U.S. policy, so they are hardly in a position to throw the first stone,” says Simon Grose-Hodge, head of investment strategy for South Asia at LGT Group in Singapore. “Even though China overtly manages its currency, a stronger yuan isn’t going to bring back the jobs American companies willingly exported.”

Perhaps the real indignity for Washington is that, as it ponders a trade war with its biggest creditor, China is winning the currency war. Lawmakers facing re-election next year will find China a convenient scapegoat for bad economic data. For all its growth, China’s model isn’t benefiting the world as some had anticipated.

Market Access

Market access, not exchange rates, is the critical issue. If the yuan jumped 30 percent tomorrow, Germans would sell more cars, French more wine and cheese, Italians more shoes and handbags, Australians and Canadians more raw materials. The U.S. would sell China more soy, corn, cotton and apples. What kind of wealth does this trade create as companies move jobs to China?

Apple Inc. (AAPL) would love to sell more iPads and iPhones in China. But then, much of the content in these products is made by low-wage workers there who can’t afford the finished goods. And Americans would lose it if the cheap wares they gorge on suddenly shot higher in price. Corporate America will just shift jobs to India and Vietnam if costs in China go up.

Here, it’s worth noting a recent report from the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. Economists Galina Hale and Bart Hobijn argue that “Made in China” isn’t taking over U.S. consumption as much as believed. Of every dollar U.S. consumers spend on a Chinese-made product, about 55 cents pays for services in the U.S. Think about it, when you spend $90 for a pair of Nike sneakers, only a fraction of it flows to China and even less to workers there.

Valid Concerns

The real issue is U.S. companies creating jobs at home and gaining access to Chinese markets. It’s challenging for U.S. corporations to compete in China, bid for contracts and protect intellectual property. China lavishes advantages and subsidies on national champions and limits access of foreign financial firms. Corruption complicates business.

Valid concerns all around and none of them hinge on the dollar-yuan rate. If the U.S. could compete on even terms, there would be ample money to be made in China and jobs would be created back home. Sadly, Congress is more obsessed with exchange rates than trade talks that might actually boost job growth.

China’s ascent should spur and motivate the West. Earlier this year, Obama called China’s rise another “Sputnik moment,” recalling how the Soviet Union’s 1957 space launch unnerved America. The U.S. needs to relocate the entrepreneurial passion that made it the biggest economy and created some of the best companies.

The extraordinary reaction to the death of Apple’s Steve Jobs reminds us how America loves its innovators. China’s growing influence should be a call to arms to do what the U.S. has typically done best. Rather than being inspired to think big or forced to reconsider their unreflective policy stands, many U.S. lawmakers are pointing fingers eastward.

It’s hypocritical to blame China for what ails America’s economy. If you think currency rates alone are going to restore U.S. prosperity, think again.

(William Pesek is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this article: William Pesek in Tokyo at wpesek@bloomberg.net

US moves to punish Chinese yuan will increase cost of living for average Americans and has not effect on job creation

Some US senators are bulldozing for the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act. This bill, however, has limited support among the House of Representatives and the White House who know better not to risk more hardships for ordinary Americans, antagonise a major trade partner, without achieving the said objective of effectively reducing the trade deficit and creating more jobs. 


Some economists said they understood the politics of the debate but questioned whether the bill would bring back American jobs or prod China to move faster on currency reform.

"We consume a lot. The Chinese save a lot. We're going to run a trade imbalance with them," said Derek Scissors of the Heritage Foundation.   

An editorial from the  Washington Post claims the bill is counter-productive and does more harm than good. It is mere political rhetorical to project a "symbolism" with limited practical impact.


"But would it really create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States, as the bill’s advocates suggest? The verdict from an April briefing paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is: “probably not to any meaningful degree.” Overall U.S. employment is indeed a function of the U.S. balance of trade. While it’s true that the United States has been running a trade deficit for decades and that its deficit with China is a growing share of it, ending the trade deficit with China would not necessarily cure the overall U.S. trade imbalance. That’s because other low-wage countries that do not artificially depress their currencies could easily take China’s place. The components of many “Chinese” goods are already made elsewhere, imported by China for assembly and then reexported to the United States. Only 20 to 30 percent of the value of Chinese goods in the United States would be affected by a stronger currency.



Why risk costly Chinese retaliation for the sake of a measure whose practical impact could be so easily nullified anyway?

If Congress really wants to help American workers, it will end the stalemate and move these growth-enhancing pacts to final passage. The world economy has enough problems without adding a US-China trade rift to the list," 

"According to a US Treasury Department report, China made its exchange rate flexible last June due to its high inflation rates. On an inflation-adjusted basis, the appreciation is rising at an annual rate of more than 10 percent."

Strong opposition to the Bill from American business interests backed by the  powerful US-China Business Council will be a major stumbling block. With their profits and long-term interests to protect, corporations will ensure that their lobbyists get the message across to the majority of representatives not to vote


Nobel prize winning economist  Paul Krugman's contention has softened somewhat despite continuing to join in the xenophobic chorus as a clever diversion tactic to focus attention on a foreign bogeyman instead of addressing urgent and vital economic reforms in the USA.

"Holding China accountable won’t solve our economic problems on its own, but it can contribute to a solution — and it’s an action that’s long overdue."

More attention should be paid on  promoting US niche businesses and cooperation with Chinese state enterprises for mutual benefits which Americans will get to enjoy. 

First things first.  Get the house in order before criticising and pressuring others when one has limited leverage and effective solutions.  

Selective support and condemnation of cultural genocide - examining beyond the face value of claims by Tibetan Chinese locals and emigres

Many western press, governments and ordinary people choose to believe in the stories spun by the exiled Tibetans than to view the improvements to the lives of Tibetans objectively.

The Dalai Lama and his exiled Tibetan supporters have become westernised and lost much of their Tibetan culture even though religious practices are retained from theocratic days.  By the same argument, even the Dalai Lama could not prevent cultural genocide among his supporters. This is inspite of reports that the exiled government is autocratic, discriminatory against other Tibetan sects and practises nepotism.

In contrast, Tibetans living in China are free to learn their own language in elementary and high school level.  However, practical reasons necessitate that they become fluent in Chinese Mandarin language which is the medium of instruction for tertiary education throughout China. Many non-Anglo Saxon ethnicities in the western world have to learn English as the official language for education and work. There is nothing so abhorent and fearsome about it.

German scholar Ingo Nentwig refutes Dalai Lama's "cultural genocide" allegations :   http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56150/print

Unfair and Disproportionate China bashing

Where was the world when the Indonesian government committed cultural genocide against ethnic Chinese  citizens in the 1950s and 1960s? Discrimination was carried out to the extreme to undermine Chinese businesses and erase all traces of Chinese identity. It was unfortunate that it happened during the Cold War and the free world tacitly applauded these human rights violations. Similarly, the racially motivated riots in the 1990s despite in a less hostile international environment, also only received scant mention in the press, without much criticism or condemnation from western governments.

Reflecting on oneself, the atrocities committed against native Americans and Australian aboriginals that have yet to be fully vindicated compose another thesis for critics to ponder before jumping on random petty incidents that cloud the bigger picture.

Unlike these marginalised groups, affirmative action is shown towards ethnic minorities, more favourably towards Tibetans, in the form of scholarships with lower selection criteria and enjoy various forms of subsidies not available to majority of the Chinese population. Critics either do not know, or not bother to find out, or simply have the audacity to brush aside pertinent facts.

It is only logical that a caring government would create wealth to distribute wealth. Without doubt, every society has tensions between the very rich and bottom of the social ladder who have fallen between the cracks. Honestly, how many of us buy the arguments of looting during the London riots recently. Envy and getting back at unethcial capitalists are lame excuses to plunder and kill innocent people, many of whom are middle class people trying to make a honest living.  Are the value of Chinese Han and Hui Muslim lives worth less than the victims of the London riots?

Like some of the "spontaneous" revolutions in other parts of the world, they would not have been ignited or spread without the instigation of exiles and their western clandestine sponsors. From hindsight, most Chinese and world citizens would appreciate the need for firm security when self interested rebels overstep their privileges, rights and responsibilites to harm the interests of the majority regardless of religion, social status and ethnicity.

Arab Spring bug : better pray that China summer will pass, as no one will be wiser or better when revolution and misfortunate strike

At this time of the year, it is confirmed that there won't be a spring revolution in China.

http://chinainformzen.blogspot.com/2011/02/china-blooms-warding-off-jasmine.html

But speculators are putting forth ingredients for a China summer.
http://the-diplomat.com/2011/08/20/china%e2%80%99s-summer-of-discontent/

Questions must be asked. But to what extent should opposition forment revolution to topple the government and then what? The scene will be ugly and disastrous.

The international economic environment and spate of natural disasters are unfavourable to most countries. Social tensions would be multiplied many times over when government incompetence and irregularities trigger unhappiness and unrest. Could any other governments have done a better job? That is for the people to weigh the balance of probabilities and assess if it is worthwhile to risk discarding whatever gains made so far for some elusive goals.

The next wave of unrest is more likely to happen in the US and Europe if UK is an example to follow. Spain and Greece are experiencing much worse economic woes and unemployment problems than most countries in Asia.

Reports contrary to the relatively smooth and "bloodless" overthrow of the Gaddafi regime by Libyan rebels supported by NATO forces showed human rights violations and bloodshed. Note that Libya is a small country. Those who wish for China summer or whatever season uprisings were to take place are sadistic. Will the Libyan people be better off. We don't need to wait much longer to see the outcome.

London Riots - the case for strong family values, security forces, leadership, but no time for social excuses to dodge problems

In the absence of effective policing and clear guideline of when and how to intervene, the mobs which were ignited by an apparent vendetta crossed the acceptable threshold and all hell broke loose. It had never crossed their mind to call in the military for backup as it is inconsistent with democratic practices. Affording human rights to those who dare has deprive basic rights to the majority who abided by the law. Where is fairness?

No matter what humanistic socialists argue and seem bought over by lame excuses by rioters of the social and economic causes and citing similar stealing by filthy rich bankers in the subprime crisis, the bottomline is that violence is unjustifiable. Two wrongs will not make one right.

Have sympathy for the middle class being squeezed and has to bear the brunt of societal problems.  Many were innocent victims of unscrupulous capitalists and greedy looters. The rights and safety of the majority of good people ought to be protected by the state.

Consequently, the horrors have led some to call for a review of unchecked and ill-disciplined "liberalism".  Prior to the London riots, no one has acknowledged or taken notice of the continuing decay in western society decades.  While religious studies have taken a back seat in the name of secularism, it was moral hollowness with tacit support from government and society that should be blamed.

The decline of family education and imparting ethics and values is the foremost and primary cause for the decline in reason and decency. Families have become utterly dysfunctional. Though not all single parents are non-chalant about educating their young, many struggle with jobs to make ends meet and family support from spouses (whether former or current partners) is sorely lacking.  Is it better to have "tiger mums" than no control at all? People are now paying for the price of freedom.

A handful of middle class individuals who partook in the looting were not poor but driven by greed, self conceit and malice.  There is no fostering of ethics or morality at home as parents are too busy trying to make ends meet or are cursed as single parent families.  Who would provide the guidance when politicians, big businesses and military did not live by social norms, ethics, incorruptibility and public good.

Two generations ago, many in our extended family lived in poverty but it never crossed their mind to enrich by dishonest means or steal from those who have more, even if they possess are ill-gotten wealth. The stories of seizure of lands by landlords and hard-hearted factory owners are familiar and had at one time formented pressure for socialist revolution. These were averted because conditions improved. Majority of the poor were able to climb the social ladder through education, apprenticeship, small business and working overseas.  What we are certain is that tsituation for the have-nots will worsen if they harbour negative thoughts, get addicted to drugs and live socially irresponsible lifestyle.
As concerns surface over the security of Olympics complex in the wake of the riots, notice that China did not do the ungentlemanly act of criticising London's incapability in hosting the Olympics 2012. This is a stark contrast to western media and official jeering and support for riots and killings in Tibet in the runup to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Events similar to the London riots could happen anywhere in the world's big cities where social tensions, dysfunctional families and ineffective state protection.  Some cities in the US, such as Philadelphia, are on high alert to avoid similar disorder and damage to the infrastructure. According to recent BBC news reports, curfew has been imposed on youths entering the historic part of Philadelphia. But is that too little too late to overhaul societal ills?