Posted on 01/16/2011 4:55:28 PM PST by SeekAndFind
An editorial cartoon in the Jan. 13 edition of Hong Kong's English daily the South China Morning Post shows a family — a father, mother and frowning boy — together in the kitchen. On the table sits an untouched breakfast — the sodden castoffs, we infer, of the insolent child. "If you don't eat it," the father threatens, "we're going to have you adopted by Amy Chua." The child looks horrified.
Amy Chua is a professor at Yale Law School, an author and, as of last week, one of the most talked-about mothers in the world. On Jan. 8, the Wall Street Journal published an essay she wrote headlined "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior," in which she discusses her approach to child rearing. Her kids, Louisa and Sophia, were never allowed to have playdates, watch TV or get anything less than A's in school. They played instruments of her choosing (piano, violin) and practiced for hours under close watch. If they resisted, she pounced: at one moment she called her daughter "garbage," in another "pathetic."
The piece, adapted from Chua's just-released memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, is now at the center of a raucous global debate about parenting, identity and family. More than a million people have read the story online, more than 5,000 have commented on it, and countless others have passed it along to friends and family members. It's doing the rounds on Facebook and has been animated, to hilarious effect, by the folks at Taiwan's Next Media (of Tiger Woods drama re-enactment fame). Reactions range from (to paraphrase) "You're on to something" to "You're a bigot and a bad mother" to "You're just like my mom" — often in the same breath.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
But dad.. it's DOG STEW!
There’s a thread regarding this topic at FR here :
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2654357/posts
This article is a response to that article.
Wait a minute...
this is not a Chinese thing. I know two Elite Liberal couples loaded with cash and prestige (friends of my wife) and both couples raise their kids exactly like that.
Well, George’s mom, Estelle, would only take advice from a Chinese woman, and changed her mind about Jerry’s date (an American with a Chinese surname) when she met her.
I know I wouldn’t have wanted to be raised like that.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Where should she be? She was born in Champaigne, IL, and grew up in Lafayette, IN.
Are you suggesting she emigrate?
The best Mothers in the world must be American. Either that or I just got lucky.
Mine, born in 1918, died in 2005 was the best person I ever knew. Her ancestors were Scottish so maybe that is a factor but she was the most Christ like person one could imagine.
She had a love for her children which I could not comprehend until I had my own.
I guess you could call it a Mandarin thing-- after the simplified Chinese dialect developed for their administrative class.
For centuries, future administrators were winnowed from the general population through a series of competitive examinations. These tests required 10 or more years of rigorous study to prepare for.
Did this arrangement work? The period in which it was applied corresponds to the eras of China's decadence, insularity and dimunition as a presence in the world?
Now, of course, it's already in a dominant position and is growing. So what is different today from it's earlier period?
That article definitely got a big reaction. People I know who don’t normally read stuff in the WSJ all knew about it and were talking about it. All I can say is, I’m glad I wasn’t one of her kids. But I suspect she’s exaggerating. At least I hope so.
Which is which?
“... at one moment she called her daughter pathetic...”
Wow! What a loving Mom. Expect your kids to be perfect when you obviously aren’t. Does she feel all maternal when her own kids are crying at disappointing her? Sounds like a bully at the least and an abuser to me. IMHO
Amy Chua:
*Daughter’s report card comes home*
YOU GOT C?!
WHY YOU GET C?!
YOU NO C-SIAN,
YOU NO B-SIAN,
YOU A-SIAN!
Amy Chua: “You get hepatitis B? Why no hepatitis A+?”
//Ok, sorry I’m bad.
CLEAN YOUR PLATE!!! There are people starving in AMERICA that would love to have one bite of that dog stew... chopchop
It also covered the periods of China's greatest power and wealth. It's tough to draw any conclusions about a system that lasted close to 1500 years, more than 2000 by some criteria.
It's arguably a good deal better than hereditary qualification for office, which pretty much the rest of the world operated on.
Well what can I say ? China still operated on hereditary power and wealth.
The examination system did not include the Emperor’s kids did it ?
It was only for those people who aspire to be administrators in the Kingdom.
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