Practical
parenting, Personal health and Pricking the Fung Shui Myth
How do you
pick up the pieces at the darkest moments of your life after your spouse had left
with 3 of your children and his
parents in your care ? The answers
according to Ann Law are :
1. Being practical; and
2. Look after your own health first ;
and
3. Mange your time.
With these
3 simple rules , she managed to bring up 3 lovely girls , all of them went on
to attend the likes of Brown, Harvard and Stanford Universities and
subsequently taking up important positions in United Nations and well known multinationals firms without
forgetting their roots .
Ann generously shared her experiences with a full house audience (comprising mainly of LH parents plus parents from other schools) during a 2 hour session at One City , courtesy of the management who allowed us the usage of one of its theaters at a minimal cost .
Surprisingly, Ann is not a proponent of Amy Chua’s tiger mums method – but she believes in
firm and clear (instructions/directives) parenting . Parents need to be better
listeners especially when your children are going through difficult times . It
is frightening to know that up to 80% of teenagers (in US) have suicidal
tendency and the number one cause is bullying be it cyber , school ground or
even siblings. If they have no one else
to turn to at their moments of need when
their parents are preoccupied with their own life and in the Asian
context , trying to get ahead financially presumably to secure a better future
for the family, they become desperate to the point of hopelessness . There
would be no family if your children cannot interact with you irrespective of
what car you drive or how many rooms you have in your bungalow. In Singapore ,
nearly 500 children committed suicide in the first half of 2014 and most came
from well to do families ! What does that tell us – lack of wealth is definitely not a cause of suicide but lack
of attention may well be . So parents , please pay close attention to your
children . All the IPads and Iphones are no substitutes for a simple I
love you and a few moments of listening.
Do remember
to do deep breathing - that is a simple message from Ann but a very powerful
panacea for many ills . Likewise , there is no need to pay $$$$ for Fung Shui lessons
or treating Fung Shui as a mysterious
Oriental art once you have read her book on Fung Shui which is really about
understanding the orderly nature of our surroundings.
And yes,
don’t forget to sleep on the right side of your shoulders !
Many thanks
to the volunteers from our Parent Academic Research Unit , the management of
One City , our joint organizer Workwise Management Services Sdn Bhd and of
course Ann Law for making this seminar a success. If you want to buy her books
, please write to us at lickhungpibg@gmail.com
Incidentally
, we did a survey and received the following responses : All the delegates who
completed the survey form rated the program as good and almost 90% of parents
said it’s an excellent programme and looking forward to future events. The
feedback indicates Parenting seminar and field trips are popular choices.
