It is not unusual for parents to go out of their way to sacrifice for their children’s education.

There are many children from South Korea, for example, studying in Singapore because Singapore offers a safe and secure environment, an Asian cultural mix, a good place to learn both English and Chinese – languages much prized in Korea as parents think about the future for their children.

Often the mothers are with their children in Singapore, while the fathers stay back to work and pay for the cost of their children’s studies in Singapore.

This is sacrifice, forgoing other things to pay for their children’s education; but I have learned that the sacrifice is very much also an emotional one.

South Koreans reflect this, in jest, by saying there are three kinds of fathers who sacrifice for their children’s education:

• The Penguin
• The Goose
• The Eagle

The Penguin: The “penguin” is the father who cannot afford to “fly”. The “penguin” works hard but cannot afford to pay for family reunions.

The Wild Goose: The “wild goose” flies at set seasons to reunite with his family, just like the literal wild geese migrate southward for winter and northward as summer approaches.

The Eagle: The “eagle” is the father who is free to fly at any time because he has the money to afford to do so.

I commend all these fathers and mothers who sacrifice in order to seek to secure their children’s future the best way they know how.