Category / Uncategorized
The previous weeks mentioned an English translation of one of the two additional articles to be found in the Chinese version of the book “The Leader, The Teacher & You.” The following is the English translation of the second article:
MR LIM SIONG GUAN IN A PRINCIPAL’S EYES
by Mrs Ho Woon Ho
In my 20 years career as a Chinese teacher, I have been abiding to the orders or commands from my superiors without any doubts. I thought my superiors are not to be questioned.
It was till 1997 when I became the principal of Henderson Secondary School that I learnt that opinions from the ground can actually be heard. In that same year, a new Permanent Secretary was appointed, and he was Mr Lim Siong Guan. Mr Lim is a wise and knowledgeable person, who is at the same time good at listening. His remarkable effectiveness and efficiency has transformed the working culture of the education system.
During his three years’ term from year 1997 to year 1999, there are three things that have left an impression on me until now.
First, an e-mail he sent to all principals. I cannot remember the details now, but I do recall it was a reminder to the principals, requesting us to respond swiftly to e-mails regarding execution of policies or instructions.
I responded right after reading the e-mail and informed Mr Lim about the situation of my school: a run-down school building with only one computer in the staff room, where more than ten teachers will crowd in a small room and take turns to use the computer. How was it possible for me to hog the shared computer and readily respond to the e-mails from the headquarters?
The next day, I received an e-mail from Mr Lim, informing me that he has arranged to link my personal computer at home to the MOE headquarters’ server, so I can check my e-mails from MOE even when I am at home. He solved my problem in a snap of the finger, how could I slack in my position?
Photo Credit: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/lim-siong-guan-superman-yoda-change-crusader-20140902
In March 1998, my school received the promotion list from the HR department of MOE. I was very shocked to see Head B promoted but not Head A. From my knowledge, Head A is well ahead of Head B in terms of years of experience, quality of work, performance and evaluation. I even checked and verified with my predecessor that Head A did have a better evaluation result than Head B. Hence I asked the school superintendent if there is any way to rectify the situation. He said the HR department has their own standards and there is no way we can pursue this issue. I called HR of MOE personally; the staff said there were guidelines to follow which they could not reveal.
As I was feeling indignant about the issue, I thought of Mr Lim. I wrote to him, explained the situation and asked him to look into the issue. On the evening of the same day, he replied to my e-mail saying that if it was a mistake committed by MOE, MOE would rectify it immediately. On the next day, HR department called me and confirmed that Head A should have been promoted. I was so grateful and touched, to me; Mr Lim was fair and wise like King Solomon.
In the year 1999, MOE chose Henderson Secondary School to be one of the pilot schools for testing out a “learning organization” programme. Half a year later, my head of department (HOD) and I visited MOE HQ to present our implementation report. After our presentation, Mr Lim Siong Guan asked my HOD whether the school could continue with the programme if there were a different principal. My HOD replied that she hoped I could stay on for a longer period of time. I took the opportunity to express my view on the rotation of principals. I personally felt that a principal should be kept in a school for longer than four or five years. This was apparently different from the policy implemented by Mr Lim at that time. However, he did not argue for, or defend, his policy, but smiled at me instead. His reaction again proved to me his magnanimity.
The following is an excerpt from one of the two additional chapters included in the Chinese version of the book, “The Leader, The Teacher & You”.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS OF AN OUTSTANDING FIGURE: INTERVIEW WITH MR LIM SIONG GUAN (PART II)
By Ms Poon Sing Wah
HOW TO BE A GREAT MENTOR
Mr Lim thinks that it is his good fortune that he had both Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Dr Goh Keng Swee as mentors during his career.
“These two leaders made bold and strategic decisions. When faced with new challenges, some leaders might not grasp the opportunity to make timely decisions. But both Mr Lee and Dr Goh were very wise, and they chose to face challenges head on and not avoid them.
Working with such leaders made work extremely satisfying. Not only did they dare to make tough decisions, they also gave me the chance to work on difficult issues. If my boss does not give me the chance to grow and try new things, I would be frustrated and unhappy, but I never faced such a problem whilst working under Mr Lee and Dr Goh. We had our own work to do but when we came together to work on something, we achieved excellent results.
Founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew was a great mentor. Regardless of how big or small the meeting was, or even if it was not related to my work, he would let me participate. He did it in order to expand my understanding of things so that I would be well prepared for any problems that I might face in the future. He also took the time to explain government policies to me so that I would have a complete understanding of them and be able to better understand policy formulation.
Mr Lee taught me that when it comes to nurturing the next generation of leaders, we must do our best and make the effort to help them fully understand the meaning of government policies, as well as the various problems that we faced in the past to teach them that policies are dependent on the external environment that constantly changes,” said Mr Lim.
LEAD WITH THE SPIRIT OF A TEACHER
Mr Lim’s mother, wife and sister were all teachers. From them, he learnt that all teachers expect their students to do better than their teachers and it is such an extraordinary concept that all leaders should embrace.
“Leaders must treat others the way teachers treat their students. They must want others to do better and to even surpass their own achievements. I believe a great leader must be a teacher. A great leader must do all he can to help others to succeed, to help others to be more competent so that they can contribute more. This will do well for him as a person and for his career as well.” explained Mr Lim.
CONTINUOUSLY REFLECT AND SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES
Mr Lim does not see himself as someone who is intelligent enough to spot problems, but rather as someone who is willing to listen to others.
“Wherever I go, I hope to help my staff be the best that they can be. When I’m at a new organization, I will ask the staff, regardless of their rank in the organization, which practices should be stopped and if they have any new ideas that should be implemented.
By doing so, I will be able to quickly know the areas that need to be improved on because no matter where you go, most people want to do a good job. That’s an indisputable fact. Once you have determined what the problem is, then you can think about how to make things better, what else you can do for the organization etc. Therefore, I think of myself as a motivator and not the source of all wonderful ideas. I don’t solve the problem on my own. Instead, I find people who understand the problem to solve the problem. I will not give up until I have exhausted all means and I have tried out many different ideas,” said Mr Lim.
In the previous post, it was mentioned that the Chinese version of the book “The Leader, The Teacher & You” contains two additional chapters.The following is an excerpt from one of the two chapters written by Ms Poon Sing Wah, who had translated the book from English to Chinese.
The Humble Beginnings of an Outstanding Figure: Interview with Mr Lim Siong Guan: Part I
By Ms Poon Sing Wah
With his humble beginnings, Mr Lim Siong Guan is the “Singapore Story” that Singaporeans can be proud of.
Mr Lim Siong Guan’s father, Mr Lim Teck Seng, was a taxi driver while his mother, Mrs Mary Lim, was a school teacher.
Mr Lim’s father came from the south of China to Singapore to make a living, and eventually married the daughter of his supervisor. After the wedding, he moved into a rent-controlled compound house in Upper Serangoon that was shared with 20 other relatives.
“My father was educated in China, where, perhaps, the standard of education then wasn’t very high but he put his heart and soul into learning English. He was very conscientious and was the type of person who would memorize the entire English dictionary. Since he was a taxi driver, he could speak many different dialects. My grandfather was Peranakan so we mainly spoke Malay and English at home. Even though my father was a Hokkien, we did not speak much Hokkien at home.
“We were also staying with two of my mother’s sisters. One of my uncles was a bus driver while the other was a truck driver. All of us lived together and as I was just one among all the children, I was not spoilt. We were not well-off. We children got only two new sets of clothes a year – during Chinese New Year and at Christmas,” said Mr Lim.
As Mr Lim’s father was busy at work, he was not at home most of the time but he would try to be near Mr Lim’s school to pick him up every now and then. That always surprised and excited the young Mr Lim. “Every fortnight or so, my father would “happen” to be at my school gates to bring me home. That made me very happy. It is his way of showing love to his children. I have three other sisters and my father would occasionally bring home some delicious food for all of us. He always told us to watch over our health. ‘Health is wealth,’ he used to say. Sadly, my father passed away when he was only 52 years old,” recounted Mr Lim.
He particularly remembers his father giving him a book “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie when he was in secondary two, which inspired him. He learnt how to win the trust of his teachers and peers through his actions. Most importantly, he learnt how to put others before himself, to see things from their perspective and to think of ways to help them to be better. Helping others has always made Mr Lim feel happy and satisfied.
He joined the Boys’ Brigade in secondary school and benefited greatly from it. The object of the Boys’ Brigade, which is the advancement of Christ’s kingdom among boys and the promotion of habits of obedience, reverence, discipline, self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness, acted as Mr Lim’s guiding light. During his time in the Boys’ Brigade, he was the leader of the band and a drummer. He even managed to attain the highest rank of Colour Sergeant. Joining the Boys’ Brigade taught him leadership and organizational skills.
“What right do I have to be proud? Even though I was the leader of the band, I still needed the cooperation of every single member. We had to return to school every Saturday to prepare for a band performance. Since I needed them very much, why don’t I think of ways to help them do their work better? That was how I felt.” explained Mr Lim, as to why he was never conceited and arrogant.
Mr Lim never had the luxury of tuition. His parents only asked that he would do his best in everything he did. As such, he was never pressured to excel in school. His father never blamed him if he did not do well in school. Instead, he would bring the family for a picnic at the beach to relax when he felt the children were too stressed.
Not long after Mr Lim was born, he was baptized, together with his mother, to be a Christian. His father only became a Christian much later in life. Ever since he was little, he would attend Sunday School every weekend, where he learnt that one should always seek to do what is good and right.
“We’re Methodist. My mother taught at Paya Lebar Methodist Afternoon School and that’s where I started school. My mother was strict at home and in school. She expected me to give my all in everything that I did. She was hardworking and well respected by her students. I think she was even feared by some of them. She was very well liked there. Everyone knew her as Mrs. Mary Lim. Back then, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School functioned in the morning, while Paya Lebar Methodist Afternoon School took in boys. Before the entire school became absorbed as Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School, I was transferred to Anglo Chinese School at Coleman Street, thanks to the recommendation of my pastor. So now I am an alumnus of a girls’ school,” said Mr Lim.
As Paya Lebar Methodist Afternoon School was not nearly the same standard as Anglo Chinese School, Mr Lim found himself near the bottom of the class after his transfer in primary five. However, he was unfazed. “My parents only wanted us to do our best in school, so I was not in a state of panic,” explained Mr Lim.
Anglo Chinese School is often referred to as a “rich man’s school”, where many students come from wealth. However, Mr Lim does not think of it that way. “I can’t say that it was. All of us got along very well. I would say that many of the ACS (Anglo Chinese School) students later on succeeded in life so they become richer but I think during my time, I can’t say that about many of my classmates,” he said.
STUDYING OVERSEAS
It was only in secondary three when Mr Lim starting scoring As consistently. By the next year, he was the top of the class. However, it was unheard of then for students to score 8 A1s, 9 A1s, 10 A1s or even 11 A1s, as it is the case now for many students.
“To do 8 subjects in secondary school then was considered remarkable, and to score 6 distinctions at the O levels was already an excellent result. Very few people scored perfect scores, unlike today where we have about 2000 students who score 4 As at the A levels. During my time, there were less than 10 students, maybe even less than 5, who would score 4 As,” said Mr Lim.
Knowing that his only chance of getting a university education would be through a scholarship, he worked hard and did so well that he was awarded the Colombo Plan Scholarship to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Adelaide.
“A group of us went to Australia in February 1965. We did not even know then which university in Australia we would be studying in. Perhaps, the Australian government thought we needed more time to better our English so all of us went to Sydney for 2 weeks for some sort of orientation. Only later did I learn I would be studying in the University of Adelaide. There were interesting things for us to learn, like “sit-down toilets” instead of “squatting toilets”, for example,” explained Mr Lim.
It was only much later on when he was in Australia when he learnt that he was awarded the Yang di-Pertuan Negara Scholarship, which is now known as the President’s Scholarship. His mother accepted the scholarship on his behalf.
Singapore had not gained independence then, and the head of state was known as the Yang di-Pertuan Negara. So the scholarship was not known as the President’s Scholarship at that time. According to an article dated 16 May 1965 from the Nanyang Business Daily, the Yang di-Pertuan Negara Scholarship was inaugurated to replace the Singapore State Scholarship. This scholarship is as prestigious as the Queen’s Scholarship, which was abolished in 1959 and replaced by the Singapore State Scholarship when Singapore gained internal self-government.
There were a total of 6 scholarship recipients in 1965: Fan Bing Tin, Liu Chao Xin, Lu Qing Quan and Zhuang Ming Jun from Raffles Institution; Lim Siong Guan from Anglo Chinese School; and Wang Yu Jin from Raffles Girls’ School. Before the announcement of the scholarship, Liu Chao Xin was already reading Chemical Engineering in New Zealand while Mr Lim was already reading Mechanical Engineering in Australia. After getting the scholarship, Fan Bing Tin went on to read medicine in Canada, Lu Qing Quan went to England to read Production Engineering, Zhuang Ming Jun went to England to read Economics and Wang Yu Jin went to England to read Chemical Engineering.
When asked about how the selection process of today’s scholarship recipients might be less rigorous, Mr Lim said, “I don’t really think the quality of scholarship holders then was better compared to today’s holders. Perhaps because the number of scholarships given out then was much lower so there’s the perception that the quality of today’s scholarship holders is worse. I think one of the biggest differences is that back then most of the scholarship recipients came from low-income families but that might not be the case today.”
OUTSTANDING CIVIL SERVANT
At the age of 66, Mr Lim Siong Guan is currently the Group President of GIC, the fund manager for Singapore’s foreign financial reserves with more than US$100 billion under management. By the estimation of some research institutes, the total worth of assets managed by GIC is closer to US$300 billion, which makes GIC the seventh biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world.
From October 2006 to June 2009, Mr Lim was the Chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB), which is the government agency for promoting inward investment into Singapore. The EDB managed to obtain investments with total worth of more than S$17.2 billion (US$13.8 billion approx.) and S$18 billion (US$14.4 billion approx.) in year 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Among the investments, one of the most remarkable achievements was the Rolls-Royce deal. In November 2007, Mr Lim managed to convince British power systems and engines giant Rolls-Royce to choose Singapore over the United States for their second aero-engine assembly plant after their existing UK facility in Derby. With over S$320 million (US$255.2 million approx.) invested, this is the largest single investment deal in the aerospace industry in Singapore. Every year, the facility can produce more than 400 aero-engines, each costing US$15 million to US$20 million.
From September 1999 to March 2005, Mr Lim was the Head of the Singapore Civil Service and spearheaded many revolutionising transformations to the existing policies and system.
Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education once joked that during policy planning, officers can be heard saying “this is very LSG” in respect of certain values and approaches that Mr Lim advocated.
In 2005, Mr Inderjit Singh, Ang Mo Kio GRC Member of Parliament once said in Parliament that civil servants used to have the “government-knows-it-all” attitude, but now it has improved.
In 2003, Mr Singh visited 10 young Singaporean entrepreneurs in the United States and all said they would not return home as there were limited or no opportunities in Singapore. After living in the opportunity-filled United States, some even thought that it would be a wrong decision to return to Singapore. Mr Singh said he too faced persistent obstacles when doing business, a situation he attributed to the old habit among officials of dismissing any idea that did not have its origins in the Government. He called it the NIH syndrome, his acronym for Not Invented Here or Not Initiated Here. ‘If the Government did not invent or initiate it, it must be bad,’ he said, referring to how civil servants viewed any out-of-the-ordinary idea from entrepreneurs.
However, two years later, he noticed a change in the situation. The government would take U-turns when some policies were not effective. The government was no longer distrustful of the private sector when it came to policy formulation; it started to engage business leaders in shaping policies. And there was public consultation before any major policy was made. One of the examples is the setting up of the Economic Review Committee – the government invited people from all levels of society to have a thorough review of the economic policies and provide revolutionary ideas and suggestions.
Mr Singh specifically mentioned Mr Lim Siong Guan, “There is also now greater self-scrutiny in the government. For example the Pro-Enterprise-Panel led by Mr Lim Siong Guan, the Head of Singapore Civil Service, reviewed the current policies of various government departments, which in turn have urged the civil servants to change their mindset and be more accepting of new ideas.”
In June 1994, Mr Lim Siong Guan was appointed as the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, to institutionalize the overall appraisal of the civil servants’ potential and performance, and improve public sector efficiency and effectiveness. His tremendous effort on promoting PS21, Public Service for the 21st Century, resulted in a great response in favour of the movement.
In 1995, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, then Deputy Prime Minister said, “The fundamental reforms that the government underwent, were to open up the over centralized and inflexible human resource management, in order to face the new situations that would surface in the 21st century.”
“While even the best civil servants needed clear leadership and political guidance from ministers to function properly, the reverse was also true: without good support from the civil service, ministers may issue the loftiest strategic directions, and conceive the most visionary masterplans, but nothing will happen.”, he said.
This civil servant whom one should never under-estimates have helped ministers to implement visionary policy blueprints led 80 thousand civil servants to think out of the box and take the risk. He helped the country to build its international reputation and in the end earned himself the Order of Nila Utama (First Class). If this is ancient China, Mr Lim Siong Guan would be one of the top officials.
The Chinese version of the book “The Leader, The Teacher & You”, 《怎样当领导》, was launched by Prof Tan Chor Chuan, President of the National University of Singapore, on 1 December 2014. The Chinese version is not only a full translation of the English version but carries two additional articles.
In his speech, Lim Siong Guan said the reasons the book was written were as relevant today as at the time the English version was published. Many favourable comments have been received on the contents and format of the book, and these are now carried over into the Chinese version.
The book is not only about principles of leadership and governance. It also addresses the challenges of passing the leadership of all types of organisations to the Third Generation leaders.
After companies and organisations are successfully founded by the first generation leaders, usually the second generation leaders are brought in through an apprenticeship arrangement. The second generation leaders are exposed to the company through leading projects and sitting in meetings chaired by the first generation leaders – this is a good way of handing over leadership. The danger, however, lies in the passing on of leadership from the second generation to the third generation. If the same apprenticeship approach is adopted, the danger is great.
Every generation of leaders needs to solve the problems of their day in their own way. They have to take into account the competition at that time, who their stakeholders are, what kind of staff they have, what their customers expect, and so on. So the second generation leaders cannot apply everything they learnt from the first generation. Suppose they can apply only 60% of what they learnt from the first generation. If the third generation learns the same way from the second generation, and suppose again they are able to apply only 60% of what they learnt, it means the third generation leaders will only use 36% of what came from the first generation. The loss of wisdom and judgment is very rapid.
The book makes the point that the way to preserve the wisdom and judgment that lies in the history of the organisation is to codify the values and principles of the first generation, and new learnings of the second generation. This way the organisation will build up its store of wisdom and knowledge, instead of having each generation of leaders keep addressing issues without the benefit of the past.
The book also makes the point that the highest aspiration of any leader should be to act as a teacher to the next generation. The aspiration of any teacher is to help his or her students to realise their potential to the maximum extent possible, so that the students can be the best they can be. This also should be the attitude of the leaders in any organisation. They should seek to help all their staff realise their potential to the maximum extent possible, so that they can be the best they can be. This way the company will benefit the most from their human capital, and at the same time their people will be motivated to do their best. The book explains how this can be done.
Leadership is a matter of doing the best for our people. It is other-centred. Leadership is a matter of the heart. It is hoped that all will enjoy the book and that it will make a positive difference to their lives.
《怎样当领导》can be purchased here: http://www.globalpublishing.com.sg/bookshop/9460.html
The Leader, The Teacher & You can be purchased here: http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/p920
To many people, the teacher is a natural person to honour because he or she has been such an important part of the growing years of our life.
The following is a description of the teacher written more than 15 years ago, which can only evoke our sense of how much our teachers deserve our honour:
A Teacher
inspires love for Singapore
keeps the sense of wonder alive
cares deeply about morals and character
urges enterprise, innovation, curiosity and creativity
seeks to learn continuously, knowing that life never stands still
challenges students and helps them find the potential within themselves
believes there is no greater calling for influencing the young than being a teacher
The speaker at a recent graduation ceremony spoke of an event in his life that he would never forget.
He described how he had seen a previous work colleague from the back after a conference that they had both attended – he wanted to go up to her, perhaps have a coffee to catch-up after not having met up for so long. But he got diverted and did not make the special effort to chase after her.
Shortly after, he learnt she had just passed away, leaving behind her husband and young child. A flood of regret washed over him.
Could he have offered her an encouraging word if he had made the effort to catch up with her when he saw her?
Life, he surmised, has to be taken at its opportunity.
An opportunity not pursued, an opportunity not created, is an opportunity wasted, and only leaves behind the residue of regret.
So many times, especially at funerals, we hear people speak of their greatest regret being not spending enough time – more time – with the person who had just passed on, time when that word of encouragement, that word of love and understanding, that word of care and concern, or simply the silent presence, could have meant so much.
We need to live our moments of opportunities, and recall what Stephen Grellet, an American Quaker missionary, had once said:
“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Leadership is taking the moments and giving them purpose.
Honour is taking the moments and giving them extra meaning.
This past week, I had the very interesting opportunity to meet the special education teachers who won the inaugural Leading Foundation Awards, which was established to honour excellent early childhood and special education teachers.
Their stories of the challenges of coping with children with special education needs such as autism, dyslexia and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), were truly inspirational. The children are not easy to deal with and success is making progress on helping the children be able to take care of themselves. Independence is the goal.
In as much as these teachers are dedicated to being different from other teachers in their life mission and their sense of purpose, it certainly makes them leaders we all should appreciate and honour.
One of the teachers talked of taking 15 of her students on an immersion programme overseas. These are children with special needs, yet they went without their parents. Extensive preparations had to be made to familiarise the children with the new situations they would experience, as these children function best when life is predictable and familiar.
An important event, for example, would be flying in an aircraft for the first time. The teacher had to arrange for the children to go to a simulated aircraft cabin in one of the polytechnics, and also had a familiarisation experience on a SilkAir aircraft (on the ground).
Remarkably the children leant to be independent on the overseas trip without mishap, while the teacher had a continuous stream of questions and concerns from the parents back in Singapore who were wondering all the time how their children were doing. The teacher was clear that an important purpose of the trip was to teach the children that they could manage themselves. Such clarity of objective is absolutely impressive.
Another of the teachers described taking the children under her as well as their families on a trip to Melaka. These are children from low-income families who, together with their parents, would never have been able to experience a holiday trip. The school saw the building of relationship between parents and their children to be very important, and thus makes the effort to raise funds to give the family the holiday.
I was particularly struck by a statement one of the teachers made, that the caregivers – mostly the parents and family at home – are the ones who carry the most burden in caring for the children with special education needs.
Thus the teachers see themselves as giving the parents some time when they are relieved of having to look after their children. And while the teachers do not have an easy time with the children, they say they only have to spend 5 hours a weekday with the children, whereas the caregivers have to look after the children all the rest of the time.
So if the teachers look at the time in perspective, and the teachers think of the good they are doing for parents and families and not just the children, that is how the teachers derive their energy and motivation.
This is certainly something all of us can learn for our lives, and something all leaders have to think about: What good are we doing for the lives of others?
As mentioned in the first few pages of “The Leader, The Teacher & You”, “Wealth never lasts 3 generations. The first generation creates wealth, the second generation preserves it, the third generation squanders it.”
The question is why this should be so.
I saw at least one perspective on this in a conversation with a professor in Hong Kong.
He said we have to bear in mind that the second generation comprises siblings. There may be differences of views among the brothers and sisters, but they have been brought up in one household with a more-or-less common set of values and a more-or-less same attitude towards life. Thus the way they look at issues, and the way they go about identifying and solving problems, may be different in emphases but oftentimes they can agree on the outcomes they seek and the approach to take in seeking solutions.
What is critical to note about the third generation is that it is a generation of cousins, brought up in different households, where values and life attitudes are likely to be different. Coming to decisions therefore become a lot more difficult, when even agreement as to what the problem is may be elusive.
Thus while the idea of wealth never lasting 3 generations may sound simple and empirical, an understanding of the phenomenon leads us to the importance of values and life attitudes. This is the commonality and identity all companies and organisations seek. It is what defines culture, and what makes for winning organisations.
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.