Today, I saw a frustrated mother tearing up a child's roti prata for him. For him. He was about, I'd say, ten years old. Shouldn't ten year olds be able to feed themselves? Or are the parents to blame for being overprotective? This is the very picture of Singapore's future generation--people who do not know how to cook meals; or children who do not know how to tie their own shoelaces! We may all be brilliant academically, holding master degrees or doctorates, but what good are these certificates of achievement if our own children can't even feed themselves?

If it had been a six or seven year old, then I say,"Fine, go ahead!", because sometimes a child that young may choke on his food. But, honestly, this was a grown child of ten! He was wearing football shoes. So, now, pray tell me, how is it that a boy who is able to play football and understand the rules of the game cannot cut up his own food? Did his mother not teach him when he was young? Or is he too lazy and his mother too burdened with thoughts of work to care much? If this is what children of Singapore are like now, then I thank my parents for going overseas, and I thank the gods for letting me grow up in a place where 'maids' do not do everything for you.

I suppose the boy did have maids to do everything when he was younger, or lets his mother do it all on the account that he is too busy doing schoolwork to bother learning. I also presume that someone helps him tie his shoelaces, and helps him pack his bag while he slouches on the couch, watching television.

You may think that this is a little far-fetched, and that I am probably losing it after nearly a week of not updating, but I find that this is quite true.

And I also find it rather disturbing.

When one discovers that children of ages ten and upwards are spending so much time watching television, doing homework and playing computer games that they do not even have the time to think about how their breakfasts are made and so forth, it says something about that country's education system, and also questions the way in which these parents are raising their children.

If all Singaporean children of this generation are so busy 'achieving' good results in school, and their parents too busy 'working' to buy new toys for them, I truly wonder sometimes, if all Singaporean children in the future will know nothing but the regurgitation of textbook answers.

Will we be a nation of couch potatoes, knowing only how to surf the Net and watch television? Will our children be nothing but databanks for the storing of textbook answers and math formulae, brilliant minds, but not knowing how to do the simplest of tasks? Will we not know how to fix a sandwitch or even a cup of tea? This seems likely, as I am already seeing signs of it now.

My next-door neighbour, who is a forty-something year old married lady with a family, has the maid cook all her meals (including breakfast), take care of the dog, do the housekeeping, open the gate and door for her. I know of people who cannot even clean a window, mop the floor, or make breakfast. You may be gaping in horror now; but, if you think hard, do you think that you are one of these people too?

If Singapore is truly headed for times when all we do is command the maid to do daily chores, then, for all its academic excellence, multiple awards, wonderous records and numerous achievements, all I can say is that I feel sorry for this country. It tries so hard to be ranked amongst cities like New York and London, yet fails in the most basic block of society-family.

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