Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/values-of-the-family/5017816/
�" Situation �"Coming from North America, where teenage angst often starts by age ten, I was surprised by a very different experience on my recent trip to Singapore. First off, my friends’ sons, Rual* (17) and his brother Ahmet* (13), greeted me with enthusiastic (and uncoerced) hugs. Both boys live with their parents, Mazuin* and Johor*, in a small apartment near downtown Singapore.
During my stay, neither boy back-talked nor argued with his parents. Both would excuse themselves to do homework, without being asked. One day, Rual even rushed off unbidden, to buy me a bottle of water (purchased with his own spending allowance). If an adult were holding a package, one of the boys offered to take it, no prompting needed. What was going on here?
By now, most of you may be marveling at how well trained and mannerly these young men were. So was I. I also wanted to know what parenting practices had produced such results. The following story, though, is what really lies at the heart of my decision to write about this family.
Rual was preparing to represent his school at an upcoming marital arts competition. We were sitting together at the beach, watching the sun melt ...