The unspoilt empire

While browsing through an online news site a few minutes ago, I came across an article regarding Mrs Jean Yip's approach on dealing with her children. In a short interview with a reporter, she revealed that she was a 'very strict and result-orientated mother', albeit owning an enormous fortune. Describing herself as a mother who "encourage(s) them[Her children] to try a lot of activities' while emphasizing "that if they start an activity or class, they have to finish it. There's no such thing as doing something halfway", she indicates that she limits her children's expenditure, insists that they complete their education and make them do house chores, despite the presence of three maids in the house.

You may ask why a extremely wealthy family running an extremely lucrative business would set such "extreme" limitations on their youths?

The answer is quite simple: To keep them from being Spoilt.

In this day and age, everything, from clothes to books to toys to food, are readily made available for the children by their parents. It bears almost no resemblance to the "old days", where I heard that families, including the young children, had to plant their own crops to obtain food and a source of income. Due to this, I think, children take what they have for granted and demand for more from their parents without sparing even a thought for the amount of blood and sweat their parents have put in. Of course, parents do not usually speak out against their children, in an attempt to please their kids.

I am not saying that it is our parents fault, neither am I saying it is ours. I mean, how could immature kids like us appreciate what our parents were providing us? For example, I remember a year ago, my brother received an expensive action figure from my parents and thanked them enthusiastically. A week later, however, my sister reported that the action figure with its colour fading, floating atop the tremulous surface of the bathtub water, while my brother stood in my parents room later that night whining for a new toy.

I guess in this materialistic society, we are not used to expressing our gratitude. However, I think this is something we should all embrace. No matter what we do in this life, or the next, we will never be able to repay our parents for what they have done for us. The time, the effort, the blood, the tears, the money. We will never be able to repay them, but for each of their gifts, we should thank them.