With reference to the above Petronas advertisement, I believe people are divided over which mother is considered the lucky one. As a family-oriented person, my choice is the one who has a son who comes often to take her out to visit places or people. I am sure this was also what the late Yasmin Ahmad had in mind when she came out with this script. When a person is old, what good is it if her children are earning lots of money when they have no time for her? As a compromise, her son or daughter should be able to find time, especially when she is already very old, because once she is gone, her children's success means nothing to her.
Middle-class families are often in a dilemma where children's education and career prospects are concerned. Once, a food stall operator mentioned about an old couple's children who do not spend time with them because they have to work away from home, either out of town or overseas. Since he has a son, I reminded him about the choice and how he would choose: between a son with a successful career which is likely to mean being away from home, and one who lives with him because of lack of career prospects.
It is natural that we, as parents, are likely to provide the best education (within our means) in the hope that our children will have better career prospects in future. Gone are the days when we are satisfied with just a job in the same town or city. For career advancement, an employee is expected to be able to travel overseas when necessary or even be based overseas. Do we choose to discourage our children from accepting such positions? Obviously not, unless it is because of parents' old age or infirmity.
No comments:
Post a Comment