Family – the school of love

Dear readers,

Tell us how much you love your family, and we will let you know what kind of person you are. Since our topic this week is about family bond in Western and Asian cultures, we received many comments from both Vietnamese and foreign readers about the topic. Diverse as they are in opinions and cultural backgrounds, they all agree that the family is the highest school of education, the place where one learns about almost everything, including love and friendship.

In Me and Me-in-law, Tyler Watts, an American married to a Vietnamese woman, shared with us a story about his Vietnamese mother-in-law:

“When I finished university studies, like nearly every young American adult I set out into the world with the firm belief that I would never live under the same roof as my parents again. Little did I know that I would have a mother-in-law sharing my space within the span of only some years after I married a Vietnamese girl,” wrote Tyler.

However, he soon realized how valuable it is to have her in his life after his daughter was born and his mother-in-law moved in to help the young couple.

“Everyday my mother-in-law teaches me something new and I appreciate every lesson, even the perplexing ones,” he added.

However, Wong Soon Kit, a Malaysian who has been living and working in Vietnam for almost a year, did not see much of a bond of affection in display here between the young people and their parents.

“Living in Malaysia and then Vietnam, I realized that young Asians can easily hug strangers or share their feelings with them rather than their own parents and relatives; meanwhile, western youths live independently at an early age but never forget to kiss or say ‘I love you’ to their parents,” he observed.

To those who find it hard to express their feelings verbally with their family, he advised them to use small gifts on some special occasions or write love messages on tiny notes and pass them to loved ones to let them know how much they love them.

“Everything will become meaningless if we volunteer and work well but pay no attention to our own families,” he reminded us.

Agreeing with Kit, Pham Trinh, a Vietnamese reader, wrote that after reading the article, he has become braver in expressing his love to his parents, something he rarely did before.

For Jacob Miller, an American engineer living in Vietnam, a happy family is a family with well-behaved and good-mannered children. Like any father in the world, Jacob has his own problems in educating his children.

“If you ask 10 American parents, I think half of them will say they have been fighting [with their kids] and some others may have given up their parenting right.”

Jacob also tries to point out some differences between American and Vietnamese parents in the way they educate their kids.

“What’s strange is they [Vietnamese parents] have given power to the school but leave no room for teachers to educate their children. When things go wrong, teachers and children are to blame. Parents forget their role in educating a child’s personalities and give themselves the right to do whatever they want,” he noted the way Vietnamese parents raise their children.

However, American parents talk more with their children and take more time to explain and educate them about their behavior because “the mentality of parents in the West is more open than in the East.” However, they are also upset to see their children not taking their words seriously or even ready to slam their doors on spotting their parents if they do not want to talk to them.

“I believe many western parents wish they have some rights like Vietnamese parents. Wherever you are, there are pros and cons in the culture you are living,” he concluded.

Here at Tuoitrenews, we also have our own special way to show our love to you, our valued readers – by trying our best to improve the quality of our stories and adding new, interesting pages to the site. In case you have not noticed it yet, the Multimedia page has recently been added where you can watch interactive videos on various topics, listen to the audio files and enjoy striking pictures in our image gallery.

Have a nice weekend! And don’t forget to find ways to express your love to your family. A real family, after all, is not only united by blood but also by love and respect.