Changing times

April 20th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized

The primary school children currently in schools are a lucky lot. Despite the many misgivings of their parents who tell anyone who cares  to listen that children these days are not what they used to be, actually, if they play their game right , the world is the theirs for the taking.

 They are spoilt for choice.

While the older set tend to encourage their children to gravitate towards careers that are traditionally considered secure such medicine, law, accounting, engineering and all that, the younger generation can create their own careers by creating jobs that have yet to be created.

Of course, the question is whether our aging educational planners have what it takes to bring this about. It would not hurt if we started recruiting  forward looking young officers to come up with  something out of the box to benefit our young people in their future careers.

Something radical  needs to be conjured up so that the talents in this country will be utilised to the maximum.

Can we allow  the children to maximise their God given gifts, don't constrain them in anyway. Give them the freedom  to be what they want to be,  and just guide them accordingly?

In this country, those in power are generally  very insecure, they tend to be control freaks as the true meaning of democracy still eludes many of them.They need to learn  fast. 

I ,for one , don't expect my children to be in the traditional careers, I want them to be doing things they feel passionate about. There are many lawyers who have become film makers,writers, and even successful restaurateurs.

So, if my son wants to be a chef, there is nothing to argue about here. If my daughter doesn't want a 9-to-5 job, instead she opts out to be a master diver, then, I say good luck to her.

Some experts are saying that many people in their working lives are expected to switch their careers as many as six times , the first career does not mean that's it. With so many educational opportunities available, we have to treat the first career as the beginning of a journey.

Then, if my daughter wants to be a master diver in her early 20s, given the new realities, don't be surprised if she ends up as an economist with the World  Bank in her 30s, and in her 40s she might even pursue a career in film making!

That's how our children's world works these days.

It's something we can never totally comprehend, given our conditioning for job security and all that. The sooner we accept that there is no such thing, the better it's for all of us. Even the predictable Japanese salaried men are a fast disappearing breed.

If we look at the wages of some of the EPL footballers these days like Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand who in the new deal is said to be getting something like RM700,000-RM800,000 per week until 2012, wow! sure, your playing  life is not long, however,  when you retire when you are only thirty something, you have more than enough to lead a comfortable life . Then, you have all the luxury to pursue other careers if you want to.

That's  sports, what about those in the entertainment industry? 

Wonder if I can influence any of my children to play professional football? Once again, the choice is  entirely theirs. 

We have to let it be. It's hard for us Asian parents, we tend to think we  have all the answers for our children.We don't really want them to grow up.

These days ,there is little difference between the Western kids and the Asian kids , the world is really converging and it's becoming flatter and flatter.

We  can't expect  our children  to be too filial, they are now dancing to a different beat!