Students' and Parents' Experiences
My Singaporean Son
In 2004 when Chad, my second son told me that he had chosen Sheffield University in the UK to further his studies after his national service training, my one and only thought at the time, was, oh good, he can also continue with his ballroom dancing in the UK.
You see, I am a ballroom enthusiast and have been dancing and taking lessons for the past 7 years. I managed to influence Chad to dance and take up lessons. And before he left for UK, he and his girlfriend just competed in the beginners´ waltz, tango, quickstep and foxtrot and they came first for all the four dances. I can see his interest grew more and more and I don´t want him to stop taking lessons, especially now that he is in the UK, the Mecca for ballroom dancing.
We went to Blackpool in 2002 to watch the competition and, just imagine, now Chad can go again next year.
However, as the days drew closer to his departure on the 15th of September 2005, the thought of missing my son dawned on me. He is going all the way to UK for two years. My goodness! Away from his family, all the familiarity of home, the food, the comforts. I am going to miss him a lot. My eldest finished his studies from the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia, so if I can survive that, surely I will also be able to survive this time round.
The most important thing is that Chad has been accepted and will continue with his studies in the UK at the University of Sheffield. I can only see the advantage of him finishing his studies there; exposed to the British weather, the students, the professors and generally to how people live on the other side of the world. Most Singaporean parents would prefer their children to study overseas, to expose them to the outside world, rather than stay in Singapore, cloistered and protected, especially for a Chinese family in which the sons are more revered than the daughters.
Chad has finished his national service training in Singapore, a compulsory service for all boys in Singapore from the age of 18. So his army experience should have given him enough training to cope outside Singapore.
Since he left Singapore, we have been emailing each other. Chad has more or less settled down and his one and only focus is to study hard for his degree. He is getting along well with his peers and fellow students and the recent photos he sent home when he turned 22 allay my fears for his well-being and study in the UK. I am very happy for my son, and I am really happy that he has chosen the UK to further his studies.
He left Singapore with an open mind and I know he is determined to finish his course and to gain experience and exposure outside his home country.
Margaret Ong Geok Eng