What Matters When Raising a Child?


Marketing Director


I couldn’t understand the following famous African proverb until I have my own kids:
“It takes a village to raise a child”.
I cannot agree more with this essential proverb. Raising a child is not just parents’ responsibility. To raise a child with self-confidence, with care for others, with courage to challenge himself or herself and to dream big, we need various types of nutritious environment provided by schools, society and our country.
I am a very lucky person as I grow up in China’s first special economic zone, Shenzhen, a neighbor to Hong Kong. My parents moved to Shenzhen when China opened its gate to the world, an ambitious economic revolution that changed million people’s life.
I am the first one to obtain a bachelor degree in my whole family. I was conferred a PhD degree by Nanyang Technology University in 2012. A contrast fact is that my parents received very limited education due to the special national condition at that time, and the above-mentioned astounding fact presented me the most critical question:
What does it matter the most when raising a child?
I receive unconditional love and support from my parents. And I am so fortune to receive inspiring and enlightening education from my high school and universities in China and in Singapore. These two types of profound source, the inner source from my parents and the outer source from public schools made me who I am and gave me the power to understand myself, the power to think independently and the courage to strive for excellence in my life.
Now I become a mother-of-two and my child enjoy the holistic pre-school education in Singapore and it helps my child to grow and prepare himself for the future. I truly understand that I cannot do everything for my kids because they need the friendship from their little friends and they need to learn how to adapt to the social environment outside our home. All these important things can only be provided by schools and our community.
It has not been so obvious that raising a child needs not only the love and care from parents but also the support and resources from schools, community, society and our country.
When I heard that we are going to build a NGO to nourish children with different grown-up background and culture, I feel the excitement and the call for contribution back to the society.
The idea to build a NGO caring for children becomes more and more sparkling for me.
(1) To help parents leverage on better parenting resources
I wished I could receive more guidance from my parents when I felt helpless at the cross-road of my life but unfortunately I cannot make any changes to my wish.
What I can change is how we live tomorrow. Together with other founders, we can build a NGO that enroll parents and kids with different background to form a community where parents can leverage on better resources and cutting-edge parenting knowledge.
(2) To provide kids with boarder and diversified grow-up environment
I wished I could attend more special events, take adventure and get to know more interesting people when I was a kids and not just spent most of the time on studying.
Together with other founders, we can build a NGO to provide kids with boarder and diversified grow-up environment with summer trips to China or other countries, bonding events between parents and kids, competitions among curious kids, to name a few.
(3) To grow a heart with care for people in need
I wish my kids will grow up in a society where people with care to look after each other.
I am confident that this wish will become true as we build a NGO to promote the idea to help people in need, for example to organize visits to elderly home and orphanage. Together with our kids we can make a different to our society.
To live in a society where people with care for other people in need, we can start with ourselves and our kids to make efforts to this idea and this is the only way to make this wish come true.
Redot Educare Foundation, a NGO built with our genuine efforts. We hope you can join us.

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