dagblog - Comments for "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior "

interesting interview with

artappraiser — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 06:36:31 +0000

In reply to Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

interesting interview with her @ The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/15/amy-chua-tiger-mother...

excerpt:

.....Sitting opposite me sipping water in Norwood, an arts club in Chelsea, in a black sweater and miniskirt with silver hoops in her ears, she is petite and pretty and much softer looking than in her book-jacket photograph ("She doesn't look very mean," my son said.) If on the page she can come across as a little unhinged, in person she is charming, warm, down to earth, and quick to laugh. The truth is, we are definitely in a monster-free zone.

"I think I know what's to come," Chua says with a wry smile. "When I show this book to immigrants and immigrants' kids, they were like, exactly, this is how it is. It's funny, they relate, it's not controversial for them. Now among my western friends it provokes extremely intense reactions in all directions. Some, including my closest friends, are shocked and aghast." Did she anticipate this reaction? "I do now. My husband kept warning me and my sisters kept warning me. But I guess it's part of my personality. A little bit rash. For me, so much of my book is making fun of myself through the words of my children. And some people get that. Other people read it straight. My older daughter said, 'Mummy, you put only the most extreme stories in. People don't realise how much fun we had'."

What Chua didn't put in the memoir, she says with a hint of regret, is all the good times. "All the way through, Jed was bringing balance to the family, insisting that we were going to go on family bike rides and to Yankees games and apple-picking and water slides and bowling and mini-golfing, so we socialised a lot actually …" ("My mum has a touch of the dramatic, and she's much nicer in real life," Sophia says to me later by email. "She lets me go to rap concerts with my friends and do archaeological digs in our backyard – not very 'Chinese' activities!")

She'd had no idea that she was going to write her testimonial to "Chinese" mothering and its dangers, but in the black, bleak summer of 2009 that followed her beloved sister Katrin's diagnosis of leukaemia, when her 13-year-old daughter Lulu was in full rebellion, she began to put pen to paper. "I wrote this in a moment of crisis. I tend to be over-confident but I really felt that the whole family was falling apart, I thought, have I done every single thing wrong? Have I wrecked everything? So after one terrible blow-up [with Lulu], I got on my computer and the words just poured out.".....

And furthermore, if you

artappraiser — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 07:13:53 +0000

In reply to Yeah. Ay!They have "the

And furthermore, if you recall my Pakistan thread, it appears Justin Bieber is really hot among the Pakistani supporters of Qadri....

Yeah. Ay!They have "the

artappraiser — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 07:10:16 +0000

In reply to Permit me to tip my drained

Yeah. Ay!

They have "the greatest singer in the whole world":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPwLSl_IWSI

with a "Chinese mom" named René Angélil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Ang%C3%A9lil

Permit me to tip my drained

jollyroger — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:59:15 +0000

In reply to Carnegie Hall? Why in the

Permit me to tip my drained and empty hat. I stand corrected.

Carnegie Hall? Why in the

quinn esq — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:54:51 +0000

In reply to No disrespect, Q, but I don't

Carnegie Hall? Why in the intercourse would we send our talent THERE?

Shania.

Celine.

Buble.

BIEBER.

We're draining your bank accounts, and emptying your souls WITHOUT Carnegie.

The emoticon says all we

jollyroger — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:49:36 +0000

In reply to no comment.

The emoticon says all we need...

no comment.

artappraiser — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:48:29 +0000

In reply to Anent which, was there not

no comment.

No disrespect, Q, but I don't

jollyroger — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:47:47 +0000

In reply to This is how all Canadian

No disrespect, Q, but I don't remember seeing any Canadian prodigies at the Carnegie Hall Piano, like the little girl in the wsj pic...I could be wrong.

I do vaguely remember some of

artappraiser — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:46:14 +0000

In reply to This is how all Canadian

I do vaguely remember some of your essays something about ice weasels....

Anent which, was there not

jollyroger — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:41:54 +0000

In reply to those with

Anent which, was there not some scandal surrounding the Keno twins a few years ago? I remember it only peripherally, but I bet you (being in the biz) know all about it, back story included.