Kiasuism Aussie Style

You know how Malaysian and Singaporean parents are extremely kiasu when it comes to their children's education (and everything else in general, actually)? Well, kiasuism exists here too, but not in terms of academic performance, apparently.

To be fair, all parents want their kids to do well in school. But few local Australian parents would take the trouble to send their kids to tuition classes after school. This is something prevalent only among Asian migrant families. Yep, they load their kids with extra homework because there's virtually no homework for kids below Year 3.

On the other extreme end, there are ridiculous proposals by some very misguided parents to ban homework because they claim homework should be done at school under the supervision of the teacher. Beats me. I don't know how on Earth some of these parents justify that kind of thinking but this is not the minority speaking. This kind of lobbying has been going on for some time it seems.

Anyway, back to the topic of kiasuism. The folks here take socialising and sports very seriously. Most kids will go to their friends' houses after school once or twice a week - just to play, not to do homework together. Joshua has been going to his friends' house regularly and Joanne has invited her friends too. That's fine actually.

But what boggles me is how some parents arrange their kids' week according to the kind of sport they get involved in - Monday (Swimming), Tuesday (Soccer), Wednesday (Tennis), Thursday (Footy), Friday (Cricket) - you get the drift. And then they protest when there's homework for the kids because their kids' week is already packed!

Don't get me wrong. Sports are good. I wish Joshua would show more interest in them but he's happy just being the spectator, not the player. But don't you think too many sports may not be that great? How does a kid stay focused?

And then there's the thing with birthday parties. They are BIG here. And I get worried every time the kids receive an invitation (once a month at least). The parents seem very preoccupied with outdoing one another in the form of lavish parties. The parties usually come with a theme, sometimes with clowns-cum-magicians to keep the kids amused. Some are held in fancy venues. And of course, the host is expected to hand out goodie bags before the guests leave. I must say, some of the parties are really cool - more the reason for me not to hold any birthday parties for I'll never be able to live up to their standards here!

Honestly, I dread the day Joshua and Joanne start demanding to have their own birthday parties. I have been coughing up lots of excuses. I'm not sure for how much longer they'll buy those, though. Maybe I'll have something for them when they turn 18 ...

Watching Tennis With The Kids

It's tennis and cricket seasons now. And since I know next to nothing about cricket, I opt for the Australian Tennis Open. After all, I was at one time a big fan of professional tennis.


We can't afford the pricey tickets at the Rod Lever Arena to catch the action live. Fortunately, we get to see matches broadcast live daily over Channel 7. So we tune in to watch tennis whenever the kids are not hogging the TV to watch their kiddie shows.


Last week, Joshua and Joanne watched their very first tennis match - the 3rd round match between Aussie underdog Casey Dellacqua and former Australian Open Amelie Maurismo. Joshua the patriot wanted Dellacqua to win while Joanne chose Maurismo simply because she was dressed in pink, Joanne's favourite colour.

It was an exciting match with both players taking turns playing brilliantly. Joshua, still new to the game, kept asking me how the points were scored. So I explained as the match progressed. He could read fairly well now so he could tell who was leading. He was definitely anxious for Dellacqua. Because it was a close match, he couldn't sit still. He would cover his eyes, walk around, wince or grimace each time Dellacqua lost a point or made an error. He would cheer and jump up and down excitedly when a point went in favour of Dellacqua. Naturally, he was over the moon when Dellacqua emerged the winner of the match. Joanne, on the other hand, wasn't all that concerned that the "pink girl" lost.

Dellacqua's quest however was over in her next match against Jelena Jankovic. Joshua was disappointed. Then he turned his attention to another match involving another Aussie - this time the match between Lleyton Hewitt and Novak Djokovic. Until yesterday, Joshua has never heard nor seen Hewitt but Hewitt instantly became his favourite in yesterday's match. Unfortunately, Hewitt too lost.

Yes, Joshua was definitely disappointed but not crushed. Even before the match ended and we all knew how it was going to end, Joshua stayed true to his "hero", saying he didn't care and still wanted to cheer Hewitt on. At Joshua's age, I would've stopped watching if my hero was being given a sound beating.

There are a few more days of tennis watching to go. Joshua is sure to sit next to me if I'm watching. I wonder if he'll pick up watching cricket or footy too. Probably not, since I don't.

Height Of Footy Fever

I have no interest whatsoever in Aussie Footy but even I can't escape all the talk about the AFL Grand Final tomorrow afternoon at the MCG in Melbourne. It's Geelong vs Port Adelaide. And since Geelong is a Victorian team, you can bet most of the crowd will be rooting for Geelong.

And there was even a traditional Grand Final Parade in the City this evening to mark the event. Wow, a parade, imagine. I knew Footy is serious business here in Australia. I just didn't know how serious it was.

And the news slots were filled with items related to the Grand Final. So much time and attention was devoted to it. People were interviewed on the streets and you could see fans of all ages - from 3 to 93!

There's more. Alex's company actually had a luncheon BBQ in honour of the game. Can you beat that? Not only that, the workers were dismissed early. They started the celebration much earlier and regardless of which team finally takes the trophy, they are going to have a day off on Monday too. Now I'm not sure if this applies to all companies in Victoria but Alex's company sure is practising that.

Good for a non-Footy fan who doesn't even know what teams are in the Grand Final! That's my man - sport-blind.

True Champ

Tennis ace Roger Federer did it again, for the 4th time at the US Open. Yes, he is the undisputed world number one tennis player. And heavens, he's got so much grace and class in his game!

I haven't really been updating myself with the latest bits in professional tennis but I used to be huge fan. My then favourite was Sweden's Stefan Edberg, another classy tennis great. He was a gentleman on and off court. You never read about him shouting obsenities at the umpire or throwing his racquet in a tantrum fit. And off court, you never read about him getting involved in scandals and whatnot. His record was so clean that a renowned sports journalist once said that "the only dirt you could dig out from Edberg was his dirty laundry!".

After Edberg retired from professional tennis, I lost interest in the game. The new generation of players that started to emerge were mostly bad-tempered, egoistic and insolent punks. Not worth my time at all.

Then came Roger Federer, who won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003 by defeating Mark Philippoussis (the dude in that stupid reality show Age Of Love), and he's been winning Grand Slam titles quite consistently since. His latest Grand Slam title is his 12th and he's barely 26!

Well, at the rate he's going, he will probably end up being the greatest tennis player in history. Already, some people have tagged him as the best ever tennis player. But what makes him truly remarkable is that like Edberg, Federer is always cool, calm and collected on court. Apparently he threw many tantrums on court when he was a boy. But somehow, he's become mature enough to leave that nasty habit behind.

And he never bad-mouths his rivals, a trait that is so rare these days. You keep hearing one ace bitching about another all the time. It's good to know there are still a handful who subscribe to the belief that if you have nothing good to say, don't say it at all.

I look forward to seeing Federer win more championships. After all, this is one bloke young kids should look up to. God knows we lack good role models for young people these days!

Footy Season

I'll be the first to admit I know next to nothing about Australian Football, or Footy as the locals call it. It looks a bit like rugby and American Football, nothing like the Association Football or Soccer that we Malaysians are more familiar with.

But people do go nuts over Footy here. Football players are big celebrities here. I know none of them except for this fellow called Ben Cousins and all for the wrong reason. He was suspended or something like that for drug abuse and it was a big hoo-haa. The news coverage on him earlier this year made it impossible for me not to notice him. That was months ago. I don't know whether he's playing now in the league.

Personally, I think the game is rather rough. Not very good for Asians with smaller built. If Joshua starts playing Footy, I'm sure he'll end up with bruises all over his already skinny body! Thank goodness he seems more keen on drawing than holding the olive-shaped ball.

But apparently, there has been a slight rift between him and his school buddies who are fans of Footy. During lunch at school, those Ben Cousins wannabes will take to the field and try to emulate their footy heroes. Joshua probably feels a little left out.

Fear not, though. Joshua's teacher says there's no cause for concern. Once Footy Season is over, the boys will be back to their "usual" selves again. Tag will probably be in again.