You bring dishonour to your family.
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There are those who become doctors and engineers and architects, and volunteer for UNICEF while serving in their church choirs and still managing to spend Sundays with the family. Whose parents are positively glowing whenever they speak about their golden child.
And then there’s people like me, who opt for the notorious Gap Year – feared and loathed by parents of millennials across the globe.
I’m not going to lie. I do feel a deep sense of guilt and a greater urgency to move on with my life whenever my parents talk about their friends’ children getting promoted at work or buying their first homes or worst of all, producing grandkids.
My parents insist that they do not have an issue with my mediocrity. They are supportive of my personal pursuits and I love them for it. But at the back of my mind, I wonder if they’re just saying these things because they would like to protect my fragile ego.
So in the final episode of Season One, I speak to the one person who can answer all my questions about the spectre of parental expectations.
Source:
Saw, A., Berenbaum, H., & Okazaki, S. (2013). Influences of personal standards and perceived parental expectations on worry for Asian American and White American college students. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 26(2), 187–202. doi:10.1080/10615806.2012.668536
P.S. Thank you for all the love and support that you’ve given me these past few months. You have no idea how much every single personal note, word of encouragement and play on your podcast app that I’ve received has meant to me. I’m working on something new and exciting for season two and I can’t wait to share it with you guys. See you on the other side ❤
Some Scuffs | Mental Health and Wellbeing in Singapore 
This is so timely. My dad just tried to matchmake me last night and it really sent me to a dark place.. Thank you for this and also your dad sounds amazing ❤ Can't wait for S2!!
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Hi shush,
Thank you for sharing and your kind words. I hope that you and your dad will be able to have an open conversation over this. If its not immediately possible, try to buy some time. Use that time to do something.fun together and ask him about his growing years. Sincerely express your love for him, regardless of whether it will or will not change his mind.
Hoong
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