If you’re a parent, then you’re probably more than familiar with the name Amy Chua. If not, she is a Yale law professor known for her parenting memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and her Wall Street Journal article, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior.”
Read more about the controversy from beijingkids’ previous blog post:
[http://www.beijing-kids.com/blog/admin/2011/01/20/Thursdays-Top-10-Chua-Chua-Chua]also had a discussion upon this.)
Taiwanese Jenny Chua, who immigrated to the US ten years ago, offers a completely different opinion in her book
《用尊重成就孩子的一生》(which roughly translates to Use Respect to Achieve the Success of Your Child’s Life). In her book, she expresses her worries that Amy Chua’s book is misleading to Chinese parents. (See the original article here[http://edu.sina.com.cn/zxx/2011-03-23/1110289486_3.shtml])
Journalist Wang Danyang of Guangzhou Daily recently conducted an interview with Amy Chua by e-mail, in which she writes, “I am not a tyrant queen. My daughters are heroes.”
She also clarified a misunderstanding: “I don’t like to be called Tiger Mother. Tiger Mother sounds even worse in Chinese. I used Tiger Mother to be the book’s name, because I was born in the year of the tiger. A tiger represents being positive, brave, confident and strict. For myself, I am a strict and over-confident person. ”
When asked how Chinese parents should deal with their child’s lack of creativity, she replied: “It is people’s misunderstanding that discipline and creativity can live together. I think kids without discipline won’t have creativity.”
On Chinese parenting, she responds: “I think Chinese education should be looser. I have some Chinese and Korean students. They are the most hardworking ones in the class. I often tell them to relax and not to think too much, and to express themselves more.” (See original article here [http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2011-03/23/content_1299712.htm])
Maybe Amy Chua’s new interview will give Chinese parents a hint to lighten up on their children.
