Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
...not the Great Canadian melting pot.

I'm now curious. Who here was raised by a Tiger Mom or a FOB? I wasn't. My parents were fairly indulgent as I did pretty well academically. They let me pursue martial arts instead of violin and piano. Look where that got me.
My parents were second-generation Japanese-Americans, and my dad came from a blue-collar background (farming, then tuna fisherman). My older siblings and I all turned out fine, but we were allowed to follow our own paths, and whatever successes and failures resulted from that. As a result, we all turned out completely different, but have done pretty well.

I've had a few Chinese friends who acted uptight a lot of the time, and who had lots of pressure placed on them by their parents when they were young. They excelled scholastically, often lauded for it and all the stuff that goes with it, but I get the impression they haven't necessarily turned out as happier or better-adjusted people for it. In fact, quite the opposite in many cases.

I think a lot of the super-high pressures that Tiger moms/parents put on their kids is so their kids will give them big 'face'. And for that mindset, there are only a narrow list of acceptable professions (such as engineer, doctor, etc.). Or for the few who excel at it, Western classical musician is the only artistic endeavor deemed worthwhile. I could be wrong, but it seems more about/for the parents themselves than for their kids.