Hotline caller sparks conversation about raising responsible kids
Mr Alphonso Chan, 49, was taking his triplet daughters to school at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School last Tuesday when he saw a sign discouraging parents from dropping off items that their children may have forgotten to bring.
It read: "Please turn around and leave. Your child will learn to solve problems and take responsibility for the consequences in your absence."
The former photojournalist snapped a picture of the sign and sent it to The New Paper.
Mr Chan said the sign was a good reminder to parents not to be at their child's beck and call.
The article was published last Wednesday and went viral.
It started a conversation among parents on TNP's Facebook page about bringing up children to be self-reliant and responsible.
Said Mr Chan: "We can't keep being a 'helicopter nation', always air-dropping our children whatever they need, or they will forever be dependent on you as a parent. Pupils are in school for themselves, not the parents, so they must be responsible for themselves."
Another TNP reader took down our hotline number after reading last Tuesday's issue, not knowing it would be useful the very next day.
While driving to work at 7.15am last Wednesday, Mr Hong Keah Huat, 61, saw that a car had slid down a slope at the car park of Marymount Convent School, on Marymount Road.
Mr Hong called TNP's hotline, and described the long line of cars going into the school at that time.
AMBULANCE
He also said an ambulance and fire engine had been dispatched to the scene.
The school confirmed that the driver, 38, is a teacher.
She was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital with minor injuries.
The report was published the next day.
Said Mr Hong: "I got a shock because it looked like (the car) was hanging in mid-air."
The private banker has enjoyed reading the easily-digestible news from TNP since the paper's launch in 1988.
"What a timely coincidence that I took down the hotline number," he added.
For sharing such news, each hotline caller will receive a $100 Texas Chicken voucher.
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