Like FATHER, like SON

Many years back, my family and I were having dinner at a nearby coffee shop, and there was a children's playground just nearby. All of a sudden, a little boy cried out very loudly in pain. I found out later that another boy had actually bitten him on his hand. That was terribly bad.

The poor little boy still crying in pain, was being pacified by his mother who seemed to take the incident quite calmly, while the bully got away scot-free only receiving some gentle words from his stout-looking father who was puffing away his cigarette at a bench nearby, not at all remorseful for what his son had done to others.

Can you imagine what the father said to his son? He said crudely in Mandarin as I overheard, ''Next time, if you bite people again, I will beat you!'' My goodness, his son had bullied and bitten someone, he did not even discipline him and ask him to apologise to the other boy there and then, and was still waiting for him to bite the next person again before he beats him.

I couldn't help but as I was walking past the father, I bluntly told him off. I said, ''Wow! You're going to wait for the next biting incident before you beat him? You should beat him right now and asked him to say sorry to that boy!'' He listened indifferently and I just walked off disappointedly looking at the way this guy behaved as a father. Like father, like son.

The Chinese says, ''If the top is not right, those below will follow suit.''