What's going on?

It's 8am on a cool, wet morning. I've just arrived at the office having driven for 1.5hrs through heavy traffic, dropping off the kids and witnessing a traffic accident along the way. Of course the kids caught their 40 winks in the car. What I really want to do now is crawl back into my warm bed!

Prem, my apprentice, is leaving today (instead of Saturday) as he had completed his training early. It's pretty much like learning to drive. I can teach him all the theory I know but the real learning will come when our business in Thailand is up and running, when he's behind the wheel.

He's an enthusiastic and attentive learner. Like many privileged kids in Thailand, he was sent overseas (Australia) from young to further his education. At the age of 14, when most teenagers care about are playing and chatting, Prem had to fend for himself in a new environment, adjusting to a lonely life filled with angst and insecurity. He could barely speak a word of English and the first few years were such a big struggle, he learned to grow up very quickly. After 15 years in Australia, he speaks like an Aussie today.

I have many friends like him. Most of them are Indonesians who were sent abroad (to USA, Australia or Singapore) for a better education. While they had drivers and servants at home, they suddenly found themselves all alone in a strange land where nobody could understand them. It can be a pretty traumatic experience for a young person and they would never think of doing the same to their own kids now, not at such a young age.

I know how important friendship and familiarity is to my teenage boys. Maybe I'm too protective as a parent but it would pain me to see them struggling to fit in. Of course it depends on their personality. While some kids thrive on challenges and relish new experiences, others simply become withdrawn and depressed.

I guess our parents believe more in tough love and think we would emerge a better person that way. Maybe they're right. But how would I know? I'm still learning....