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Death of an angel makes us reflect on family policy
By Catherine Zoleta Condino |
July 6, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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EDITOR'S note:
In certain cases, China already allows a couple to bear more than one child.
Still, the author of this letter raises a question that merits further discussion.
IT was one ordinary evening, my husband and I were enjoying a quick break from our hotel work.
I casually took the Shanghai Daily newspaper and got caught by a picture of a cute little 3-year-old girl, and a bigger picture of a woman crying painfully.
As I looked at the pictures and as I read the news, my heart was filled with sorrow, because that woman was actually grieving for the death of that little angel - who happened to be her one and only daughter, who died from foot and mouth disease.
I then quickly turned to another page, and a story about the proposal on changing the family planning policy in Shanghai.
Officials from the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission will be sending the proposal that enables the families to have more than one child to the State Population Commission for approval.
This is in part due to an aging society and low birth rate in the city that have created a population imbalance.
Officials from the commission believed that this imbalance could impact the economic development and influence the city's sustainable growth, if proper measures are not be introduced.
Emotional stability
I came to realize that it's not only the issue of population imbalance and economic development that should be the main reason to propose the changing of the family policy.
Instead, the new policy could strengthen the emotional and psychological stability of the parents, like the grieving mother in the story.
The pain of losing a loved one is something terrible, but losing your one and only child could probably be worse.
It would be a bit easier for parents to move on and bring back their hopes in life if there's another child beside them during their grieving period.
Yes, parents could be allowed to have another kid after losing their one and only, but what if they're not capable anymore to bear a child due to age, or physical condition, by the time the tragedy happens?
Even if they're still capable, the question is, when will these parents be ready again mentally and emotionally to try conceiving a new life after what they've been through?
And it's not just about parents' emotion. Many Chinese parents whom I've spoke with agreed that mostly the only child in a family has a tendency of becoming spoiled, self-centered, greedy and dependent.
About the question on financial capability of the family to raise more than one child, I know that this will be answered by many programs supported by the government that can generate more opportunities for every family to earn and save.
(The author is a former broadcast journalist in the Philippines and is a freelancer and a mother of two in Shanghai.)
In certain cases, China already allows a couple to bear more than one child.
Still, the author of this letter raises a question that merits further discussion.
IT was one ordinary evening, my husband and I were enjoying a quick break from our hotel work.
I casually took the Shanghai Daily newspaper and got caught by a picture of a cute little 3-year-old girl, and a bigger picture of a woman crying painfully.
As I looked at the pictures and as I read the news, my heart was filled with sorrow, because that woman was actually grieving for the death of that little angel - who happened to be her one and only daughter, who died from foot and mouth disease.
I then quickly turned to another page, and a story about the proposal on changing the family planning policy in Shanghai.
Officials from the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission will be sending the proposal that enables the families to have more than one child to the State Population Commission for approval.
This is in part due to an aging society and low birth rate in the city that have created a population imbalance.
Officials from the commission believed that this imbalance could impact the economic development and influence the city's sustainable growth, if proper measures are not be introduced.
Emotional stability
I came to realize that it's not only the issue of population imbalance and economic development that should be the main reason to propose the changing of the family policy.
Instead, the new policy could strengthen the emotional and psychological stability of the parents, like the grieving mother in the story.
The pain of losing a loved one is something terrible, but losing your one and only child could probably be worse.
It would be a bit easier for parents to move on and bring back their hopes in life if there's another child beside them during their grieving period.
Yes, parents could be allowed to have another kid after losing their one and only, but what if they're not capable anymore to bear a child due to age, or physical condition, by the time the tragedy happens?
Even if they're still capable, the question is, when will these parents be ready again mentally and emotionally to try conceiving a new life after what they've been through?
And it's not just about parents' emotion. Many Chinese parents whom I've spoke with agreed that mostly the only child in a family has a tendency of becoming spoiled, self-centered, greedy and dependent.
About the question on financial capability of the family to raise more than one child, I know that this will be answered by many programs supported by the government that can generate more opportunities for every family to earn and save.
(The author is a former broadcast journalist in the Philippines and is a freelancer and a mother of two in Shanghai.)
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