Madam Soon, the co-founder and mother of a twelve-year-old who recently got brickbats for how she treated her son after he received his PSLE results has written an open letter claiming that there were several inaccuracies in Today Online’s article.
Madam Soon said that she did say “You can forget about your Nintendo DS,” but that it was not in response to her son’s text message to her, but was part of a longer private face-to-face conversation with him. She said that her son already owns Nintendo DS set and that she had confiscated it because he couldn’t control his screen time according to their agreement.
Madam Soon alleged conversation with her son about the Nintendo DS as reported in the newspaper, riled up a lot of people. Even Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin weighed in on it in his Facebook and took a dig at it saying: “Life is worth more than a Nintendo DS.”
Madam Soon further claimed that she was not unrealistic in expecting that her son would score 230 points for his PSLE. His score was 229.
The following is Madam Soon’s open letter published in KiasuParents in full.
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I am the mother in the Today article that has generated much sympathy for my son and excoriation for me, and this is my side of the story.
To be fair to Today, I did say “You can forget about your Nintendo DS,” as was reported in the story. But it was not in response to my son’s text message sent to me, to check if I was angry. It was part of a longer private face-to-face conversation with my son, which I was trying to have while a reporter stood next to me. I didn’t expect our private conversation to be fodder for a newspaper article.
The reporter had contacted me through KiasuParents, and I was under the impression that she wanted my views on the PSLE experience, in my capacity as a co-founder of KiasuParents. When she expressed interest in being present for the release of the results, I agreed that she could follow me around, but it led to an article that invaded my son’s privacy and affected him—more than his results or my reaction did.
For those who have offered to purchase a Nintendo DS for my son, my family appreciates your generosity, but my son already owns a set. I had confiscated it because he couldn’t control his screen time according to our agreement—30 minutes per session. I then used the return of the Nintendo DS as an incentive, hoping to motivate him to work harder and better his score for the PSLE.
For those who deplore my son’s joyless existence, rest assured that we are intent on celebrating life. We had a post-PSLE treat right after the exams, where we went out for a good meal and my message to my son was: “What is done, is done. The hard part is over.” We’re looking forward to a family trip, which was planned before the exams and would have taken place regardless of how the results turned out. It’s not a reward for my son because I don’t believe in tying such experiences to grades—we travel for enjoyment and exposure.
For those who accuse us of unrealistic expectations, I had predicted that my son’s score would be around 230 (wrongly reported as 250), based on previous performance and my knowledge of his weak spots. His actual score fell short of my prediction by one mark, as was reported in the story.
For those who question why I wasn’t more media savvy and cautious in my dealings with the reporter, I did request that she not reveal personal information such as my son’s score, but that request was not honoured. I have wondered if there was more I could have done to protect my son’s privacy. I never thought we would be thrust in the spotlight and I admit I feel betrayed. I’m a private person by nature too.
For the most important person in all of this, my son, I want to tell you that your results are satisfactory. I have not explicitly said “Mummy will love you no matter how your results turn out,” but I hope you know this for a fact. Results are never the end goal; they only provide a form of feedback as to whether your efforts are working, and they are not always accurate. What you must strive for is a good attitude and a willingness to reflect and consider your next course of action. Never wallow. This will ensure that you’re ready to handle anything that life throws at you, even when I am no longer around.
Don’t be troubled by what people are saying about me, because I’m not affected. I won’t be brought down by others’ comments as I know who I am and why I do what I do. I hope to show you by example that other people’s comments about us don’t matter, especially if they don’t know us. And because you’ve gone through this, you will understand why you should never jump to conclusions based on a snapshot of information, and why you can’t believe everything you see or read online. I’m sorry that you have received all this unwanted exposure, but we will get through this together.