Tanya’s Reviews > The Hybrid Tiger > Status Update

"Spanking implies love without saying it outright. Not saying love directly implies love. What a unique [Chinese] cultural phenomenon," So why does the mom now feel compelled to say, "we love you" with the son off to college and why does the dad encourage and remind her when she forgets? Is that hybrid too? Or is it being afraid to embrace American culture?

I can embrace the value of family dinners. I don't think this is solely Chinese tradition though. Too many generalizations in this book.

With the criticism to praise ratio being so high and Huang pointing out the improvements needed most often while withholding praise, is it any wonder that Yan, his son, chose to play tennis in his sophomore year of school...a sport his father knew nothing about (and could not criticize)?

The concept of "guan" sounds like extreme helicopter parenting to me.

"Happiness is always connected to competition." Ugh, I can't buy into this book at all. For example, make that statement to a parent of newborns...I really doubt they sense competition in the act of childbirth and yet are probably quite elated to be holding their child they have been waiting to meet since learning of being pregnant. The superlatives in this book are just too much.

"Through education, and education alone, man could exceed his own fate and rewrite his own part in the powerful play of life, perhaps achieving a destiny that even heaven could not envision."