May 26 2009
Family values
Food, it is often said, is one of the most intimate experiences we can have. A languid lunch, a salacious supper, a traditional feast or a quick bite between meetings … threads of the same fabric. Likewise, we’re all creatures of the same race … the human race. And by nature, we are all social creatures.
This is why a meal always taste better when shared. Better yet, shared in good company. Even better, had as a family – nourishing us in more ways than one.
This weekend marks the start of a month-long celebration (here in Singapore) of the family. But the first thing that came to my mind upon learning of this was a nagging awareness of the fact that fewer families are finding the time to share a meal.
Sure, we’ve got “good” reasons. If the long working hours aren’t bad enough, kids these days are also spending eight, sometimes 10 hours at school – at after-school enrichment classes, and CCAs.
They come home just before dinnertime, take a quick shower, rush through dinner (and an episode of the New X-Men if mum permits), and then it’s straight to hitting the books.
If they’re lucky, daddy makes it back just in time to tuck them into bed. If he’s lucky, mummy waits to have a late dinner with him.
Hardly the model family life, wouldn’t you say? Even the families on Wisteria Lane find time – between extra marital affairs and a murder mystery every now and then – to have dinner as a family.
It has nothing to do with tradition. Evolution is the only true tradition.
It is about protecting the one thing that doesn’t change for us: Our intrinsic propensity (or even a need) for growth, as both an individual and a member of civilisation, with our success reflected in the way we treat the ones we love the most.
Sure, there is also the possibility of growing apart, but where is the point in that.
