We really tried hard not to be interviewed or photographed for the article on large families which was published in The Straits Times, 25th December, 2010. But we still ended up as the main photo! 😀
In the papers before
When we received a call from the journalist, we told her that we had just been interviewed a week ago on homeschooling. And that it would be an overkill to be interviewed and photographed in such a short span of time. Besides we had already been interviewed 2 years ago by the same paper in an article on…you guessed it, large families!
Graduate mothers with large families
But I think she had a challenge finding families with 5 or more children, with the youngest being born in 2009. And if you were wondering why I wasn’t interviewed since the article was about graduate mothers, it was because the focus of the story started off as a feature on large families. Hence Henson took the interview via the phone. But then halfway, the focus changed to graduate moms with large families!
Faith, not cash
I was pleasantly surprised that the article did not shy away from the fact that it is our faith and not monetary benefits (which btw have by-passed us coz we were too advanced for the times! Lol!) or irresponsibility that led us to have more children that the usual Singaporean family. I liked what Tsui Ling said, (hi Tsui Ling, if you are reading this 🙂 ) that “(as) her Christian faith grew, (so) did her brood”. I would say Amen to that and vice versa too! Talk about depending on God when you have a large family! 😀
Lost in translation
However, the story which was also picked up by the Chinese tabloid Shin Min, did not paint as positive a picture. The journalist edited out our faith decision but chose to highlight the $15,000/month expenses a family with 4 + 1 child chalks up! And then the journalist also translated wrongly that Su Wei‘s (hi!) children only wore old clothes when she had said that they wore hand me downs – which are 2 very different things, you know?
This type of focus will bring up more ‘we can’t afford to have more than 1 child” type of comments which I had addressed in my post, “Can’t afford to stay home?” 🙁 And no, you don’t need $15,000 per month to live decently.
For God’s glory
All in all, we were glad to have played a small part to show God’s faithfulness in our lives. That as He has given us these children, He will provide for them and for us – in all ways as we continue to seek His face, hear His voice and obey His call.