This is one family snap-shot that many Chinese families from China would have wished for. Their ONE-CHILD Family policy has already seen through 3-to-4 generations by now. Brother, Sister, Uncle, Auntie and cousins are unheard of. Some would have heard of grandparents as the extended family but otherwise, family relationship do not go beyond parents and child and perhaps with "in-laws". (meaning = lesser hong pow during CNY !!). This simple policy has somewhat eroded away the very value of the Chinese "Family". It inevitably brought about the "I, me, myself" relationship and "sharing" is not in many individual's vocabulary. The lucky few would have good friends to fall on, but their individual-self still plays a dominant part of their lives. In some cases, friends may even take higher precedence than families.
With higher education, availability of advanced communication devices, (ranging from simple handphones, ipad, skype, etc) to the fast pace lives of wanting everything quickly and where knowledge is power .... lots of values has inevitably been eroded away. Face-to-face communication is really becoming an art of patience. More often than not, its .... getting it over ASAP. Even the once a year re-union dinner is a dying trend. Many rather take advantage of the long festive period for a trip aboard .... happily declaring that they need not have to give out "hong-pows" nor have the hassle of visiting relatives. Are we watching our family values being diluted over time and slowing making way for more self-centered reasoning/considerations ..... ? Hmmmm !!!
