This Sunday we will celebrate Father’s Day…or at least some of us will. Unfortunately this honorable holiday seems to be falling out of favor in some quarters, along with the whole concept of fatherhood. But we as families and as a Nation need to rally behind the importance of Father’s Day and fatherhood in general. Because good fathers make good families…and strong families make strong nations.
The research could not be clearer on these two points. The fact is that the large majority of family breakdowns are caused by fathers abandoning their kids. But fathers who are actively involved with their wives and children are a great blessing not just to their families but to our wider society.
For example, children who grow up with dads who are actively involved in their lives are many times more likely to graduate from high school; live to a ripe old age; enjoy good emotional, mental and physical health; earn more than their average peers and be happily married themselves. Unfortunately, children who do not have a father involved in their lives when they are growing up are much more likely to die an early death; spend time in jail; be addicted to drugs and/or alcohol; be functionally illiterate; suffer from severe mental, emotional and physical illnesses; live in poverty…and have children out of wedlock themselves.
The truth is that fathers are more important than ever to the future of their children….and our Nation. Today’s high tech economy holds fewer and fewer opportunities for the uneducated and untrained. Children with fathers are much more likely to earn college and graduate degrees and to have mastered the basic professional skills of dressing correctly, showing up on time, being respectful to authorities and doing a good job…every time. The research shows that a good fathers positively impact not only their own children, but their grandchildren and even their great grandchildren.
That’s why we at Family First Malaysia celebrate all Malaysian fathers and families. We exist to serve all Malaysian families, regardless of age or socio-economic status or region of origin or religious background. We want to reduce and eventually end the scourge of childhood abandonment that scars so many of our youth. And we want Malaysian fathers everywhere to take great pride in their children and their families…as they well should.
Father’s day is an important holiday not just for Malaysian families, but for the future of our Nation. Good fathers make good families, and strong families make a strong nation.
Happy Father’s Day!!
Mr. Tan Tek Seng is the Chairman of Family First Malaysia & Deputy Chairman of Family First Asia
The Honorable Gregory W. Slayton is the Managing Director of Slayton Capital, a former Fulbright Scholar to Southeast Asia and the Chairman of Family First Asia (www.FamilyFirstAsia.com )
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