Come home, son! Guangzhou mom buys front page of Melbourne paper
January 17, 2014 Leave a comment
Come home, son! Guangzhou mom buys front page of Melbourne paper
Staff Reporter 2014-01-17
A Chinese mother bought the entire front page of the Chinese Melbourne Daily to urge her son to come home from Australia for the upcoming Lunar New Year, promising that she will not pressure him to get married this time. “(I) have called you several times and you did not take my calls. Maybe the only way to get my message to you is here. Mom and Dad will not pressure you to get married ever again. Please come back home for New Year! Love, Mom,” read the front page ad in the Chinese-language newspaper on Jan. 14. L)
“A letter to my son” evoked strong discussion in the Chinese community in Melbourne and promptly went viral on the internet.
An executive at the paper said she had heard a friend discuss how a son was hiding in Australia to avoid his family in China, who were pressuring him to wed. The mother subsequently sought to enlist their help by posting the ad, she said.
An employee of the paper surnamed Miao, who was responsible for the advertisement, revealed that the mother lived in Guangzhou and her son had chosen to work in Melbourne after completing a program of studies there.
Family members had frequently asked him to return to China, find a girlfriend and get married but he had been reluctant to do so. “They’ve figured it out and will not pressure him for marriage. They only hope that their son is safe and comes home for the New Year as family union is the most important thing,” Miao said.
The mother has declined to give interviews, saying she only hoped that her son got her message and changed his mind.
Parental pressure to marry and start a family is nothing new in China, but rising house prices, difficulties in getting a job and the mounting cost of living mean many of the younger generation in the country are putting off settling down until they feel they can afford to do so.
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