Hi CKS,I want to be perfectly honest in saying that I'm on both sides of the camp - for thinking that some people are kiasu, and for being kiasu myself. On the former, I've encountered people who are ever so willing to borrow resources, take ideas etc without any intention of giving back. Why? I can only guess that they want to be one step ahead. This is beyond bashfulness - it's wilful non-information in case they give the house secrets away. Then why take from others? I think we've all met this form of kiasuness when we were in school ourselves. Who would ever want to have ongoing interactions with takers only?On being a kiasu parent, I'm quite proud of being responsive to my child's needs and really don't give a hoot about judgmental people who come around wagging fingers. From the very varied posts on this forum, there is obviously no one prescription that fits every single child. Each child has different needs and learning styles, and every family has different budgets - only the parent can judge what is necessary or effective. Just because someone else is doing a different method that I don't carry out with my child doesn't make what either of us is doing less worthwhile. I love the different opinions on this forum because it makes me pause to re-examine my methods, but if it's effective and both my kid and I enjoy it, I will have no qualms in continuing. I'm quite sure a lot of parents are similar in this regard. BTW, while being kiasu seems to be a Singaporean concept, it certainly isn't limited to Singapore. A friend pointed me out to this hilarious read- http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Fire-Motherf%25-Story-Parenting/dp/0609608134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219812773&sr=8-1. With a title like \"Mother on Fire\", you can imagine what the story is about