Why do the children go to bed so late here?

[nutnut]

I have seen kisd about 8 years old at my local coffee shop at 3am before, with the whole family, I don't know what meal they were eating, mental!

[danielburgess]

It's an asian thing I guess, while we are going to bed at 8.30pm when I was a kid, my singaporean counterparts are just beginning to have their dinner and then on to their nightly study regime.

[Sergei82]

I was forced to bed at 9 pm when I was a kid.

[msliz]

isn't this something like big and busy city thing?

dinner is late because parents are only coming home after 7 or 8.
parents are busy with their work or themselves so that they don't pay that much of attention to their kids, thus kids are free watching tv or do whatever they like until late at night.

i once went for a midnight movie, and there was one whole family with their toddler kids. I remember i did wonder why the parent took their kids to such late movie and I still can't quite make sense out of it.

when i was a little girl, my parents would tell me to go to bed once 9pm news started.

[starryxx]

it gets worse as the kids here grow older... singaporean kids go to bed at midnight these days, can still see them posting on facebook. and when they hit their teens they start sleeping even later, gosh.

[Hannieroo]

My eldest is 15 and school nights are lights out at 10.30. No buts.

[BedokAmerican]

Maybe some parents want their kids to go to bed late so they'll sleep late? Afterall, if parents are going to be up until 11pm and their kids are put in bed at 8pm, that means less sleep for the parents because the kids are probably up around 6 or 7am. But if the kids go to bed at 11, they might sleep until 9 or 10 and its more rest for mom and dad. Just a theory.

[Chantikki]

Parents get home late. If their kids went to be at 7 or 8 they would never see them. Some kids nap in the afternoon. Also some kids do afternoon shift at school, so don't need to get up early.

[Estrelle]

I think this is common everywhere considering that parents have to work and only able to get home by 7-8pm. Have dinner and some family time then sleep.

[Hannieroo]

People work until 8 here? That's harsh.

[sundaymorningstaple]

The work until 8 if they are lucky. You have to understand the Asian mentality here. That of the bosses who think you are not working if you are not in the office and the employees who linger around the offices trying to look busy and without being caught just on Utube or FB.

My staff tried that on me when I first started with the company until I told them that I know how to do their jobs and how long it takes and I make sure I don't overwork the staff, so, if you don't leave the office "Before" I leave I have to wonder if you are capable of doing the job, so linger at your own peril. Never had a problem since.

[Hannieroo]

That's a recipe for a workforce that drops down dead. Husband's company provides a bus for local staff and they all get on it at 5pm. He's the last one there at 5.10 when I pick him up. Nobody can be truly productive working those hours every day.

Children still need to be in bed though.

[Siddhartha sapkota]

I was forced to go to bed early when i was kid.