"Tiger" Parenting.

You probably still won't agree with me, but that's fine because we're not from the same places [and everything that it entails].

Consider yourself surprised. I am inclined to agree with you. However it really depends on how you plan to teach things like behaviour and respect. If you yell at them when they do something wrong, they both respect you and behave out of fear. If you were in Canada I would sick child services on you to protect that child for verbal harassment they don't need. However, if you chose to teach them by example(your behaviour), and you help them learn lessons with patience and understanding, than they will come to respect you for admirable reasons. These are the kind of parents I respect. Fear is a weak tool used by only the weakest of people.

So I'm going to resolve this now. Tykian you believe that the parents should put all their faith in their child(ren) and let them grow up by themselves with minimal interference. The traditional Asian viewpoint is to educate and inculcate (and hence this thread on "Tiger" Parenting). The modern Asian culture is much more moderate than you think, but in many parts of China it's still very traditional. And again, modern Asian parents, having both cultural roots and Western influence and education (unbelivably important), are trying to find that middle ground. You are not wrong, but neither are you totally right; more accurately speaking, there is no right or wrong here.

Emphasis to the parts that aren't quite right. I believe that tiger parents and the like don't put ENOUGH faith in their kids. However, again, they need guidance. I'm going to reach to one of the tiger parents I knew for an example. In grade 3, at the tender age of 8, when we first had grades her mother would only make her breakfast if she was getting 90's+. Meaning she either had to get up super early to make her own food, or go hungry. Not a good way to teach a kid to work hard.

 Spoiler

I recognize you also don't agree with this, i'm getting to the point, promise

In my case, I would have told her that it is important to do her best in school, because it will make her adult life a lot easier by providing her more opportunities to get a good job or to chase her dreams. However, if she began to get 60's and 70's I would not begin punishing her. Instead I would sit her down and explain to her what those grades would mean for her. If she was comfortable with that choice, I would accept that and continue to support her. It is her life to live. My job is to guide her and explain things to her. Not to control her.

I do believe there is a right and wrong in this case, if only because I understand now how happy I was with my upbringing, and seeing how much happier I was than the children with "tiger-parents". I do realize though that great strides are being made in Asia, but there is still much work to be done. I guess what I'm getting at is, I do agree that it needs to be a middle ground, but I think Western Culture is a lot closer to the ideal as of yet.