I AGREE with the writer in her letter “Remember, raising a kid is no child’s play” (The Star, March 31.)

At one time when I visited my cousin in Singapore, she told me how her own daughter almost wanted to kill her.

She said her daughter was brought up solely by her maid. She, a nurse, and her husband, an architect and businessman, were always busy with work and had no time for their three children.

Her two sons were brought up by her as she was not working then. But her daughter has always been in the care of the maid as she started working again soon after giving birth.

The young girl always had her way and the maid had no power to stop her. Then one day, the mother had a day off and stayed home. The daughter wanted to go out that night.

The mother stopped her as it was not proper for a 16-year-old girl to be out alone at night. Her daughter stubbornly refused to yield to her mother’s order as it was her usual night out with the gang.

When the mother insisted that she could not go out, the daughter rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. The mother was alarmed and rushed to the verandah and screamed for help. Luckily, the daughter stopped when she realised the seriousness of the problem.

The mother complained that her daughter is very aggressive and incorrigible and she regretted that she had left her daughter far too long with her maid.

Maids may be good in doing household chores but it is not her duty to bring up your children. It is the duty of parents to bring up their kids. If you feel you are incapable to look after them or you have no time for them, opt not to have kids.

PETER CHONG,

Kuala Lumpur.