What'ya gonna be?

A new country offers constant scope for comparison with the familiar. Things I've accepted as 'normal' are up for questioning, and other things are just plain weird.

Every bank in Singapore seems to be running some kind of ad campaign along the lines of: 'What if your child exceeds your expectations? Plan now for a great education.' One shows a photo of heavily pregnant woman with the caption, 'Doctor? Engineer? Start saving now to release your child's potential.' Something in me revolts at the sentiment behind all of this - that people are valued because of what they do or achieve, rather than who they are. Why doesn't the ad say 'Great friend? Caring teacher? Start loving now to protect your child's mental health'? The implication is that you wouldn't be proud of producing kids who don't make it to the top of some career structure. I've heard that deaf people here are given a really raw deal - some only get primary education because there's a feeling that someone who can't hear is never going to achieve anything anyway, so it's best just get them out to work as fast as you possibly can. Maybe I've got it wrong and I'm sure (well hoping) that the ad man has more to do with this than the general sentiment, but I'm not so sure.