'PUI YUET'

'PUI' means accompany and 'YUET' literally means moon, or in this context month. It was an old practice, recently revived, so much so it has created not just demand, but fervor. In the old days traditional Chinese families believed post-natal care (for the newborn but even more so for the new mother) is best handled by experienced practitioners ie a PUI-YUET or a Super Nanny. Normally the duration is no less than 3-months when supposedly the new mom will be nurtured back to health, while skills of baby management are transferred. Back then these ladies were mostly uneducated, let alone professionally trained, but their invitro knowledge more than made up for what they lack in susbstantive terms. They enjoyed a certain 'status' due mostly to the ignorance or in some cases indifference of the families who hired them, 'let the Pui-Yuet decide', kind of attitude.

I am not sure if it is insecurity, laziness or simply keeping up with the Jones that made new parents of late scrambling for this service. Not only are these ladies hot commodities, I even heard stories of timed pregnancy to coincide with the availability of star Pui-Yuets. Can we get any crazier than this? One pays for this service too, up to $100,000 for the 3-months, very likely tax free. BTW they are no jack-of-all-trades, as they expect domestic helpers at their disposal, in addition. To me their wish list to get the job done is a lot longer than the one that records results. I am only the grandfather but from years in management this old man can clearly see the difference bewteen the fluff of activities, verses solid performance. I am sorry, Pui-Yuets offer lots of the former but much less of the latter. At such an exorbitant fee level, where is the value proposition? These nannies live high on a comfort platform erected by anxious new parents who erroneously think their service is indispensable. The rest is herding instincts or trend setting, like the latest LV handbag, it is the 'I must get one too' mentality.

If I sound unconvinced and cynical it is because I am. When our girls came along all we had were an outdated copy of Dr Spock and sporadic but dubious advice from our parents who were hopelessly out of touch. They did not visit everyday nor did they text us every 5 minutes. Dora & I were consumed, but we were fine, we loved it because we did it all ourselves. We could not afford any luxury but we survived on determination and self-reliance. It seems Hong Kong has become a haven of abrogation for young parents. For instance; feeding to the helper, driving to the driver, learning to the tutors, playing to the coaches and now babying to the Pui-Yuets.

Well, what is wrong with this picture?