Shamelessness: Nature or Nurture?

Help!! My creative juices are running dry!!

I shudder at that thought. I mean for someone who has a lot to say about alot of things, not having anything to say about nothing is like dying a slow painful death. I like making my feelings known and I am not ashamed to show people how I really feel. Heck, I cried at my wedding. Ooopsss....

OK, the topic of the day is, what makes us who we are? Ever wondered that? Nature vs Nurture?

I was out with my wife, MIL and niece yesterday. I took half-day leave while my wife too the day off cos we were tired from our trip to Batam. More on that later. We went to Jurong Point for dinner, intending to bring my MIL to Seoul Garden, not realising they had closed that outlet. In the end, we brought her to eat at the Banquet foodcourt. Not the ideal place to bring her for a Mother's Day Dinner, albeit a belated one. Cutting it short, after dinner we went to do a little shopping, my wife had accidentally mixed my white singlets with coloured clothes, causing them to be stained pink. Pink!!!!!

So, we went to buy my singlets and she went to look through some other items. Later on, she decided to buy new clothes for her niece. While looking at some pieces she was looking to buy for her niece, her niece had actually picked out some pieces of clothings without being asked to, indicating she wanted that piece. There we were looking at some cheaper items and she picked out a dress which was 4 times more epensive than what we were looking at. All this at 5 yrs of age, not bad for an illiterate kid huh?

I have always thought kids would be reserved when out with people other than their parents. Seems not for this kid. I remember when I was growing up, I had always slept over at my late grandmum's place and had a great time with my cousins. Difference is we always played with what we were given and didn't dare ask for more. Even if I was thirsty, I wouldn't go to the kitchen and get a drink for myself. Instead, I'd ask my aunt or my grandmum for a drink or at least permission to get a drink. To me, what's not mine and closed shouldn't be opened without permission, even if it was for a little while. This has been drilled into me, something cultivated since young.

Well, back to my niece. I don't hate her, in fact, I love her. I play with her whenever I go to my MIL's place. However, seeing her act that way, it wasn't the first time - she opened my fridge at my home when we weren't looking and took for herself a piece of candy without asking, really made me wonder if this is part of nature or a lack of nurturing. I personally feel it's a lack of nurturing which is her shortcoming - not her fault really. She lacks this feeling of segan, Malay for shamefulness. Could I blame her for picking out a nice dress when her parents never seem to take her out shopping? Could I blame her for taking candy off my fridge?

Honestly, I was not angry, more shocked actually at her audacity. As such, I can't blame her. The blame has to fall on the very people charged with her education and development. No prizes for the correct guess though.