Francis Ng’s Parenting Style in “Dad, Where Are We Going?” Earns Praise
Reality show Dad, Where Are We Going? <爸爸去哪兒> Season 2 premiered on China’s Hunan Television on June 20. Due to the popularity of its predecessor, the new series received massive interest and anticipation. Its debut last week easily achieved high viewership figures, breaking Hunan TV’s single-day and weekend ratings record.
Although the second season has a completely different cast, viewers were quick to warm up to the new fathers and adorable children. Francis Ng (吳鎮宇) and his son Feynman Ng in particular, have generated a lot of positive online discussion with many praising his parenting style.
Not only is Francis the first Hong Kong-based actor on the show, the 52-year-old is also the oldest father featured thus far. Despite the big age gap between himself and his five-year-old son, Francis was able to communicate effectively with the boy and struck the right balance between being a disciplinarian and a playmate.
Wanting Feynman to toughen up, Francis often jumped into action himself to set a good example. Stubbornly rejecting the help of the mules, Francis insisted on carrying his luggage down a steep mountain slope on his own. Although he was exhausted and lagging behind, he continued until he reached the village with Feynman by his side, successfully completing the course. Later, during a muddy soccer race, Francis again proved to be a positive role model by giving his all and by showering Feynman with encouragement as the boy attempted to make his very first goal.
With such heartwarming scenes, Dad, Where Are We Going? 2 will likely match the first series in popularity. Last Friday’s episode already resulted in over 140 million Weibo posts, surpassing interest in the World Cup. Francis and Feynman are also having a good time filming the show. Francis shared a photo on Weibo on June 23, showing him and cast-mate Gary Chaw (曹格) giving their sons shoulder rides at an airport. With big smiles on their faces, the fathers seem to be enjoying their child bonding time despite the exhaustion. Poking fun at his playtime duties, Francis wrote, “It is tough being a dad. I have to perform manual labor even when I’m not on the show!”
Source: Ming Pao
This article is written by Katrine for JayneStars.com.
love the show
Francis and his son are very cute.
Somehow I find Feynman annoying when he always say “who are u?” in Mandarin(wasn’t that accurate anyway), and don’t find him speaking much like the other kids.
But he has a great father teaching him to stay tough
Although I just saw 1 episode, I tend to like season 1 much better, the style and the fathers & kids are way better.
Love yang yang yang by the way
love yyy much too, he is so adorable
Francis is amazing
It is a mark of a good father who shows the son “do as I do” instead of just “do as I say”
Adorable pic of father and son.
Thanks for the link! Wanted to watch it badly haha. Gary’s son really looks like him, the moment I saw the boy I know he’s Gary’s son.
didn’t know gary was on the show. is his daughter on the show as well? i know he has a son and a daughter.
Yes. Both his son and daughter are on the show
Cant find the link. Can someone pls repost the link. Thanks 🙂
On youtube you can find the program 🙂
I’m surprised his parenting is earning praise 😮 I thought he was a little annoying and arrogant… To me it seemed as though he refused to use the mules just because he wanted to carry more items, and his relationship with his son seems distant. I’m hoping this show helps strengthen their relationship with each other.
If you pay attention to how he teaches Feynman carefully, you’ll notice that he’s using a very traditional way of disciplining a son who’s growing up to be the man of the house.
I wasn’t happy with his strict attitude towards Feynman in the beginning of the episode. He didn’t even apologize for comfort him when he accidentally kicked his face during the soccer game. I was surprised Feynman didn’t cry and got over it quickly.
It wasn’t until later when Francis lovingly comfort Feynman when he was experiencing homesick towards the end of episode. He kept telling him “Daddy loves you”.. awwwww. From this, I finally understand that Francis is extremely good at drawing the line between when he needs to pay more attention to his son and when he needs to let go and teach his son to stand up by himself when he falls.
I don’t think Francis refused the donkeys because he wanted to carry the items. It’s because the person told him that the cases can’t be put on the donkeys, he had to take out the items and stuff them in the bags on the donkeys and I’m guessing it may be the attitude of the person who told him that which made him pissed at the person. Thus he just rejected using the donkeys. He told another actor that he wants to prove to the guy that he can carry the stuffs by himself without the donkeys’ help.
And I think that his relationship with his son was okay. Better than I thought initially. Not all relationships have to be the mushy mushy type, like saying I love you and kiss and hug all the time.
I like Feynman and Gary’s gege and jiejie. They are not the ‘perfect’ children, unlike a few other children who are so understanding and obedient type. Their imperfectness make them cute in my eyes lol. I like how Jiejie said “baba, wo bu bu yao chi le. gege gei ni!”. She sounded really adorable and her brother was so sweet.
And I was quite touched by Feynman’s persistence during the soccer game. Probably influenced by Francis, who is just as persistent.