I came from a typical Asian family. My father is a diligent, hardworking man who spent half of his life providing for our family; sent us to the best universities and only ever wanted the best for us. My mother is a caring housewife who tended to all our needs from cooking all our meals to looking for our missing socks. Between the two of them, my father is the strict parent while my mom is sympathetic -- a very typical setup. I remember having far and few attempts to being "rebellious" throughout my teenage years, but it didn't take a while for me to jump back to my old ship after receiving a few beatings from my father. 

I really had a strict upbringing compared to my friends. I was hardly allowed to go on sleepovers and out of town trips until I was twenty-one. My curfew was 9pm for as long as I can remember. My friends said that I did not have any freedom, but now that I look back I think I got it all wrong. Apart from the discipline and the inspirations, my parents never really forced their way through my childhood. They gave me the intellectual freedom to shape my personality and define my beliefs and principles in life for as long as it is morally right. I had the freedom of satisfying my curiosity through books, movies, classes and people without my parents' intervention. How I stayed in 'moral boundaries' without my parents' guidance during those curious years was beyond me. Kidding aside, I think it's one of the greatest things that my parents imparted to me -- the freedom to think. Truly one of the reasons why I am on this path of delving the unknowns in Science. (I took it way too seriously, now I am an overthinker! Damn it. ) But thanks folks!