Theophilus Huang shares a twenty-year journey of raising children in Singapore’s highly competitive education system, offering parents practical, stage-by-stage guidance from infancy to university admission. Blending personal experience with lessons from global success stories, Huang shows how resilience, discipline, and grit—not just talent—shape achievement.
More than a guide to Imperial College London (plus NUS, NTU and Waseda), this book is about raising children prepared to excel in life. Honest, insightful, and inspiring, it equips parents to nurture potential into lasting success.
Theophilus Huang shares a twenty-year journey of raising children in Singapore’s highly competitive education system, offering parents practical, stage-by-stage guidance from infancy to university admission. Blending personal experience with lessons from global success stories, Huang shows how resilience, discipline, and grit—not just talent—shape achievement.
More than a guide to Imperial College London (plus NUS, NTU and Waseda), this book is about raising children prepared to excel in life. Honest, insightful, and inspiring, it equips parents to nurture potential into lasting success.
While the focus is on parenting and raising kids, the most precious gift parents can give their children is not toys, nor money, nor any material things. The best thing parents can give their children is a stable family, along with good support from an extended family and friends. Over the years, that has been the recipe for successful children. Of course, there have been examples of kids who grew up in ghettos or in bad family situations, who, against tremendous odds, achieved their dreams. But these are more the exception rather than the norm.
Since you’re reading this, the likelihood is that you already have a child or plan to have one soon with your partner. Congratulations on picking up this book. If you put some of the things mentioned in the book into practice, you’ll do well, probably even better than I did twenty years ago when I started my journey.
Have you thought of what kind of parent you want to be? If you have no clue, here is a suggestion: Parents who can be good role models for their children in terms of physical, mental, marital, and spiritual. To be supportive of their children’s pursuit by providing love, care, and support. And to be able to do this as long as our children need us.
Tough?
Yes. If you use this gauge and judge even our parents, chances are that most fail and not for lack of trying. To be a role model as parents means that we must set a good example in terms of the four things that matter as parents:
1. Physical—Be physically fit and live a healthy lifestyle with no major diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, etc.
2. Mental—be mentally resilient with no periods of depression or severe stress.
3. Marital—to love our other half and work together as a family, well, most times.
4. Spiritual—to know where we are going and be ready when death comes knocking.
The initial years of our working life will be spent pursuing those things mentioned above. When our kids are ready, we can then impart these qualities to them, so they too can do those things. There is a quote that says, “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed in imitating them.” We must be mindful that our kids are watching us, and they learn what we do. If we wish for them to do well, we need to change ourselves first. If we want our kids to be resilient, we must demonstrate resilience first. If we want our kids to reduce screentime, the obvious way to show this is to stop looking at our mobile phones.
The second part is to support our children. If we have already taken care of the initial four things, we need to add a fifth: the financial element. We need to earn enough, either through one breadwinner or both, so that our children will have all the financial means to pursue their dreams—whether this is to win an Olympic medal, to pursue a life on stage through music, art, or dance, or to attend a top school.
One observation is that many Olympians and stage performers who have reached a world-class level often come from middle- to upper-class backgrounds. This is required based on the cost just to meet everyday expenses— including room and board for training (local or overseas, depending on the availability of coaches or facilities in the country), as well as the amount of travel (such as flights, hotels, food, etc.) required for competitions. Many athletes will approach their peak around the late teenage years. Should they need to train at an overseas facility, one or both of their parents would have to leave their jobs to accompany their child. We have probably heard of instances where families uproot themselves to Europe or the USA to allow their children to pursue their dreams in music, dance, or sports. This is because the coaches, training equipment, and peers in local facilities are just not good enough to support their big dreams.
How much does the Olympic dream cost? Based on research on several Olympians (I am generalizing here), the approximate annual cost is around €250,000 in Europe and US$200,000 in the United States, over five years. This is to reach a sufficient level to compete amongst the world’s best. Yes, it will cost well over a million dollars (plus inflation) these days.
If the cost is prohibitive, the next option is to have the training done at a local facility with a coach who is usually foreign trained. When the kids reach a certain level of expertise, it’s a family decision on the next steps, i.e., whether to remain competitive only at regional meets or to go overseas for better training facilities and higher competition levels. The ideal situation is obviously to have support from the government or a local sponsor, such as an individual or company. Still, the child must demonstrate outstanding potential at a young age to get this.
No matter the reason, sufficient financial support is a requirement. To chart the path forward, it’s not a bad idea to engage a financial advisor to help set goals if you don’t have the necessary knowledge. While there is a view that financial advisors are only for the rich, the reality is that they work with people of all income levels to navigate the complexities of finance and achieve especially the goals for the family should they decide to embark on the journey of sports, arts, or music at the top levels.
To conclude, there is a good reason why I placed finance as the fifth element, rather than the first. There have been numerous stories in the news where parents are very successful financially or live a lifestyle that is the envy of many. However, if one looks at their children, a very different story emerges, with some doing drugs and engaging in destructive behavior that is unknown to the public. That is, until the fight begins when one of the parents passes away and siblings bring each other to court to get a share of the inheritance.
Since you have already decided to be a parent, being a good one must be at the top of your to-do list. Fail this, and you will realize that you are not only creating problems for yourself but also for future generations. Sadly, we have heard many sad stories to know that this is all too common, and it does not apply just to the rich. Even middle-class families are doing this.
INFANCY TO IC: A Parent’s Guide to Getting Your Child to Imperial College London and Other Top Universities by Theophilus Huang is a short yet captivating exploration of parenting, education, and the intentional choices that shape a child’s future. Drawing from both personal experiences with his own children and years of research, Huang presents practical guidance on cultivating success from early childhood onward. While much of the discussion centers around preparing children for admission into prestigious universities, the underlying principles extend far beyond academics and can be applied to helping children thrive in life overall.
One of the strongest aspects of this book is its accessibility. Huang writes in a concise and straightforward manner, avoiding unnecessary filler and allowing readers to absorb the core concepts quickly and efficiently. Although the author acknowledges that some of the information may feel overwhelming at first, the structure of the book helps make the material manageable. By organizing the content into developmental stages and age groups, Huang creates a guide that feels practical and approachable for parents navigating different seasons of childhood.
As a mother of a toddler, I found this book particularly influential. I already knew I wanted to expose my son not only to academic excellence, but also to experiences such as music, art, and sports, though understanding how to realistically support those goals often felt uncertain. Huang thoughtfully addresses the realities of limited time and financial resources without judgment. Rather than presenting success as unattainable, he emphasizes the importance of intentional choices and prioritization, making the advice feel both encouraging and realistic for everyday families.
The credibility of the work is strengthened through Huang’s incorporation of reputable sources and research. His presentation remains balanced and informative without becoming emotionally overbearing or biased. The writing itself is polished, easy to follow, and educational while still remaining engaging. Although portions of the narrative are heavily influenced by the Singapore educational system, the broader themes and lessons can easily translate across cultures and educational environments. The structure progresses naturally, and the pacing remains consistent throughout.
Turning Another Page awards Infancy to IC five stars for its thoughtful insights, practical guidance, and the meaningful impact it may have on parents navigating their own family journeys.