From your introduction, I can see that this career path is not easy as one might think. On top of this, Mark is an attention deficit to a lesser degree. A few months ago, I took him to the Oriental Hotel Apprenticeship School, and talked with the School administrator. I think they are a very good, high standard hotel and hospitality apprenticeship school. Mark was not quite interested in hospitality and cooking then. The school principal told him, if he wanted to take it, he must accept the rules of the game, for example, get to work from 7am to 5 or 6pm or from evening through 6am. If he fails the attendance twice, he will be thrown out. This alone turned him away.
But now I see some signs that he has interest in food and eating. As he doesn’t have much opportunities to eat out expensive western food, he tries to cook by himself, following examples of what he watches on YouTube -FoodTube. I admire him for that.
Sending him abroad is a very tempting idea. I have thought of this several time over. I was thinking of Europe, like the Netherlands or elsewhere. Singapore and Malaysia are good and much ahead of us in Thailand. However, to get away from the familiar social environments, Singapore and Malaysia are still too familiar. I know both countries a bit. And had some experiences in the Netherlands long ago. In all these possible cases, finance comes in to question -whether I can afford? Yes, and No. I have to weigh heavily. I have invested heavily in my child’s education -sending him to international school. The next move will be critical for his success and failure - and not only his, but mine as well, or even more so. But your expert advice is valuable. I really appreciate. I will think it over seriously. I will get back to you as I'll talk more with Mark and his mother. Btw I will loop in his mom to this conversation, which I hope you don’t mind.