{"id":1104,"date":"2024-11-21T07:24:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T07:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webdesigninsg.com\/nif\/alumnus\/?p=1104"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:07:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:07:39","slug":"mother-knows-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2024\/11\/21\/mother-knows-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother Knows Best"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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WHO SHE IS:\u00a0<\/strong>Mrs Hwee Keng Maeder (<\/em>n\u00e9e<\/em>\u00a0Teng) is the Executive Director of Wakatobi Resort and Liveaboard Yacht. Upon graduating from NUS, she worked in sales for\u00a0<\/em>Asian Diver\u00a0magazine, through which she met her husband, Valentin. Before Wakatobi, Mrs Maeder<\/em>\u00a0was a relationship manager with AIG Private Bank and Credit Suisse. She is the mother of Singapore\u2019s youngest Olympic medallist Maximilian Maeder, and his brothers Karl \u2014 also a competitive kitefoiler \u2014 and Valentin Jr.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mrs Maeder with a younger Max.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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But for the Maeders, it boiled down to what they both defined as \u2018education\u2019. \u201cPeople think of education as a milestone, a certification. But education comes in many forms,\u201d she said. \u201cThe value of school is in shaping the thought process and analytical thinking, to have a certain way to solve problems. With home education, we teach values and manners, so you get children who are considerate.\u201d She added that her husband instilled self-confidence in their children. \u201cIt\u2019s a foundation on which to build any education. I think these are the basics: tenacity, grit. That\u2019s the number one thing you need.\u201d The fruit of their unorthodox choice is obvious in Max, whose homeschool journey began when he chose to master kiteboarding, then kitefoiling. Being homeschooled afforded him the time needed to train.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Some have mistaken Mrs Maeder for a \u2018tiger mum\u2019. She is, in fact, the very opposite of one. When asked how it feels to raise a champion, she said with a smile. \u201cYou can ask me 10 years later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

She chooses not to define success by output. \u201cI am not outcome-oriented \u2014 I only worry about his safety,\u201d she revealed to The\u00a0Alum<\/em>NUS. \u201cMax just\u00a0happens\u00a0to be a champion. You can\u2019t raise all your kids the same way \u2014 we need to parent according to what the child needs. All parents are proud of their kids. It\u2019s just that my pride gets a public platform. I was proud of Max\u00a0before\u00a0he became an Olympian.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A world champion kitefoilder, Max has benefitted from this parents' approach to learning. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Learning By Doing<\/strong><\/p>

Mrs Maeder graduated from NUS in 1994 with a degree in sociology and social work. \u201cI wasn\u2019t a super student. I never went to any jam and hop,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI lived in the East, so by the time the jam and hop started, I had to leave or risk missing the feeder service to catch my bus home.\u201d<\/p>

Growing up with a \u201cvery strict father\u201d, her NUS experience may not have been filled with adventures in the halls of residence, but Mrs Maeder remembers some things that made her undergraduate years special. \u201cI didn\u2019t get to stay in the hall, but I did get to attend the orientation camp,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was really fun, and I made some very good friends. I\u2019m still very much in touch with one of them, Elsa.\u201d Mrs Maeder was also in the NUS Lifeguard Corps. \u201cLifeguard training was very fun. We were a close-knit group,\u201d she recalled. \u201cWe would run marathons together as a group \u2014 once, I outran some boys.\u201d<\/p>

What left a big impact on Mrs Maeder from her undergraduate days was studying under Emeritus Professor Chua Beng Huat from the Department of Sociology. \u201cHe was very interesting; he did a lot of not-very-typical things,\u201d she said. \u201cHe would give us \u2018excuses\u2019 to go to bars for research, for example. When we approached a topic, he wouldn\u2019t just present the theory; he would say \u2018Let\u2019s go out and do it\u2019. Prof Chua made a difference to how we think today. He contributed a lot to my mindset. He taught me how to think out of the box and to question things.\u201d<\/p>

Mrs Maeder recently reconnected with Prof Chua, thanks to Elsa. \u201cWhen I came back to Singapore, we met up, and we discussed current issues,\u201d she said with a grin. \u201cI enjoyed it very much \u2014 he is very dear to us.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mrs Maeder during her time at NUS, where she experienced many happy memories and was encouraged to venture beyond her comfort zone. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Building Safe Spaces to Thrive<\/strong><\/p>

\u2018Out of the box\u2019 is a good term to describe Mrs Maeder. \u201cWe have a complex way of living,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve always had a connection to Singapore; I\u2019m always coming and going. We have a Swiss family and then we have Indonesia, where Wakatobi Dive Resort is located.\u201d The Maeders work in the family-owned resort in Southeast Sulawesi. \u201cIn the early years of Max and Karl\u2019s sporting careers, I would go with them to their competitions \u2014 we had a very mobile lifestyle,\u201d she shared. \u201cNow with Max competing for Singapore, we spend a lot more time here.\u201d Meanwhile, because Karl represents Switzerland in Formula Kite, he lives with family there.<\/p>

\u201cIf there\u2019s one thing I want to say, it\u2019s that our society has advanced to the point parents can say, \u2018Let\u2019s get back to basics\u2019,\u201d she shared. \u201cLet kids have a chance at childhood, let them build strong mental health for the rest of their lives. Just be that safe space for your children.\u201d<\/p>

Mrs Maeder\u2019s hope for her boys is that they will achieve what they set out to achieve and take something away from their journeys, so that they can share the joy, motivate and inspire others. \u201cI hope my children will be remembered as good, considerate and kind,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that they impact as many lives as they can.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mrs Maeder (second from left) at her NUS graduation. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Photos courtesy of Hwee Keng Maeder<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mrs Hwee Keng Maeder (Arts & Social Sciences ’94) learnt to think differently at university, a quality she has applied to life – and when parenting a world champion. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":68,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6856,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions\/6856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}