While some Pinoy parents dream of raising their kids in the United States, international stage actress and singer Lea Salonga wants her daughter Nicole Beverly to grow up here. Yes, in good old 'Pinas.
During the launch of her newest album Inspired yesterday, January 26, at the Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Lea told the press that she wants her daughter to study in the Philippines, where she feels Nicole would get the best education.
She says: "It's just that a lot of kids that are schooled here turned out to be very articulate and well-spoken, as well as good writers in the English language."
But according to Lea, the biggest reason why she wants to raise her eight-month-old daughter in the Philippines is the societal values imparted to children. "There's just our fear that she'll be growing up too fast and we have a hesitation to how kids dress up in the States. And they tend to mature very quickly, I guess out of necessity than it is anything else. And here, I think here, people hold on to their childhood so much longer it seems. And I'd like for her to be a kid at least for as long as I was."
She adds, "I mean, I didn't stop being a kid until I was thirteen or fourteen years old. And I want that for her. I don't want for her to be a woman at ten. She's not ready for that and she won't be. I want to let her grow up at her own pace and enjoy an environment where other kids around her will feel the same way."
DREAMS FOR NICOLE. Lea plans to give her daughter the freedom to choose whoever she wants to be and whatever she wants to do. "All I wish for her is she figures out what she wishes to do in life. She may want to say, ‘I want to be an engineer. I want to build a nuclear plant!' You know? Who knows, she may announce that she will be a ballet dancer, she might announce she'll be a chemist, or find the cure for AIDS. Who knows? All I can do as a mommy is guide her, encourage her, support her. So my dream is just for her to figure out what she wants to do for her life. After that, that's it."
Undoubtedly, Lea is enjoying motherhood. In fact, she enjoys it so much that she plans to have another child.
"I would like one more. One more and I'm done. If it's another girl, great, if it's another boy fantastic! I'd like one of each but if I get another girl, wonderful."
Nicole Beverly is the eldest child of Lea with her husband Robert Chien.
Aside from launching her album Inspired, Lea is also busy with another big project. She will again appear on Broadway via the musical Les Miserables, where she will play Fantine starting March 6. She previously played the role of Eponine in the same musical.
Lea first made a name for herself when she became the first actress to play Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, where she won acting awards from America's Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards and Britain's Laurence Olivier Awards.