Sean Long shares his experience raising triplets as a stay-at-home dad
"Some of my friends playfully call me a 'man tai' (a play on the popular concept of 'tai tai', a wealthy woman who does not work) but I don't mind it—I'm happy and I get to spend time with my kids," declares Sean Long, 57.
"It is intimidating to label yourself as a stay-at-home dad, especially in Asia. I find myself holding back from saying that sometimes or justifying my lifestyle with the flexible hours I work as a realtor, mostly on the weekends."
In fact, he points out that one would be hard-pressed to find a stay-at-home dad in the purest sense of the word in this region.
See also: Father's Day 2021: Marcus Teo On Finding Himself Through Fatherhood
Almost a decade ago, Long decided to venture into real estate after an illustrious career in the tech industry, with roles in leading corporations such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Oracle Malaysia. Finding himself with flexible working hours and more time on his hands, he began shouldering more of the day-to-day responsibilities in taking care of his non-identical triplets: Matthew, Nicholas and Kelly.
"It wasn't a conscious transition on our part," says Long about this progressive family arrangement with his wife Pauline Ho, who is the chief strategic operations officer at PwC Malaysia. Ho was previously featured in Tatler as an industry leader for pushing for gender equality in the workplace. She is also part of the 30% Club, a global business-led campaign to improve the gender balance in executive positions.
More about Pauline Ho: Closing The Gender Gap: 10 Visionary Industry Leaders Reveal Their Roadmaps To #BalanceForBetter