Similar to yourself, I am Asian too. My parents went through the Vietnam War. Like your mother during the Korean War, they know what military, bombings, mass murders, and war is like. They also know about rape and real pirates. The whole idea of greater respect for family in Asian cultures versus Western cultures is somewhat relevant here in your case; however, I feel that there is a more important issue that may be a recurring theme within your life going forward as a grown man.
You are 31 years old. You were not forced to decline an offer of employment with the Canadian Armed Forces. Your mother's perspective on any issue relevant to your life should be taken into account as she is presumably more experienced, wiser, and loves you dearly. However, you let go of your dream of serving our great country as a fellow military member and it was not forced upon you to decline the offer of employment (as you choose to believe). Your mother's disagreement of you joining the Canadian Armed Forces was simply a factor. You chose to weight that factor quite strongly and heavily. In fact, it was so strong and heavy that it outweighed your own dream, happiness, potential career, and life goal since you actually declined the offer of employment.
No disrespect, but if she has this much influence over you as a fully developed and grown adult male, I suggest you start looking at yourself and seeing who you really are as a male. I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure 99% of females would not find this attractive and most certainly, most males would lose respect for you knowing that your mother has this much control over you as a 31 year old man.
Every individual has a unique life path, family, cultural background, values, attitudes, and beliefs; however, I feel that you need to be more dominant as a grown male if you are to seriously attack your goals. You have essentially publicly declared yourself as a submissive male who gave up his dream to please his mother. The theme going forward in your life may perhaps be that your mother's wants and happiness outweighs your own as a grown man and that you may never fully reach your full potential as a man. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in overcoming this challenge.
