> The idea that hard-working asians are "maladjusted" is mostly veiled racism

NO IT'S NOT. I am asian american and have encountered many of these people in my life and career. these people are broken.

I assume you work in tech? I've encountered many "maladjusted" people in tech--I don't think a disproportionate share of them were asian. The only "maladjustment" I have encountered disproportionately among asians, awkwardness with women, has more to do with conservative cultural attitudes about sex and dating than anything to do with parents spending too much time at work or not giving them enough attention.

Besides that, the other stuff is racism or at least ethnocentrism. Contemporary American culture places a weird value on being "well rounded" that is alien both to asian culture and to American culture of years past. That's where a lot of the pressure on parents to invest time comes from--gotta take little Timmy to soccer practice and school plays so he'll be "well rounded." Gotta invest the time to help him cultivate a wide range of interests and hobbies, get involved in the community, etc. It's an upper-class pretension that harkens back to the days when having a variety of hobbies and interests was the mark of the elite who didn't have to work for a living.

By what metric?