Government to
spend S$700m more on pro-family measures
By Margaret Perry, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 18
August 2008 2150 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Singapore government plans to spend an
additional S$700 million a year on measures to boost its flagging
birth rate. Currently, it spends about S$900 million a year.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his National Day Rally
speech on Sunday night that a baby brings much joy, but can also be
a logistic and financial challenge, so a slew of measures will be
implemented by the government to create more time and more funds to
help parents cope with their children.
Paid maternity leave will be extended from 12 weeks to 16
weeks, and the extra four weeks can be taken anytime
during the baby's first year. It was previously extended from eight
to 12 weeks in 2004.
There will also be a larger baby
bonus for first-time parents, more tax incentives to encourage
mothers to work, more incentives for the fifth and subsequent
children, and more financial support for couples who go for
In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment.
On top of that, Mr Lee said parenting is not just the mother's
responsibility.
"I used to change nappies, in the days before Pampers. So you've
actually got to fold the cloth, you've got to put it on, you've got
to put the safety pin, I haven't pricked any baby yet. If I can do
it, that means anybody can do it," he quipped.
Emphasising that parenting is a job for both parents has influenced
some policy changes which he hopes will help to shift attitudes.
Childcare leave, which can be claimed
by either parent, will be extended from two to six days per
year.
There will also be one week of unpaid infant-care leave per year,
and mums or dads can claim it until their child turns two years
old.
Mr Lee acknowledged that professional women find the cost of not
working the highest, and he cited his own mother's work-life
choices.
A successful lawyer, Mrs Lee Kuan Yew chose to put her children
first, took on fewer cases, avoided evening work functions and ate
lunch at home every day with her children.
He said having children is a personal choice, and parents have to
decide their own priorities.
The government will help by catering to demand and creating 20,000
places at 200 new childcare centres over the next five years. There
will also be more financial support to help kindergartens upgrade
their staff and curricula, as well as more financial help for
parents.
Mr Lee said: "These measures all add up to a very significant
package. We are talking of about maybe S$700 million a year. If
more babies are born, it will be more than S$700 million a year.
But even that is about double of what we are spending today on
child incentives and all together we will have about S$1.6 billion
spent a year or 0.6 per cent of GDP."
For many people in Singapore, getting married is the first
priority. Mr Lee said the government would do what it could to
help, but urged young Singaporeans not to leave it till it is too
late and to make time to go out, meet new friends and if necessary,
join a dating agency.
Mr Lee also spent some time sharing humorous stories from the
feedback he received from dating agencies, including unrealistic
expectations and poor social graces.
He announced that the government will merge the
Social Development Unit (SDU) which caters to graduates, and the
Social Development Service (SDS) for non-graduates to increase
matchmaking flexibility and activities.
SDU will also come up with an SDU Trust Mark to ensure that those
who prefer using private dating agencies will get quality
service.
Couples how? Attractive
enough? 
Mostly naive and unrealistic solutions. He thinks just throw
money will solve the problem meh ?
Yes, Mrs Lee Kwan Yee very good.. and she is also a lawyer.. how
many women are lawyers and have the luxury of doing what Mrs LKY
can do ?
Other women try to do the same , kena the cold storage treatment
ok ?
Keep extending the paid maternity leave.. what for ?
Only make hiring foreign workers more attractive to companies
only mah.
What we need is a work life balance and work hours flexibility
so BOTH parents can occasionally tend to their young during work
hours.. not just for the couple months... it's the whole growing up
period of their children until they reach teenage years.
We all very gian paid leave meh ? After that extended paid
leave.. go back to shit load of work accumulated during the
maternity leave. More stressful ok ! Not only sleep deprived..
still have to work till heart attack.
Babies are not horses . They don't start walking and running
around.. and feed themselfs after only few days away from the womb
. SG babies are not super babies They fall ill , how ? Get chicken
pox or measles how ? All eat grass lor.
Increase child care centers ?. Xiao boh ? More chance to hire
foreign teachers ah? Is that also going to make it cheaper ?
This is what a MAN will do to come up with a naive solution on a
pinch. He thinks mothers after give birth already.. just hand over
the baby to strangers like how she hand over her finished work ?
Then why give birth if she cannot even spend more precious time
with her baby ?
How many mothers left their hearts with the baby at child care ?
He can understand this meh ? Let mothers stay at home to bond with
their children when they are young lah !!!
He bloody must have never really taken care of his own babies
before. Too many maids and helpers buzzing around taking care of
HIS babies ,while he read his " how to be a good dad" book in his
cozy office lah.
Yes.. true professional mothers has the highest cost of not
working. But he never understand that children WILL grow up ?
Babies don't remain babies forever. A child needs their parents
full time care in the BEGINNING years after birth.
This cost of not working can be repaid once the child is no
longer fuly dependent on her, a professional mother can always play
catch up with her career. Age discrimination at the work place is
the problem now.
And stop the blardy open leg foreign worker policy. When the
future looks bleak who will be willing to give birth ?
Men.. they think they have the solution to a woman's dilemma...
PFFT ~!!!!
