SINGAPORE : Encouraging Singaporeans to have more babies is top
priority with the government, but it also wants to make sure
would-be parents are prepared.
And to help them with parenthood's challenges, the government is
launching new family education initiatives to impart parenting
skills before and after a child is born.
Christopher Chan and Loh Lih Woon are expecting their first baby
next February.
The couple have been married for three years, and recently began
attending a pre-parenting programme run by the Centre for
Fathering.
Mr Chan said: "We realise that there is an urgency to communicate
better, because when the baby comes there will be some form of
stress. And during those stressful times, we really need those
skills we have learnt in the classes."
Mdm Loh said: "It is very good that my husband gets to hear from
other men because it is organised by the Centre for Fathering, and
he has had the opportunity to hear from men, not women, how vital
his role is at home and that has been very helpful."
The programme is part of an initiative to engage expectant couples
in preparing for the birth of their child.
It will be extended beyond KK Women's and Children's Hospital and
the Singapore General Hospital, to other hospitals like Mount
Alvernia and Gleneagles.
The programme is based on research in US universities and involves
three three-hour sessions - two before the birth and one
after.
Another community programme will help parents with their new-borns,
and even teach sign language to a six-month old child!
Parent Education will also be made available in all 40 NTUC
childcare centres next February, benefiting some 4,000
families.
Ms Adeline Sum, CEO of NTUC Childcare, said: "It is a deepening and
broadening of our engagement with parents that we already do
now.
"Today, when many young Singaporeans live in a nuclear family, and
they take care of the kids without the full assistance of
grandparents on a daily basis, then they are very interested on how
to do it."
Eighty schools will also now run the School Family Education
programme, up from 40 schools since 2002.
This follows almost 100 percent of parents voicing their
satisfaction with these family education programmes.
These announcements were made at the Family Matters Seminar and the
Family Festival - events held as part of the International Year of
the Family.
The Family Festival is the largest family event ever to be held in
Singapore and organisers say they hope to attract over 100,000
families to its fun carnival-like atmosphere.
Events like these and other initiatives to help parents are some of
the things that the government and the community are doing to
create a supportive environment for strong families, but the rest
is up to Singaporeans.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Acting Minister for Community Development,
Youth and Sports, said: "The government's role is to support, to
help, to enable, but it cannot be the prime mover, and the prime
creator of the family.
"I am by no means a perfect husband, or perfect father but I try,
and I think my family is a happy family, and it is what makes life
worth living."
The Family Festival is on at Suntec through the weekend. -
CNA