I REFER to last Wednesday's report (Don't wait to have kids,
says DPM Teo). It is true that we are a perfection- obsessed
society.
The quest for perfection has been deeply ingrained in our psyche
right from childhood. It starts at the end of Primary3, when the
selection exam for the Gifted Education Programme is held, and
continues during the whole of one's academic life, and then follows
one in his work.
It is not very easy to forgo that instinct which you have been
having since childhood - that too for such an important thing as
having children.
One problem in this regard is the scarcity of second chances in
life in our competitive society. If a woman takes a two-year career
break to care for her newborn child, which is quite common in
Western societies, it is next to impossible for her to get a decent
job again.
This absence of second chances also weighs on the minds of young
couples when they are planning ahead. So definitely a woman would
like to delay her pregnancy as far as possible to get the best for
her child.
Everyone loves children and everyone wants them - it is just
that every parent wants the best for his child. If a parent has
been brought up in a perfection- obsessed society, he will stop at
nothing short of perfection for the child too.
Rather than telling couples to have children, encourage them in
other ways. Get companies to improve the work-life balance of
employees. Get them to enhance flexible work arrangements. Cap the
maximum number of hours a person can work in a week and in a
day.
Get people to feel confident that they can get a second chance
in life.
Once all these are in place, there won't be any need to urge
people to bear more children. It will just happen.
Kunwar Bir Singh
-- ST Forum
