Life In Technicolour

 Yesterday after a hot and spicy dinner at Golden Mile’s Food Centre with Ali, reached home and i saw my sis and her husband were glued to the TV set. I almost forgot the National Day Rally speech by our PM Lee Hsien Loong. – Longer maternity, childcare leave and better baby bonuses are some of the announcements that got Singaporeans sitting up at the National Day Rally including myself too but I didn’t manage to watch it fully till the end because to be honest i was so tired but manage to watch a bit only lah and especially the part when it comes to paid maternity leave will be extended from 12 weeks to 16 weeks. Likewise 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. I know that this is something which is not relevant to me now. But still as you and me know it and for many people in Singapore, getting married is the first priority. Hence there’s something i can relate to; in a way as there will be lots of issues involving this.

Firstly, looking at my work place, the working environment over there mostly or rather the majority of people working are those married having children or newly couple who planning having one and since now our goverment started implented this thing, what question on my mind is how effective will it be as paid maternity leave is extended and will it change those people mindset at my workplace ? Yes we know that we must not be selfish but will it help to shift attitudes? To make it worse eversince there is security lapse, will the new measures help and i’m afraid there will more women, who have made the decision to stay at home and look after their children. But putting children is always first if you’re the parents and Mr Lee did said having children is a personal choice, and parents have to decide their own priorities. Will there be an increase in shortage of manpower especially like the place im working at now? 

Let’s take one good example, while i was on my way to Ubi in the cab, i heard the radio conversation regarding this issues ( i can’t recall which radio station ). There was a caller calling and asking – What are the measurement will it be taken into consideration if one of the school teachers taking the long maternity leave and along came a relief teacher and making some of our Singaporean parents feel uneasy as he or she is not that experience or qualify in teaching their children. – Hence situation like this might take us back to square one. To quote Mr Gurcharanjit Singh, a lawyer, said: – “It’s a change in mindset, and I think if the message is something that’s very well understood and very comprehensive, it’ll start people thinking”.  As for me i feel it takes two to tango to really understand this outcome. On the other hand, our PM Lee Hsien Loong touch on the additional support package that the average Singaporean household will receive an extra S$250 to S$330. This is on top of the benefits that we are already receiving to help Singaporean cope with inflation and higher living costs( Oh well indeed! ). Furthermore there were hotly issues like the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) which i guess it will definitely make some of my friends debated at work sooner or later. A yet comprehensive speech by our PM Lee but its fully appreciated but i think to some the speech kinda gave them a sense of hope for the future. As for me i’m not too sure cause living condition in here will keep on updating and changing and all one’s needs to do is just play along and play it well.