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https://youtu.be/JBwoqL3AqiA While my kids were having a nap after playing with the Sylvanian Families toys today, I made this short film of daddy coming home from work.

hospital is a place where many people will lost control of their temper, not only to the healthcare staff but also their own family members... but i hope the hospital has rules to throw out those inconsiderate people

A woman pours the dressing on the "yusheng" -- a traditional Lunar New Year dish -- at a hawker centre in Singapore. With the Lunar New Year less than two weeks away, more families are turning to alternative venues, besides restaurants and their homes, to hold their traditional reunion dinners. "We also went to the restaurants but then we are expected to finish our dinner within that timing”, said Teh Siong Koon, a customer at a hawker centre. “We don't feel that type of comfort and relaxing mood, enjoying our reunion dinner. That's why this year we're trying something new and trying out in the hawker centre." Some hawkers Channel NewsAsia spoke to say they are selling traditional Lunar New Year dishes, such as “yusheng” and “pen cai”, just for this festive period. A hawker at Chinatown said he has already received more than 100 orders for reunion dinner meals and New Year dishes. Customers say having a reunion meal at the hawker centre saves them the hassle of cooking at home, and not having to stick to a fixed menu like in a restaurant is another draw. Price is also another factor. “The food here has more variety. The elders and the children have more choice. You don't actually have to follow the menu from the restaurant. And prices wise it's quite a big difference,” said Richard Lee, another customer at a hawker centre. “In restaurants, you'll probably need four, five hundred dollars for a set menu for 10 persons but here, probably… less than a hundred. You can actually have some very good food. You'll have my favourites -- char siew or turtle soup. You don't have to eat abalone or shark's fin." Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/more-families-having/958996.html

http://www.mamawearpapashirt.com/2012/09/w...families-first/

Good move to reduce FT flooding in and straining our infrastucture. But now we know the reason behind the surge in FTs for the past couple of years. $2800/mth can bring in parents, in-laws, spouse and children? [sINGAPORE] First, higher levies and stricter work pass conditions made it harder for foreigners to work here. Now, foreigners will also find it tougher to keep their families here, under a new rule announced on the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) website on Monday. For Singaporeans, this move might mean fewer foreigners competing for limited space in local schools, hospitals and trains. But the city-state might also be less attractive to some lower-earning skilled foreigners who will now have to work here without their spouses or children. From Sept 1, MOM said in a posting on its website, S Pass and Employment Pass (EP) holders need to earn at least $4,000 monthly before they can sponsor a Dependant's Pass for their spouses and children. The salary requirement is up from $2,800 previously. The Dependant's Pass is a privilege that allows foreigners to stay here for longer periods of time, and is tied to the duration of the sponsor's work pass. Dependants can also apply for Letters of Consent to work here, without having to apply for a work pass. For all EP holders, their parents-in-law are no longer allowed to stay here. Those earning more under the EP framework will face progressively fewer restrictions. P2 Pass holders, who earn at least $4,500, can bring their spouses and children, but will no longer be able to bring their parents or parents-in-law. P1 Pass holders, who earn at least $8,000, can still bring their parents in addition to their spouses and children - just not their parents-in-law. Meanwhile, P1 and P2 Pass holders can also still apply for long-term visit passes for other categories like common-law spouses, their children, and handicapped children and stepchildren aged above 21. Explaining the changes, MOM said: "The government is making this move as part of the overall direction to moderate growth of the non-resident population, including the foreign workforce inflow, in Singapore. "This will help ease the pressure on our social infrastructure," it said. MOM advised companies not to make a "knee- jerk reaction" to the tightening of dependant privileges, as MOM will continue to approve Dependant's Pass applications before Sept 1. Current dependants can also stay in Singapore as long as the main pass holder has a valid work pass and remains with the same employer. MOM's move is the latest in a series of moves by various ministries to sharpen the privileges of being Singaporean and restrict the influx of foreigners which has strained the city's infrastructure and caused locals considerable angst in the last few years. For example, qualifying salaries for EP holders were raised to $3,000 in January along with stricter educational requirements. Higher foreign worker levies and tighter foreign worker quotas kicked in earlier this month. MOM, however, stressed that Singapore "remains a global talent capital" and continues to welcome highly skilled foreign talent who want families to stay with them. Observers say that the latest change affects young graduates looking to work here who earn wages in the $2,800-$4,000 range. Teo Siong Seng, president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "I don't understand the rationale. Do support and give priority to Singaporeans, but we must also open up to talented people. Those who are younger and just started work, just married, might be discouraged from coming to work here as it is harder to part from their spouses." Similarly, Annie Yap, managing director of recruiter AYP Associates, said that "quite a lot of foreigners earn in the $2,800- $4,000 range", so the move will deter some from continuing to work here. Others are divided on whether the move will have an impact on Singapore's attractiveness to talent. Singapore National Employers Federation executive director Koh Juan Kiat pointed out that other countries have similar restrictions for dependants. Lim Der Shing, chief executive of online recruitment portal JobsCentral, said that Singapore is such an expensive place to live in anyway that it is likely that only those earning $4,000 and above are bringing dependants in. "For my company, people on S Passes and EPs don't bring their dependants over unless both husband and wife are working," he added. Chan Chong Beng, president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, said the move is a good one. "Our infrastructure today is quite jammed and will need some time to be ready for more people. This will ease the pressure," he said. Ultimately, the move might be good in the short term but may have an unintended consequence in low-fertility Singapore, which is trying hard to solve its demographic problems, said sociologist Paulin Straughan, an associate professor at NUS. She said that the new rule will encourage a "guest-worker" mentality among foreign workers earning less than $4,000 a month. They will more likely be single and willing to work longer hours for lower wages, Prof Straughan said. "We're no longer going to be attractive to married individuals who can fill in the kind of jobs people in that salary range usually take - essentially service sector jobs. "This changes the nature of work. You will have foreigners come in who are single, and their only intention is to make as much money as they can and go home - as, obviously, they are not welcome here," Prof Straughan added. "That's a pity. Because when the entire family is here, the way the guest worker leads his or her family life will be very different. "They will be more like regular Singaporeans, keeping regular hours to have a good work-life balance."

Quite sad to learn of this. Cases of the elderly being basically abandoned by their kids at these nursing homes are reported to be on the rise. The report also mentioned that these aged parents being forsakened by their children did not want want go to the Small Claims Tribunal or resort to the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents because they were ashamed to be left there in the first place and did not want to further embarrass themselves to seek outside help. Granted some families genuinely faced financial difficulties or have strained relationships with their elderly but to dump them at the elderly homes is really not the right thing to do. One particular case was brought up which a local Singaporean even abandoning his mum at a JB nursing home and refused to pay up or pick up phone calls from the nursing home (Check out the embedded video from 1min 38s onwards). In the Chinese news, he was interviewed and claimed his two sisters would pay up and that he did not give two hoots what others thought of him as long as he live a happy life. From CNA: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1208889/1/.html Cases of families defaulting on nursing home payments on the rise By Vimita Mohandas/Lip Kwok Wai/Wee Leng | Posted: 20 June 2012 2123 hrs SINGAPORE: Some eldercare facilities in Singapore are seeing more cases of families defaulting on their payment and also facing the challenge of trying to contact family members. About half of the 110 patients at Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home have defaulted on their payments, which ranges from about one to two months. To help these financially strapped families, the home works out instalment plans and even offers subsidies, but more often than not its hands are tied as families are just not able to fork out the expenses. Some remain uncontactable, simply abandoning their loved ones. The home said it has tried to seek help from the Small Claims Tribunal and the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents, but it is not as easy as it seems. Manager of the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home Then Kim Yuan said: "We as a caregiver of the patient can help apply for this tribunal (The Maintenance of Parents Act), but we have to be authorised by the patient or by the parents. "Unfortunately, most of the time we don't get the permission because to them, it's a shame to be abandoned in the nursing home. If they were to force their children to pay for the expenses, they will feel even more embarrassed". Mr Then added that the process at the Small Claims Tribunal is also long and tedious and family members usually do not turn up for these sessions. The home also feels that the small fee that they have to fork out for the mediation process is not money well spent. This problem has also spread across the causeway to the Comfort Ville Home nursing care centre in Taman Johor Jaya. Representatives from the home said they have tried to contact Singaporean Joseph Tay, whose mother was admitted in March. The home alleges that Mr Tay owes them 6000 ringgit. Staff-in-charge at Comfort Ville Home Goh Ker Xin said: "When we admit a patient, we will collect a one-month deposit from the patients' families. However, Mr Tay said he couldn't afford it and we still decided to help him. But he hasn't come back to visit his mother and has disappeared." Mr Tay, who is unemployed, said he could not afford the bills and that his siblings would settle the expenses. Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia, the Ministry of Health said it does not condone the abandonment of patients in residential healthcare institutions, such as nursing homes or hospitals. "We are saddened to see such occurrences," a ministry spokesperson said. "In such situations, institutions will engage the family on an amicable resolution, such as financial assistance through subsidies, Medifund, charity dollars or payment by installations. "The Maintenance of Parents Act can be exercised by elderly patients to pursue his/her child for maintenance, should such an unfortunate situation occur." - CNA/wm

I just had a talk with some of my colleagues. Currently it seems that all you need is one spouse to convert to citizen to enjoy all the benefits while the other spouse can remain as citizen of their home country. I think singapore should differentiate such "mixed" families to encourage BOTH spouses to convert to citizenship so that we can ensure such families are here in the long run. If one spouse is singaporean, the other is PRC, I think they all will just leave when the going gets tough or they will not stay in singapore with a long term mindset. All they are concerned with will be short term gain, quickly reap as much benefits and then return to their home country. Am I right?

Go zoo oso can become a matter of gahmen policy. ST Forum Mar 22, 2011 Zoo should have some thought for big families I AM a mother of four children, aged two, four, seven and nine. Recently, our family visited the Singapore Zoo and inquired about the Friends of the Zoo membership. To my amazement, I found that the family membership is limited to two adults and three children aged three to 12. Children below the age of three are entitled to free admission. For now, the membership rules accommodate my family profile, but in the next two to three years, I will have to purchase an additional entrance ticket because I have one child too many. Instead of granting big families more benefits, the zoo is penalising them. This is certainly going against the Government's policy of encouraging more births. I hope the zoo will look to revise the terms and conditions for the Friends of the Zoo family membership by aligning them with the Government's policies. Lim Geok Keng (Mrs)

Family breakup scene at RWS Casino Can we be truly proud of our GDP growth when a large part of it comes from the casinos? Close down the casinos before they too break up your family or the families of your friends. Or make it harder for locals to gamble there.... we may not care overseas families breaking up, but local families are not the same...

THEY are the crown jewels of Singapore attractions, drawing thousands of visitors each day. Yet parents say that high admission fees and miscellaneous charges at spots like the Night Safari or Singapore Flyer are pricing them beyond a regular family's reach. Mr Lim Chow Siong, a father of two boys aged 16 and nine, said none of Singapore's star attractions will be on the family's to-do list during the school holidays this month. 'You've got to be kidding,' said the SMRT station manager, when asked if he planned to take his family to any of them. 'It is just too expensive to spend a day at any one of these places.' Eighteen out of 20 parents contacted echoed this view. The high cost of attractions was also a sore point with writers to The Straits Times' Forum page recently. A check of 10 main attractions here found that a day out would set a family of four back by $125 on average. For example, an outing to the Underwater World or the Singapore Flyer, or taking a Duck Tour will cost a typical family between $127 and $164 (See facing page). Topping the list is the Singapore Night Safari. Taking into account a meal and souvenirs, a trip there could burn a $230-hole in the pocket. Spokesmen for the attractions said that the quality of the experience and cost of upkeep justify the pricing. Ms Isabel Cheng, a spokesman for the Singapore Zoo, Jurong BirdPark and Night Safari, said that admission rates are 'relatively low' compared to similar attractions in Australia and the United States, and that the experience one gets is worth the money. To encourage more families to visit during the June holidays, some attractions are offering school-break discounts. Singapore Underwater World, for example, said it will be offering tickets to its Underwater World and Dolphin Lagoon at a 30 per cent discount until June 22. The Singapore Discovery Centre and Escape Theme Park are also offering discounted packages for families. Most families interviewed, however, say the discounts do not do enough to offset the high prices. They have developed some creative ways of having fun for close to nothing instead. Popular haunts include shopping malls and the airport for some cool comfort, or beaches and nature walks for the more adventurous. Madam Judy Lim, 47, a mother of three, said a popular outing is a picnic at Changi Beach with her 13-year-old son, and daughters, aged 16 and 10. 'My son and husband take the opportunity to indulge in a spot of fishing, while my daughters love picking sea shells,' said the proprietor. Buay Tahan [sweatdrop]