Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
30 weeks 5 days
YIPPEEEEEE!!!! the petition works!!! hahaha..last nite was announced that the incentives will be backdated to 17th Aug 2008!! which means I am entitled for it..woohoo...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
30 weeks 4 days
Recently PM Lee has announced the baby incentives during the national day rally. Though package is attractive, unfortunately, the package will only implement on 1st Jan 2009!!! Hence, it creates a lot of unhappiness among pregnant mummies..a group of them have joined the petition..following is one of the letters being sent out to media and REACH.
To Whom It May Concern,
We are a group of Mothers to be (due between Sept to Dec 2008). Before the announcement at this year National Day Rally, we were full of anticipation of what’s in store for new parents like us. We can’t help but feel like we are being led for a joy-ride and ended up we were left with nothing but bitterness and many unhappiness. Not that we are expecting our baby because of the "so called" baby bonuses from the government.
As most of us are first time parents to be, naturally we were delighted to hear the hints from Ministers on the improvement in policies to encourage young couples to have children and what was more uplifting was when there are special mentions to be made for fathers to be more pro-active in the child raising process. Alas, it was not meant to be, during the National day rally that none of such were mentioned. No paternity benefits totally? So where are those “so called enhancements? Thrown out of the windows? Having said that, we were pretty relieved and happy that some new initiatives were mentioned for mums to be. We are sure many expecting mums like us were looking forward to what is in store.
However this too turn out to be "FALSE HOPES" for expecting mums who are due to deliver within this few months as the new policies will only kick in from Jan 2009 onwards. As a matter of fact, we really wonder are we being penalised for heeding the call to have children sooner. As a first time parents, we would have lose out at least $7000 on the baby bonus ($1000 extra cash gift and another $6000 (CDA) dollar to dollar matching). All the above really make us wonder if Government is really sincere in all their talk and whether do they really walk their talk than just being NATO.
If measures are to be taken to track if the policies are effective, and if the campaign is working, the implementation date should be Apr/May 09 or even in the new budget year instead of Jan 2009. By imposing such a “date”, it had already incurred the wrath of half the population of Mothers To Be (being due date from Sept – Dec 08) and another half would be those (due date from Jan – Apr 09) Since the government could set the precedence of back dating the policies in August 2004 and include those who had qualified at the time of the announcement. Why the double standards now??
In the Year 2004, it was mentioned that employers might need some time to adjust to the changes (i.e., the government funds the 3rd month of maternity leave) Now, since the fourth month will also be funded by government, why need time for employers to adjust. The changes we see this time round is that it's merely addition to the existing policies as a "tag-on" not as if it's entirely new policies like back then in Year 2004, so it should be easier to implement it and for employers to effect the change even faster since there was already a precedence set it's merely changing the quantity and not the substance of the matter.
Besides, after the PM’s announcement the new package was implemented on 1 Oct 2004. It had allow companies who are willing to backdate to 1 Aug 2004, so we don’t see why such inconsistency is being practice now?? That’s a pretty lousy excuse of MOM to use to say that it's to give time for employers to adjust. If employer finds it difficult to accept the additional 4 wks maternity leave, what about those add on incentives like “childcare leave”, “unpaid infant care leave” etc. If the measure will only come in place 1 Jan 2009, then it will be very unfair for us who actually conceived 2-4 months earlier. Since we are not given the extra 4 weeks extended maternity leave, should we be compensated in other ways? The ironic thing here is only the IVF funding will take effect almost immediately!! We have a few mothers who missed the incentives in 2004 by a couple of months and now they are stuck in the same predicament again! Are they suppose to blame it on bad luck or their child chooses to be born on the wrong timing? We do understand that there’s a need for a cut off date.
For parents who have had their first child, you can tell them that they can’t turn back the clock. However, perhaps about 10,000 babies will be delivered from now to 31 December 2008. Don’t tell us that they are not contributing to the Singapore population??? Hence, if the government wants to do something to help parents & then in turn encourage more births, don't leave out a particular percentage of babies. If this is so, why leave out the parents/parents-to-be with babies who are due to be born between now and 31 Dec 2008? Setting a cut of date on 1 Jan 2009, the message sent out to the general public is that these new incentives are not meant to help parents but meant to bribe Singaporeans to have babies. We think the government ought to give us a very valid and convincing reason as to why they could not do it this time round. By announcing such new measures so soon and setting the implementation date so late, it will surely leave many parents-to-be shortchanged.
Even if there’s a cut off date, at least they should have the decency to announce it at a later date! This group of parents faces the same burden as those whose babies are due on 1 Jan 2009 and after. This group of parents requires the assistance offered by the new package just as much as the parents whose babies would be born on or after 1 Jan 2009. In addition, these parents are those who headed the call of the government to procreate without the lure of the benefits. Why leave them out now? Most of these babies would be born to ordinary Singaporean parents who also need any assistance they can get in raising their children. Although as PM Lee says, we do not have children for the sake of the financial benefits, but the financial aid will certainly go a long way to helping us out.
Despite the rising inflation cost and the uprising cost of living in Singapore. Women like us are still going ahead to procreate and contribute to the growth rate. By not extending these benefits to us is simply unfair! The implementation date certainly seem to insinuate that people should have babies for the benefit (since we who willingly conceived without knowledge of the upcoming benefits do not qualify for it Current pregnant working women also require these additional perks to help us. We do not have any help to look after our newborn and thus the additional 4 weeks of maternity helps a great deal. And it definitely helps breastfeeding easier. The additional baby bonus also helps to lessen our load especially for middle income young couples. So why only babies born in Jan 2009 onwards can benefit? Such timing of implementation will only caution those who plan for babies to do so only after the National Day Rally in order not to miss out the good deals!! Is this called for? This is totally senseless!!
We seriously hope that the Government can consider bringing forward the implementation to either 1 Sep 2008 or even earlier to include more parents to be in the scheme then letting them feel being penalized.
To Whom It May Concern,
We are a group of Mothers to be (due between Sept to Dec 2008). Before the announcement at this year National Day Rally, we were full of anticipation of what’s in store for new parents like us. We can’t help but feel like we are being led for a joy-ride and ended up we were left with nothing but bitterness and many unhappiness. Not that we are expecting our baby because of the "so called" baby bonuses from the government.
As most of us are first time parents to be, naturally we were delighted to hear the hints from Ministers on the improvement in policies to encourage young couples to have children and what was more uplifting was when there are special mentions to be made for fathers to be more pro-active in the child raising process. Alas, it was not meant to be, during the National day rally that none of such were mentioned. No paternity benefits totally? So where are those “so called enhancements? Thrown out of the windows? Having said that, we were pretty relieved and happy that some new initiatives were mentioned for mums to be. We are sure many expecting mums like us were looking forward to what is in store.
However this too turn out to be "FALSE HOPES" for expecting mums who are due to deliver within this few months as the new policies will only kick in from Jan 2009 onwards. As a matter of fact, we really wonder are we being penalised for heeding the call to have children sooner. As a first time parents, we would have lose out at least $7000 on the baby bonus ($1000 extra cash gift and another $6000 (CDA) dollar to dollar matching). All the above really make us wonder if Government is really sincere in all their talk and whether do they really walk their talk than just being NATO.
If measures are to be taken to track if the policies are effective, and if the campaign is working, the implementation date should be Apr/May 09 or even in the new budget year instead of Jan 2009. By imposing such a “date”, it had already incurred the wrath of half the population of Mothers To Be (being due date from Sept – Dec 08) and another half would be those (due date from Jan – Apr 09) Since the government could set the precedence of back dating the policies in August 2004 and include those who had qualified at the time of the announcement. Why the double standards now??
In the Year 2004, it was mentioned that employers might need some time to adjust to the changes (i.e., the government funds the 3rd month of maternity leave) Now, since the fourth month will also be funded by government, why need time for employers to adjust. The changes we see this time round is that it's merely addition to the existing policies as a "tag-on" not as if it's entirely new policies like back then in Year 2004, so it should be easier to implement it and for employers to effect the change even faster since there was already a precedence set it's merely changing the quantity and not the substance of the matter.
Besides, after the PM’s announcement the new package was implemented on 1 Oct 2004. It had allow companies who are willing to backdate to 1 Aug 2004, so we don’t see why such inconsistency is being practice now?? That’s a pretty lousy excuse of MOM to use to say that it's to give time for employers to adjust. If employer finds it difficult to accept the additional 4 wks maternity leave, what about those add on incentives like “childcare leave”, “unpaid infant care leave” etc. If the measure will only come in place 1 Jan 2009, then it will be very unfair for us who actually conceived 2-4 months earlier. Since we are not given the extra 4 weeks extended maternity leave, should we be compensated in other ways? The ironic thing here is only the IVF funding will take effect almost immediately!! We have a few mothers who missed the incentives in 2004 by a couple of months and now they are stuck in the same predicament again! Are they suppose to blame it on bad luck or their child chooses to be born on the wrong timing? We do understand that there’s a need for a cut off date.
For parents who have had their first child, you can tell them that they can’t turn back the clock. However, perhaps about 10,000 babies will be delivered from now to 31 December 2008. Don’t tell us that they are not contributing to the Singapore population??? Hence, if the government wants to do something to help parents & then in turn encourage more births, don't leave out a particular percentage of babies. If this is so, why leave out the parents/parents-to-be with babies who are due to be born between now and 31 Dec 2008? Setting a cut of date on 1 Jan 2009, the message sent out to the general public is that these new incentives are not meant to help parents but meant to bribe Singaporeans to have babies. We think the government ought to give us a very valid and convincing reason as to why they could not do it this time round. By announcing such new measures so soon and setting the implementation date so late, it will surely leave many parents-to-be shortchanged.
Even if there’s a cut off date, at least they should have the decency to announce it at a later date! This group of parents faces the same burden as those whose babies are due on 1 Jan 2009 and after. This group of parents requires the assistance offered by the new package just as much as the parents whose babies would be born on or after 1 Jan 2009. In addition, these parents are those who headed the call of the government to procreate without the lure of the benefits. Why leave them out now? Most of these babies would be born to ordinary Singaporean parents who also need any assistance they can get in raising their children. Although as PM Lee says, we do not have children for the sake of the financial benefits, but the financial aid will certainly go a long way to helping us out.
Despite the rising inflation cost and the uprising cost of living in Singapore. Women like us are still going ahead to procreate and contribute to the growth rate. By not extending these benefits to us is simply unfair! The implementation date certainly seem to insinuate that people should have babies for the benefit (since we who willingly conceived without knowledge of the upcoming benefits do not qualify for it Current pregnant working women also require these additional perks to help us. We do not have any help to look after our newborn and thus the additional 4 weeks of maternity helps a great deal. And it definitely helps breastfeeding easier. The additional baby bonus also helps to lessen our load especially for middle income young couples. So why only babies born in Jan 2009 onwards can benefit? Such timing of implementation will only caution those who plan for babies to do so only after the National Day Rally in order not to miss out the good deals!! Is this called for? This is totally senseless!!
We seriously hope that the Government can consider bringing forward the implementation to either 1 Sep 2008 or even earlier to include more parents to be in the scheme then letting them feel being penalized.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
30 weeks
Finally I am entering in the week 30's! time is really running real short!! Anyway, its my bird day today.. :P however, i woke up with a terrible leg cramps..to the extend when i walk, i feel the pain..
Hopefully I could learn some stretching skills during the pre-natal class...ever since i entered into my 3rd trimester, stamina wasnt that good, no matter how much i sleep, i still feels tired! On wed, i had terrible mood swing...so terrible that I din really talk much during work...I drove myself to IMM for lunch alone..had my beef mui fun at Bay 21..n bot a scoop of Andersens ice cream..quite satisfying but my mood is still bad.. duno y.... *sigHz*
http://www.babycenter.com/fetal-development-images-30-weeks
Saturday, August 9, 2008
29 weeks
Saturday, August 2, 2008
28 weeks
I'm finally entering into my 3rd trimester!!! and counting down to see our little princess! 84 more days to go.. :P
recently can really feel dat bb is growing real fast..tummy getting heavier too.. n my appetite is oso getting better n better.. :) as usual, bb very active still...n nw she tends to wake up in the middle of the nite kicking away..few times, was woken up by her kicks! she's juz like her dad! always waking up in the middle of the nite..
its getting tougher n tougher, tummy getting heavier n i oso tends to get tired easily too! N getting into sleep is quite a diff task for me recently.. everynite have to find a good position to sleep..not for myself but for the little one inside me...if u r sleeping in a position she's not comfortable with...she will give u a hard kick! so everynite, i have to toss n turn here n there for her......however, i always failed to find the best position for her.. n sometimes i tends to ignore her n force myself to sleep..hahaha..poor ger.. sorry bb! :)
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