Mummy Dearest carnival: An appreciation for mothers
24 June 2007
Media Release
1. Mothers take the limelight today at the inaugural Mummy Dearest carnival, held at Downtown East, organised by the Mummy and Me affinity group, and sponsored by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC Bank). Families come together to celebrate their appreciation of a mother’s love and join in fun activities, interesting contests and stage performances.
2. The carnival is officiated by Guest-of-Honour, Mr Lim Swee Say, Secretary-General of NTUC. Mr Lim says, “Mothers play a special role in our economy and society. The labour movement would like to acknowledge and recognise all the mothers amongst us today. Mummy & Me supports parents by presenting itself as a platform for sharing of information and benefits. Mummy & Me also helps working mothers to cope better in balancing between career and family demands.”
3. Key highlights for the day include ‘Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, for my lady’ where fathers can express their love through their creativity in decorating a cake for their wife or mother, and a Mummy & Me members’ corner for mothers to get together with their parenting support group from the same neighbourhood. Mothers from Punggol, Sengkang, Tampines and Pasir Ris, just to name a few, will be gathering to meet, and for some, for the very first time.
4. At one meaningful activity called ‘Dream a Little Dream for Mummy’, a daughter’s heartfelt wish to give her mother a surprise gift of flowers and a spa treatment was selected as the winning entry through an online contest. The winner, Noor Aisha, 31-year-old mother of three children, says, “I wanted to do something different to surprise and show my appreciation to my mum this year. When I saw the contest, I remembered my mother asking about what it was like to visit a spa when she saw it on television, so I thought this would make a great gift for her.” Mummy and Me Members have responded receptively and a turnout of 10,000 people is expected.
5. The Mummy & Me affinity group at www.mummyandme.com.sg was established on 1st July 2006 with the goal of providing parents of young children, especially mothers, with a platform to meet and connect with other parents to share their experiences through the various stages of parenthood. This affinity group set up by NTUC Link recognises the needs and sacrifices that many parents, in particular mothers, make, in bringing up their children. Thus far, Mummy & Me has organised four activities for members comprising educational workshops and fun outings, drawing positive responses from parents. The website started with 3,000 members and has grown more than two-fold to almost 8,000 members.
6. Mummy & Me members enjoy benefits such as access to book reviews by National Library Board librarians, a weekly e-newsletter on Mummy & Me happenings, and exclusive event invitations, promotions and discounts. Members also participate in forums to share parenting tips by staying in touch with other parents through the website. Membership also entitles earning NTUC LinkPoints with selected partners and merchants.
7. Mummy & Me collaborates with the Regional Training and Resource Centre in Early Childhood Care and Education for Asia (RTRC Asia) to develop a series of parenting programmes to support the parents’ community network. RTRC Asia which is a leader in the training and development of early childhood professionals, helped to initiate and build up a milestone series based on children’s development, through articles and useful links which were made available on the website.
8. Angela Jau, working mother with a 5-month-old daughter says,”I came to know about Mummy & Me through my friend. He encouraged me to take part in a call for entries from Mummy & Me about our thoughts on motherhood. I was very excited to be able to share my thoughts as a first-time mother and being able to relate with other mothers. I am thankful to Mummy & Me for providing me with lots of information.”
For media queries, please contact:
Ms Felicia Yeo
Principal Executive
Corporate Communications Department
National Trades Union Congress
DID: 6213 8192
HP: 8322 6426
Email: feliciay@ntuc.org.sg
For queries on Mummy & Me, please contact:
Ms Adeline Lee
Partners & Alliances
NTUC Link Pte Ltd
DID: 6213 8502
HP: 9114 4780
Email: leechsuan@ntuclink.com.sg
About National Trades Union Congress
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is a national confederation of trade unions of workers in the industrial, service and public sectors representing about 480,000 workers in Singapore. It has 63 affiliated trade unions and six associations, as well as 12 social enterprises and three related organisations. NTUC’s objectives are to help Singapore stay competitive and workers remain employable for life; to enhance the social status and well-being of workers; and to build a strong, responsible and caring labour movement.
For more details on NTUC, please visit our website at www.ntuc.org.sg
About NTUC Link Private Limited
NTUC Link Private Limited’s mission is to maximise benefits and provide real value in the LinkPoints Loyalty and Rewards Programme. Incorporated in 1998, it aims to bring greater value and savings to members by having a stream of quality merchants offering LinkPoints and attractive rewards.
With more than 970,000 members and over 600 participating merchant outlets, the LinkPoints Programme has grown to become one of the most popular loyalty programmes in Singapore. For the last three years, members earned a total of $33 million worth of LinkPoints. The programme continues to have the highest redemption rate in Singapore as well as a strong and healthy response rate to the offers and promotions created. For more details on NTUC Link, please visit our website at www.linkpoints.com.sg
