It was another special trip to the movies during the recent September school holidays for 88 single mums and children under the NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) WeCare for U Project. Sponsored by the United Workers of Petroleum Industry (UWPI), the beneficiaries enjoyed a screening of `ParaNorman’ at JCube, along with lunch and popcorn combo sets on 8 September 2012.
UWPI Assistant General Secretary and NTUC women’s committee member Ho Shiong Yee, who has been actively volunteering with the WeCare for U Project since it was started, saw the union’s support for the project as an extension of what the union is doing and at the same time it also raises awareness of the plight of single mothers.
She said: “We hope to Do More, Do Good and after this event hopefully we can do better. This is what we believe in and we are very happy to support. WeCare for U Project is a good platform to get all the moms together to have their own internal network and support among themselves.”
NTUC Alignment Director (Women’s Development Secretariat) Sylvia Choo appreciated the involvement and support shown by the union and the event also provided a platform for the participants to expand their knowledge. She said: “We are very happy that the unions have been very supportive of our event. We would also take the opportunity to share with the mums and the children what these unions do; their trade, their industry and all that. It’s like a mini-learning journey for the children. They get to learn about the jobs available at the sectors so they can also appreciate.”
For Assistant Manager Carol Yang, 37, it was her first time attending an event under the WeCare for U Project, after a friend told her that the Labour Movement is also extending help to single mothers. She found it to be a good bonding session for single mothers to get to know each other and a good time for the younger children to play around.
The teenage children there were invited to a briefing for a leadership camp programme slated to be held soon. Ms Choo explained: “We noticed that the children have grown up. Those who have joined us back in 2007 are now in their teenage years. So we wanted to give them something to look forward to and we thought that it’s quite important to equip them with some skills, so we are organising this leadership camp for them soon.”
At the event, WDS also took the opportunity to gather some feedback from the mothers on their thoughts to encourage procreation and a family-friendly society in Singapore. As mothers themselves, their valuable feedback and opinion would certainly help WDS and U Family who are looking into the procreation challenges that families face.
Ms Yang opined that it would take more than monetary incentive and support to address this issue. It needs couples to have a mindset shift and see the value of having children, and employers also need to be flexible in addressing the concerns of working mothers.
