2nd one?

After the govt had announced more financial perks, tax reliefs and additional leave to encourage Singaporeans to have more babies, I had friends and colleagues asking me when my 2nd kid is coming.

The answer is, "Not anytime soon."

The perks benefitted couples more who are having their first child and swayed those on the verge of considering one. Their net gain amounted to significant thousands whereas the gain for having a 2nd one, in my case where Xiaomin doesn't work anymore, is minimal. In my case, there is only an increase of $1000 in Baby Bonus for having a 2nd. We could benefit more from the rest of the additional perks such as maternity and childcare leave and tax reliefs UNLESS Xiaomin goes back to work. But I am not for this idea cos I highly regard the importance of having one of the parents bear the responsibility of bringing up the children than any centre, grandparents or maids. So this announcement did not send me over the moon and persuaded me to have a 2nd one anytime soon. Of course, having children is not totally about $ from the govt but it is helpful. Ultimately, it's a personal decision about our lifestyle. And I'm not the least influenced to change mine yet.

We went to visit 上羊, 佩恩 who just had their 2nd son, 天诺 in their 2nd year of marriage. I must salute them for their courage and faith to have 2 kids given their circumstances. They dun exactly get any benefits from the Singapore govt yet their mentality is what the govt hope Singaporeans would have. Maybe that's just how the Singaporean society works. We need incentives and fines to tell us what should or should not be done.