Job Guarantee ?

I refer to the article “Can we end unemployment” in the Straits times “Opinion” section dated 6 January 2021. 

Ideally, a job guarantee scheme saves job and puts people into productive work which sounds logical and economically sound.  It however assumes citizens of being incapable of relying on themselves to seek work or create jobs. 

Unintended effects caused by a Job guarantee could be: 

Private sector becoming “lazy” in the longer term, purposefully retrenching workers because it cannot cope with higher costs. Workers choosing to leave employed work  because of guaranteed work easily available anywhere, anytime in the social sector. 

In the long run, it is also easier for individuals to lean towards depending on a job guarantee to  generate work rather than to generate work by ourselves.

Entrepreneurial spirit could be stifled, so what would happen to creativity and thinking out of the box?

Life is not always a bed of roses. Kindness should be extended when being asked for. This is especially useful when groups of individuals in certain sectors need temporary help. The question is what is the definition of neediness? He who does not seek, should not receive. On the contrary, he who seeks, by action or by thoughts, should and would receive what he thinks and asks for. What about the ones who receive more help than necessary? 

A policy which has good intentions may turn out to be one which creates more problems later if not carefully thought through, discussed and ponder about. 

Morning letter to my teenager

There are many moments in child rearing worth a record. 

Mostly, it is a note which we write, a message to encourage, remind daily or some conversation going on with a child. 

Kids' Mental Health Caring

BuzzFeed's latest post, "It's time to talk about mental health"  is the latest popular post which have been shared by millions. 

Those who have yet to watch the video should do so and indeed, why do we have to keep mum about topic on mental health? 

Review on B9 dental

Everyone wants a good set of teeth. But to do that, you need the support of a  professional dentist without burning a hole in your pocket. I was lucky to stumble upon B9 Dental. 

Showering love for our children

Earlier I wrote an article about implementing parental control in response to an out of control teenager who acted without much thoughts about his actions on others. This article - Why few child prodigies grow up to be geniuses? is the exact opposite to the ideology of implementing rules and controls for a child. 

The Importance of Parental Control

Around the beginning of last year, Singapore's first Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away. The whole nation was mourning, myself included.

A week later, a 16 year old youth was charged for uploading a video on YouTube. It made headlines on the news and unfortunately, the boy who had achieved his fame in less than what one would like, did not look like he had learnt during his first court appearance. 



I am a mother of four. When I had my first child, I had no clue to what parenting was. Even the simple task of breastfeeding was hard. I would think that it is only feeding a baby milk and food. Never had I known that it is a way to learn parenting.

Parenting to me was not natural and easy like breastfeeding. As I spoke to many friends who were also mothers, some told me they would put the feeding on timing while others simply feed on demand. 

Ask any mother you know, breadtfeeding a baby is not a natural thing for most women. You need to learn by instinct how, when and even why a baby needs it. Apart from being hungry or pain (such as illness or colic) which would be the most obvious as the baby would not stop no matter what, I learnt that he/she may be crying out just for attention, comfort, feeling tired or even bored or lonely. 

Over the years, I found out that despite the fact that our children would test us repeatedly for an outcome which they want, we cannot give in. It is hard to establish parental control but we need to do it. Parental control requires attentive monitoring with lots of patience and love just like breastfeeding. There is no right or wrong for the caregiver when reading a child's behaviour but when it clearly requires intervention, we as parents need to step in.

Generally, children begin with zero knowledge of what is right or wrong till taught or instilled by the parents. They could also be learnt by their experiences with peers and other beings. In modern context, the effect of media is so far reaching that as parents, we need to watch out for information being fed to our children by monitoring what they receive through YouTube or other means. 

Our children would even grow to share ideas through the media and may not be fully equipped with the power of developing empathy and  compassion for the spectators looking on his production. 

Hurt to other parties has to be carefully considered when measuring the behaviour of the child and his or her impact on others. We do not live alone. Careful thoughts to fellowmen or to those around us would help our children become better beings in hope of a better world. In today's fast-paced society led by the invent of high-tech mobile devices, parental control is ever more so important.  

For other parenting posts, read:

Importance of self-control - Channels News Asia

Surviving separation anxiety

Learning to negotiate

Do you let your child walk home from school? 

The Power of Prayer and Words of Encouragement from the Bible

This post is dedicated to all who need a word of encouragement, free and abundantly found in the word of God or the Bible.

THE POWER OF PRAYER 

Matthew 18:3 

And he said: “Amen I say to you, unless you change and become like little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven...."

25 Composition Phrases For Expressing Feelings

April is the month in which the pupils here start their First Semestral Assessment. In creative writing, my eldest son needs a lot of help even though he had come a long way from Primary 1 (Grade1 equivalent). He received no tuition except for my sporadic coaching.

Remembering Mr Lee Kuan Yew

Mr Lee Kuan Yew was a remarkable leader. He was the first Prime Minister of Singapore. According to New York Times, "his leadership was criticized for suppressing freedom, but the formula succeeded. Singapore became an admired international business and financial center." 

Review of The Landmark Forum: Getting freedom throughout life

Five weekends ago, I attended the weirdest but most extraordinary course that I have ever experienced in my life. I salute to its creators and thought it is a forum worth exploring to those who have never tried it. The impact on me was so great that I had to share it on my blog. Throughout the 3 days, a forum leader guided us through its key ideas through only conversation.