Parents, let's solve this problem for our kids

[concern2]

verykiasu2010:

Why didn't you voice out over the Internet or st forum or the ballot box 30 years ago?

Knock, knock, helloooo VK, you kidding or what? 30 years ago the older generation live in fear hor, now still got people saying, \"Wah, you dare say that ah?\" I believed there had been, or there won't be so much anger and hatred accumulated in some of the folks.

[concern2]

3Boys:

Excellent thread SH. We do indeed need to work hard at this problem of procreation. As much as I hate to admit it, part of the answer may be in the liberalising of concepts of what a traditional family unit is. So support for single parent families may need to come to the fore. Better work life balance, certainly.


Also, we need to encourage our children to have kids earlier. Seeing so many couples struggle with sub-fertility when they reach mid-30s and beyond before trying for children, is really heartbreaking. It is real, but many couples don't think it will happen to them.

Last, all the finger pointing at failed g'ment policies is unhelpful. Yes, they made a big boo-boo, the policies, and amateurish clumsy attempts at eugenics plainly inequitable and derisory. But its in the past, no point crying over spilt milk. The g'ment have plainly recanted their past policies, so lets not use that as an excuse not to have children, just to spite the PAP.

I do agree that we should stop the finger-pointing at this stage. Good or bad, it has carried us thus far. We need to look ahead, or we'll all sink together.

[limlim]

pirate:

BeContented:

1. Is Gleneagles the only hospital (or best known) that has experience in multiple births?

Am I the only one who thinks that KK is the hospital for delivering babies? I know KK is not glam, but that's where most babies by far come from. I seriously doubt that there is very much the private hospitals had seen that KK hadn't.

I think they went to Gleneagles because their gynae work out of there. Most of us are restricted in our choice of hospitals for delivery by our choice of gynae. Something to think about when choosing gynae.

you're not alone. KK is the hospital.

I'm aware of many cases where the parents choose KK bcoz it is better equipped for emergencies and related.

What I want to highlight is, in these cases, the mother is not a citizen. So even if they go to govt hospital, they pay private rates. Hence, there is no \"benefit\" from going to KK.

But, they choose KK bcoz either the mother is \"not-so-young\" or IVF cases or other complicated cases. They say, if got complications, they will need to be transferred to KK bcoz most hospital cannot handle it, and KK have ALL the necessary equipments/expertise etc.. to handle.

So.. There is no reason why these couple cannot go to KK.

KK IS the hospital..

[SilentHermit]

3Boys:

Nothing to do with the hospital. We should pay for it....with taxpayers money.


They knew it was a multiple pregnancy with high risk for complications, why did they not go to a g'ment hospital?

3Boys is right. Typically twins and above may have early delivery, thus ICU care, thus more cost. I think good gynie will know that. When my wife has twins, gynie advised, if there is any problem, call ambulance, go to KK striaight, do not rush to our hospital, KK has the best facilities and cost will be cheaper too. At that point, I do not know what she was talking about.

Then came the day when the water bag burst. My Wife and maid called ambulance, went straight to hospital. When all was settle and I was sitting down with the hospital staff, she worked out an estimated budget of the possible cost involved. She went.. hmmm... so this plus that plus this plus that.. hmm.. she shown me the calculator.. est. 44k... (Having mentally added up cash and medisave earlier, I was thinking.. phews.. manageable)..

Then she went.. \"Oh, you have twins... so X 2!!\"... Then I was like..

Anyway, she also told me, but dont worry, if you cant pay, someone will. If you have any problem, come talk to me. That was as far as I know..I do not know what she meant by someone will pay for it.. cos at the end I manage to settle the bills myself and it was lesser than what she budgeted for 2 babies..

SH

[BeContented]

SilentHermit:

3Boys:

Nothing to do with the hospital. We should pay for it....with taxpayers money.


They knew it was a multiple pregnancy with high risk for complications, why did they not go to a g'ment hospital?

3Boys is right. Typically twins and above may have early delivery, thus ICU care, thus more cost. I think good gynie will know that. When my wife has twins, gynie advised, if there is any problem, call ambulance, go to KK striaight, do not rush to our hospital, KK has the best facilities and cost will be cheaper too. At that point, I do not know what she was talking about.

Then came the day when the water bag burUst. My Wife and maid called ambulance, went straight to hospital. When all was settle and I was sitting down with the hospital staff, she worked out an estimated budget of the possible cost involved. She went.. hmmm... so this plus that plus this plus that.. hmm.. she shown me the calculator.. est. 44k... (Having mentally added up cash and medisave earlier, I was thinking.. phews.. manageable)..

Then she went.. \"Oh, you have twins... so X 2!!\"... Then I was like..

Anyway, she also told me, but dont worry, if you cant pay, someone will. If you have any problem, come talk to me. That was as far as I know..I do not know what she meant by someone will pay for it.. cos at the end I manage to settle the bills myself and it was lesser than what she budgeted for 2 babies..

SH

Maybe this is the problem?? :yikes:
Since someone else will pay , why go govt? Might as well enjoy.
It's human nature.....people tend to spend more when it does not come from own pocket or its co-payment. :skeptical:

[concern2]

SilentHermit:

3Boys:

Nothing to do with the hospital. We should pay for it....with taxpayers money.


They knew it was a multiple pregnancy with high risk for complications, why did they not go to a g'ment hospital?

3Boys is right. Typically twins and above may have early delivery, thus ICU care, thus more cost. I think good gynie will know that. When my wife has twins, gynie advised, if there is any problem, call ambulance, go to KK striaight, do not rush to our hospital, KK has the best facilities and cost will be cheaper too. At that point, I do not know what she was talking about.

Then came the day when the water bag burst. My Wife and maid called ambulance, went straight to hospital. When all was settle and I was sitting down with the hospital staff, she worked out an estimated budget of the possible cost involved. She went.. hmmm... so this plus that plus this plus that.. hmm.. she shown me the calculator.. est. 44k... (Having mentally added up cash and medisave earlier, I was thinking.. phews.. manageable)..

Then she went.. \"Oh, you have twins... so X 2!!\"... Then I was like..

Anyway, she also told me, but dont worry, if you cant pay, someone will. If you have any problem, come talk to me. That was as far as I know..I do not know what she meant by someone will pay for it.. cos at the end I manage to settle the bills myself and it was lesser than what she budgeted for 2 babies..

SH

:yikes: 44k?! Mine was only 2k+ from KK inclusive of a 2 nights at the wards, and meals...(I thought I was staying at hotel )only it wasn't A wards, but C.

Anyway, 2 years after that I had DD, it was 2k up, but I delivered her myself, so down by 1k+, worked out to be almost the same as DS..

[Busymom]

verykiasu2010:

alng:

[quote=\"Way2GO\"]
I agree with u dat d \"Stop at Two\" policy was geared towards solving d job/employment problem at dat time.
However I do not concur d policy makers were short-sighted in their deliberations.
There is a series of 'population control' policies dat follow a general line of thought in eugenics.
'Have more if u can afford it'Graduate mother scheme.
It just didn't work out d way d policymakers planned it.

Scholars get-togethers.
dis one probably has some success.

I am not sure what incentives there were in place to encourage 'Have more if u can afford it' 30 years ago. What I do remember is my uncles and aunties complaining that they had problems enrolling their kids to primary schools. Looks like there were more penalties for 'having more than 2'.

used to have \"Special Tax Rebate\" that decreases with increasing age of child-bearing introduced in the 90s, etc etc just go google IRAS Procreation Tax Incentives, graduate mother scheme with priority in Pri 1 registration etc

some were introduced while the posters on \"2 is enough\" are still at the bus stops .... some tax law professors even joked to name their kids taxkid 1, taxkid 2, etc after the test kits showed positive..those were in the 80s

but as singaporeans get more and more affluent and preferred the lifestyle of 'dinkies' and continued to push back marriage and child bearing ....this we what we get but not unique to singapore[/quote]Change that to priority P1 registration if you have 2 or 3 kids in today's context. Surely will work, no? But mothers need not be graduates, otherwise

[limlim]

Busymom:

Change that to priority P1 registration if you have 2 or 3 kids in today's context. Surely will work, no? But mothers need not be graduates, otherwise

nice one there..

those with 3 or more kids will enjoy priority over the others for the kids.

But will need to factor in distance too.

e.g. within 1km, those with 3 kids or more can enroll first.

[Busymom]

SilentHermit:

I am very glad some people have visited my blog. I thank everyone for their comments. I am really an amateur blogger and I am even having a hard time trying to figure out dashboard controls. Anyway, that's besides the point.


I am seriously putting up a proposal to the authorities. Any feedback about the topics would be very valuable for me and help me do a better job.

I understand that this issue is a big one, but like I said before, if only all of us speak up a little here and there, it will help. I thought putting up a blog would create some responses, however, although I clock a hundred page views a day, comments, suggestions and ideas are not forthcoming. I receive zero emails till date. I do not care if the blog page sucks or my English is broken, all I care about is to gather enough information to put a comprehensive proposal together. So, guys, please flood me with your thoughts.

I promise this is what I will do:
1) Gather all the views, organize them into readable format
2) Upon compilation, send it to the respective authorities with credits saying this are info from myself, as well as public domains, esp KSP forum
3) I will publish my proposal online

Hope to hear more from everyone
Cheers

SH

Someone recently mentioned to me the idea of giving those with 3 kids priority in purchasing of HDB flat in any area. Will it work?

[Strparent]

3Boys:

Strparent, I am not being sarcastic. If we as a society have decided that multiple pregnancy (presumably due to fertility treatment), with all it's attendant complications, is meritorious and should be supported, then society as a whole must be willing to share the burden.

So I say, MOH pay, and pass the cost on to tax base. It's fine with me, honest.

paiseh, me bad :oops:

3Boys:

At the end of the day, we all need to square up to the cost-benefit consideration. Just as long as all don't say spend here spend there and damn the consequences.

Agreed :celebrate: