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154th: Preggies WILL Vote for PAPee in Next GE!

makapaaa

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Govt listening to us, say mums-to-be
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Would-be mothers hail decision to bring forward package implementation </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Li Xueying
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The bringing forward of the eligibility date for extra financial help and additional maternity leave will bring smiles to every expectant mum...and dad. -- PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->MUMS-TO-BE who had been up in arms about the parenthood package are now back in their happy zone.
Among them is development executive Z.P. Yang, 25, who is expecting her first child in December.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>EAR TO THE GROUND

'I personally feel it's a good gesture. It shows we respond and support the voice of young parents. It shows we are taking seriously this issue about having more children, our future generation of leaders.''


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>'This is a good move, at least something had been done about it,' she said, expressing a common sentiment.
'It makes everybody much happier. I can trust this Government, at least I know they're listening to us and not just making decisions by themselves.'
She was referring to the decision announced yesterday to bring forward the date of implementation of the new Marriage and Parenthood package to Aug17, the date of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's announcement at the National Day Rally.
The change comes a day after the Government announced it would take effect on Jan 1 next year.
With the new date, parents of children born between Aug 17 and end-December this year will also benefit from the slew of measures, including an extra month of maternity leave, tax incentives and a bigger Baby Bonus.
Ms Yang told The Straits Times last night that she was initially furious when she heard she would be left out.
She swung into action yesterday morning. She drafted and e-mailed a petition, signed by 300 women expecting their child from now to December, to PM Lee.
The night before, on Wednesday, she and nine other pregnant mums had also marched down to his Meet-the-People Session in the Teck Ghee ward, where they handed the petition to MP Inderjit Singh who was helping out.
Bank officer Jerene Tan, 31, whose second child is due in October, said she was so upset she signed two petitions online to agitate for the change.
She said she had watched the National Day Rally in great anticipation. 'Then the big bang came and I went, 'Huh, I'm not included!''
Research executive Elaine Chow, 26, whose first child is due in December, felt the same way.
'When I first heard the benefits will start only on Jan 1, I thought it was very unfair,' she said. 'Aren't people due in December just as pregnant as those due in January?'
She was particularly resentful of being deprived of the extra month of maternity leave, which has been raised to 16 weeks.
Now, she would not have to be. 'This is good, it is more fair this way,' she said when told of the news last night.
Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, also cheered the news.
She told reporters at a childcare industry dinner: 'I personally feel it's a good gesture. It shows we respond and support the voice of young parents.
'It shows we are taking seriously this issue about having more children, our future generation of leaders.'
Similarly pleased are fathers-to-be like fund manager Ng Khim Hau. Said the 36-year-old: 'The change is good. The package was excellent, just that the execution was poor. Now it is fixed.'
His wife, bank officer Xie Hui Ling, 34, is expecting their child in November. She had earlier signed a petition on the forum of government feedback arm Reach.
'We were very upset, you know we're very emotional now, and we wondered why the Government had to be so penny-pinching,' she told The Straits Times.
'Yes, now it's fair. We're happy now.'
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