Your Asian mom

The government is imposing another round of Movement Control Order in the state following the surge of new Covid-19 cases. I pulled through the initial three-month of staying and working from home most of the time, of course with a primary school student in tow.  But, I realised that the stress from the so-called new norms by confining myself at home is actually taking a toll to my mental health.  I thought I would be okay but did not realise the building up from one to another stressors could lead to insomnia for almost a week.  The nature of my work is supposed to be outside a building, but as husband works at a hospital, I have the responsibility to ensure I don't bring the infection to home due to my job demand.  Touch wood, if 7-year-old daughter or I get the infection, the recovery chances for us are higher but husband should not be exposed as it would affect the hospital institution.  Some more, without schooling, I am obliged to look after daughter at ho...

A very good book to teach parents on kickstarting financial knowledge and practice for their kids.  According to the author, it is never too early when to expose children on health money spending or saving money as they are already learning when they see adults use their money whether it is buying things, saving in the bank among others  My parents (I believe many do too) think that I am obliged to give them a lot of money (as seen on TV). They have the preconception that their children can afford to allocate half of salary for them to live comfortably after their retirement.  Unfortunately, the ugly truth is not everyone is earning extraordinary income in today's world with higher cost of living. In fact, even to put a roof under the head is a troublesome for many young generations.  Some more, there is a term for us...Sandwiches generation which we also have to think of supporting our own child.  Let me be clear here that it does not mean that I am not giving ...

As people are losing their jobs amid Covid-19 pandemic, many have sought for income alternatives by selling variety of items that they can make a living from.  photo courtesy: Westfield Financial Planning For time being, I am lucky to still have my job despite the industry is not really doing very well. With the Movement Control Order, which required almost everyone to stay home and commitment in terms of childcare fare, fuel and eating out expenses cut down, I really can afford to spend some money to support friends who need to make living out of selling homemade cooking and etc. However, I am not so keen to be approached/forced to invest my money into unit trust via an agent/consultant.  During the product introduction briefing, I was told that unit trust could earn a return of between 5-10 per cent. But, when I check on the previous reports, it may not seem to be true for all time. The units could drop to below 10 per cent, which means that unit trust holders would likely t...

Watched one of the episodes in Grey's Anatomy movie. An elderly couple was still bickering with each other even though the husband was pierced with a pole when storm hit Seattle.  Apparently both of them fight almost everyday for 30 years, the wife told the doctor that they could have not survive the marriage without the quarreling.  "Most importantly, he comes back after every fight and I always love him for that."

If you know Chinese or even better be excelled in it, you are in advantage of getting employed and of course to demand for higher pay as it is a specialised skill.  I am lucky to get my daughter enrolled into a Chinese Primary School (SJKC) as parents, despite not having any basic in Chinese, are fighting for places to get their children to learn the language.  My daughter's class has about 40 students cramped in the room.  I remember when I was younger, there were quite limited number of non-Chinese students in the SJKC as parents probably think it would be more convenient to send their kids to school which use their mother-tongue language.  The then syllabus, especially Chinese, was quite simple and basic for non-Chinese to follow.  Fast forward 20 years, Primary 1 students would require to remember many words, the strokes counting, the pinyin (sound) etc. Some who could not cope and could not get help will probably stress out and wors...

 Source: Maoistrebelnews As a mom in 30s, I resent my ancestors evertime the weather is damn hot and intolerable. I blame them for keeping on destroying all the greens and polluting rivers in their days so call to give better lives for the next generation. The previous generations or so called the "modern" people kept on implying that using plastic is cool, buying is sort of a symbol of status, in contrary to reusing or upcycling is only meant for those who have no money and etc. Recently, I attended a seminar on Environmental issues. One of them is on waste.  Here I share the statistic from Journal of Science 2015. 1. In 2010, 99.5 million tonnes plastic were produced from 192 countries bordering the sea and led about 12.7 million tonnes went into the ocean. 2. It is estimated that each person on average consume 18gramme, or a size of credit card, in their daily food intake ie the fish, the sea salt which contain microplastic. 2. As for e-waste collection in ...

Came across an article by The New Straits Times on "Many couples choose not to have children".  It is an interesting article that discuss at length of the reasons that married couples are looking into such direction. Briefly, reasons behind the decision include inability to conceive; hardly to survive financially even with double-income family; as well as career-oriented. What shocked me more is the article stated that besides women focusing on career, it also highlighted that a marriage institution nowadays is more to high-ranking men telling their wives "you would be lucky if you see me tonight" due to job commitment. I believe it is a tough decision for every couple when it comes to whether having or not having own kids. Another human in the family, especially minors, mean there would be more expenses incured. On today's world, where everything require money. Is it wise to have many kids? Perhaply two would be ideal or maximum for family who come fr...