As a full-time working mother, I find it a struggle to maintain that delicate work-life balance that all of us seek. A typical day for me starts at 6am, when I prepare my child for school. I do not get home till 8pm, on average - sometimes later if I need to work overtime.
By the time I pick my son up and bring him home, it is close to 10pm, resulting in him sleeping at about 11pm. It bothers me that I cannot even give him adequate sleep - who in the world allows her child to sleep that late?
To make things worse, my bosses expect me to respond to email after office hours. Sometimes, I am even required to get things cleared overnight. I do not get to sleep till 1am.
I have tried to make adjustments to my work in an attempt to spend more time with my child. During my child's first year, I asked to work part-time so that I could concentrate on breastfeeding and be involved in his developmental milestones. My company then took more than half a year to respond - by which time I did not need to work part-time any more as I had stopped breastfeeding.
Later on, I took on a government job, hoping that I would find that elusive work-life balance. Things did not improve at all. If anything, the working culture was equally bad, if not worse, than at my previous company.
I have given up trying to find that perfect job that allows me to strike a balance between family and career as it is near to impossible in Singapore.
My dream was to have three children but, really, I have no energy to live that dream now. So please, do not bother solving the fertility puzzle until we are prepared to make changes to the working culture of Singaporeans and pursue a decent life.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
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