http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20121224-391372.html
It's the one with the happy family: Mum, dad and the kids visiting a fast food restaurant for breakfast.
Her mother, Clara, explains quietly: "I think it's because she doesn't like to be reminded that she doesn't have her daddy around."
Natasha, who is six years old, and her five-year-old brother frequently ask for "papa", leaving her helpless.
But "papa" is in jail.
"So I give them the soft toys, which they talk to and hug every night, in place of him," says the 33-year-old teaching assistant at an international school.
We are not revealing their real identities because the children are minors.
The toughest part for them is not knowing when their father will be home.
Unlike other prisoners serving a fixed sentence, Clara's husband is being detained for illegal moneylending under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, which allows for jail without trial for an unspecified period of time.
He went in two years ago in December 2010.
"I saw the phrase Dads For Life, and I thought to myself, 'What dad? Their dad is not even around'," she says with a note of defeat.
"My daughter is also old enough to compare herself with her friends, and she asks me when we're going to zuo fei ji (Mandarin for fly in an aeroplane).
"I tell her, 'Wait till your daddy comes out then you can ask him to take you'," she says.
Before her husband went to prison, life was good, she reveals.
"We used to own two cars, and although he was not a homebody, we had a good relationship and would go out as a family on weekends," she says.
These days, Clara juggles two jobs. On weekdays, she teaches at the school. On the weekends, she works as an assistant in an optical shop.
In all, she makes between $2,000 and $2,500 a month. It is tough trying to make ends meet, she says.
"After seeing his jiejie (Mandarin for older sister) go for art classes at the community centre, the boy said he wanted to attend too. But I simply can't afford to pay for both to learn at the same time," she says.
When the pressure of raising her children single-handedly gets too heavy, she talks to her dog, a golden retriever.
It is the last birthday gift she received from her husband before he went to jail, she reveals.
"Whenever I feel down I don't tell my parents, nor do I write to my husband because I don't want them to worry.
"So I tell the dog. And when I cry, she will come to me," she says.
Before Clara married her husband of seven years, she knew he was involved in illegal moneylending.
"But I was in love, and love is blind," she says with a laugh, trying to make light of her situation.
"Somehow, I just didn't think the day would come when he would be caught," she adds.
Since he went into prison, friends and family have asked her to consider leaving him.
"Initially, I was angry because I am left to handle everything alone.
"My sister also asked me to divorce him. But if I, as a wife, don't give him a chance, who will?" she asks.
She still loves him, she admits, but draws a blank when asked about her hopes for the future.
It's like playing a waiting game without knowing if it will ever end, she says.
"I wish he were around, especially because the kids are at such a critical stage of development. Time doesn't stop - they will continue to grow and he might miss all their milestones," she says.
Clara has written several appeal letters to her MP, but to no avail.
The reply always ends with an encouraging note to support my husband and help him to rehabilitate, she says.
She clings on to the hope that he will be released soon.
That is my Christmas wish, she says: "That he will come home and be with us. I don't mind if he's tagged or has to keep to a curfew.
"It doesn't even matter if he doesn't earn much. At least I won't have to do all of this by myself, and he can be a father to his children..."
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