Well, I've personally always found "maternity leave" to be an iffy incentive. I mean, perhaps it's because I'm not a woman, but is it really THAT necessary to take 3-4 months of maternity leave just because I gave birth to a child?
I understand the need for confinement, but in such an era, I wonder if confinement is still needed. After all, confinement is more or less an old wives' tale, right? Unless, of course, there's some scientific proof for this. But still, women from America/Europe don't seem to be doing confinement ala Maternity Leave as intensely and enthusiastically as we Singaporeans do.
What purpose does maternity leave serve? I would like to ask all women who have taken maternity leave in the past, what do you guys do during that few months? If it's just time spent watching TV and looking after the baby, then I suppose... it's a waste of time?
I DON'T regard taking care of the baby as an unimportant matter. It's just that, really, there's no necessity to stare at your baby 24/7. Besides, you can always ask your parents/in-laws for help, and in this way, it bonds the three generations together.
Anyway, if it were to be up to me, I would let Maternity Leave be a maximum of 2 months. Why? Isn't 4 months an OVERKILL? I fully empathize with the SMEs for wanting to sack women who take too much maternity leave and all that jazz, not forgetting that there are other types of leave too.
Ultimately, the one thing that I'm most afraid of is that if the 4-month maternity leave is to be implemented, then what would be the purpose of giving birth? For the sake of the leave, or because you really want a (or more) child? I feel that the basis for wanting to give birth should be because you want it, and not because for the maternity leave.
PM Lee was right, that it's kind of sad and disappointing to see a dismal birth rate in Singapore (and also hilarious when he highlighted the years that have higher birth rates), but what should be the solution? Dangling a carrot in front of women to get pregnant seems kind of low, in my humble opinion.
In conclusion, I would just like to say that the 4-month maternity leave is a big no-no, and it's a waste of time, manpower and resources. One thing that I foresee is that if the 4-month maternity leave is implemented, the birth rate would momentarily increase. Next year, when it drops again, what's the government going to do? Increase it to 6 months? I don't think increasing the length of the maternity leave is the solution; but rather it makes things worse in the long run. The basis of giving birth should be love and want, and not because of the incentives. It's like I'm going to study hard because the school will treat me to lollipops if I score straight As... it's just wrong morally, in my opinion. I'm sure all mothers would want to look back 10-20 years later and remember, 'I gave birth to my sons/daughters because I wanted a family." and not because "Because I want the super duper long maternity leave!"
Therefore, I think that for mothers like Mrs Tan, Ms Yvonne Chin, Mrs Mandy Tan, etc, gave birth to their kids because they want to have one, right? ;) I would passionately wait for Ms Joanna Lee's reply to this topic! =D
P.S: Mrs Tan, that's REALLY sadistic!
