I have nothing but praise for the Ministry of Social
and Family Development which, in partnership with the Social Service Institute,
has recently revamped training programmes to support foster parents who are
magnanimous in taking care of other peoples’ children.
Foster care offers children the opportunity to grow
up in a safe and loving family environment. Families that get involved provide
food, shelter, clothing and love to children in need. For children from
disadvantaged backgrounds, foster care gives them a positive experience of
family life which they may not have had in their natural family setting.
Foster parents have a decidedly tough job, needing
to understand the specific needs and backgrounds of kids they take under their
wing, and these include their dietary habits, their emotional needs, cultural
backgrounds, religious beliefs and much more.
For parents who already have hands-on experience in
taking care of their own kids, their willingness to care and support children
outside their own family is truly a kind gesture that can transform the lives
of children who lack a stable home for the time being.
In many countries, children who are abandoned
become street kids, sleeping on the roadside outside restaurants and
supermarkets in the hope that tourists who visit the country will give them
money or buy them a meal and a drink.
In Singapore, it is heartening to know that there
were reported to be 420 foster families in 2016, an increase of 73 per cent
from 243 families in 2013.
The increase in numbers was the result of greater
efforts to raise awareness on fostering, said MSF, citing how it organised
roadshows, worked with community organisations, religious groups and private
organisations, as well as reached out to the community through radio and
television programmes.
Being without children, I would very much have
liked to foster children who lack a safe and loving home, so who knows,
one day when I can afford it, I might consider opening my home to a kid or two.
RAYMOND ANTHONY FERNANDO
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