he family has suffered at the expense of career in Singapore society. Is this a fair comment?

The amount of damage inflicted on families due to careers has always been a controversial topic for people these years. There are many differing viewpoints regarding this and in my opinion, I feel that the welfare of the family has indeed been sacrificed in the pursuit of careers. Firstly, there is less family interaction due to inadequate time spent between parents and children. Parents who are working spend less time with their children unwittingly as they are tied down by their job commitments. For example, some parents still work during weekends and inadvertently overlook the need for quality time with children. As a result, the frequency of family bonding drops and causes individual members of the family to drift apart over time. Research has also shown that the lack of communication between family members is detrimental to the family. Although the government had implemented the five day work week to enable families to spend more time together, it is difficult to check the efficiency of this programme. Some offices do not follow this rule and students may still have to return to school during weekends at times. With schedules clashing, the objective of this programme is not met as both parties are busy. Secondly, parents may neglect their children to some extent when they are working. They are too occupied by their work to bother about their children thus the lack of care and concern may cause their children to have higher chances of going astray. It is evident that the rate of juvenile delinquency is increasing. If parents do not hold a tighter rein to adolescents, they may continue to stay errant. This can be a tiring job to do when parents have other duties on hand. Although some parents employed maids to look after their childrens welfare but maids are only in charge of their physical well-being and not their emotional state. It is essential for parents to be aware of their childrens actions and guide them to the correct path to prevent recalcitrant behaviour. Thirdly, there is an absence of family role models when parents spend long hours at work. They reached home late and have limited time to inculcate their children the right values. Some children hardly have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of their parents during working days. A growing child usually learns his or her behaviour from parents but when both parents work, there is no one to help them differentiate between right and wrong and thus may regard their certain misdemeanors as acceptable. Parents may be indirectly encouraging them to become wayward. Parents may think that if they teach their children the right moral values there should be no need for family role models. However, action speaks louder than words. By educating them the good virtues, it is also their responsibility to ensure that these teachings are being put into action. If not, it will be futile to equip them with such knowledge.

In conclusion, I feel that the family has suffered at the expense of career in Singapores society. The side effects of the pursuit of career may hold dire consequences for the children in time to come. Parents should attempt to spend more time with their children to make up for the time loss during work. Hopefully, a balance between family life and work can be reached.

"The family has suffered at the expense of career in Singapore society. " Is this a fair comment?
The primary factor that leads to the weakening of family ties, is little effort made by the family members in maintaining close ties. Even for working parents, it is hardly possible to be cooped up with work day and night. Thus, saying there is simply no time left for the family, is merely an excuse to divert the responsibility of caring for the family away from oneself.

It may be argued that full-time working mothers do not have sufficient time to interact with their children, as they are at the workplace in the day. What about the weekends, then? Since the implementation of the five-day work week, more family time has been made available. Families now have the time to go out for family outings, or spend the day at home with one another. To have quality time together, however short it is, reminds us that we are loved and cared for by our family. This greatly strengthens family ties. Therefore, it is both not valid and unfair to assume that families suffer as a result of working mothers.

However, it may be pointed out that in certain circumstances, the family may have suffered at the expense of career. For example, working adults may bring their unfinished work home, and on finishing it, no longer have time left to spend with the family. This lack of communication among family members gradually leads to strains in family relations, causing the family to suffer.

Although the above example can be a possible implication of having a career, it can just as well be avoided if working adults are conscious of their responsibility as part of the family, and thus strike a balance between work and family. Hence, it is unfair to comment that the family has suffered at the expense of career.