She worked three jobs to pay off her husband’s gambling debts, only to see him leave to be with another woman 15 years ago.

It was a tough time in Madam Ling Bee Sian’s life, but she focused all her energy on work and supporting her two children, then aged 17 and 20 .

Madam Ling, now 63 and the director of nursing at a nursing home, is the winner of this year’s Exemplary Mother Award, which was presented by President Tony Tan Keng Yam at Mandarin Orchard Hotel yesterday.

The annual award, first given out in 1993 by Jamiyah Singapore, honours mothers who contribute to society while raising their families in the face of difficulties.

Some 65 mothers were nominated this year.

Yesterday’s award ceremony included a charity fashion show featuring the works of three Singaporean fashion designers as well as a batik artist.

For Madam Ling, the most challenging period was when she and her then husband were deciding if they should separate, figuring out how to handle their assets and who should take care of the children.

“For me, money can be earned any time but I can’t do that with my children. Once we separated, I never ever thought of remarrying again,” she said.

Instead, she invested all her efforts in her son and daughter, who are her greatest motivation.

At one point, she fell down a two-storey-high flight of stairs during a period of depression, causing nerve damage to the left side of her face. But she knew she had to stay strong for her family.

“My children are my precious diamonds. I’d give up my money and whatever assets I have, but I want (them),” she added.

She now has four grandchildren, aged between 22 months and 10 years. Her daughter, 35, is an occupational therapist and her son, 32, who is also in healthcare, is an operations executive.

“We cried together, but we enjoy life together now because we see the fruit (of our struggles),” she said.

“I’ve never felt that difficult times are the worst times. I feel that they are the best time for children to learn,” she said.

“Most importantly, it’s how you are going to overcome this challenge (before you). Once you do, it will make the family stronger.”

Also among the five finalists was a teacher, Dr Alimah Lob, who received her doctorate at the age of 65 after getting a bachelor’s degree 10 years before that.

Image consultant Betty Yu, 54, who took courses to run her own home business after her husband was paralysed from the neck down after a car accident in 2005, was another finalist.

Also recognised were Madam Norhaiyati Yusop, 53, a senior secretary, and Madam Tan Siew Suan, 61, who is self-employed.

This article was first published on October 23, 2016.
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A pilot scheme has thrown a lifeline to families in urgent need of a maid, allowing them to get help in days, instead of months.

Since August, the Advance Placement Scheme, which is facilitated by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), has matched 30 foreign domestic workers with families here which need help urgently.

The programme is open to employers who are hiring a foreign domestic worker to care for a child, elderly person or person with disability living at the same registered address as them.

“Some households have more urgent needs for foreign domestic workers to give care to their elderly or young children,” noted an MOM spokesman.

Hence, the ministry has decided to facilitate the scheme that was proposed to it by employment agencies, she said.

The spokesman added: “Under this pilot, approved employment agencies are allowed to source for and bring in a specific number of foreign domestic workers with relevant caregiving skills and then match them with households that have urgent caregiving needs, such as for young children and elderly.”

Currently, nine employment agencies are allowed under the scheme to bring foreign domestic helpers to Singapore before they are hired by an employer.

The usual practice is for employers to interview potential helpers while they are in their home countries through Skype or phone. Only after an employer decides to hire a helper, does the process of bringing the latter to Singapore start.

Employment agencies said the scheme, which is being tried out for a year, has shortened the wait for a helper from up to two months to just three days.

Employers who hire a helper under the scheme pay a premium, typically a few hundred dollars more than usual fees.

Carene Chin, managing director of employment agency Homekeeper, said before the initiative was started, the only option for employers in urgent need of help was to seek out transfer maids.

“But there aren’t many of them to begin with… they may not have the necessary caregiving skills so employers are often left feeling helpless,” she said.

Yorelle Kalika, chief executive of Active Global Specialised Caregivers, an agency that brings in maids with nursing skills, has often come across clients in urgent need of a caregiver for a relative about to be discharged from hospital.

“In situations like these, a quick and efficient solution is the most important,” she said.

Through the scheme, accountant Joey Lee, 38, found a caregiver with medical training for her cancer-stricken father in just six days from Active Global last month.

Hospital staff had told Ms Lee her father would not be discharged unless he had a full-time caregiver as they felt her mother needed help.

Ms Lee would normally have had to wait for at least two to three weeks.

“It would have been very stressful,” she said.

samboh@sph.com.sg

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Two Facebook posts about an errant driver who answered rudely after allegedly running over a dog at Pasir Ris Farmway 3 at 10.45am Sunday (Oct 23) has sparked an uproar among Singapore netizens.

Many Stomp conrtibutors emailed and contacted Stomp via WhatsApp to alert them to the posts on the incident, which has gone viral online.

The two posts, one made by Ms Lixin Tan, and the other by Animal Lovers League, detailed the incident which happened near an animal shelter.

The woman, who was driving a Honda with the licence plate number SJR 9248 E, allegedly ran over the dog.

An update posted by Ms Tan stated that the tyre went over the dog and it was hit several times by the mud guard as the driver did not stop while the animal was struggling under the car.

She was stopped by two witnesses who asked her to help them with the injured dog.

However, according to the two Facebook posts, the woman allegedly told them, “F*** you. It’s just a dog,” before driving off.

Dog tied to car’s rear dies after being dragged on road in China

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The dog reportedly got frightened and ran away, until a volunteer the animal trusts chased it and managed to bring it back to the shelter.

Cathy Strong, one of the founders of the Animal Lovers League shelter, told Stomp that dog, named Sayang, is currently at a clinic.

She added that a police report will be filed over the incident on Monday (Oct 24).

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