Parents: Office childcare centres a great idea
PETALING JAYA: Starting next year, local authorities are required to ensure childcare facilities are provided in all new office buildings, beginning with Kuala Lumpur.
This is part of the 2050 National Transformation ( TN50) move towards achieving work and life balance, as announced in Budget 2018 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Expectant mother Charlene Lee, 27, said this was a great idea as it gives families the opportunity to be closer.
“However, it depends on the quality and standard of the childcare centre. The centre must have qualified caregivers, a safe environment as well as fresh air and proper ventilation for the children,” she said.
Contracts assistant manager Seline Song, 31, said having a childcare centre in office buildings would lessen the burden of working mothers.
She said it would be more convenient to have a centre at the workplace. She currently sends her three-year-old daughter to preschool and drops her off at her mother’s after that.
Song said finding a good childcare centre close by was difficult and this has made her hold back on plans for a second child.
With this plan in place, it frees her to try for a second child.
Software developer Gerald Paul, 37, said big organisations should provide childcare centres for children of their employees.
Gerald, who has two children, aged two and six, spends RM1,500 for his children’s schooling and childcare fees.
“My wife and I have to wake up early to send them to school, then go to work. It takes up a lot of travelling time and it would be so much easier if my office has a childcare centre,” he said.
He said the centres should provide educational lessons and be subsidised for employees, but he would not mind paying 50% of the fees.
It was also announced that a special payment of RM1,500 will be given to all public servants.
The payment will be made twice, with RM1,000 being paid in early January 2018 and the remaining during Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Klang Municipal Council environmental health officer P. Mohan said the payment was a blessing and he would use it for his children’s college expenses.
Secondary school teacher Abdul Halim Othman was ecstatic when he found out about the special payment.
“I am happy to have extra cash in hand as this will help me manage the family,” said Halim, who has two wives and six children.
Clerk Shamsiah Saidin said the bonus would help her pay for her dialysis, while mother-of-six Lau Wee Phoon was grateful for the bonus which would go towards her children’s education.