Money (can) make the family go round.

From Discover My space...

Would you consider a family of three as BIG?

From Discover My space...

Well, I'm not sure about BIG but it's definitely happy.

Insya ALLAH.

If you had a choice, how many children would you like?

I would like to have four children!

Yup, four children!

I know, I know.

It scares me to even say it.

To have four children in Singapore is probably like playing with fire - at least for a middle-class family.

As a parent (I can't believe it! Am I really a parent?!? Madness!), I strongly believe that education, love and attention are the most important factors that will a huge impact on any child's life.

Having that many children will mean that we will be going beyond our means.

Quite frankly, I don't think we can afford it.

Nope, there's no shame about it.

Just admit it.

If you can't afford it, you can't afford it.

This is unlike the kampong days when you can do planting on your garden and just pluck the cili padi or daun keledek (not sure if it's edible. It just sounds very kampong - ish. Heh) from outside your house.

There are very rare (almost none) activities that can be done in our sunny island that are FREE OF CHARGE.

Everything needs money!

Even going to see a bunch of endangered animals costs money - a lot of it actually.

Well, those endangered species need to eat too, right?!

But then again, there are also BIG middle-class families that can live quite comfortably.

I guess it all depends on how the parents mould their little ones and their money management skills.

I have heard of parents who are both high-flyers and have only 2 children but still run into huge debts.

That makes you wonder, doesn't it?

How can a middle-class family with 4 children can live happily debtless but the same can't be said for an upper-class family with just 2 children?

Well, the children don't manage the family's financial situation, right?

Who should be blamed then?