Having a big family was not something Lay Hui and Luke had planned, but the couple now has nine children.
And despite the challenges, the joy of seeing their kids grow up is nine-fold, they said.
Sharing their journey in a video posted to the Government Technology Agency of Singapore’s social media account on Monday (Aug 17), the pair said they simply “took it as it came”.
Acknowledging that raising nine children is no easy feat, Lay Hui said that she and her husband try to use hand-me-downs for clothing and books in order to manage costs.
“I will ask them to do their work on rough paper so I can reuse their assessment books,” she added.
Lay Hui, who is a homemaker, also shared that one rule the family has always upheld is eating meals together.
“Even before we had so many kids, he (Luke) insisted on buying a big round table with ten seats,” she said.
Luke said that being able to have such a big family is “a celebration and a success story”.
“The only reason we can have such a large family is her (Lay Hui’s) resilience,” the intervention radiologist added.
He also shared that the kids might not always be the most quiet or disciplined with their studies.
“But we’re also not perfect, right? So we just focus on the positive things,” Luke said.
“It has its challenges, but the joy is just seeing them grow up, and the joy is times nine.”
The couple also uses the LifeSG application for administrative matters such as registering the births of their younger children.
The LifeSG credits disbursed to families also helped alleviate some of their expenses, they said.
‘Everywhere we go, people are watching’
Since such large families are not common here in Singapore, the father of nine said they often get curious looks when they go out together.
“Everywhere we go, people are watching us you know? Especially when we go to church, we will take up the entire pew,” he said.
Lay Hui shared that their children’s classmates are often shocked when they introduce themselves, but the couple has recently met a few more families with eight or nine children.
With Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR) dropping to a record low of 0.87 this year, stories such as Lay Hui and Luke’s are rare.
In light of the declining birth rates, the Government launched an inter-ministry Marriage and Parenthood Reset Workgroup to help Singaporeans.
Chaired by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, the workgroup consists eight other political office holders from the health, education, manpower and other relevant ministries.
It examines issues such as financial costs, work-life support, housing, healthcare, pre-school and education.
At the upcoming National Day Rally on Aug 23, the work group will be introducing interim measures to help address some of these issues.
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
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