'We cannot serve money': Singapore family with 4 children live on single income without tuition or travel
newsare.net
SINGAPORE — The four Ong children, aged three, five, eight and 10, do not go for tuition, travel or shop for clothes or toys — hand-me-downs from neighbours serve them just fine. They share bedrooms and have their meals in their five-room flat. Weekend'We cannot serve money': Singapore family with 4 children live on single income without tuition or travel
SINGAPORE — The four Ong children, aged three, five, eight and 10, do not go for tuition, travel or shop for clothes or toys — hand-me-downs from neighbours serve them just fine. They share bedrooms and have their meals in their five-room flat. Weekends are spent at the parks, having picnics and playing Frisbee. This simple lifestyle makes the family's single income go a longer way. The father of the four children, James Ong, 42, had heard from older relatives and friends that they wished they had spent more time with their families. And so, while others in their 30s chased their careers, he made the decision to put his family first and support them with his paid work as a self-employed life coach. His wife, 41-year-old Quek See Leng, who had been engaged in youth work before she had her eight-year-old, said people spend a lot of time and energy making sure they have enough to meet the high costs of living here. «In time to come, we realise that actually we are serving money. We've always felt that money must serve us. We cannot serve money. So we must first know what we really want.»
