SINGAPORE — In another life, 22-year-old Louisa Iswahyudi Yeo's days might have been spent at the office, poring over stacks of legal documents. Perhaps she would have migrated to Australia, got called to the Bar and scaled the corporate ladder. For a while, that was what she thought she wanted.
PHOTO: The Straits TimesSINGAPORE — In another life, 22-year-old Louisa Iswahyudi Yeo's days might have been spent at the office, poring over stacks of legal documents. Perhaps she would have migrated to Australia, got called to the Bar and scaled the corporate ladder.
Still, she fretted about how her strict parents would react, joking that she considered booking a hotel room in case her father kicked them out of his house when they flew to Yogyakarta, where her family lives, to deliver the news."My dad told him, 'You must be a good father, build a nice family.' And because he was so supportive, I didn't care what anyone else thought," says Yeo, who is the elder of two daughters. She moved here in November 2022 with Yeo.
Senior pre-school teacher Khairun Nisa, 24, got married three years ago at the age of 21, eight months after a mutual friend introduced her to her now-husband, Chin Ze Xiang, also aged 24, who works as a chef. In late 2022, the couple moved into a four-bedroom HDB flat in Bukit Panjang. A year later, they welcomed daughter, Inaya, on a warm Wednesday afternoon in September 2023."I've wanted to be a mum since I was 16. So getting married young would help me achieve that because I want to give my children my youth," says the social media manager, who is married to Joel Peh, a youth pastor at 3:16 Church, who is eight years older.
Encouraged by their friends not to wait too long after finding the right person, the couple got married in 2018 when Huang was 22. They started a family soon after: son Jonathan was born in 2019, followed by daughters Jemmalyn in 2021, and Miyabeth in 2023. Home is a five-room HDB flat in Bedok, which they bought with their own savings.The path of young motherhood, a once-perennial rite of passage for most girls on the cusp of adulthood, is the road less travelled these days.
Dr Mathew Mathews, a principal research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies , who studies issues like family and social inclusion, says: "People tend to wait until they're more secure in their career to have children. If they are concerned about career mobility and progression, they might want to focus on their career for a certain season, to show that they're competent and deserving of a promotion.
However, the long hours and weekend shoots meant that work was clashing with her parental duties. With the arrival of her youngest child, she made the switch to social media management within the church at the end of 2023, and now enjoys greater flexibility. "For now, I want to settle into my new role as a senior teacher. But in the long term, I'd probably look into becoming a vice-principal, then principal."They may have cracked the career conundrum — or at least made peace with it — but these young mothers still face obstacles because of their youth.
Her preference was for only immediate family, but her parents invited extended relatives too. In the end, she had more than 10 visitors on the day she returned from the hospital. "Even though my parents tried to be present, I saw them only at night. So I chose to be a stay-at-home mum so that I can look after my son myself and make sure he has the emotional security that I'll always be there for him."She did not grow up here and has not had much time to socialise since giving birth. Her days tick on at a set and steady pace: She gets up, does her chores, feeds her son, then plays with him. Rinse and repeat.
Yeo says she has been there and done that. She has studied overseas, gone on road trips and travelled to different countries growing up. So, she no longer craves the "freedom" to up and leave any time she wants. Huang says motherhood has made her more intentional too. She has had to give up gossiping and girls' trips, but counts sleep as her only real sacrifice. She used to wake up every three hours to feed her children, now reduced to once a night.
She plans to have another child after April 2026, in order to snag the extra 10 weeks of shared parental leave that will be rolled out then. "It needs to come as a package, so people get the confidence that society is right behind them," he says.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
BLACKPINK's Lisa is coming to meet her Singapore fans on 11.11 Singapore News%
Read more »
China's Gen Z ditches luxury for 'dupe economy' as growth prospects dim Singapore News -%
Read more »
Pope Francis arrives in Singapore, will meet President Tharman, PM Wong and SM LeePope Francis arrived in Singapore on Wednesday (Sept 11) afternoon, the final stop of his 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region.
Read more »
Blackpink star Lisa to meet fans in Singapore on Nov 11Fans of Lisa from K-pop girl group Blackpink can enjoy her companionship on Singles’ Day in Singapore. The 27-year-old star’s artiste management company Lloud announced on social media on Sept 24 that she is holding five fan meets in Asia in November. The Thai...
Read more »
Singapore stocks rose on Tuesday—STI climbed 0.2% Singapore News%
Read more »
In Pictures: Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024, Day 3Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »