The theme of this year’s Celebrating Fathers movement will be given a slight twist this year, with the spotlight placed on Mums. It will celebrate the role of Mums in supporting Dads to be the best fathers that they can be to their children. Themed “Fathers. For all the things you do. We love you”, Celebrating Fathers 2019 will encourage Mums to show appreciation to Dads as they continue to do all the things that matter for their families.
Initiated in 2016, the Celebrating Fathers movement seeks to raise awareness of the importance of active fatherhood with a month-long line-up of exciting activities in the run-up to Father’s Day each year. The activities are organised by DADs for Life in partnership with Mediacorp, and supported by the National Population and Talent Division under Strategy Group, Prime Minister’s Office; and the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
“Marriage is a partnership. Men can become even better fathers with their wives’ support, which is why we are encouraging Mums to show appreciation to Dads. In line with our focus on the Mum’s role in Celebrating Fathers this year, a ground-up national movement, MUMs for Life, was launched on Mother’s Day 2019 to complement the emphasis and efforts of DADs for Life, and to enhance support for mothers as well as to build stronger families in Singapore,“ said Mr Bryan Tan, CEO, Centre for Fathering and DADS for Life.
“When mums are confident in their unique identity and multiple roles, they can better nurture our children and support Dads in building a stronger family in an increasingly complex world.”
Husband and Wives Supporting Each Other
Marriage and parenting are priorities for Dr Frankie Tan, who is the Director of the Sport Science & Medicine Centre, Singapore Sport Institute and his homemaker wife, Tina.
As staying home can be an exhausting and demanding job for his wife, Dr Tan makes every effort to be home in time for dinner and helps out with various chores and errands to lighten her load.
He said, “Knowing that Tina is supporting me by staying home with the children allows me to give my best at work and return to do my part at home and for the children. With her support, I am able to connect with my sons often and we find many simple occasions to celebrate life together.”
Mrs Tan added, “I appreciate all the sacrifices that my husband makes and the effort that he puts in for our family. I always make it a point to let him know how much I appreciate all that he does - both big and small things.”
Dr Tan has been a volunteer ambassador with DADs for Life since 2009. Mrs Tan is very supportive of her husband championing the fathering movement. Together as a couple, they have been serving their children’s primary school in the parents support group as well as the fathers group by organising father-child bonding activities.
“Fathers need mutual support to cheer them on in their fathering journey. Men don’t naturally share their fathering struggles with their male friends, so these father-child activities are great opportunities for the fathers to connect with other fathers and feel less alone in an environment of mutual encouragement. I always encourage the mothers in my school to be supportive of such events as they will get a recharged husband and a very contented child in return,” said Mrs Tan.
Dad’s Day Out 2019
Dad’s Day Out 2019 will once again be the key highlight and culminating point of the Celebrating Fathers movement’s series of activities this year. It will be held on Father’s Day on 16 June 2019 at the OCBC Square of the Singapore Sports Hub. The event will feature a variety of fun-filled activities that promote father-child and family bonding. There will be also be exciting stage games and appearances by Mediacorp artistes and personalities.
A key highlight of the event is the DADs Promise Tree, where Dads can pen down promises to their families, while Mums also get to write encouraging words of appreciation for Dads. Other activities for the family include a blindfold maze where Dads and Mums will guide their little ones in finding the way out, a family tower stacking competition, treasure hunting and designing of a mug as a gift for Dad. The day will end with a Families for Life movie screening.
Other Father-Child Bonding Events and Special Deals
From 16 May to 15 June, 2019, over 20 community and private sector partners will be recognising fathers through 90 special programmes to promote father and child bonding. This includes workshops for cooking and baking, photography, DJ sound mixing, race car engineering and craftwork as well as activities where father and child can build their own medieval catapult and resin table or take off on an adventure trail run in the jungles with the whole family! This year’s line-up also includes a special baking workshop that caters to fathers and their children with special needs.
Fathers who show the Celebrating Fathers flyer will get special deals offered by merchant partners supporting the Celebrating Fathers initiative.
Visit www.celebratingfathers.sg for more details on Celebrating Fathers.