About 400 family members enjoyed a fun-filled Made For Families evening with a picnic and family-bonding activities at the Eat With Your Family Day (EWYFD) event held at Bishan Park on Friday,18 November 2022. This picnic event marks the last EWYFD of the year, with participation from 42 companies. The picnic is organised by Centre for Fathering, DADs for Life and MUMs for Life, in partnership with Families for Life, in support of Made For Families and Celebrating SG Families.
Guest-of-honour Minister of State for Manpower and Education Ms Gan Siow Huang joined in the event with a short walk. During the walk, families participated in sports activities like soccer, volleyball, baseball and archery at activity stations along the route. Thereafter, families bonded over picnic at the park and participated in stage games and a photo contest. The Government recently launched ‘A Singapore Made For Families 2025’ plan – our nation’s roadmap for how the Government, community partners, businesses and individuals come together to co-create a family-friendly culture in Singapore. The EWYFD picnic is part of these efforts.
Ms Gan said: “I am heartened to know that more than 600 employers support the EWYFD initiative, which reminds employees to take time off work for their families. Employers play a crucial role in supporting families. By implementing policies that support family-friendly workplaces, they help employees achieve work-life harmony. Businesses can then better attract and retain talent.
Centre For Fathering, DADs for Life and MUMs for Life CEO Mr Bryan Tan said, “Amidst the challenges of the pandemic, parents have found many moments worth treasuring and holding on to. Having a more reasonable pace of life leads to more time and ways for the family to forge stronger bonds. Even as we adapt to the new normal and return to work on-site, we must remember to eat together as a family, as often as we can. This Eat With Your Family Day is a good time for us to celebrate family over a meal, especially now that we can head out of the home together.”
EWYFD was launched in 2003 by the Centre for Fathering to encourage organisations to arrange for employees to leave work at 5pm so that they can eat with their families. The initiative also aims to remind parents to put aside time to eat with their children regularly. Held on the last Friday of each school term, the dates for EWYFD 2022 are 11 March, 27 May, 2 September, and 18 November. EWYFD is a joint effort by Centre for Fathering, DADs for Life and MUMS for Life, in partnership with Families for Life and in support of Made For Families and Celebrating SG Families.