FAMILIES FOR LIFE CELEBRATIONS TAKE ON A 365-DAY APPROACH Promoting Family Time. Precious Time. all year round

Transcription

1 Media Release For Immediate Release FAMILIES FOR LIFE CELEBRATIONS TAKE ON A 365-DAY APPROACH Promoting Family Time. Precious Time. all year round Singapore, 2 September 2014 The Families for Life (FFL) Council will be refreshing the format of the National Family Celebrations this year. The Celebrations will be renamed the Families for Life Celebrations (FFLC), shifting from a month-long festivities approach to a year-long focus on spending time and having conversation with your family. The changes are in line with the Council s name change in February this year and its 365-day approach to promoting families. The theme of FFLC is Family Time. Precious Time. - a simple yet timely reminder for Singaporeans to make every family moment count. A recent FFL poll with 872 respondents revealed that 7 in 10 felt that spending time with their family gives them the most happiness. However, only about half (53%) were satisfied with their amount of quality family time. Four in ten spend 6 hours or less of quality family time with their family on an average week, working out to less than an hour with their family daily. The top 3 reasons for not getting enough quality time include household chores and errands, long working hours, children spending their free time playing computer games or watching TV. (See Annex for detailed poll results.) Mr Ching Wei Hong, FFL Council Chairman said, The poll results inspired the Council to promote the theme of Family Time. Precious Time. through the FFLC. As members of families ourselves, we understand how the pressures of our fast-paced environment can affect quality family time. With that in mind, we refreshed the FFLC into a year-long affair with two key goals. Firstly, we seek to promote the importance of having regular family time. This is integral to creating strong family bonds, a fundamental support system for everyone. Secondly, we support our movement through a spectrum of simple, but meaningful activities that families can participate through the year. By doing so, we hope to spur families to set aside and spend time more regularly together, beyond festive and special occasions. The inaugural FFLC will kick off at the Singapore Sports Hub on the weekend of 13 and 14 September. For the first time since the Sports Hub opened its doors to the public, some 20,000 Singaporeans will be able to gather together and explore one of Singapore s newest icon with their families. Multi-generational families can enjoy movie screenings and family performances, as the Sports Hub transforms into a festive Families for Life carnival, with family bonding activities for the young and old. These family activities include sports try-outs, family games and more. In line with FFL s aim of promoting conversations, families will be encouraged to pen a personal note on what Family Time. Precious Time. means to them leading up to and during the Celebrations. These notes will be displayed on Singapore s very own Family Conversation Wall at the Celebrations, as a way of inviting Singaporeans to make intentional effort to spend more quality time with their families. In the same poll conducted by FFL, the majority of respondents felt that spending quality time means having heart-to-heart conversations (67%), getting out of the house and doing something fun together (62%) and having regular meals together (53%). For regular family 1

2 fun, families can look forward to FFLC s monthly picnics taking place on the last Saturday of each month at different heartland parks, starting October They can bond and relax through a variety of fun family activities including sand sculpting, popiah wrapping, kite flying and outdoor movie screenings. More details will be announced at a later date. Ms Low Yen Ling, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Social and Family Development, said, Recent poll results reveal majority of Singaporeans feel that spending time with their family gives them the most happiness, even above achieving financial or career goals. This reaffirms our belief that families matter most. Families give meaning and significance to our lives. Let s create moments with our families, daily 365 days a year because at the end of the day, it s not about what we have but about the people we cherish." To promote even more opportunities for quality family time, over 10,000 family tickets to various places of interests such as the Trick Eye Museum, Sentosa s SeaBreeze Donuts, ifly Singapore, and Gardens by the Bay are up for grabs through ticket giveaways. For more information, members of the public can visit About Families for Life Celebrations 2014 END The National Family Celebrations has been an iconic event for Singaporean families since It provides a platform for families to spend time together and create shared memories. This year, the Celebrations will be renamed the Families for Life Celebrations. It will take place from 13 to 14 September 2014 (Sat Sun) at the Singapore Sports Hub. Themed Family Time. Precious Time., this year s Celebrations aims to provide a platform for multi-generational families to spend precious time together and participate in familyoriented activities. Spending time with family helps build the bonds of relationships while incorporating family fun. Monthly Highlights As part of the Celebrations, monthly family events will be held in various parks island-wide from October 2014 to August Families can look forward to a wide array of fun family activities, such as DIY snack making, roller-blading, cycling and movie screenings. Check our website for more details in the coming months! About Families for Life Families for Life aims to promote strong and resilient families in a genuine and positive way. Through engaging Singaporeans about families and providing platforms for family bonding, we aim to inspire Singaporeans to renew their commitment to their families. The Families for Life Council is headed by Mr Ching Wei Hong, Chief Operating Officer, OCBC Bank. For more information, please visit and 2

3 Poll on Family Time Annex The Families for Life Council conducted a poll to find out what family time means to individuals. The poll was conducted through the Families for Life Facebook Page and at various Families for Life events. 872 respondents participated in the poll. 94% of those polled include parents with children ranging from the ages of 6 months old to 42 years old. Key findings from the poll are appended below. Q1: Rank the following in order of which item gives you the most happiness. [1: for item which gives you the most happiness, and 5: for item which gives you the least happiness] Spending time with family (66.9%) (21.8%) (6.1%) Achieving financial goals Having enough time for myself Achieving personal goals (e.g. new skill, hobby, achieving new year resolution) (13%) (32%) (25.7%) (8%) (27.4%) (27.6%) (5.2%) (12.1%) (19.1%) 67% of respondents ranked spending time with family gives them the most happiness. Achieving career goals Others (Please specify) (4.5%) (9.4%) (21.7%) 3 7 (0.9%) (0.8%) (0.3%) Ranked 1st Ranked 2nd Ranked 3rd Figure 1: What gives you the most happiness? 3

4 Q2: Select your top three options of what spending quality family time means to you. Having heart-to-heart conversations 67.2% Getting out of the house and doing something fun together 62.4% Having regular meals together Learning something new about my children or family members Going for a family holiday Celebrating festive occasions and birthdays 52.8% 49.8% 36.9% 31.2% The top three options are: 1. Having heart-to-heart conversations 2. Getting out of the house and doing something fun together 3. Having regular meals together Figure 2: What spending quality family time means to you. 4

5 Q3: How many hours of quality family time do you spend with your family on an average week? (More than (Less than 36 hrs) 2 hrs) 11.2% 8.4% 11.9% (24 to 26 hrs) 18.9% (12 to 24 hrs) 21.9% (6 to 12 hrs) 27.6% (2 to 6 hrs) 4 in 10 spend 6 hours or less of quality family time on an average week. 6 in 10 spend 12 hours or less of quality family time on an average week. Figure 3: How many hours of quality family time do you spend in a week? Q4: Are you satisfied with the amount of quality family time you have with your family? n = 872 respondents 47% (No) 53% (Yes) Figure 4: Are you satisfied with the amount of quality family time you have with your family? 5

6 Q5: What are the reasons that you are not satisfied with the amount of quality family time? [Respondents can choose more than 1 reason] Our free time is often spent on household chores and errands 48.4% My spouse and I work long hours 43.4% Our children would rather spend their free time playing computer games or watching TV 41.9% Our children spend long hours in school, and at tuition and enrichment classes 40.7% I don t know how to engage my children for quality family time 18.5% Figure 5: Top reasons for not being satisfied with the amount of quality family time? 6