We had another lift from my father-in-law to Orchard today morning for my wife’s follow up gynae appointment to remove the stitches from her C-section wound. We have been bringing the baby in on a car seat to carry him around for his first paediatrician appointment yesterday morning and my wife’s gynae appointment today morning.
Both times, he has required feeding even though we just did a feeding before leaving the apartment. So my wife had to do feeds in the paediatrician office’s nursing room and gynae office’s CTG room. While the baby made a fuss when he was hungry, we were able to calm him down after the feed. Not easy to travel around with a newborn baby and still getting used to it.
Anyway, I thought we should give a shout-out to this Moments of Life app, which is one of the projects under Singapore’s Smart Nation Initiative. During the hospital stay of 4 days and 3 nights, while my wife was focused on the baby and her own recovery, I had time to read up on the various administrative matters we had to take care of.
- Birth Registration Application
- Apply for the Baby Bonus Cash Gift
- Open a CDA to get the Baby Bonus CDA First Step
It seemed like I had to submit 3 separate applications i.e. 3 different touchpoints but with the same Government. This made no sense to me because I was aware of Singapore’s Smart Nation Initiative and knew they were streamlining and digitising Government services.
A quick search on the Internet led me to the Moments of Life app. I downloaded it on my wife’s phone and we were able to submit all 3 applications – Birth Registration, Cash Gift and CDA at one time. The applications completion process was smooth and we did it on the morning of the day we were to be discharged after finalising the baby’s English and Chinese names.
Now that I have more time to research on what the Moments of Life app can do. It’s even better than I thought. I can search for and indicate interest in pre-school facilities of my choice and access my child’s immunisation & medical appointment records. Plus I can get up-to-date information on applicable Government schemes and benefits.
While we have ample support taking care of the baby, he is still taking up lots our free time. Which means we have to get more efficient in the way we do our research to get the information we need and more effective at the way we make decisions. We cannot keep going around in circles to get the baby benefits we are entitled to and find stuff we need.
Time becomes even more of a premium now. We are willing to pay more to save time and that is what we have been working towards as a couple and now as a family. Increase income & investments, manage expenses but spend more if need be for better quality, higher efficiency & effectiveness. And this should translate into time savings that we can use to rest, exercise, have time for ourselves individually, as a couple and as a family.