Childcare Centre in Malaysia

What more would we dare to expect from Childcare centres in Malaysia? The good, the bad and the ugly have already been mentioned in passing. Perhaps we should not be too shortsighted to look at the immediate future but beyond the horizon of our own expectations. Good news has knocked on our doors this recent week in the area of childcare.

Good News for Chidcare Centres in Malaysia

RM2,000 tax relief for children sent to JKM-registered kindergarten and pre-school …the headlines screamed!

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — Instead of RM1,000 as previously implemented, parents can now claim a tax relief of RM2,000 if they have a six-year-old child sent to a kindergarten or pre-school registered with the Department of Social Welfare (JKM).

The tax relief is among the provisions contained in the Finance Bill (2019) tabled in the Dewan Rakyat for the first time today.

The Bill was tabled to enact an amendment to the Income Tax Act 1967, the Real Property Gains Tax Act 1976, the Stamp Act 1949, the Petroleum (Income Tax) Act 1967, the Sales Tax Act 2018, the Finance Act 2010 and the Finance Act 2018.

In addition, the bill also introduced a new subsection on the granting of tax rebates on levies under the Departure Levy Act 2019 by an individual who left Malaysia by air to perform Umrah or other religious pilgrimages.

The debate on the bill for the second reading is expected to be tabled at the current session of the Dewan Rakyat until December 5. — Bernama

According to the bill, tabled by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, the amendment is effective for the year of assessment 2020 and subsequent years.

The Bill that was handed to the media also outlined the income tax exemption of up to RM6,000 given on medical treatment expenses for serious illnesses including the cost of fertility treatment.

Budget Joy for Childcare Centre in Malaysia

Read this with expectation and relief:

2020 Budget: More tax relief for parents utilising childcare services

KUALA LUMPUR: Parents who send their children to daycare centres and kindergartens will enjoy double the amount of individual tax relief, from the current RM1,000 to RM2,000.

While tabling the 2020 Budget in Parliament today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the move will help ease their financial burden.

Lim also announced that the government will provide additional funding of RM30 million to establish more daycare centres in government buildings, especially in hospitals and schools, beginning next year. He said the government had built 66 daycare centres at a cost of RM10 million last year.

Working Parents’ Dilemma in Childcare Centre in Malaysia

EVERY day before we go to work, my husband and I drop our six-month-old son at the babysitter, a few hundred metres away from home. And, like most babysitters who operate from their houses, she isn’t registered.

Tens of thousands of working mothers share our arrangement, sending their babies and children to these women, mostly housewives, who look after babies to supplement their household income.

I depended solely on my instincts when I decided to leave Murshid in Suhaila’s hands.

The gruesome news of a five-month-old baby’s body found in his babysitter’s freezer recently is yet another reminder of the risk working mothers take every day as they drop off their children in the care of another person. After each incident — usually resulting in death or serious injury sustained by a baby — the public calls for all babysitting services to be registered, but, the cacophony dies down over time.

Solutions in Childcare Centre in Malaysia?

Some babysitters are very good, they tend to the babies’ physical and emotional needs and keep them happy. On the other end of the spectrum, you have incidences resulting in death.

Are we then, mothers who send our children to rumah pengasuh, to be blamed as irresponsible for not thoroughly thinking of the welfare of our children?

We do what we can to balance work and raising children, but, in my short span as a mother, I realise that while the country needs women in the workforce, it gives working mothers utterly dismal support.

Not all office buildings are equipped with daycare centres. Not all offices have lactation rooms, despite the Health Ministry’s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life.

If we are going to talk about a new type of nation-building in line with the spirit of #Malaysia-Baharu, then we need to realise our mentality needs to change. If we want a great generation of Malaysians, we must be willing to support mothers — in all ways necessary, to ensure that they can contribute to the country’s economy and still have the energy left to nurture their children holistically.

The Contribution of Employers Towards Workplace Nursery

I think it’s about time office premises with a substantial percentage of mothers had their own childcare services. Premises like hospitals, news organisations and other places where workers work shifts should strive to have a round-the-clock nursery.

Having one does not eliminate the possibility of tragedies, but with their mothers nearby, and with many people working at the nursery, the likelihood of a tragedy that befell the five-month-old baby could be lessened.

It’s a win-win situation. Mothers can work in peace knowing that their children are nearby and the safety of their children is looked after.

It is a gargantuan task to have a daycare at every existing office premises, but I think we have to start somewhere, otherwise this will just be another tragedy-triggered issue. There has got to be financial commitment to this, as we cannot put a price tag on life.

The condolences that flooded social media for the little boy described the adorable infant.  Babies don’t know much. It is the adults’ responsibility to make sure that these little humans are well taken care of and that their life and welfare is a priority.

Conclusion to Childcare Centre in Malaysia

Adam Rayqal Mohd Sufi will probably not be the last we are going to hear about a terrible incident at a babysitter. The question is — how long are we going to let this go on and how many babies have to die before society realises that we cannot call ourselves civilised if we cannot even protect our young? Sad but true. We still have a hope and that is in our prayers asking God for a better tomorrow.

Thank you for reading or listening. Stay tuned