Society, NPO and Charity for young single parents and their children

[masayuki]

Hi Ladies,

In addition to my ongoing research and proposal for baby bonus for single unwed mothers, I was considering registering a society for the cause of helping young single parents and their children, regardless of previous marital status.

The advantage to this is we can actually list as a Non-Profit Organisation and Charity, allowing us to further help single parents in a more tangible manner.

Advantages are:
1)We can obtain grants and funding from the Nation Youth Council for any public education , research and events that we organise.

2)We can gain legitimacy to request information from Government department and would allow us to have an official channel to them through MCYS and NCSS.

3)We can offer help in the form of organised "pre-loved items" and employment help for young single parents. We will also be able to offer help in securing shelter for young single parents and protection from abusive ex-partners.

4)We will be able to raise funds for any help that we decide to offer.

5)It is a flexible system where the organisation can continue helping those in need even if any of the office bearers step down.

6)Last but not least, you get to play your part for the Singaporean society and pave the way for changes.

I'm open to meetings and discussions on the matter and am willing to take care of all administrative aspects.

I need another 9 more persons in order to register as a society. Office bearers will be chosen among yourselves, though I prefer a lady to take the Chairman position if we do get this thing going.

There used to be Flyin Solo but I'm not too sure of their current status now, does anyone know?

God Bless,
Samuel

 

[Ting]

i think flyin solo is still on.... if i m not wrong.

 

[masayuki]

i think flyin solo is still on.... if i m not wrong.

Hi Ting,

Can't seem to find them. Their website is gone and they are no longer listed in the registry of societies.

Flyin Solo is a good support group, but i feel that more needs to be done.

What i am focusing on here is also the support for the child as well.
No child should be disadvantaged by the circumstances of his/her birth.
I hope to help create or join an awareness group that actively works to close this gap.

I believe that more must be done to change public perception on this matter and change a mentality people have that unwed mothers are "cheap" or "easy". Those who are easy most likely have also chosen the easy way out: Abortion.

Do note that I am not advocating single parenthood as a alternative family unit. Just that more must be done to help these single parents find a partner and form a 2 parent family.

 

[Ting]

yes i understand your POV.
hmmm, flyin solo, im not sure but i THOUGHT it is still arnd.
perhaps now they r no longer "official" alr.

 

[masayuki]

yes i understand your POV.
hmmm, flyin solo, im not sure but i THOUGHT it is still arnd.
perhaps now they are no longer "official" already.

Anyways, i have contacted Ginny Phang who is a co-founder of Flyin Solo and see what i can do from there.

I find it hard to gather official information and get support and help from MCYS and NCSS without the backing of a NPO.

It really makes things much easier for everyone as there would be an official organisation anchored by single mothers which can handle all help in a systematic manner so no one gets left behind.

I know it would take a lot of courage for most single mothers to come out in the open to anchor a NPO.

 

[JoyBliss]

Anyways, i have contacted Ginny Phang who is a co-founder of Flyin Solo and see what i can do from there.

I find it hard to gather official information and get support and help from MCYS and NCSS without the backing of a NPO.

It really makes things much easier for everyone as there would be an official organisation anchored by single mothers which can handle all help in a systematic manner so no one gets left behind.

I know it would take a lot of courage for most single mothers to come out in the open to anchor a NPO.

Hi Masayuki,
Thanks for your ardent support for single mother! Very touched... you have no idea how much it means to us, the single unmarried mothers...

For Fly'Solo.. they seem not active anymore... no more news on them online at least... and I read up that the founder Ginny Phang has gone full time on her business Fourtrimesters few years back? But do keep us posted on it's continuity

Yep, it's not easy for single moms to be actively involved in this old fight for fair treatment for single mothers. Foremost, we are racing against time everyday, since most of us are working mothers ourselves. Online resources are limited and the data may be skewed (if you catch my drift)... There is really a lot of work to be done... But I like to do my little fair share where possible, let me know how

Back to the original thread of setting up a society, shall await your updates from Ginny Phang as well.

God Bless good souls like you :001_302:

B.Rgds, J

 

[masayuki]

Hi Masayuki,
Thanks for your ardent support for single mother! Very touched... you have no idea how much it means to us, the single unmarried mothers...

For Fly'Solo.. they seem not active anymore... no more news on them online at least... and I read up that the founder Ginny Phang has gone full time on her business Fourtrimesters few years back? But do keep us posted on it's continuity

Yep, it's not easy for single moms to be actively involved in this old fight for fair treatment for single mothers. Foremost, we are racing against time everyday, since most of us are working mothers ourselves. Online resources are limited and the data may be skewed (if you catch my drift)... There is really a lot of work to be done... But I like to do my little fair share where possible, let me know how

Back to the original thread of setting up a society, shall await your updates from Ginny Phang as well.

God Bless good souls like you :001_302:

B.Rgds, J

Hi J,

Thank you for your kind words.

It seems like Flyin' Solo is not longer being updated. I'm not sure if the Yahoo groups is still active as I don't think I can and should join it as I'm not a single mum.

As for Ginny Phang, it seems that i have gotten no reply from her, so I'm still not sure of the actual status of Flyin' Solo.

Does anyone have any way to contact Frae instead?

 

[masayuki]

Dear all,

I have talked to Ginny Phang of Flyin' Solo and she tells me that Flyin' Solo is no longer a registered society due to work and life commitments Frae and herself had at the point of time.

Flyin' Solo does still exist as a yahoo group.
She is very busy these days but is generally supportive of the idea.
She would also be willing to consider a special advisor position in the society if we set this up. Her contributions will be based on her schedule as she's really very busy. I will be contacting Frae about getting involved as well....

I will aim to continue on where they left off, including the securing of funds to help single unwed mothers.

The difference will be that i will be heading a advocacy arm, which would include research, lobbying, official correspondence, events and public education....

Let's make this work! You must first take the first step to enpower yourselves if you want society to be fair to you and your child....

Interested mums please contact me or leave me a way to contact you. All policies will be decided by yourselves and i will help to anchor and keep the show running.

Thank you and let us make a difference together.

God Bless,

Samuel

babybear@search.per.sg (MSN, Facebook, Plurk, Email)
PM me if you need my number....

 

[Ting]

so what do u need us to do???

 

[masayuki]

so what do you need us to do???

We need to get more members, please get more single mothers to join us.

I need 9 more persons to come forward to officially register and form the society.

Before that, we will have to have a meeting and draft the constitution of the society. We will also have to elect the President, Secretary, Treasurer and their deputies. We can then register and start work from there.

In order not to put extra burden on the members, unless there is any objection, I will take up the work that any of you feel uncomfortable with; eg, facing the public or dealing with government departments.

I will then come up with a business plan for supporting the unwed single mothers, and present it to the relevant government departments to ask for funding, all this will approval and vetting from the board and special advisor(s).

We will also be setting in place a emotional and material support structure.
All positions will be voluntary. We can then set up structures in place to help the newly pregnant and those who have just given birth to secure a place to stay if they have none.

All ideas and plans will be discussed during the meeting(s).

If any committee member is unable to "show face" in public, I will anchor events or interviews for you.

My role will be to help you to empower yourselves and to protect you from any hate from the public.

 

[mag_huiling]

Am I considered as a "single mom"? Im currently on separation, taking care of my girl alone.

 

[mag_huiling]

Finally there's someone who is willing to plan and organise these kinda society to help single parents!

 

[masayuki]

Am I considered as a "single mom"? Im currently on separation, taking care of my girl alone.

I would be deviating from the original Flyin' Solo support structure.
We would have 2 core support groups, the unwed mothers and the mothers who have lost their other half due to whatever reasons.

Primary support of the group will be for the unwed mothers, and I will be anchoring the 2nd group as I would have more access to legal help that the second group may need. Help that we can provide for the 2nd group will depend on the decisions made by the committee as we don't want to stretch our resources too thinly.

 

[little_rabbit]

oops just read this thread! :shyxxx:

 

[JoyBliss]

Hi M,

Thanks! Great to have Ginny Phang as the special advisory!

Besides drafting the constitution, what are each basic roles or this is something that you were referring to be discussion during the meeting? Will it be posted online here so that anyone can considered the time and resources to take up the roles? It's great that you were rendering lots of your time and assistance. Hope that it won't affect your primary work It's really a very big scale event and I think we need all the support. For such good soul like you, just hope that it's not too taxing on you and get you overburnt if this is going to consume lots your time outside work. Would it be possible for non-single mother to be part of comittee? I mean learning from Flyin'Solo, is it the time committment problem that they "downsize" or "go offline"

Sorry for the tons of questions... just like to understand more & be practical on the time management and comittment if this is really the direction

Thanks in advance,
J

 

[masayuki]

On a side note, I've been talking to random people, eg. taxi drivers, people I meet and totally random strangers on the issue of support for single and unwed mothers.

It appears that most of the Malay and Indians I have spoken too are very for the idea.
The Chinese I have spoken too seems quite mixed on the issue.

Extremely religious married people with children as well.
This morning, this male taxi driver asked me, "Why should they get the baby bonus if they don't want to get married?"
My answer was very simple, "It's because the men don't want to/cannot take responsibility." "Think of it, why should a child be disadvantaged as a result? Why not take the baby bonus and put it into the child's CDA account?"

He told me that I may be right, he never thought of it that way.... Why keep on focusing on the unwed mother when the focus should be on the child?

Wishing all mummies and mummies to be here a blessed day.

Samuel

 

[masayuki]

Hi M,

Thanks! Great to have Ginny Phang as the special advisory!

Besides drafting the constitution, what are each basic roles or this is something that you were referring to be discussion during the meeting? Will it be posted online here so that anyone can considered the time and resources to take up the roles? It's great that you were rendering lots of your time and assistance. Hope that it won't affect your primary work It's really a very big scale event and I think we need all the support. For such good soul like you, just hope that it's not too taxing on you and get you overburnt if this is going to consume lots your time outside work. Would it be possible for non-single mother to be part of comittee? I mean learning from Flyin'Solo, is it the time committment problem that they "downsize" or "go offline"

Sorry for the tons of questions... just like to understand more & be practical on the time management and comittment if this is really the direction

Thanks in advance,
J

Hi J,

I was telling Ginny that day that I would like to invite her as a special adviser, eg. Someone carrying a big stick to knock my head with if I do something wrong.... haha....

I understand the scale of the project and also the commitment issue. We will have to get volunteers to help run the day to day operations as and when I cannot pick up.

My work is quite relaxed and I'm actually in this job right now because I was really tired of the rat race.... I'm also currently single so I have decided to spend my time on others rather than myself (Whatever will come, will come).

If we are able to secure funding later at later date, and things really get going, as in we are actively providing services, I might resign from my job to run operations full time (Just pay me enough to survive).

To me, passion and love are two driving forces that will even allow you to run on empty....

I do understand that commitment will always be a problem as long as humans are involved in anything and I do respect all your rights to have time for yourselves and your child.

Basic roles would be hammered out during the first meeting and anyone can join us (I'm also not a single mum! haha....). I'm still somewhat inclined to appointing a single mother as the head of the organisation. I will most likely not be running for any of the offices as well....

In the end, it's a project to empower single mums to take control of their own lives and their destiny....

Samuel

 

[JoyBliss]

Hi Samuel,

... finally got your name hee...
Oh wow, you sound adamant to go all the way out cheering for single moms!! Thanks!!!! :red:I think as long as you are not going for CEO remuneration and welfare package, things should be very negotiable when the assoc. is a success hahaha...

Ya agree. i think it's in the favor for the assoc. to have an experienced single mom as the President. With a balanced comittee consisting of mothers regardless of martial stage, would it be easier to keep the daily operation running and more diff. views can be gathered? But the option is open :001_302:

I'm supportive of the assoc generally for the good cause it promised to bring to single unmarried moms. Besides the setting up of comittee, i'm think more help is needed to keep the assoc. alive. I like to do my little bits still when possible. Pls keep me informed. I'll PM you my contacts.

JiaYou Sam!! God Bless!

B.Rgds,
J

 

[mag_huiling]

Agree with JOyBliss..... maybe should list out something and we'll think about some ideas and present it during the meeting... to save some time also.

 

[Ting]

hi samuel, hope this will work out well.
do let me know if i can help in anyway, will try my best too~