Baby-wearing dads celebrate Fathers' Day with record-breaking walk in S'pore

Source: The Straits Times
Author: Joyce Teo

SINGAPORE - Thirty-eight fathers, wearing their babies, celebrated Fathers' Day on June 16 by taking part in a short noon-time 1km walk at the Singapore Sports Hub, setting a record for the "Most Number of Dads in a Baby-wearing Walk" in the Singapore Book of Records.

The first-ever baby-wearing walk was held as part of this year's Dad's Day Out, the culminating point of the Celebrating Fathers event, which encourages dads to embrace play as an integral part of the bonding process in their parenting journey. It was held at OCBC Square, just outside Kallang Wave Mall.

Dads strapped their babies and toddlers - ranging in age from three months to three years - to their chests with slings or baby carriers. Two dads even wore two children each - one strapped to the front, and the other strapped to the back.

Mr Mark Barnabas Lee, 45, who wore his one-year-old daughter Makayla for the walk, said the event was a good opportunity for fathers to cultivate a love for physical activity and the outdoors in their children.

The sports event organiser said he takes regular walks in the parks with his child and wife Caterin, 37. He took his daughter to the pool recently and is already making plans to take her cycling when she is older, emphasising the importance of letting children play outdoors.

Mr Lee said he spends all his recreational time with his child, and is very much involved in parenting. The couple share parenting duties to ensure his wife gets time off from caring for the baby. For instance, when he takes over caring for Makayla from 5am to 7am on a weekend morning, she gets her me-time in the gym.

Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat, who flagged off the walk, said he was heartened to see many fathers there who are involved in family life, sharing the responsibility of bringing up the children and spending quality time with them.

"We know it is not easy to be able to manage the demands of work and family life but I'm sure all the fathers here, everyone here, will agree that coming home to the delightful faces of our children is one of the most magical experiences we can have. (It's) something very special," he said.

Mr Chee has a 24-year-old son and three daughters, aged 21, 18 and 13 with his wife, a former teacher.

"Families are the cornerstone and bedrock of Singapore society and our government policies will continue to strengthen the role of families and help everyone, help all families to be able to realise their hopes and dreams," he said.

"In recent years, we have enhanced the caregivers grant. We're putting more investment in pre-schools. We've increased support for young couples buying their first HDB flat, and many more. We will continue to review and update our policies to address the changing needs and aspirations of our families."

Celebrating Fathers is jointly organised by non-profit organisation Centre for Fathering, the Dads for Life and Mums for Life movements, and broadcaster Mediacorp, in partnership with the Families for Life movement. It was first launched in 2016.