Still in doubt of the term "Trans Fats"?
Well, wait no more! Here is where you could get the low-down of it all from the expert - U.S. Food & Drug Administration - from its definition, where the various fats are found and their proportion, and links to your many related concerns.
My salute to FDA(USA) and the many other countries' administrators who make food and drugs so safe for us! Singapore's government department Rock in this area too!
Healthy Eating - Minus the Trans Fats!
Enjoy Your Food in A Better Healthier Way!
Jennifer Tan and family.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Centre for Fathering - an email and upcoming events
As family is the basis of a country, fathering role had changed these days and thus, I want to share the following unedited email from the Centre of Fathering with all fathers out there - singled, widowed or married:
Administrative Note: We want to thank our friend and volunteer, Clement Ong for sharing his fathering experience. Articles from ALL readers like you help Centre for Fathering broaden our network in sharing precious learning points on fatherhood. Please continue to send us your thoughts in comments, poetry, short essays etc. Keep sharing :-)
My Father’s Day Gifts
Father’s Day is over for this year. However, the role that fathers play may be far from over – regardless of whether you are a new father, a dad like me with two growing up kids (ages 10 and 8), or my daddy who is still fathering my sister and I who are in our early 40s. So is the second Sunday of June merely about having a special family dinner, presenting a gift or a card, or picking up the phone and wishing the man a “Happy Father’s Day”? Maybe it should be more than that – a good time to really pause for a while amidst our hectic lives to reflect on what Father’s Day really means to us. As I did that on the ferry returning from a church camp held in Batam on 17 June 2007, Father’s Day has indeed taken on a greater meaning for me this year.
Yes, it was Father’s Day but my late maternal grandfather flashed across my mind instead. Maybe it was because the ferry ride reminded me of the scattering of his ashes into the sea during that boat ride near Changi waters three years back. No, I realized it was more than that. My late grandpa played an important role in my fathering adventure. He was a selfless man. He made time for me and others, and above all, he took great care of my late grandmother who was bedridden. Although already in his early 70s and still juggling between his job as a chef and having to care for my granny then, there was never a single word of complaint from him. As a young boy, I have always respected him as a role-model father (or grandfather), and as I reflected, he has taught me two important lessons on fathering. One, presence – being there for your family members whenever needed. Two, loving your wife. Thinking about it, I must have taken my grandpa for granted as he was such an accommodating person. He would go out of his way to get my favorite stationery or toy, just to please me. How easy it is for us to take a family member for granted! I decided not to take my own dad for granted during this recent Father’s Day.
Like my granddad, my dad is a man of few words. However, he played the more active role in bringing up my sister and me. He has been an excellent role model in imparting his values to his children and has continued to do so with his two grandchildren. Despite being an active senior citizen in many ways, he has no hesitation in committing his time and energy to be with us. Retirement is never in my dad’s vocabulary. Besides looking after my children, he distributes newspapers to his neighborhood to keep fit and earn some extra income. He gets out of bed as early as 2 a.m. to ensure that the subscribers get a copy of the papers when they awaken. He then commutes to my house on a daily basis except for weekends, to look after my kids until my wife or I get home from work. This arrangement has been going on for the past eight years. Apart from the well wishes and the dinner during this Father’s Day celebration, I think he appreciated my concern when I asked him, “Are you still alright with the current arrangement?”
I had an advanced Father’s Day gift from my son when he agreed to join me at the Father-Child Bonding Camp organized by the Centre for Fathering held in early June 2007 at the Outward Bound School, East Coast Campus. Joel was so excited about the camp that he prepared for the overnight event two weeks before and he had practically memorized the detailed program for the two days. Indeed, it was a time well spent with my son. Not only were we more aware of our relationship, we also did many activities together such as rock climbing, trust walk, cooking etc., and most importantly, we built on our relationship through fun. During the camp, Joel taught me about courage and determination when he showed so much fighting spirit on the rock wall while I was almost going to give up.
As my daughter, Clarice, has not met the minimum age to join the Father-Child Bonding Camp, I anxiously registered the two of us for an afternoon Father’s Day celebration where games were organized for fathers and children to be held at the nearby residential community centre. However, to my great disappointment, I received a call from the organizer a day before the event informing me that it had to be cancelled due to poor response. In order not to further disappoint Clarice, I decided to spend the afternoon with her just by ourselves, without mom and brother – something we have always wanted to do on a monthly basis but failed to. I really treasured our time together that afternoon – although we engaged in familiar activities, it was the undivided time for one another that made the difference. I thanked Clarice for reciprocating the appreciation of the time spent together, and you know what, I was the “Preferred Choice” of between mom and dad for the next couple of days!
Well, I’m glad to have captured these moments and these lessons (gifts) about fathering. Indeed it is not an easy role to play and I am still very much learning along the way. There are the ups and downs during the fathering journey, very much like what I was experiencing on the ferry ride roughing out the choppy waters.
I fully agree with Mr Matthew Pereira’s contribution to the Sunday Times dated 10 June 2007 – “It’s tough being a dad, but we keep trying”. My father’s day wish is that more fathers would come forward to share and learn more about fathering and bonding with their children. Let’s keep trying, dads!
Now, I am off to make a date with my wife, Cheryl - my most precious gift along the fathering journey.
What’s Happening at CFF
Adventure in Fatherhood
This is a father-child bonding camp. It’s designed to help fathers build closer relationships with their children through challenging adventure learning activities.
Date: Nov 23 - Nov 24, 2007 (Fri - Sat)
Camp Fee: $390 per pair (father with ONE child only. Age: Pri 3 to Sec 1)
Min. 10 pairs to commence each camp.
Venue: OBS – East Coast Campus (East Coast Parkway)
Call Irene at 6252-8408 or email us at Irene@fathers.com.sg to register for the above event
Single (Divorced) Fathers Circle
A small group has commenced regular weekly meetings at our centre every Thursday. Next meetings: Thurs, 5 Jul and 26 Jul, 7.00 pm. Please call Philip Chang (M) 9238-8711 or email Irene@fathers.com.sg if you want to join us.
101 WAYS TO ENJOY YOUR FAMILY -
INVITATION TO CONTRIBUTE INSPIRING FAMILY STORIES
The National Family Council is inviting fathers to contribute to a book entitled 101 WAYS TO ENJOY YOUR FAMILY which will be on sale in major book stores in Nov/Dec 07. If you like to share your story, please contact us (tell: 6252-8408 or email Irene@fathers.com.sg) for more information. The deadline for the article is 13 July. For those who do not want to pen their own story, a phone interview can be arranged for a writer to take down your story.
IDA Seeks Parents’ Views on Students’ Choice of Study and Career Options
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) invites you to participate in a ‘Parents Focus Group’ session to share your views on the factors you would consider when advising your children on their choice of study, career options, as well as your impressions of a career in the infocomm industry.
Date: 31 Jul 07 (Tue)
Time: 5.30-6.30pm
Venue: Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 8 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec Tower Three, #14-00
Contact Lay Suan at 6211.1132 or lee_lay_suan@ida.gov.sg to register for the above event.
If you find this e-mail helpful, please forward it to others who are interested. To subscribe or unsubscribe Fathering Matters, please send us a email at fatheringmatters@fathers.com.sg or check out our website at www.fathers.com.sg. Thank you.
Happy Fathering!
Jennifer and family
Administrative Note: We want to thank our friend and volunteer, Clement Ong for sharing his fathering experience. Articles from ALL readers like you help Centre for Fathering broaden our network in sharing precious learning points on fatherhood. Please continue to send us your thoughts in comments, poetry, short essays etc. Keep sharing :-)
My Father’s Day Gifts
Father’s Day is over for this year. However, the role that fathers play may be far from over – regardless of whether you are a new father, a dad like me with two growing up kids (ages 10 and 8), or my daddy who is still fathering my sister and I who are in our early 40s. So is the second Sunday of June merely about having a special family dinner, presenting a gift or a card, or picking up the phone and wishing the man a “Happy Father’s Day”? Maybe it should be more than that – a good time to really pause for a while amidst our hectic lives to reflect on what Father’s Day really means to us. As I did that on the ferry returning from a church camp held in Batam on 17 June 2007, Father’s Day has indeed taken on a greater meaning for me this year.
Yes, it was Father’s Day but my late maternal grandfather flashed across my mind instead. Maybe it was because the ferry ride reminded me of the scattering of his ashes into the sea during that boat ride near Changi waters three years back. No, I realized it was more than that. My late grandpa played an important role in my fathering adventure. He was a selfless man. He made time for me and others, and above all, he took great care of my late grandmother who was bedridden. Although already in his early 70s and still juggling between his job as a chef and having to care for my granny then, there was never a single word of complaint from him. As a young boy, I have always respected him as a role-model father (or grandfather), and as I reflected, he has taught me two important lessons on fathering. One, presence – being there for your family members whenever needed. Two, loving your wife. Thinking about it, I must have taken my grandpa for granted as he was such an accommodating person. He would go out of his way to get my favorite stationery or toy, just to please me. How easy it is for us to take a family member for granted! I decided not to take my own dad for granted during this recent Father’s Day.
Like my granddad, my dad is a man of few words. However, he played the more active role in bringing up my sister and me. He has been an excellent role model in imparting his values to his children and has continued to do so with his two grandchildren. Despite being an active senior citizen in many ways, he has no hesitation in committing his time and energy to be with us. Retirement is never in my dad’s vocabulary. Besides looking after my children, he distributes newspapers to his neighborhood to keep fit and earn some extra income. He gets out of bed as early as 2 a.m. to ensure that the subscribers get a copy of the papers when they awaken. He then commutes to my house on a daily basis except for weekends, to look after my kids until my wife or I get home from work. This arrangement has been going on for the past eight years. Apart from the well wishes and the dinner during this Father’s Day celebration, I think he appreciated my concern when I asked him, “Are you still alright with the current arrangement?”
I had an advanced Father’s Day gift from my son when he agreed to join me at the Father-Child Bonding Camp organized by the Centre for Fathering held in early June 2007 at the Outward Bound School, East Coast Campus. Joel was so excited about the camp that he prepared for the overnight event two weeks before and he had practically memorized the detailed program for the two days. Indeed, it was a time well spent with my son. Not only were we more aware of our relationship, we also did many activities together such as rock climbing, trust walk, cooking etc., and most importantly, we built on our relationship through fun. During the camp, Joel taught me about courage and determination when he showed so much fighting spirit on the rock wall while I was almost going to give up.
As my daughter, Clarice, has not met the minimum age to join the Father-Child Bonding Camp, I anxiously registered the two of us for an afternoon Father’s Day celebration where games were organized for fathers and children to be held at the nearby residential community centre. However, to my great disappointment, I received a call from the organizer a day before the event informing me that it had to be cancelled due to poor response. In order not to further disappoint Clarice, I decided to spend the afternoon with her just by ourselves, without mom and brother – something we have always wanted to do on a monthly basis but failed to. I really treasured our time together that afternoon – although we engaged in familiar activities, it was the undivided time for one another that made the difference. I thanked Clarice for reciprocating the appreciation of the time spent together, and you know what, I was the “Preferred Choice” of between mom and dad for the next couple of days!
Well, I’m glad to have captured these moments and these lessons (gifts) about fathering. Indeed it is not an easy role to play and I am still very much learning along the way. There are the ups and downs during the fathering journey, very much like what I was experiencing on the ferry ride roughing out the choppy waters.
I fully agree with Mr Matthew Pereira’s contribution to the Sunday Times dated 10 June 2007 – “It’s tough being a dad, but we keep trying”. My father’s day wish is that more fathers would come forward to share and learn more about fathering and bonding with their children. Let’s keep trying, dads!
Now, I am off to make a date with my wife, Cheryl - my most precious gift along the fathering journey.
What’s Happening at CFF
Adventure in Fatherhood
This is a father-child bonding camp. It’s designed to help fathers build closer relationships with their children through challenging adventure learning activities.
Date: Nov 23 - Nov 24, 2007 (Fri - Sat)
Camp Fee: $390 per pair (father with ONE child only. Age: Pri 3 to Sec 1)
Min. 10 pairs to commence each camp.
Venue: OBS – East Coast Campus (East Coast Parkway)
Call Irene at 6252-8408 or email us at Irene@fathers.com.sg to register for the above event
Single (Divorced) Fathers Circle
A small group has commenced regular weekly meetings at our centre every Thursday. Next meetings: Thurs, 5 Jul and 26 Jul, 7.00 pm. Please call Philip Chang (M) 9238-8711 or email Irene@fathers.com.sg if you want to join us.
101 WAYS TO ENJOY YOUR FAMILY -
INVITATION TO CONTRIBUTE INSPIRING FAMILY STORIES
The National Family Council is inviting fathers to contribute to a book entitled 101 WAYS TO ENJOY YOUR FAMILY which will be on sale in major book stores in Nov/Dec 07. If you like to share your story, please contact us (tell: 6252-8408 or email Irene@fathers.com.sg) for more information. The deadline for the article is 13 July. For those who do not want to pen their own story, a phone interview can be arranged for a writer to take down your story.
IDA Seeks Parents’ Views on Students’ Choice of Study and Career Options
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) invites you to participate in a ‘Parents Focus Group’ session to share your views on the factors you would consider when advising your children on their choice of study, career options, as well as your impressions of a career in the infocomm industry.
Date: 31 Jul 07 (Tue)
Time: 5.30-6.30pm
Venue: Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 8 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec Tower Three, #14-00
Contact Lay Suan at 6211.1132 or lee_lay_suan@ida.gov.sg to register for the above event.
If you find this e-mail helpful, please forward it to others who are interested. To subscribe or unsubscribe Fathering Matters, please send us a email at fatheringmatters@fathers.com.sg or check out our website at www.fathers.com.sg. Thank you.
Happy Fathering!
Jennifer and family
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