WFH parents are up to the task

Keeping up with school: Ng spending time with her children, Jeremy and Jacquelyn Choo. She says she has prepared a schedule for her husband and herself so that they can also attend to their children’s needs while working from home.

GEORGE TOWN: After experiencing several rounds of the movement control order, working parents are now more adept at juggling their tasks at home to ensure their parenting duties are not affected while they work from home.

Wendy Ng, who works at a factory in Bayan Lepas, said that since kindergarten and schools would be closed, she has prepared a multi-tasking schedule for her and her husband.

“I have a five-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter, and both my husband and I are working.

“We have no relatives or older family members to help us take care of them, so we need to prepare ourselves for this pandemic.

“When the full lockdown was announced, I arranged with my office to work half a day at the office and half a day at home, ” said the 37-year-old.

Ng said her husband, who works as an engineer, has a flexible work schedule as well.

“My husband can work from home if he wants, and I can request for similar arrangements too if the need arises, ” said Ng.

“So I think we have no problems in keeping up with changes to our children’s routines.”

Another parent, daycare centre manager and tutor Elaine Cheng, 31, said she is now preparing her work schedule to match her sons’ needs.

“Since I work at a daycare centre, it is easier for me to make arrangements for my sons, who are nine and 12 years old.

“They are currently not attending school, so I can arrange for them to be with me.

“As they are not too young, I can manage between work and supervising them, ” she said.

At the Taman Manggis flats in Jalan Zainal Abidin, Raja Mazia, 34, who previously ran an online business, said she had learned to adapt and make good use of her time.

“I am now a full-time housewife as I recently closed my online business.

“It was not going so well. Many people lost their jobs and the economy is not so good.

“As I did not receive many orders, I stopped. Now I have more time to focus on house chores and in supervising my five children at home, ” she said.

Raja Mazia said that since the schools have closed and reopened many times throughout the rounds of MCO, her children have adapted to it.

“I have three schoolgoing children of ages seven, 10 and 14 and they have all gotten used to virtual classes, ” she said.