Very seldom do I post an anti-govt rant here on my blog. This is not meant to be a political soapbox. But it is still MY blog and I am letting off steam.

I was doing my tax returns dutifully like any good Singaporean yesterday when I noticed two things, 1) I cannot claim working mother's tax relief for Trinity Rose. The govt only allows us to claim for 4 kids. 2) I am not eligible to get any Parenthood Tax Rebate of $20,000 for Trinity either. Again, it stops at 4 kids max.

Hello, I thought we're facing an aging population and dwindling birth rate and hence, larger families should get some incentive/recognition from the govt? Er, not the case apparently.

Some years ago... when registering Cait for kindy, we were nicely told by the school that fees can be offset by the Baby Bonus. Unfortunately for us, Cait was born 9 days shy of the 1 Apr 01 start mark for the Baby Bonus. So we don't qualify.

Recently when I was preparing the documentation for Cait's DAS assessment, I noticed that therapy fees etc can be offset by using the Baby Bonus. Yes, would be nice IF we had any Baby Bonus to begin with!

Then when I surfed Dynamics OTC's site to book a speech eval slot for Trinity, again there was that fine print - claimable from Baby Bonus.

And then of course came the tax-relief discoveries that Trin was not eligible for all these reliefs.

I am so hopping mad. Each minister/MP I meet, I make it a point to insert these pet grouses - but there is nothing much they can say or do.

Cait is not entitled to the BB because she is born 9 days 'early'. Why can't the govt just be fair to all those born in 2001 by letting all babies born in that year to be entitled to the BB? I can understand that there are start dates and inevitably some babies will miss out. But in a single year, within the same cohort of her peers, there are children like her who will miss out through no fault of their own, but simply because they were born ahead of the scheme. And in case you think the BB is small potatoes, it isn't - because the BB can be used for other siblings and it is a dollar for dollar savings scheme - meaning the govt will match parents' savings for the child, up to a max of $18000. Hello, this is not small potatoes!! Especially not when you have 5 kids! Families like ours need this more than ever.

Then comes Owain. Again, not entitled for the BB. Why? Because when he was born, the BB did not extend to 4th children. So just because some govt joker did not plan ahead enough and the scheme keeps getting 'adjusted', children like mine miss out. It was only after his birth that the scheme was revised to include the 4th child.

And along comes Trinity. Being the fifth child, there are absolutely no breaks - no BB at all since it is only up to 4 kids, no tax breaks etc. Right now, if there is a Chinese national who chooses to come in to Singapore, take up citizenship and has 3 or 4 children, these children benefit far more than Trinity who is a natural born Singaporean!

So let me get this right - Singapore needs more babies. Hoping to get these, half-ripe carrots are half-heartedly thrown to the crowd. But even then, not many people are significantly biting. Yet, for families who DO choose to have more children, these families and their children are denied the very same carrots.

Yes, the govt will come back to say: well, we did say those who can afford it can have more. Ah, by whose definition is the word 'afford'? KH's salary puts him and us out of the range of most subsidies, rebates etc that the govt hands out - and this includes lowered subsidies based on healthcare since means testing will come into the picture soon. But his salary (and I say 'his' because my half-time salary does not go much into household and family expenditure) feeds 8 mouths in this household. And out of the five children we have, we now discover that one by one has some form of special needs. Special needs means therapy, assessments etc - all of which mean more money.

Sure, the govt then says - you can choose subsidised care in the polyclinics, referrals to KKH etc. But I think it is no secret how long the queues are like in polyclinic referrals for special child development diagnostics and treatment. Cait's teacher told me she referred two girls last year for dyslexia testing - early in the year mind you - and now, the girls are in P2 and they are still waiting!! Do the powers that be not know that early diagnosis and early intervention provides the best opportunity for these children to catch up? Or do they not care?

Oh sure, I will still do the polyclinic route, just to create enough of a paper trail for school records, but I cannot afford to wait months just for a diagnosis or intervention.

And so if I go the private route, it means money. And as I said in my previous post - parenting a large family with special needs is simply overwhelming already, and now, potentially financially draining. So every bit counts - every BB that my kids ought to get matter.

I know there are people who are much worse off, yes God flay me alive for complaining. But I just feel very bitter about the unfairness of these stupid policies where right hand does not seem to know what left hand is doing and in the end, the ball is dropped. Families like mine fall in the crack - we are not poor enough to enjoy the handouts/rebates/subsidies. But we are not rich enough for the lack of these not to matter. In the meantime, we pay our taxes like everyone else.

I ought to just migrate. Don't think I have not thought about it. But KH will never leave. No matter how he sneers and scoffs at govt policy from time to time, secretly he still loves the homesoil far more than me.

Maybe I should just divorce him, sell our house, take the money and jump ship with my 5 kids - run and settle in Australia. Now that is a fantasy...