Happen to see that in the link as shown. Government will monitor the situation and suggest areas for improvement in future as stated. However, seems like 4 years had passed but still no news? Wondering how is the progress of monitoring??

http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal/en/press_room/press_releases/2004/20040907-StrongSupportForBabyPackage.html

Updated on 7 september 2004

Benefits for Fathers

10. Some have asked why more benefits have not been extended to fathers, especially paternity leave. Fathers play important roles in raising children. Working fathers can make use of the new Childcare Leave to spend time with their children until they turn 7, and can also enjoy the Parenthood Tax Rebate. However, the experience of even the genderneutral Scandinavian countries has demonstrated that not all fathers claim their leave, and not all employers in Singapore might be ready for longer
paternity leave at this stage. The Government will monitor the situation and suggest areas for improvement in future.

====================================================

I am really delighted when our PM announced about the cash payouts and parental leave, etc in the hope of boosting the birth rate in Singaore.

The increase in maternity leave from 12 to 16 weeks and the better cash payout for baby bonus, etc really makes me think about having another child. Furthermore, our PM's call for men to be more hands on in taking care of their babies is 100% correct, especially in today's context.

However, i am quite disappointed about the fact that nothing was mentioned about paternity leave. I was only given 3 days of paternity leave after the birth of my daughter. I actually had to take extra 3 to 5 days of leave to run errands and help my wife with the newborn (even with a confinement lady).

Government should look into this and address our concern. From what i know, there are no rules requiring companies to give paternity leave. I am definitely not asking for 1 month or more as i see it as rather impossible with our current work schedule. However, 1 week or 10 days, for example, should be good. This will help us to build bonding with our new born baby and also spend more quality time with our wife. As a new father, there are actually quite a bit of things to learn and adapt to, especially when its the 2nd/3rd baby and we need to help look after the other kids while our wives are in confinement. Can our wife actually cope without us during the first 2 weeks of confinement? who will run the errands? 

Hope government will look into this and show support to men as utimately having babies also have impact on us since men are expected to do more nowadays.