August 18, 2009
by admin
During PM Lee’s National Day Rally speech in mandarin, he said that the Government will study how best to use the Maintenance of Parents Act to get children who dump their elderly parents in hospitals or nursing homes to do their filial duty and help pay for their parents’ care.
He also openly dismissed the line allegedly taken by some people who say: “There is no filial son for long-term illness“.
Many would agree that the Maintenance of Parents Act is a well-intentioned piece of legislation.
But could it also be a symptom of a desperate Government trying to push the buck of parental care to children who are already overly burdened with living in high-cost Singapore?
Could it also be a symptom of an uncaring Government which allows the cost of healthcare to escalate and then saddle young adults with lifelong debt and financial desperation as a result of having to fork out an arm and a leg to pay for medical treatment for their chronically ill parents?
The Maintenance of Parents Act, which has been around since 1996, allows parents to go to the Family Court and sue their children for financial maintenance.
Although the Act now allows only parents to take their children to court, Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said recently that the law may be changed to allow a third party to take unfilial children to task, should the parents themselves not be able to do so. If that comes about, nursing homes would be able to do so on behalf of their patients.
The law is a very blunt instrument. Can the law really be used to legislate filial piety? Can the law alone be used to address the underlying problems that cause some children to abandon their parents to begin with?
thought, filial piety (Chinese: 孝; pinyin: Xiào) is one of the virtues to be cultivated: a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.)Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources
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