While most Singaporean families make a beeline for nearby countries come the school holidays, Mdm Nur Hidayah’s family of seven has never taken a vacation overseas. For them, luxuries only come in the form of simple pleasures, like a fi shing trip every month, followed by a meal at McDonald’s.“I always tell my fi ve children, even though we don’t have a lot of money, as long as we are happy as a family, it’s enough,” says Mdm Hidayah, 31, whose entire family survives on her husband’s monthly income as a Cisco offi cer. “I wouldn’t want us to be a rich family where everyone’s very unhappy with one another.”

In order to help her husband, she took part in the South West CDC’s Candles By Moms class two years ago, and is currently making and selling candles from home.

“I have four sons and one daughter, and most of the time my daughter will help me with the housework while I make my candles, but sometimes my sons will also help out if I ask them to. They are really good kids,” she says. But the family has seen bleaker days. Previously, her husband, Sabtu Bin Aibi, 42, was working on a contract basis as a site supervisor for an oil tank construction firm. Then, their livelihoods were largely dependent on the availability of new projects. This meant that without new assignments coming in, the family had to survive on their meagre savings.

  To help make ends meet, the couple applied for fi nancial aid from the South West CDC in May last year under the Lee Foundation and Kindergarten Financial Assistance (KIFAS) schemes. Those provide $150 a month and school fees for the children, respectively. “So if my children tell me that they want this bag or that toy, I’ll promise to buy it for them when I have the money, and they’ll wait,” she explains. “That’s why family bonding is so important. You create trust, and that lowers the chances of quarreling and unhappiness.” Never one to shy away from a challenge, Mdm Hidayah says she hopes to fi nd a job soon, so that she doesn’t have to apply for fi nancial aid again. Smiling, she adds: “There are other people who also need help, so why not give up my place to let them get the help they need?”