'Parenthood is extremely beautiful' with 'combination of heartache' & 'indescribable joy': Jasmin Lau

"Parenthood is extremely beautiful", "beautiful in the sense that it comes with a combination of heartache, sometimes tears, sometimes joy, indescribable joy", said Acting Minister for Manpower Jasmin Lau.

'Parenthood is extremely beautiful'

"You can't put it in words, and I think it makes for such a great life adventure," she said, noting that it is an adventure that is "so worth going through".

This includes all the ups and downs included, adding that it makes the "90 or hopefully 100 years by the time we age" so colourful.

"And those of you who have the chance or who are thinking about embarking on that colourful journey, go forth and experience it," she said.

Lau, who is also Senior Minister of State for Digital Development, had a dialogue with participants on the second day of the Young Singaporeans Conference (YSC) 2026 on Oct. 14.

Acknowledging that participants may have doubts about themselves and having children, she was responding to a participant who shared that she was the youngest of five siblings in her family, but her parents only had one grandchild.

The participant had asked Lau how she managed to "do it all" and who was her inspiration.

Lau responded that it is her children, as well as her immediate family including her parents and husband.

Right to disconnect

Another participant later raised a question about the right to disconnect.

"What I was thinking is maybe there is a kind of a middle ground because the government is the largest employer and has the power to set norms and also influence via competition," he said.

The participant asked if this was something that the government thought about as well, "whether the civil service or the public service being more...focused on work life balance would influence the wider labour market".

Employees in public service might have noticed some bosses nowadays having a line in their email stating the employee has a right to disconnect, Lau said in response.

She added that "what we're careful about" is also not to "dictate working hours for everyone".

As a mother of young children, she said she is not able to work during certain hours.

While some people might be able to work all the way until 7pm before going home and doing other things, Lau is not able to as she tries to pick her children up from school.

She then logs off from work for awhile before working again at a later time.

Being a good role model starts from the top

Lau also pointed out that being a good role model starts from the top.

"If we say you have a right to disconnect, then we should not be asking people to respond to us on Saturdays and Sundays. All of that we will have to do," she said.

Lau noted, however, that it is "not always good to lock it all in and be too prescriptive, because many people can live quite different lifestyles and may actually need to make up or do their work at [a] later time".

Ample chances to meet in same ministry

Some 80 participants also burst out laughing at the same participant's question on why Singapore government workers are not paired with colleagues from the same agency.

The participant, a public officer, was referring to the new dating pilot, FirstDate, by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) which he signed up for.

To that, Lau responded that they had ample chances to meet within the same ministry.

"Sometimes we're just a bit more careful because there can be supervisor and staff relationship... and there could be very similar age band, just a couple of years older," she added.

Find what brings the most joy

Addressing the participants, Lau concluded by encouraging them to find community spaces to date, think about housing and hopefully disconnect from work when they can.

For those thinking about having children, Lau wished for them to have communities and chat groups to connect with.

"And I hope all of you find what brings you [the] most joy in all of your lives."