2014 is the International Year of the Family (IYF) and there are many meaningful initiatives mounted to celebrate kinships and close ties. In the midst of our hectic lives, we have all met people (friends, teachers, relatives colleagues, volunteers even strangers) who made our day a little brighter and extended kindness to make challenges of lives easier. Yet not many of us conscientiously make efforts to make our appreciation known.

Now there is a chance for us to do so! The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has launched a Big-Hearted Family Awards for members of the public to express our heartfelt thanks to those who have made a difference in our world, in big or small ways.

From 5 May to 16 June 2014, submit a Big-Hearted Story of a person or family.  Both the nominators and nominees will stand a chance to win NDP 2014 tickets!

We have been tremendously blessed with very good neighbours since we moved into the estate four years ago. As a working couple without family support living near us, this neighbour – The Tan Family – are closer to us than our extended family. This tribute goes out especially to them:

1. Thank you Maegan and Meredith for treating Dana like your younger sister, including her in all your pretend play and generously sharing your toys, your costumes and your home with her. You were the siblings that she never had and it’s you whom she first learnt to coin the term, ‘B.F.Fs’ for.

2. Thank you Daphne for your friendship. I enjoy our coffee chats every week when our girls are in class. You inspire me (and many others) with your flair for weaving human interest into your writing and our common experience on the road to Motherhood bonded us on a deeper level. I look forward to celebrating with you on the launch of your first book as you will be my first ever author friend!

3. Thank you Uncle Lee, Aunty Bee Geok and Mama Tan (Grandparents of the Tan Family) for your generosity and your endless shower of gifts that kept our tummies happy: egg tarts, kampong durians, mangosteens and many other local delights too numerous to name. Your gregarious nature, charming personalities and wise anecdotes warm our hearts each time we meet.

4. Thank you for helping to baby sit Dana on those occasions where work and PR events did not permit her tagging along. We can deliver our commitments in peace knowing she is in the best care.  As an only child, she feels welcomed and loved when she’s at your table and in your company.

5. Thank you Martin for leading your household to be so warm, loving and hospitable, not only to us but to all the neighbours in the estate. Your home is truly one of the rare ones that still embraces the ‘kampung’ spirit – your door is always open, your family always ready to greet anyone who walks past with a sincere smile, your hands never too short to extend help when you see a need.

Truly it takes a village to raise a child and we have been more than blessed to live in the same ‘kampung’ as you do!

The Big-Hearted Tan Family!

To our readers, we encourage you to do likewise – nominate someone who has made a difference through the for the Big-Hearted Family Awards on the Awards website (http://familyawards.sg) before 16 June 2014. You can also visit the Care and Share fundraising portal (http://www.ncss.gov.sg/careandshare/) to find out how we can all show care for the community.