In this week leading up to Mother’s Day, we would like to honour the wonder women in our country – ordinary women living extraordinary lives.
With an eight-month-old baby at home and managing so many underprivileged kids, Ananti Rajasingam is still able to laugh and spread joy everywhere she goes. How does this young mum do it?
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As if being CEO of Yayasan Chow Kit is not a full-time job in itself, she is also a fully breastfeeding mum.
“I either express and feed during working hours or feed directly when I am with him. That is quite a full-time job itself apart from having a full-time job that I am passionate with in my organisation; being a mother and a full-time breastfeeding mother.”
She admits that it can get really challenging at times, as she has to pump milk on a schedule to ensure milk supply is always there ever since she started going back to work after maternity leave.
“However, my biggest reward is to see my little one gaining healthy weight and growth and being able to spend priceless time with him either playing together, giving him his baths and nursing him.
It is really beautiful to breastfeed your baby, especially when they look you in the eye whilst drinking – it is as if our souls are connected on a cosmic level.
“He also loves putting his fingers in my mouth while nursing and I learnt that children do that because while they are taking something from their mom, there is a need to give her something back too and I found that really beautiful!
“My husband is a real good and strong motivator. I can come home some days and cry to him about my case load and he will always tell me positive things to pick me up and make me feel good.
He constantly reminds me that I am doing well both as a humanitarian and a mother.
“He never fails to tell our son that “amma” (mum) is doing all these great things and try to convince my eight-month-old to see it.
“He always picks me up when I trip! He only reflects such great upbringing and is a good parent himself.”
She realised she was a “mum” way before she actually delivered her beautiful baby boy. Yayasan Chow Kit has been her passion for a very long time.
Yayasan Chow Kit is a non-profit organisation that caters to the needs of children and teenagers in and around Chow Kit. They currently run two drop-in centres within Chow Kit and one safe home for children who are in need of temporary guardianship.
“This organisation is really my greatest passion. I can’t really call it work because helping others can be so addictive and I have learnt so much from the start. I started working in this organisation as a social worker and was promoted the head of social work within a year.
“After two years I became a centre manager and then was promoted as the COO. Now I am the CEO of the organisation and basically feel like I grew up working here! The leadership from the ground to top board level is amazing and I have never stopped enjoying what I do.”
She said helping families and children who are marginalised for many years is very much rewarding.
“This is so evident when you see the children grow up to become better and healthier human beings and adults.
Children have been my greatest teachers and they are the reason I am so motivated to do the work I do.
The key to being the wonder woman we only dare to dream about? Be present in whichever task you are working on.
“If I am at work, I am fully present at work, if I am with my child, I leave work aside and am fully present to witness playtime, bathtime with him. When we are completely in the present moment, everything becomes easier.
“I think most of us spend a lot of time worrying about either the past or the future which takes away precious time we have in the now!”
While many have grandeur plans for this Mother’s Day, Ananti just wants to be able to sleep.
“As a new mum, sleep is what we all crave. But beyond that, I want mums to know that they should never compare themselves to anyone!
Every mother is a super human being and the same with children. We cannot compare our kids to another child as every child is unique.
“Just embrace who you are and who your child is because God designed us to be exactly the way we are”.
While being a mum can be blissful yet super exhausting, we have to make sure we take some time off for ourselves just to recharge and reflect, she stressed.
“Life is for us to grow, to learn from our experiences and from other people’s experiences. Just take some time off- it could even be 10 minutes in a day to listen to music, meditate, read a book or just have a long hot shower!”