Why have so many kids if he can't afford it?

FROM READER AGNES TAN SUAN PING

I refer to "Underprivileged & overcrowded" (The New Paper on Sunday, June 3).

The father of nine finds it hard to to share a three-room flat with another family, of six. But why is he caught in such a predicament?

Having eleven mouths to feed and sending nine children to school - it doesn't take a mathematician to understand the financial difficulty.

I fail to understand why a low-income cleaning supervisor would complain about crowded conditions when he chose to have nine children.

Even my 28-year-old helper remarked that fellow Indonesians in her village opt to have just one or two children to keep costs low and asked how Singaporeans like this man could survive with nine.

I have four children myself.

If the Government chooses to help low-income earners with more mouths to feed than they can manage, it sends the wrong message to us tax-payers - that it's all right to have as many children as you can, regardless of your income. That the Government is there to help feed, clothe and educate your children and ensure you have a flat to call your own.

The man deserves to be where he is because of his actions. Why should society pay for his decision to raise nine children?

This article was first published in The New Paper.