I thought I was a 'chill' parent. Then came P1 registration

Choosing a primary school isn't a decision to take lightly. But how do we balance between being 'chill' and 'kiasu'?

- Lianne Chia

Ever since I gave birth to my first child, I've tried to take a somewhat relaxed approach to parenting.

When it came time to choose a pre-school, we visited a grand total of one school — and signed up on the spot. When we needed to find a helper to join our family, we took the first one we interviewed.

Yes, I know parents typically fret about these things. But I was determined to take the opposite route. I wanted to be a "chill" parent — trusting in the adaptability of my child and not stressing out too much about things that would, I assumed, not matter in the years to come.

On both these decisions, I have no regrets.

But recently, friends with children my son's age have begun to talk about getting ready for that dreaded milestone: Registration for Primary 1.

There was one parent who moved house to improve her daughter's chances of getting into an established primary school. Another tried to sign up to be a parent volunteer for another school near her home — only to discover the slots had long been filled up.

I live metres away from a hotly popular SAP primary school — so close, in fact, that I can sometimes hear the ongoing lessons from my lift lobby. Yet, despite my proximity to the school, I know it will be challenging to get a place.

Parents in the estate-wide group chat I am in have been talking about balloting statistics and the difficulty of getting into the school's parent volunteer programme. One even spoke of appealing to the Member of Parliament for help.

My son turns five this year, which means he is not participating in this year's P1 registration exercise. But the conversations surrounding me made it difficult not to get anxious.

Before long, I started looking up balloting statistics of the various schools in my neighbourhood. I also joined parents' Facebook groups and searched for reviews on different schools, and started considering a "game plan" for next year.