Even for this formidable CFO leading a team of 20 finance staff, handling her mum's banking needs wasn't a walk in the park.
As Lay Kuan's mother was living with dementia, Lai Kuan had to help her with her finances. After she passed early this year, her bank account was frozen, making it a challenge for Lay Kuan to access her savings. "Even though I'm finance-trained, it was still hard for me to understand the banking and financial procedures when handling my mum's finances. Luckily mum has made her Lasting Power of Attorney (me), so it's slightly easier, but I still hope to see a lot more to be done in that area so other caregivers can have an easier time navigating the system during a stressful period".
Lay Kuan has multiple caregiving responsibilities. In addition to her mum, Lay Kuan's sister is living with schizophrenia, and her father is paralysed and living in a nursing home. Yet, Lay Kuan is acing in her career and still finds time to indulge in her own favourite past-times from walking, photography, and zentangle art to mural-hunting in Singapore.
How does she do it? She has 3 tips:
#1: Work provides me escape.
#2. Be focused on work. Life goes on.
#3. Have a good CEO that is understanding. Mine supported me each time I had to take leave to attend to things at home.
It takes a village to support both the caregiver and the loved one with mental health issues. Lay Kuan's husband and daughters are her support system. But as C2C lesson 9 taught her, she needs to be intentional about self-care: "In the initial years, I was pushing myself, trying my best, but I was highly anxious and eventually got burnt out. Over time, I am prioritising my health, for example taking medication, exercising, relaxing, and I'm glad things have gotten better today".
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