It was two years ago when Brendan went missing in a shopping mall. A son going missing is definitely a mother’s greatest nightmare!

He was sitting for his piano theory examinations in a shopping mall. I decided to shop within the mall as there was no waiting area outside the examinations centre. When I went back to the examinations room, he was not there. The invigilator informed that Brendan had left the room earlier after completing the papers. Without further delay, I combed through every corner of the same floor but my boy was nowhere to be found. Panic stricken, I continued with my search. The shopping mall was alien to us and I knew my 8-year old boy then must be equally afraid.

All of a sudden, the regretful message that came to my mind was HOW I WISH BRENDAN WERE HOLDING A MOBILE PHONE! Scrambling down several floors, I finally caught sight of the familiar figure of my boy among the crowd. Phew! I could not describe the joy of finding him! Apparently, he was also going around searching for me. After that incident, I told myself that I should get Brendan a mobile phone line.

Usually when I am busy amidst meetings, I receive many phone calls from my two boys and I feel very apologetic because I am often unable to answer or return calls till hours later. Though a busy working mother, I have never failed to remind myself to stay in constant contact with the boys. As Brendan gets involved in more CCA and enrichment classes, with irregular hours, it becomes even more essential for him to own a mobile phone line. I recall many instances when we have to call the Bus Attendance in order to pass messages to him. With a mobile phone, he will be able to send SMS to me and I will be able to maintain contact with him via SMS (in inconvenient situations) and phone calls.

Though I was finally acceptable to the idea of letting Brendan own a hand phone, several concerns, like mobile scams, monthly costs for the phone plan and inappropriate use of phone line, still linger in my mind. Then it occurred to me that even if he were to use a residential phone line, it could still be subject to misuse. What is of utmost importance is for me to educate him the conduct of hand phone usage and let him understand the risk of text bullies. In this modern world of advanced technologies, it is sooner or later that he has to learn and handle.

I got to learn more about SingTel RedPAC Supplementary Plan recently. I am on existing price plans offered by SingTel and will be eligible to sign up for SingTel RedPAC Supplementary Plan. This is a SIM-only price plan that offers bundled minutes of talktime and SMS between parent and child, at just S$8.56 per line monthly (U.P$10.70)  during the 12-month contract. For a little boy, this is definitely worth considering in terms of dollars and cents as compared to the subscription cost of the cheapest S$20+ per month phone plans that I would otherwise consider. After all, SingTel RedPAC is the most affordable postpaid mobile plan in Singapore.

As the SingTel RedPAC Supplementary Plan is applicable to any subscriber who is 5 years old and above, and each main line is allowed to sign up to 3 SingTel RedPAC supplementary plans, both my sons will qualify.

With a one-off registration fee of only S$10.70 and SIM card charge of S$32.10, the package comes with these additional benefits:

·                    Singtel RedPAC subscriber to tap into the unused talktime and SMS of the mainline. This means that the monthly unused talktime and sms of the mainline will not be wasted.

·                    Additional 150 free SMS to any mobile number

·                    Free incoming calls for any the RedPAC line(s), if mainline is on free incoming call plan

·                    Free 3-month Caller-ID for the RedPAC line(s)

What is most attractive to me is that Brendan and I can enjoy up to 1,000 minutes of free talktime between each other! This is equivalent to S$160.50 of free calls. With the SingTel RedPAC line bundled to my plan, it helps in restricting excessive unwanted calls and SMS made by him. In addition, myBill (SingTel e-billing system to monitor calls and SMS usage pattern), will enable me to monitor his mobile usage.

Since the objective of Brendan having a mobile phone line is for our easy and constant communications, hence improving our family bonding, the SingTel RedPAC Supplementary Plan certainly meets my family’s needs and also other parents’ needs too.

It is exciting to note that with any sign-up for SingTel RedPAC Supplementary Plan, between now to 31 August 2009, the subscriber is entitled to a RedPAC-F1 Ticket Draw, with attractive prize of Bay Grandstand tickets to the FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX for a family of 4 (worth S$992)!

Another SingTel service that interests me is the SingTel Locator.  By signing up for SingTel RedPAC, I will be entitled to FREE 2-month SingTel Locator subscriptions worth S$10.70. Being “once bitten twice shy”, I will not want a repeated incident of any of my sons going missing again!  With SingTel Locator, they can be located via a map on the WAP/GPRS phone, even without me calling them. By paying just S$5.35 per month, I can have the Greatest PEACE OF MIND wherever my young sons are and whenever they are out without my presence. All it takes is to add/delete/change the phone number of family members on the locate list and wait for their consents. I can now locate up to 3 family members – my 3 musketeers, including my husband! *WIDE GRIN*.

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