Amanda Ong had just delivered her second child when her confinement plans went awry: the confinement nanny cancelled at the last minute citing family plans, and because it was the Chinese New Year season, she was unable to arrange for another that could start work immediately. To make matters worse, her domestic helper had to be let go due to a breach of her employment contract.
“It was a double whammy for my husband and I and we were at our wits’ end. We were mentally and physically exhausted from looking after a toddler and an infant. We tried looking for help on various platforms but also felt uncomfortable posting private information on public forums,” she says. She adds that while her parents offered to help, she was worried that it would be exhausting for them to look after two kids under two.
This experienced inspired the 30-year-old to find a solution for parents who need urgent help, so in June last year, she gave up her job at a human resource consulting firm to launch a babysitting app.