I applaud Forum writer Donny Ho's idea of celebrating parenting or caregiving through a national holiday (Combine Mother's Day and Father's Day celebrations, May 10).

As a society, we should not associate caregiving with a particular gender. Caregiving and raising children are both noble and deserve to be honoured. That is part of why we celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day.

However, I hope that any celebration of a combined Parents' Day would not end up unintentionally erasing the celebration of mothers and fathers.

Growing up, I had the privilege of living with both my father and mother. While they both deeply cared for me and raised me, my father cannot replace my mother or vice versa. I cannot simply collapse them into one category as each of them has uniquely contributed to my life.

As a boy, I learnt about healthy masculinity from both my father and mother, and could not have done so without either of them.

From my father, I learnt how to treat women with respect. From my mother, I learnt about the mistakes that men can make in the way they relate to women.

This is why I celebrate both my father and mother as they shared the hard work of parenting me together. They contributed an equal amount, and yet their differences mattered in my upbringing.

Therefore, let us add instead of combining and subtracting from the list of celebrated days. Let us celebrate parenting or caregiving alongside Mother's Day and Father's Day. Surely, our parents would not mind an additional day of being honoured.

Lim Jun Bin