Blogs & News

There is a particular kind of person who has already put in an hour’s work at home before the office day begins. Who mentally calculates whether there’s still time to catch the school run while answering a call about a site emergency. Who closes the laptop at work because the other job is about to begin, not because the day is done. 

They are CPG FM’s working mothers, who show up to sites, to emergencies, keeping buildings functioning and then come home to a second shift for dinner, caregiving, family support and more. This Mother’s Day, we sat down with three of them – Angeline Chew, Catherine Sim, and Nadiawatty – to hear about the two roles they show up for every day, and what it takes to do both well. 

 —

On the Clock 

Angeline Chew has been with CPG FM for 14 years. She oversees Corporate Administration for CPG Corporation at the Westgate office and manages CPG FM HQ Administration at the Woodlands office. Before joining CPG FM, she spent 23 years in a pest control company, working her way through roles from receptionist to senior sales executive. She brought with her a deep fluency in coordination and operations, and she has built on it steadily ever since.

Catherine Sim took a different road in. After 19 years in telecommunications, managing quality assurance and training for contact centre teams, she made a deliberate decision to start over. Facilities management, she felt, was genuinely different from anything she had done before, and that was precisely the point. She joined CPG FM three years ago and now serves as Operations Manager for the Integrated Service Centre, overseeing a team that handles operations around the clock. Every day, she says, brings something new.  

Nor Nadiawatty Binte Rosli came to FM through a more personal route. As a teenager watching her father work in the industry, she quietly decided she wanted to do the same. She pursued a diploma in Facilities Management, built her experience managing government-related buildings, and joined CPG FM just over a year ago. Today, as a Property Manager, she oversees the daily operations and maintenance of five HDB commercial malls, coordinating with contractors, managing tenant feedback, and attending to whatever the day decides to throw at her team.  

Three different paths. Three different roles. But the nature of the work is recognisably the same: operational, responsive, and rarely contained within office hours. 

Off the Clock 

Angeline’s two sons are now 29 and 21. She has spent the better part of her adult life managing the overlap between work demands and the particular logistics of raising children: school schedules, home responsibilities. Her sons are grown now, but the habits that got her through those years – the careful planning, the reliance on a support system, the ability to hold multiple things at once – are so embedded they have become simply how she works. 

Catherine has two daughters, both approaching the milestone of PSLE. On school mornings, she and her husband do the drop-off together. On weekends, things slow down: she asks the girls what they want to eat, sometimes they bake together, mornings are for exercise and evenings are for Netflix. But in the same breath, she is honest about the nights she gets home after they have already fallen asleep. When that happens, she plans a “girls’ date” to make the time back. It is not a perfect fix, and she is aware of it.  

Nadiawatty starts her day by preparing her children for school. After work, her attention returns to family: dinner, home routines, time together. But the line between the two shifts does not always fall cleanly. Some of her team members are still on site when she gets home, and she stays reachable. Her children, three- and eight-year-old, have grown up knowing this about her. When they pass one of the malls she manages, they point it out to whoever is nearby. Their mum, they say, is the one in charge of that place, and that is one of her proud moments.  

What the Job Actually Asks 

Running two offices, a 24/7 operations centre, or five commercial malls is demanding enough on its own. But when you add family into the equation, the real challenge is handling the moments when work and home both need you at the same time, without letting either side down. 

Nadiawatty’s most vivid example of both worlds colliding came on a weekend, when a contractor carrying out rectification works accidentally cut through a cable at one of her malls. “The site needed someone to go down and assess, and my husband cannot be around due to his work.” The challenging part is to find another care arrangement for her kids. No matter how difficult it was, she sorted it, went to the site, and dealt with what needed dealing with. That sequence – find cover for the children, then attend to the emergency – has become her skills. 

For Catherine, one of those moments came when a major project deadline fell on the same day as her daughters’ school performance. She had taken leave, intending to be there. When work needed her, she chose to step up and see it through. She missed the live performance but managed to watch it from the TV screen outside the hall. Afterwards, she made it up by taking the girls out for dinner. It was not a perfect day. But it was a decision she made with her eyes open, and she made sure her daughters knew they were still the priority. 

“I am still learning to be a good mum,” she says, “and trying to give them as much time as possible, because I know that one day they will grow up and have their own friends.” 

For Angeline, the sharpest test of that balance came during the COVID-19 period. Both her sons fell ill at the same time. Her mother, who usually helped with caregiving, had also tested positive.  Stepping back was not an option, because there was no one else to take over. She took charge at home, managing their recovery and keeping the household steady, while also staying closely connected to the office as it navigated its own COVID-related pressures. As facilities management is an essential service, operations had to continue even as the country went into lockdown. 

“It was a demanding period,” she says, “but it taught me the importance of resilience, prioritisation, and having a dependable team that can support one another during critical times.” The team, she is clear to add, was what made it possible. Not any individual heroics on her part, but the foundation of people around her, at home and at work, who could be counted on. 

What CPG FM Makes Possible 

Each of the three women, when asked how CPG FM has supported them, returns to the same few things: flexibility, trust, and colleagues who step in without being asked. 

For Angeline, the flexibility is practical and specific. When a family matter comes up, she does not have to take a full day’s leave and fall behind. She can step away, resolve what needs resolving, and return. “I feel very comfortable,” she says. “I don’t have to simply take a day off and have my work all held up.” Over 14 years, that kind of give-and-take accumulates into something that feels less like a policy and more like a working relationship built on mutual trust. 

Catherine points to the people. When her whole family came down with high fever and she needed to be away, her backup stepped in without being asked. Her boss approved the leave and made sure her responsibilities were covered. “That level of support made me feel valued not just as an employee, but as a person,” she says. “It showed me that my team and leaders care about me as a whole.” 

For Nadiawatty, the support is both structural and personal. When a call comes from school – her child with a fever, needing to be fetched – her teammates step in without being asked. “They always manage to say: never mind, you go, let me handle this,” she says. Her manager, who hired her knowing she was a mother of two, has built flexibility into how they work together. If she cannot attend a meeting in person because she is home with the children, she can join online. “It’s easy to work with the whole team,” she says, “from the bosses all the way to my ground people.” After a year, she is settled in a way that surprised her. “I’m quite contented with everything I have at CPG FM,” she says.  

To Their Children, This Mother’s Day 

Three women. Three different versions of the same daily act of balancing.  And each, when asked what she hopes her children will take from watching her balance both worlds, speaks of something quieter. 

Angeline: “My dear children, you are my greatest joy and motivation. I hope you grow up with strong values, resilience, and confidence to pursue your dreams. Always remember that I am proud of you and will always be here to support you.” 

Nadiawatty: “I love you always, and everything I do is for our family. I hope you grow up happy, kind, and strong.” 

Catherine: “To my dearest girls, thank you for being my greatest joy and strength. Even when Mummy is busy, please know you are always my number one priority. I am so proud of you both. Keep working hard, be kind, and always stick up for each other. Mummy will always be here loving and cheering for you.” 

 These three are not the only ones. Across CPG FM’s sites, offices, and operations centres, there are many more like them: working mothers who show up fully to both shifts, who keep things running at work so that others can go about their days, and who come home and do it all again. They do not often make headlines for it.  

To all the mothers at CPG FM, thank you for the work that is seen, and the work that isn’t. Happy Mother’s Day. 

 —

Humans of CPG FM is an ongoing series spotlighting the people who make CPG Facilities Management what it is. 

Author: APT.