For most of his peers, nights mean partying it up with friends, or spending a couple of hours killing a few enemies in an online universe. Not for final-year polytechnic student Chong Jin Yuan.

The 20-year-old looks cheerful and carefree. It's hard to believe he has the lives of his wife and daughter on his young shoulders. These days, he is more likely to be spending his nights changing his daughter's diapers or mixing up her baby formula.

"I'm the father, so of course I need to be responsible and look after my daughter," says the young man. "It doesn't really bother me not to be out having fun with my friends, I'm happy doing this for my kid."

Mr Chong is part of almost 2,000 teenage pregnancies a year in Singapore.

A little over a year ago, his then-girlfriend, Ms Gan Jia Jing, told him during a date that her period was two weeks late. And she was getting increasingly worried. That same day, the couple bought a pregnancy test kit.

It was positive.

They knew they had to tell their parents. He was 19, and she was only 18. "I was so shocked... And scared, definitely," Mr Chong says with a wry smile.

But because they had already made the decision to get married and keep the baby, they were able to face both sets of parents calmly. They had a plan.

"I wasn't worried about what people would think, because there's really nothing I can do about it. But mostly, my fear came from the uncertainty of being a father."

To him, being a father is a lifelong commitment. At 19, it was hardly something he had planned for, he says ruefully.

He was like any other immature young man, interested in clubbing and not much in schoolwork. But when push came to shove, he says there was never a doubt that he'd take responsibility for his actions. "I mean, I was the one who was responsible (for creating my daughter), so I should do the right thing," he says.

The couple never once considered aborting the baby.

"(My daughter) is my flesh and blood, I will never be able to live with it if we decided to abort her," he says with conviction.

He told his father about the pregnancy first, then his mother and Miss Gan's parents. He still remembers how he blurted to his dad: "My girlfriend is pregnant!"

His parents were shocked when they found out that they were about to become grandparents. "But they were supportive that I was going to do what was right," Mr Chong recalls.

Telling her parents was, well, slightly more intimidating. The couple broke the news to them together. Miss Gan's parents were upset. "They kept asking me what I was going to do, if I was going to be responsible."

Marriage had not been on the cards for the couple. They were wanted to take things as they came, until the baby made the decision for them. The couple got married in a quiet ceremony in June last year .

Mr Chong says it was an intimate affair, with only the closest of their friends and families invited. "Some of my friends weren't invited. It was a small dinner at a restaurant. But I'm happy. I got married to the woman I love," he said with a smile.

Their daughter, Aldee Chong, was born last November.

Mr Chong was one of at least six young fathers we approached for interviews, but while the others shied away, claiming that they were uncomfortable with what "society would think", he was refreshingly proud of becoming a father at a young age.

Seven-month-old Aldee and his wife are now his biggest motivation, he says. "Being a father has taught me not to indulge in the stupid things that I used to do when I was single. When you're single, you have no responsibilities to anyone else. You can do whatever you want, you can waste time. When you're a father, you have something to work for."

The family of three lived with Mr Chong's parents, but the responsibility of looking after Aldee falls to the young couple, as Mr Chong's parents are busy with work. The grandparents help to babysit whenever they can to give the couple some time together. are committed to raising their child properly.

His wife has since quit school to look after their daughter, while Mr Chong juggles a part-time job while studying full-time to bring in some additional income. He declined to reveal how much he earns, but said that it is enough to feed the three of them.

Being responsible for his daughter and wife at such a young age has its downside.

While other fathers might be more prepared for fatherhood, or had more time to learn, he had to learn everything along the way. "Sacrifices also have to be made," Mr Chong says. He rarely joins his friends on their nights out anymore, but tries his best to keep up with their lives.

Yet that is nothing compared to the happiness he feels watching his daughter grow up. "When I first saw her roll over onto her front, I felt so contented," he says.

He says: "Being a father... It makes you feel a lot less lonely, you will always have someone."

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