Women in Singapore
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Women in Singapore, particularly those who have joined
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
's workforce, are faced with balancing their traditional and modern-day roles in Singaporean society and
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
. According to the book ''The Three Paradoxes: Working Women in Singapore'' written by Jean Lee S.K., Kathleen Campbell, and Audrey Chia, there are "three
paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
es" confronting and challenging the career women of Singapore. Firstly, Singapore's society expects women to become creative and prolific corporate workers who are also expected to play the role of traditional women in the household, particularly as wife and mother. Secondly, Singaporean women are confronted by the "conflict between work and family" resulting from their becoming members of the working population. Thirdly, Singapore's female managers are still fewer in number despite their rising educational level and attainments when compared to male managers.


Women's rights in Singapore

Until 2007,
marital rape Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and need not involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of domestic vi ...
was not legally recognized. In 2007, marital rape was recognized under certain circumstances that signaled marriage breakdown. A committee called for the repeal of any kind of marital rape immunity on 9 September 2018. Marital rape has since been completely criminalised under the Criminal Law Reform Act passed on 6 May 2019. The laws came into force on 1 January 2020.


White Paper on Singapore Women's Development

On 20 September 2020, a virtual dialogue session involving more than 100 participants from youth and women organizations was held. Law and Home Affairs Minister
K. Shanmugam Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam ( ta, காசிவிஸ்வநாதன் சண்முகம்; born 26 March 1959), better known as K. Shanmugam, is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister for Law since 2008 ...
announced an initiative that will start in October which will include a series of engagements between the public and private sectors, as well as non-governmental organizations. The aim is to identify and tackle issues concerning women in Singapore. These will culminate in a White Paper to be issued by the Government in the first half of 2021, which will consolidate feedback and recommendations during the sessions, to be called “Conversations on Women Development”. The review was later extended to the second half of 2021 due to high demand. After almost a year of engagements, on 18 September 2021,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...
announced that the White Paper will be presented to
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in early 2022 with three broad areas to be looked into, being ensuring equal workplace opportunities with legislating anti-discrimination rules and better childcare arrangements, better support for caregivers including a possible enhancement to the Home Caregiving Grant and strengthening protection for women both physically and online. In addition, a garden at
Dhoby Ghaut Green Dhoby Ghaut Green is an urban park in Singapore located adjacent to Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, opposite the Park Mall. History On 18 September 2021, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that a garden at Dhoby Ghaut Green could be chosen as a ...
will be dedicated to the women of Singapore as part of a proposal accepted from the
Singapore Council of Women's Organisations The Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) is an umbrella organisation founded in 1980 in order to coordinate the efforts of women's groups in Singapore. The organisation represents many diverse women's groups and advocates for women's r ...
to name public spaces to reflect their contributions.


Business and politics

At present, there is a low presence of
female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...
participants in the political arena of Singapore. Females constitute 42% of Singapore's workforce, however, a large portion of this number occupy low-level and low-salary positions. According to the 2011 article ''Women's Rights Situation in Singapore'', these discrepancies can be mainly attributed not to
gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...
or
gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...
but instead to the women's lower educational qualifications and fewer job experiences than men, the women's focus and dedication to their role in family life, and the
paternalistic Paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good. Paternalism can also imply that the behavior is against or regardless of the will of a person, or also that the behavior expres ...
character and
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
temperament of Singaporean society. In relation to
entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
, in 1997 ''Bloomberg Busineweek'' stated that businesswomen in Singapore can be grouped into two main categories: the entrepreneur woman who was already able to establish and raise a family, and the businesswoman who sought a substitute to the conventional "career path". An example of a successful Singaporean businesswoman was Catherine Lam, who established the company known as Fabristeel, a manufacturer of steel carts. Before launching Fabristeel in 1979, Lam worked as an accountant for 10 years. Women in Singapore who ventured into running businesses were motivated by "better education, the labor shortage", the encouragement to achieve entrepreneurial success, and the resulting "flexible lifestyle" while doing business-related roles. Another example is
Lim Soo Hoon Lim Soo Hoon is the first female Permanent Secretary of Singapore in the Public Service Division of the office of the Prime Minister of Singapore. Lim held other high-profile positions at Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry, then later in ...
, who was Singapore's Woman of the Year in 1997. Lim was the first female Permanent Secretary of Singapore who worked for the Public Service Division of the office of the
Prime Minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore is the head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The president appoints the prime minister, a Member of Parliament (MP) who in their opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of the majority of ...
. Lim held positions at Singapore's
Ministry of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
, then later into jobs in Singapore's
Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...
, and then in the Ministry of Manpower, and
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) was a ministry of the Government of Singapore tasked with building a "cohesive and resilient" society in Singapore. On 1 November 2012, the MCYS was restructured and became the Min ...
.


Sexuality

With regard to
sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
,
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
reported in 2001 that Singaporean women have a more open attitude about
sexual intimacy Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...
in Asia. The study reflected that 18% of the Singaporean women interviewed are "most likely to initiate" sexual activity with their
personal Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...
and
intimate partner An intimate relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Although an intimate relationship is commonly a sexual relationship, it may also be a non-sexual relationship involving family, friends, ...
s. This is usually met with mixed opinion, as in the case of the example in 2009 when Dr Eng Kai Er walked through Holland Village naked with Swedish exchange student Jan Phillip and was fined S$2,000 with a warning issued by the
Agency for Science, Technology and Research The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore. The agency supports R&D that is aligned to areas of competitive advantage and national needs for Singapore. ...
which sponsored her undergraduate studies. During the 2000s, 2-3 out of every 10 unfaithful couple members were women. Former decades, like 1980s and 1990s, adulterous women were rare. During the 2010s decade, the statistics changed, being women half the times. During the 2010s, there was a trend among 50s and 60s years olds women getting divorced. Most of them claimed they grew tired of their husband's
infidelities Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and riva ...
.


See also

*
Women in Singapore politics Traditionally, women in Singapore played a small role in the country's political scene. Since 1984, Singapore has seen an increase in female representation as more women chose to run for political office. Notable female politicians include th ...
*
Singapore women's national rugby union team The Singapore women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side that represents Singapore in women's rugby union. They played their first test match in 2006. History The history of women's rugby in Singapore has been a short one. ...
*
Women's Charter The Women's Charter 1961 is an Act of the Singaporean Parliament passed in 1961. The Act was designed to improve and protect the rights of females in Singapore and to guarantee greater legal equality for women in legally sanctioned relationship ...
* Singaporean women's participation in politics * Singapore women's national football team *
Singapore national women's cricket team The Singaporean women's cricket team is the team that represents the country of Singapore in international women's cricket matches. They played their first match against Malaysia women's national cricket team, Malaysia on 30 April 2006 and lost ...


References


Further reading


Dancherdchukiat, Suparada. (2019). Motherhood and Gender Politics in Singapore, 1959-the 1980s. ''Journal of History, Srinakharinwirot University''. 44: 127-140. (In Thai).
*Ting, Goh Shi

straitstimes.com *Boey, Irene
ICT Strategy and Its Impacts for Singapore’s Women Enterprises
ADOC 2.0 WEEK 2009, October 7, 2009, 28 pages


External links



UC Berkeley Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Women In Singapore