Aline Wong (born Kan Lai Chung, in 1941) is a

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

sociologist and former politician. She went on to have a career in both politics and education. In 2001, she retired from politics, but continued to be active in the community and in education. In 2015, she became the first woman in Singapore to hold the position of

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

, working at SIM University.

Biography

Wong was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1941. Wong studied

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and worked on issues involving the way Singapore's families were changing and how women were becoming involved in different areas of culture and the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

. Wong started her academic career as a lecturer at the

University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University. The university offers degree program ...

(NUS) in 1971. Wong and Vivienne Wee started the first

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

class in Singapore at NUS in 1987. Wong became a fellow at the

Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

in 2002. Wong became an academic adviser for SIM University (UniSIM) starting in 2005. In 2015, she became the first woman named as

of UniSIM and the first woman chancellor in education throughout all of Singapore. In 1984, Wong,

Dixie Tan Dixie Tan Mo Chun (née Lee; zh, t=, s=李慕真, p=Lǐ Mùzhēn; 6 November 1935 – 23 April 2014) was a Singaporean cardiologist and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for the Ulu Pandan constituency from 1984 to 1991. She was a ...

and

Yu-Foo Yee Shoon Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (; born 17 February 1950) is a Singaporean former politician. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), she served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1984 to 2011. Her political appointments included May ...

became the first women elected to Singapore's Parliament. Wong was a member of the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

(PAP) and represented Changkat. From 1988 to 2001, she represented

Tampines GRC The Tampines Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the eastern region of Singapore. The GRC encompasses Tampines and is managed by the Tampines Town Council, with five divisions: Tampine ...

. In Parliament, she worked to advance issues that affected the lives of women and advocate for women's equality in public life. PAP's Women's Wing was run by Wong until 2001. Wong also become the Minister of State for Health in 1990 and five years later rose to the position of Senior Minister of State, where she focused on education. In 2001, she retired from working in politics. She worked on the

Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB; often referred to as the Housing Board; ; ; ), is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National Developmen ...

(HDB) as chair between 2003 and 2007. Wong was also sent as the Women's Rights Representative from Singapore to the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women (ACWC) in Children in 2010. Wong was inducted into the

Singapore Women's Hall of Fame The Singapore Women's Hall of Fame is a virtual hall of fame that honors and documents the lives of historically significant women in Singapore. The hall is the creation of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), and grew out of an ...

in 2014.

References

External links

Speech by Aline Wong (2000)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Aline 1941 births Hong Kong emigrants to Singapore Singaporean people of Cantonese descent Singaporean women scientists People's Action Party politicians Academic staff of the National University of Singapore Living people Singaporean women in politics Members of the Parliament of Singapore