Creating a supportive environment for women and men

Mdm Rahayu Mohamad, President of PPIS
Mr Mohd Ali, CEO of PPIS
Distinguished guests;
Ladies, and also the small number of gentlemen, who are kind enough to join us.

1. A very good morning to all of you. It is my pleasure to be with you at this very meaningful symposium. The theme for this year’s Symposium Wanita is “Rediscovering the You in Yourself”, which I find intriguing and also very thought-provoking. The role of a woman is often multi-faceted and demanding. And as Rahayu has pointed out, it is not uncommon for many women to define their own identity and their roles with reference to how they care for others, how they serve others, and how they work for the benefit of others. And these roles include being a daughter, being a wife, being a mother, being a grandmother, being a caregiver, being an employee in an organisation, being a volunteer, and so forth. I think that many women very often put the needs of those whom they love, whom they care for or whom they serve, above that of themselves. So I think that there is indeed wisdom, sometimes, in pausing and reflecting to better understand ourselves, and to refresh ourselves and renew the source of energy for the journey ahead.

Lives of women in Singapore have improved significantly over the decades

2. In many important ways, women in Singapore enjoy opportunities to participate fully in society. For instance, Singapore’s emphasis on safety and security, I feel, benefit women in a way that perhaps many of us have also come to take for granted. In Singapore, generally speaking, we don’t have one set of safety guidelines for men when they are going out and about on the streets, and another set of safety guidelines for women. Many of our women, including young women and girls, feel very safe as they go about their day-to-day lives in Singapore, and I think that is no small benefit, because that allows us to live life to our potential; it allows us to choose the activities we want to take part in. Of course, in terms of education, and in terms of employment, women in Singapore have come a long way, and we have a very high rate of participation. Girls are almost fully educated, and in fact, in terms of participation rate, I would say they are the same as our boys.

3. In terms of employment participation too, a lot of progress has been made. Last year, the labour force participation rate for women in Singapore was around 60%, compared to over 70% for men, so the gap is closing. A decade ago, that figure for women was about 54%. Two decades ago, it was less than 50%.^[1]

4. So I think that on these scores, it’s reasonable to say that we are making good progress towards achieving gender parity, and also in enriching the lives of Singapore women over the decades.

There is more we can do to create a supportive environment

5. With that, however, comes more challenges. These include having to balance work and family – more so now than ever before, and contending with gender roles, expectations and stereotypes, be it in the social sphere or in the workplace.

6. Many of you here are working mothers. Our guest speakers today are two very successful women in the professional world. Dr Marwa Azab is a mother of three, and Ms Oniatta Effendi is a mother of five. I have three children myself, and as a working mother, I understand how challenging it can be to juggle the demands of work as well as family responsibilities. I also understand the sense of curiosity and sometimes anxiety, as we women ask each other, “How do you do it?” Quite recently, I was having a work conversation with a fellow woman MP, and I noticed her fiddling with her phone, very often, intermittently throughout our conversation.  And I asked her, “What are you doing on your phone?” She said, “I’m giving my kid a remote spelling test.” I didn’t know you could do that! So a light bulb came on in my mind. But it’s really a very mum thing, it’s a very working mum thing. And I can’t help but notice that when we are at symposiums like this, gatherings where we meet fellow working mothers, or women who juggle a variety of roles, the question that comes up inevitably is, “How do you do it?” We earnestly ask each other this question. And I have a suspicion that men don’t do that as much. Perhaps that one of the soft indicators of gender progress would be, one day, we as women don’t feel the need to ask each other this question so much, because we will be very confident that we have helped each other arrived at the answers.

7. Meanwhile, I think it is still important for us to continue to create an environment that supports both men and women in balancing work and family commitments. And something that many women have asked for, and which the Government has promoted and implemented, are flexible work arrangements and progressive work practices over the years. Fathers can now use the two weeks of mandatory paid paternity leave, and tap on four weeks of shared parental leave. This signals the Government’s commitment to normalise the idea of shared parenting.

8. Studies^[2] have shown that, even as women in Singapore enjoy progress in many aspects of life, the greater responsibility of caregiving within the family continues to fall on women. This tells us that the it requires a collective effort to change and shape social norms and perceptions towards marriage, parenthood and gender roles. I think this is especially true for us women, so I’m very happy to see PPIS taking the lead in organising gatherings and symposiums, such as the one that we’re having today. I think that changing mind-sets is an effort that requires family, friends, employers, co-workers and community organisations to all be a part of.

You can be empowered to shape your destiny and inspire others

9. To return to today’s theme, I agree completely that wearing multiple hats is a great responsibility and can be overwhelming at times. Studies have shown that women are twice more likely to experience depression than men.^[3]

10. Hence, it is vital that we as women understand how our many roles can affect us positively and negatively. With more self-awareness, we can then learn to manage our responsibilities, emotions and expectations, for the benefit of ourselves and our loved ones.

11. So thank you very much PPIS for organising this symposium. I’m very sure it will give us plenty of opportunities to exchange views, to reflect, to remain positive and also to test ourselves. And I encourage all of the participants to continue to be courageous and be resilient, and not forget to extend a helping hand to those in need.

12. Thank you everyone and have a fruitful day!

^[1] Source: Labour Force Participation Rate, SingStat

^[2] Source: 2012 and 2016 Marriage and Parenthood Studies, NPTD