Ms Junie Foo, President of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good afternoon. I would like to thank the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) and the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (SWHF) for bringing us here together today. I can think of no better way to mark International Women’s Day than to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Singapore’s outstanding women.
As a young nation, we have made great strides in women’s development in the last few decades. Singapore’s ranking for gender equality had improved in the United Nations Human Development Report published last year, from 12th place in 2019 to 7th place in 2021, and Singapore is the only Asian country in the top 10 countries1. Almost half of our university graduates are women. In the 2020 General Elections, we saw a record 29% of elected seats going to women, up from 24% in 2015.
In 2021, our society rallied together to discuss ways to better support and uplift women during the Year of Celebrating SG Women. In 2022, we galvanised a national movement to recognise and celebrate the enduring role of family throughout the Year of Celebrating SG Families. Each of these years has created major shifts in our whole-of-society commitments, particularly the action plans in ‘A Singapore Made For Families 2025’ and the ‘White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development’.
We adopt a partnership approach where men and women partner each other as equals, including in the family. This is essential as families impart values that we carry with us through life, and shape how we care for others. Hence, we must enable men and women to mutually support each other within the family, so that both can pursue their aspirations freely and fully.
Even as Singapore women have achieved significant progress over the years, more can and must be done. While we have already made good progress over the past year since the release of the White Paper and efforts are ongoing to continue this momentum, there are still gender stereotypes and barriers that limit women’s ability to achieve their full potential. People are our greatest asset, and every individual should have equal opportunity to explore their potential and to achieve their aspirations.
For example, there is no shortage of talented women in Singapore. However, there is a shortage of women in leadership positions. The underrepresentation of women in leadership positions means we are undervaluing talents who can contribute to an organisation’s growth through their diverse perspectives and different experiences. We must continue to raise awareness about the benefits that organisations can reap from promoting women into leadership roles, and create organisational cultures which recognise and encourage women with leadership potential.
It has been a decade since I first initiated The Diversity Task Force regarding Women on Boards (DTF) in 2012, during my tenure as Minister of State at the Ministry of Social and Family Development, and I am heartened to see the significant progress made for women on boards in Singapore since then.
The DTF was formed to examine the state of gender diversity on boards and in senior management of companies listed on the Singapore Exchange, as well as its impact on corporate performance and governance. Over the years, this work progressed into the formation of the Council for Board Diversity (CBD). Through CBD’s efforts, the percentage of women on boards of Top-100 listed companies has reached 21.5%, which is almost a three-fold increase from 7.5% in 2014. The proportion of women directors on statutory boards also reached a new high of 31.4%, while those on the Top 100 Institutions of Public Character, or IPCs, is at 29.3%.
CBD’s work is reflected in one of the key areas of the White Paper – ‘Equal Opportunities in the Workplace’ which also includes the introduction of workplace fairness legislation and entrenching of flexible work arrangements as a workplace norm, among others. Such efforts will encourage women to participate more fully in the workplace, and this will also allow both men and women to balance their responsibilities within and outside work.
Gender equality and women empowerment go beyond legislation and policies. A whole-of-society effort is needed to engender broader mindset shifts, such as breaking gender stereotypes and traditional expectations of roles that men and women play.
Over the years, our efforts to support and empower women were made possible only with the longstanding partnership and dedication of partners such as SCWO. Building on the momentum of the major shifts made over the past two years in which our partners have played crucial roles, it is timely that 2023 has been dedicated as the Year of Celebrating Social Service Partners. It is a recognition that our partners, such as SCWO, are an important component of our social compact and crucial in uplifting those who need help, strengthening families and furthering the progress of women.
The Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (SWHF) is an important platform to honour and recognise trailblazing women who have broken barriers in their respective domains, and made significant impact on our nation. Many of the women in the Hall of Fame faced prejudices and obstacles, but they persevered, and were able to achieve their dreams and ambitions.
These are powerful stories where female role models shape what the young think they can achieve, and shift mindsets among the current and future generations. By documenting and sharing the stories of these outstanding women, the SWHF provides our girls and young women with inspiring role models they could look up to and learn from.
I am delighted that we are welcoming eight more women to the Hall of Fame today. Like the 174 already inducted, these eight women have each made their mark in their fields and contributed significantly to society.
Saleha Mohamed Shah was just 10 when she stood her ground against the common practice at that time for Malay girls to be married off at puberty. She wanted a better life for herself, so she persuaded her parents to let her continue schooling. She later became a journalist, and it was a path that led to her becoming the editor of the first lifestyle magazine in the region for Malay women. Saleha’s aim was to encourage Malay women to read and to broaden their mindsets.
As a child, Khoo Kim Choo was drawn to helping others. She trained as a social worker and was working at various girls’ homes when it dawned on her that the best way to help people was to reach them early in their lives. This set Kim Choo on a course that would see her, as an early childhood development specialist, laying the foundations for the professionalisation of the sector and the raising of standards of early childhood education in Singapore.
Janet Lim, despite her parents’ objections, chose to study social sciences at university because she felt a need to try and make the world a better place. Her studies took her, in the late 1970s, to a PhD programme in Germany which at that time was receiving a steady stream of refugees from Indochina. Janet, who speaks several Chinese dialects, volunteered at a refugee reception centre in Dusseldorf. She enjoyed helping refugees resettle and decided to apply for a job with the UNHCR, or United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
18 She went on to spend the next 34 years with the UNHCR where she rose to the position of Assistant High Commissioner. Among other things, she played a key role in the establishment of the agency’s emergency response capacity. I hope Janet’s shining example will encourage more Singaporeans to consider careers at the world’s multilateral agencies.
Celia Loe and Esther Tay, meanwhile, made their mark as designers and entrepreneurs during Singapore’s golden age of fashion in the 1980s. Each turned their passion for fashion and talent for spotting trends into thriving businesses that, at the peak, included a string of boutiques in Singapore and abroad.
In the world of the arts, Amanda Heng and Ovidia Yu have taken local feminist discourse to new heights – Amanda in the visual and performance arts, and Ovidia as a playwright and novelist. Both have had an impact internationally. Amanda, who only discovered her calling as an artist when she was in her 30s, took to performance art when many in Singapore did not understand it.
Ovidia first made her name as a writer of plays that delved into gender issues. More recently, she has been writing novels and her Crown Colony series of historical murder mysteries, which has a young female lead, may be turned into a television series by an international production company.
And finally we have Lee Mei Yi, who is the first woman to command a fighter squadron in Singapore. She is a senior lieutenant-colonel in the Republic of Singapore Air Force, and had led her F-16 squadron in the ‘bomb burst’ fly-past at last year’s National Day Parade. Mei Yi says she looks forward to the day when women fighter pilots and commanders are so common there will be no need to talk about the first woman to achieve something in male-dominated areas.
To celebrate our women trailblazers, we present them with The Flame – a trophy that symbolises the vitality of the women in the Hall of Fame and the torch of inspiration that is passed from one generation to another. You are the women lighting the way to the future we all want to see – a fairer and more inclusive society.
We also have with us in the audience a good number of women who are already in the Hall of Fame. Thank you for being here today to welcome Saleha, Kim Choo, Janet, Celia, Esther, Amanda, Ovidia, and Mei Yi to the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame. Please join me in giving the 2023 inductees a big round of applause.
Thank you.
1 https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2021-22pdf_1.pdf