The White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development

Channel News Asia, 5 April 2022.

I blinked when the government debated and finally allowed women to electively freeze their eggs from 2023. They've obstinately refused to do so. But usage has to be within the framework of a legalized marriage recognized within Singapore laws. All right. That's better than nothing. Slight progression there.

Does the government think that that many women welcome being single and unmarried mothers? Do policymakers assume many want to be long-term partners and have children without marriage; and if they do, what is it to them? But our patriarchal government can't have renegades eroding 'social values' and 'social cohesion'. So I've felt that most of our policies are unfair to singles, single mothers (widowed or divorced) and single unmarried mothers are especially ostracized by policy-makers. 

The government has moved to provide further "address the challenges of Singapore women" and provide better infrastructure "support their aspirations". On March 28, 2022, it put out the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development, and has set out 25 action plans in 5 areas. Wow. People have been working hard behind the scenes to push for this. 

The White Paper tackles five areas: Equal opportunities in the workplace, recognition and support for caregivers, protection against violence and harm, other support measures for women and mindset shifts.

Downloaded the White Paper to comb through. 115 pages. If you don't want to read all of that, the Executive Summary is on Page 6 - 17. What works in Singapore, will uniquely be; it might not work in other countries. Our policies are designed for the Singapore society. Some are outdated and archaic, but some are progressive enough. We can always do better, but we should also recognize that we do do some things well.

Is this timely? Always. Policy changes are always needed. They ought to be reviewed periodically, and regularly. Nothing stays static forever. The demographic has changed, the needs and wants of the people have changed. The voices have changed. It's more than a generation shift. It's exactly what higher education has produced — a more active citizenry. Knowledge is power. And our incumbent government cannot expect us to acquiesce to their lead without a robust exchange of ideas and discussions. This is not a dictatorship or an authoritarian regime. 

The Government calls on every Singaporean to overcome gender stereotypes in our everyday actions that restrict or limit what women can do or become. Together, we can make Singapore a fairer and more inclusive society for future generations of Singaporeans – women and men, girls and boys alike.

We don't have plenty of women in key government, corporate and social leadership roles, but we do have them and they're slowly increasing. The traditional family caregiving model is shifting. If males can't step up to their responsibilities of being a partner, then women will. How these responsibilities are shared should be decided between partners, and not dictated by corporate annual leave policies and such. 

Policy changes are always a good push to effect cultural norms and mindset shifts. Our paternalistic government can choose to remain so (decided by the electorate), but it shouldn't be chauvinistic. We have far to go when it comes to tackling gender norms. Is there a model to aspire to? No. I'd like to think that we don't agree with oppression of women, although that doesn't mean zero violence, but at least society wouldn't let it go when that happens. We could afford to do with a lot less belittling and infantilizing of women in Singapore society. That would be a great start. 

Illustrated summary of White Paper's five areas via Reach.