Shanmugam Discusses Gender Equity in S’pore & Lack of Female Politicians in NUS Forum

By
Megan
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On Monday (8 Mar), Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam addressed reasons why there are few women in leadership roles.

Speaking at a National University of Singapore (NUS) forum organised by NUS’ Tembusu College which involved discussions on equality for women in view of International Women’s Day, Mr Shanmugam said that family reasons are responsible for why few women choose to go into politics. 

The forum was moderated by Professor Tommy Koh, rector of the college. Ms Corinna Lim, executive director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), and Ms Junie Foo, president of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), were also present as panellists at the forum. 

Is Singapore Ready for a Female Prime Minister?

During the forum, a political science student questioned whether or not Singapore is ready for a female prime minister who is a woman. 

She raised the example of the central executive committee of the People’s Action Party (PAP), which is made up of 16 men and only three women. 

Mr Shanmugam said in response, “It is an impossible task to balance your professional life with your political life because your weekends are pretty much completely taken up.”

He added that juggling all the responsibilities of a career in politics “takes a toll on you, on your family life, on your work”, and that many men are unable to make such sacrifices. 

“For women, there is often the added question of the family as well.” 

Mr Shanmugam said that the discussion should instead revolve around what can be done to encourage women to enter the field of politics. 

He said that although the government can encourage a change in mindsets, it will “take a lot of effort” to do so. 

Is Gender Equity One of Singapore’s Core Values? 

Ms Lim pointed out in her speech that gender equity is not one of Singapore’s core values as opposed to multiculturalism, leading to a debate on whether or not this was a fair assessment. 

Prof Koh expressed his disagreement with this observation, saying that Singapore’s success can be attributed to its active encouragement of women to become educated and join the workforce. 

Ms Lim rebutted this by arguing that the decision to educate women and encourage them to join the workforce was borne out of pressing survival needs. Singapore’s only resource was human capital which needed to be fully utilised in the early days. 

She added that in the 1980s, when founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew expressed regret over educating women due to declining birth rates, she realised that gender equity was not a core value of Singapore. 

“If this is a core value, this would never have been said.” She also pointed out that gender equity is not in the Constitution. 

In response, Prof Koh and Mr Shanmugam brought up the 1960s Women’s Charter, which sought to protect and strengthen women’s rights in Singapore. 

Amendment of the Constitution? 

Currently, Article 12 of the Constitution states that there shall no be discrimination against Singaporeans on the grounds of race and religion. 

Another student in the audience asked Mr Shanmugam if the article can be amended to include gender as well. 

In response, Mr Shanmugam said that although he believes that the Constitution should indeed recognise equal rights of both men and women, the government is still ultimately limited by the restrictions of policymaking, so amending the Constitution is not as simple as it may seem. 

“You don’t want to hurt the very people you’re trying to help… There are many well-minded policies that focus on legislating to make sure that women, as well as people who are physically challenged, cannot be sacked, and you end up affecting their employment.” 

Mr Shanmugam said that though one may harbour the desire to help, it would not be ideal to end up with “a lot of litigation affecting the various companies and the very economy of Singapore.”

He added that this would have a negative impact on Singapore’s level of competitiveness in relation to countries such as Hong Kong due to the cost placed on investors. 

He also mentioned that trade-offs have to be considered. “When it comes to putting it in the Constitution, the question is, does it impose certain inflexibility or makes our companies and the economic sector face additional litigation on the basis of discrimination?”

He added that feedback from those in the business industry cannot be ignored, because “[going] down this route” would “impose a framework on them that is going to be difficult for them.”

Feature Image: YouTube (Gov.sg)

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Megan
Email: [email protected]