A White Paper addressing broad concerns concerning women's development in Singapore was approved by Parliament on Tuesday (April 5), despite the fact that several Members of Parliament (MP) stated that more might be done to level the playing field here.
Among their recommendations was to develop an action plan to make flexible work arrangements the norm in companies by 2024.
The discussion, which lasted over ten hours, included contributions from nine political officeholders and 27 MPs from all sides of the House.
Ms Hazel Poa of the Progress Singapore Party, one of three nominated MPs and one non-constituency MP, also joined the debate.
Several MPs filled their statements with personal experiences about the impact women had on their lives.
Dr Wan Rizal Wan Zakaria, MP for Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency (GRC), for example, spoke about how his grandmother reared seven children while working numerous jobs.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Social and Family Development, shed a tear as he spoke about the importance of mothers, whom he called the "most essential" women in people's life.
Some female legislators spoke about their own challenges. Tin Pei Ling, a MacPherson MP, recalled how some had questioned if she would be distracted from her parliamentary duties after giving birth to her first child in 2015.
The White Paper, the first of its kind, aspires to create a "fairer and more inclusive society" for men and women in the country over the next ten years through a series of 25 action plans.
Some of the measures in the 115-page report included increasing financial aid for carers, instituting flexible work arrangements, and enabling Singaporean women aged 21 to 35 to store their eggs for non-medical reasons.
EGG FREEZING AGE LIMIT
Several MPs, notably Tampines GRC MP Cheng Li Hui and Nominated MP Janet Ang, have expressed reservations over the idea to legalize elective egg freezing.
She advocated raising the age restriction to 40 years old because it is pretty usual for women to conceive in their early 40s.
Ms Ang stated that legalizing this may have ramifications, such as how employers may see women who wish to have children naturally.
"Will the workplace regard women who opt not to postpone childbearing by freezing their eggs as not being sufficiently devoted to their job, so impeding their advancement?" she wondered.
Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State for Social and Family Development, responded to Ms Cheng by stating that the upper age limit of 35 was set in response to the existing age limit for donor eggs in assisted reproduction treatment and because egg quality tends to decline significantly after the age of 25.
Ms Sun told Ms Ang that the government will continue to assist Singaporeans in achieving their marriage and family aspirations as early as possible in order to maximize their chances of naturally conceiving.
REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN VARIOUS FIELDS
Women's groups support the White Paper, although Aware is concerned about the paucity of proposals for marginalized populations.
Several MPs, notably Ms Nadia Samdin (Ang Mo Kio GRC), Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC), and Ms Ang, have also urged for more women to be represented on corporate boards, in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) business, and in the defense industry.
Despite the fact that there are numerous fast-growing and well-paying professions in the STEM area, women account for just one-third of all employed residents, according to Ms Nadia.
Ms Poh wants to see more women in uniformed forces like the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Singapore Police Force.
She stated that when she was a helicopter pilot in the Republic of Singapore Air Force 25 years ago, there were only five female pilots.
Despite the fact that more women have joined the SAF and in a wider range of jobs since then, the overall number of women service people in the SAF is just approximately 7%, she noted.
In the political sector, she thinks that Singapore would be able to raise its female Cabinet participation beyond the current three out of twenty.
Women and physicians support the White Paper plan to legalize elective egg freezing.
MPs were unanimous in their support for the normalization of flexible work arrangements in the workplace by 2024.
Several people, including Dr Wan and Radin Mas MP Melvin Yong, have urged for the agreement to go into effect as quickly as possible.
Mr Vikram Nair (Sembwang GRC) requested that men and women have equal access to flexible work arrangements in order for males to have a larger part in caring.
"Otherwise, if flexible work arrangements are exclusively available to women, it may have the unintended consequence of pushing women to continue to carry the burden of caregiving through these arrangements."
Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information, stated that the Ministry of Manpower will encourage greater adoption of existing tripartite standards in order to "gain momentum" for the eventual implementation of the new set of tripartite guidelines by 2024, which will require employers to consider flexible work arrangement requests fairly and properly.
MORE HELP FOR CAREGIVERS
Caregiving was another problem addressed by MPs, with Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon GRC), Ms Rachel Ong (West Cost GRC), and Yio Chu Kang MP Yip Hon Weng suggesting to strengthen caregiver support in addition to those mentioned in the White Paper.
In 2022, the NTUC will pay closer attention to youngsters joining the labor and women managing family responsibilities.
Ms Tan recommended that occupations connected to caring, such as medical escorts and respite caretakers, be included in National Service so that both men and women may help the society when such needs occur.
Mr Yip suggested that the government consider granting a grant to employers who provide paid leave to caregivers, as well as tax discounts to caregivers for products purchased for persons in their care.
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH WOMEN
Aside from legislation and action plans, men's attitudes toward women in various places, such as at home or at work, will need to alter. Some MPs believe they can help to support these measures.
Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang GRC) stated that males may help to stop family violence and prevent internet damage by making it simpler and safer for victims and whistleblowers to report such instances.
Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade GRC) believes that males can avoid being rude and patronizing to women.
For example, he witnessed senior public workers thanking male emcees by name at occasions but addressing female emcees as "a lovely young woman."
A GUIDE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
Mrs Teo thanked the House at the close of the discussion for its wide support for the White Paper, saying that the paper and the ideals behind it will serve as the Government's "north star" as it pursues the next milestones in women's growth.
"At its heart, the White Paper is about empowering all the women around us to be the best that they can be, so that we may empower each other as role models, teachers and mentors, advocates and champions, helpers and supports."
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also expressed his gratitude for the White Paper's widespread support in a Facebook post immediately after the discussion ended.
"This is a promising first step toward constructing a fairer and more inclusive society in which all Singaporeans may pursue their goals freely and fully," he wrote.
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