"The Underlying Gender Inequality in Singapore" by Kit Hoi

My mother was just 33 years old when she gave up her position of marketing director to raise  her children. She, like countless other mothers in Singapore, choose to forsake their careers for their  household. We must ask ourselves: is it really a choice? Although Singapore is regarded as a  progressive first world country with high standards of living compared to many other countries,  several challenges such as gender inequality are still faced, where women and girls are still prone to experience this issue in their lives.  

One distinct factor of gender inequality in Singapore is gender discrimination, often  overlooked by many. Although a much higher percentage of women today have reached considerable  achievements and progress in terms of education and career, women are generally accustomed to  lower pay and promotions in the workforce than men. This is due to the existing gender pay gap,  fuelled by discrimination, biasness, and common traditional beliefs that men should play a larger role  in the industries. According to the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore, even though the gender pay  gap has narrowed down from 8.8% in 2002, it still has a relatively high percentage of 6.0% in 2018.  

One other aspect of gender discrimination in Singapore is the lack of women in leadership positions. Even with an equal ratio of women to men in population, the lack of representation of  females is evident. Statistics show that despite the general increase of percentage of parliament seats  held by women from 2012 to 2021, the percentage is still less than a third of the total proportion in  2021 of only 29.81%. Thus, policies may not cater to the needs of women, and an impression is  portrayed that they are not capable enough to manage leadership responsibilities.  

One of the most pervasive problems of gender inequality is sexual harassment. Singapore,  ranked as the ninth safest country in the world, has drafted policies like the Protection from  Harassment Act 2014 to protect women. Yet, why are there still numeral cases of females being  sexually harassed in workplaces, public and schools? Even with females facing such assaults daily,  there are undeniably small number of reports of such situations. Victims often have a fear of not being  believed or facing retaliation in workplaces. This leads to significant tolls on their mental health,  where it also hinders their ability to pursue their future aspirations.  

Despite living in the 21st century, there are still existing stereotypes of women. With traditional beliefs, women are naturally expected to give up their education and jobs to become a  housewife, regardless of the achievements accomplished. For instance, during Chinese New Year,  questions such as “When are you getting married?”, and “When are you bearing children?” are frequently asked to women who just reached their early twenties, who are the same students studying  in universities. If they choose to prioritise their education, it is no doubt that they will be reminded  yearly of their importance as a woman to start a family. In comparison to the stress and pressure that  these women must deal with, men are often motivated to pursue degrees and have better jobs to be the  future ‘breadwinner’ of the household instead.  

However, the irony comes when living in a first world country, where one is expected to land  themselves in a high position job to pay off their costly bills. To achieve this goal, it is well established that a university degree will undoubtedly increase one’s chances of being accepted into a  better paying job. Therefore, if women were to heed the advice and sacrifice their education to  become the primary caretaker, they will not be able to avoid stigma of being ‘useless’ and looked  down upon for having a ‘lower standard’ job than men. Hence, they are not only expected to manage  the responsibilities of being a housewife, but also manage their education and job stress, showing the  lack of support towards work life balance for women. 

In conclusion, even though Singapore has achieved a certain level of progress, there is still  much to work on in terms of ensuring equality, especially when there is low awareness of the issues.  However, I believe that if society and the government work together to direct more effort towards  achieving gender equality, the challenge faced by females will ultimately be addressed. Females can  then not only strive to reach their full potential and obtain astonishing achievements, but it also ensures that the society of Singapore supports all citizens equally.  

References:

Gender wage gap by Ministry of Manpower: https://stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/Singapores-Adjusted-Gender-Pay-Gap.aspx

Proportion of seats held by women in Singapore from 2012 to 2021: https://www.statista.com/statistics/730313/singapore-proportion-of-seats-held-by-women-in-national-parliament/

Ranking of Singapore as the 9th safest country in the world: https://mustsharenews.com/singapore-9th-safest-country/