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Mr Deputy Speaker, 2021 is a very exciting year for me and many fellow women, as this has been earmarked as a year for celebrating Singaporean Women. Indeed, there is much to celebrate! Our sisterhood in the Union is stronger than they have ever been, with our sisters being represented in leadership positions in every single union, and indeed, even in parliament, the female voice is strong. Out of 93 seats for elected MPs, 29 per cent of the elected seats belong to women, compared to just four seats two decades ago.
As I look upon the women in my life, whether it is my mother and sister who are always there for me; the ladies in the taxi unions who would make passionate points about the need for self-care; the young ladies at my Edusave Awards who would beam at me with such pride when I tell them to shine bright for other little girls; the women in my constituency who comes to me with tired eyes because of their relentless caregiving duties; I cannot help but think that there are miles to go before we sleep, that there are miles to go before we sleep.
Indeed, while we live in a contemporary society that promotes equal opportunities in school and proactively creates level playing fields at work for both men and women, the work must continue to hum along to allow women to reimagine their career and livelihood pathways, two, to protect women when their decisions impact their livelihoods, and three, to ignite women to fully achieve their potential as they reach for the stars and beyond.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, perhaps it is because I am a female MP, and a Labour MP at that, that I have been meeting with many women who have come up to me with their dreams and their aspirations of being able to contribute to their family and at the same time to be part of Singapore’s economic recovery. Even as we weather the storms of crisis, where household incomes have taken a hit, women have once again risen to the occasion. In World War 2, as men were called to the frontlines, women held the fort by stepping up to the plate at home, in industry, in healthcare, to carry families and nations through, in times of great crisis. Today, it is no different. Our women warriors are gritting their teeth and putting on their battle gear as they enter, or re-enter the workforce, take on multiple jobs, or keep at it with their unwavering work ethic to maintain their family’s livelihoods, while keeping the nation’s economy vibrant and diverse.
COVID-19 blew into existence, a strong and wicked storm that devastated many livelihoods and brought many to their knees. This same storm also brought with it, strong tailwinds that created the opportunity for reimagining the impossible. For decades, companies had struggled with the notions of Flexible Work Arrangements vis-a-vis the company productivity and bottom line. With COVID-19, overnight, most companies had to deep dive into Work-From-Home arrangements, and many companies are now considering making this default in the new normal. Indeed, the same forces which kept our women workers out of the workforce – long working hours, long work commutes – are now being resolved, and there is now a wonderful open opportunity for a different narrative on redesigning jobs for a more inclusive workplace, not only just for women but also for workers who need flexible work arrangements such as PWDs, seniors, and well, people who just prefer such progressive work cultures.
Indeed, we must make use of this opportunity to continue to let women reimagine their many possible livelihood options. Women can be anything they choose or desire to be, a career in STEM, a professional crane operator, a plumber, a harbour pilot! Our career choices are limited only by the imagination, and the Union will work with our Labour Movement companies and associations to redesign and reimagine jobs. In turn too, I hope that the government would be able to place more resources to encourage companies to have a relook into the work processes and to support companies through their job redesign strategies.
Every woman warrior needs to be equipped with armour so that they can go the distance. I recently met with our female union leaders of our taxi driving sisterhood, and they made a very passionate point about how the recent petrol duties hike would impact their livelihoods in adverse ways. The petrol duties increase effectively means that for our drivers, they pay another 10 cents per litre of petrol that they need for their livelihoods. While the urgent need to go green for national security is definitely something that’s not lost on our sisters, this 10 cents per litre means that they would need to spend more long gruelling hours driving of their taxis, this made all the more challenging with street hails at a low due to the dearth of tourism and night spots remaining closed. This impacts the careful balance between their caregiving duties at home, self-care for their mental wellness and the time spent on their livelihoods. Indeed, it might be worth noting that many of our female cabbies are single parents, and thereby this makes the balance even more challenging. The community appreciates the 6 month $3,150 COVID-19 Drivers Relief Fund (CDRF) and is heartened by the close tripartite relationship that brought along the disbursement of the tax and additional petrol duty rebates. But our community is still worried that the COVID-19 situation will stretch beyond six months and would like to know what would happen once the support ends. True to the protective gear that the Union would provide for all our workers, our unions would take the feedback and work with our tripartite partners – LTA, the taxi and private hire platforms in coming up with further support to ease the transition into the higher duties and also in other COVID-19-related difficulties
I met with a rather distraught constituent who was very stressed out about managing her caregiving responsibilities at home, her husband suffers from OCD. She has three young ones and her youngest one has special needs. After speaking with me at length about her issues, she actually heaved a sigh of relief and said that she would now go over to the nearby KFC. She explained that once a week, she goes to KFC for 45 minutes for a coffee break. She spends this time all by herself, and she would watch a quick episode of a Korean drama, which incidentally is also 45 minutes. I was intrigued and I spoke with my friend, a clinician, about this. She smiled and brought up that 45 minutes. Indeed, studies have shown that women need 40-45 mins a week for themselves to recharge before going back to the marathon of life’s responsibilities.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, considering how many hours are in a day, all this woman needed was a fraction of it, for herself to rest. 45 minutes: an episode of a K drama, a meal, a nap. If we see our pots boiling over on the stove, do we not remove the lid a little to remove the pressure? As we recognise the pressures faced by our women warriors, I put forth that there might be a need to provide support for respite care that might alleviate the burdens of our women workers. An in-community registry of professional caregivers, who could help with eldercare, childcare, and even cleaning services could be made publicly available for women to access short-term care in-community easily.
An important figure in this ecosystem to support the movement of Singaporean women returning to work are actually our foreign domestic workers (FDWs). Many women workers I know have shared with me that they see their helpers as an extension of their own families, and form close ties with these “aunties” who help look after the elderly and the young in the family as if they were their own relatives. Although it is regretful that recent spotlights have been cast on negative practices between employers and their FDWs, I believe that the general undercurrent is optimistic. Together with the NTUC’s Centre for Domestic Employees, my team over at the Women and Family Unit conducts a monthly advisory and legal clinic for employers and FDWs. I was quite delighted to observe that the vast majority of people who come for our clinics were there to ask for pro tips on how to best relate to the people who were living under the same roof.
I believe that with mutual respect, understanding and awareness of each other’s needs and boundaries, FDWs and their employers in Singapore can be good model examples of exemplary employer-employee relations. Over the next few months, the unions hope that with the support of the government, we will be able to promote more widespread awareness to better employment practices and understanding the expectations and aspirations of our women employers and their hired help.
However, although respite care options are available, they may not be affordable for certain families that already carry the burden of expensive medical bills and daily expenses. Thus, it presents itself as necessary for there to be additional subsidies to help primary caregivers relieve the financial burden of seeking assistance.
As we support women with their responsibilities at home and eagerly beckon them back into the promised land of the workforce— work must be done to ensure that the land of opportunity does not turn into the land of the opportunistic. Workplace harassment spares no gender, but women undoubtedly bear the disproportionate portion of such incidences. Plenty of women go to work every day, looking forward to maintain a livelihood, support their families and fulfil their career aspirations— yet are forced by ‘necessity’ and ‘conventional wisdom’ to occasionally look over their shoulders in case of practices, actions or even speech that threaten to muddy the professionalism of their workplaces.
However, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must enquire whether these narratives of “conventional wisdom” that suggest harassment is a mainstay to be expected, the default way of things, should still stand. Surely, I don’t think this is how things are meant to be. Coveted honours of being a “great place to work” must always play second fiddle to the bare necessities of a “safe place to work”— and this is the assurance our workforce needs. Indeed, a safe place to work also extends to good fair hiring practices, good work-life harmony, and progressive retention and employee development policies.
Mr Deputy Speaker, in Mandarin please.
在忙碌的新加坡社会里，不知道四十分钟的休息时间对大家而言是长还是短？
在一次接见民众的活动，我遇见了一个愤愤不平的中年妇女。老实说，她愤怒的气势 让我...敬畏三分。交谈不久，烈焰般的愤怒渐渐地凝结成了一个一言难尽的无奈。一位三十出头的女人家，为了家庭成天烦恼孩子、收入，和下一个餐的着落等等问题。不知不觉，四十分钟的歇息变成一种奢侈、一种渴望、一片遥不可及的绿洲。
我们必须在短期内为家庭照顾者提供喘息服务。喘息服务指的是以暂时减轻照顾者负担为目的而提供的短期服务。长期下来我们必须进行适度的宣导，共创有包容心与同理心的社会及设施，减轻我们照顾者的后顾之忧。
Mr Deputy Speaker, in English please. Looking at the world through the lenses of our women, their dreams, aspirations, grievances, and indeed, their humanity, has led me to dream up the possibilities created by having a Singapore Centre for Working Women. Imagine, a single resource centre for Women, covering everything I have spoken about in the past 15 minutes and more, where women can come to explore new livelihood options, air grievances, seek mentorship, access best practices, apply for support, seek redress, form alliances and of course, to assist and guide other women along. It is my hope for our women warriors to have a safe space to be themselves among other women warriors — a place where women can abashedly be themselves, unashamed to seek help, and in these connections, be empowered to be the best, best versions of themselves. It is by capturing the diversity of the concerns and aspirations of our women warriors that we may best release their potential. Sisters, every worker matters. the Labour Movement will be here to walk with you on your journey, protect you, and help you reach for the stars.
I support the Budget. Thank you.
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