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Message
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Chapter
- Additional Information
xiii MESSAGE MRS YU-FOO YEE SHOON, MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you on a subject thathasalwaysbeenofspecialinteresttome.Ifindeachdayofmywork fulfillingasIamdirectlyinvolvedinadvancingtheinterestsofwomenin Singaporeandthingsthatwomentraditionallycarealotabout,likefamily, children, marriage, parenting and even what women want men to do moreof! Politics It is important to empower women to participate in decision-making at thecommunityandnationallevels.TheSingaporeGovernmentwelcomes women to leadership positions based on meritocracy. In the domain of politics,forexample,femalerepresentationintheSingaporeParliamenthas beenincreasing.Womenmakeup24.5percentoftheSingaporeParliament today.ThispercentageexceedstheInter-ParliamentaryUnion’sworldaverage of18.3percent.1 Thenumberofwomenholdingpublicofficehasincreased,especiallyin localgovernment,atthehigherlevelsofpoliticalparticipation.Forexample, womeninLaoPDR,Timor-LesteandVietnamhavepridedthemselvesin holdingmorethan25percentofnationalparliamentaryseatsin2007.Other SoutheastAsiancountrieshavebetweeneightand16percentofseatsheld bywomeninnationalparliament.2 00GTSEAprelims.indd13 9/9/092:22:28PM Employment Asgenderequalityisthegoaladoptedbytheinternationalcommunityand nationalgovernments,people’srights,responsibilities,socialstatusandaccess toresourcesshouldnotdependontheirgender.Thisincludesemployment opportunitiesforwomenaswellasmen. According to the internationally agreed commitments under the InternationalLabourOrganization(orILO),somekeyinternationallabour conventionsforgenderequalityinclude:discriminationinemployment,equal remuneration,workerswithfamilyresponsibilitiesandmaternityprotection. TheILOreportsthatin2006,thefemalelabourforceparticipationrate(or LFPR)islowerthanmalesinallthecountriescovered.VietnamandThailand hasthehighestLFPRat72and66percentrespectively.Incomparison,the rateforotherSoutheastAsiancountriesarebeloworaround50percent. InSingapore,theLFPRwas78percentformalesand54percentfor femalesin2007.Althoughtoppositionsinthepublicandprivatesectors usedtobetraditionallymale-dominated,itisnolongerthecase.Inrecent years,wehavewitnessedtheriseofmanySingaporewomentothesevery positions,attestingtotheriseofwomen’sinfluenceinthenation.47per centofSingaporeanwomenwereintheprofessional,managerialortechnical positionsin2007,comparedto50percentformen.Iampleasedtosee thattheproportionoffemaleemployershaveincreasedfrom20.1percent in2003to23.1percentin2007. In Singapore, the Government is committed to equal remuneration andtreatmentforworkofequalvalue.WeratifiedakeyILOConvention onequalremunerationin2002.Themedianmonthlyincomeforfull-time employedfemalesinSingaporelastyearwas87percentthatofmales.Itwas 81.3percentadecadeago.3 ApartfromSingapore,sevenotherSoutheast AsiancountrieshaveratifiedthatConvention,4 withtheexclusionofBrunei, MyanmarandTimor-Leste. Fertility Concerns Inrecentyears,therearewomeninSoutheastAsiawhohavemadegreat stridesespeciallyinthemoredevelopedeconomiesintheregion.Especially amongthegrowingnumberofeducatedwomen,careershavetakenpriority andthishasledtosmallerfamilysizesand,consequently,afallingfertilityrate —apressingconcernforsomegovernments,includingSingapore.According totheWorldFertilityPatterns2007,theworld’sfertilityrateis2.6.Ofthe xiv Message 00GTSEAprelims.indd14 9/9/092:22:28PM [3.21.104.109] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 10:17 GMT) 11SoutheastAsiancountries,Singaporehasthelowesttotalfertilityrateat 1.3,followedbyVietnamat1.9.ThehighestareTimor-LesteandLaoswith afertilityrateof4.7and4.6respectively.5 Health Intheareaofhealth,womensuffergreatervulnerabilitiesthanmen.Women muchearlieroninlifefacereproductivehealthproblems.Thebattleagainst breastcancerisincreasingfollowingthetrendsinmanydevelopedcountries. Everyyear,some1,300womeninSingaporearediagnosedwithbreastcancer...