Gender Trends in Southeast Asia: Women Now, Women in the Future

Message

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฀ that฀has฀always฀been฀of฀special฀interest฀to฀me.฀I฀find฀each฀day฀of฀my฀work฀ fulfilling฀as฀I฀am฀directly฀involved฀in฀advancing฀the฀interests฀of฀women฀in฀ Singapore฀and฀things฀that฀women฀traditionally฀care฀a฀lot฀about,฀like฀family,฀ children,฀ marriage,฀ parenting฀ and฀ even฀ what฀ women฀ want฀ men฀ to฀ do฀ ฀ more฀of! Politics It฀ is฀ important฀ to฀ empower฀ women฀ to฀ participate฀ in฀ decision-making฀ at฀ the฀community฀and฀national฀levels.฀The฀Singapore฀Government฀welcomes฀ women฀ to฀ leadership฀ positions฀ based฀ on฀ meritocracy.฀ In฀ the฀ domain฀ of฀ politics,฀for฀example,฀female฀representation฀in฀the฀Singapore฀Parliament฀has฀ been฀increasing.฀Women฀make฀up฀24.5฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀Singapore฀Parliament฀ today.฀This฀percentage฀exceeds฀the฀Inter-Parliamentary฀Union’s฀world฀average฀ of฀18.3฀per฀cent.1 The฀number฀of฀women฀holding฀public฀office฀has฀increased,฀especially฀in฀ local฀government,฀at฀the฀higher฀levels฀of฀political฀participation.฀For฀example,฀ women฀in฀Lao฀PDR,฀Timor-Leste฀and฀Vietnam฀have฀prided฀themselves฀in฀ holding฀more฀than฀25฀per฀cent฀of฀national฀parliamentary฀seats฀in฀2007.฀Other฀ Southeast฀Asian฀countries฀have฀between฀eight฀and฀16฀per฀cent฀of฀seats฀held฀ by฀women฀in฀national฀parliament.2 00฀GTSEAprelims.indd฀฀฀13 9/9/09฀฀฀2:22:28฀PM Employment As฀gender฀equality฀is฀the฀goal฀adopted฀by฀the฀international฀community฀and฀ national฀governments,฀people’s฀rights,฀responsibilities,฀social฀status฀and฀access฀ to฀resources฀should฀not฀depend฀on฀their฀gender.฀This฀includes฀employment฀ opportunities฀for฀women฀as฀well฀as฀men.฀ According฀ to฀ the฀ internationally฀ agreed฀ commitments฀ under฀ the฀ International฀Labour฀Organization฀(or฀ILO),฀some฀key฀international฀labour฀ conventions฀for฀gender฀equality฀include:฀discrimination฀in฀employment,฀equal฀ remuneration,฀workers฀with฀family฀responsibilities฀and฀maternity฀protection.฀ The฀ILO฀reports฀that฀in฀2006,฀the฀female฀labour฀force฀participation฀rate฀(or฀ LFPR)฀is฀lower฀than฀males฀in฀all฀the฀countries฀covered.฀Vietnam฀and฀Thailand฀ has฀the฀highest฀LFPR฀at฀72฀and฀66฀per฀cent฀respectively.฀In฀comparison,฀the฀ rate฀for฀other฀Southeast฀Asian฀countries฀are฀below฀or฀around฀50฀per฀cent.฀ In฀Singapore,฀the฀LFPR฀was฀78฀per฀cent฀for฀males฀and฀54฀per฀cent฀for฀ females฀in฀2007.฀Although฀top฀positions฀in฀the฀public฀and฀private฀sectors฀ used฀to฀be฀traditionally฀male-dominated,฀it฀is฀no฀longer฀the฀case.฀In฀recent฀ years,฀we฀have฀witnessed฀the฀rise฀of฀many฀Singapore฀women฀to฀these฀very฀ positions,฀attesting฀to฀the฀rise฀of฀women’s฀influence฀in฀the฀nation.฀47฀per฀ cent฀of฀Singaporean฀women฀were฀in฀the฀professional,฀managerial฀or฀technical฀ positions฀in฀2007,฀compared฀to฀50฀per฀cent฀for฀men.฀I฀am฀pleased฀to฀see฀ that฀the฀proportion฀of฀female฀employers฀have฀increased฀from฀20.1฀per฀cent฀ in฀2003฀to฀23.1฀per฀cent฀in฀2007. In฀ Singapore,฀ the฀ Government฀ is฀ committed฀ to฀ equal฀ remuneration฀ and฀treatment฀for฀work฀of฀equal฀value.฀We฀ratified฀a฀key฀ILO฀Convention฀ on฀equal฀remuneration฀in฀2002.฀The฀median฀monthly฀income฀for฀full-time฀ employed฀females฀in฀Singapore฀last฀year฀was฀87฀per฀cent฀that฀of฀males.฀It฀was฀ 81.3฀per฀cent฀a฀decade฀ago.3 ฀Apart฀from฀Singapore,฀seven฀other฀Southeast฀ Asian฀countries฀have฀ratified฀that฀Convention,4 ฀with฀the฀exclusion฀of฀Brunei,฀ Myanmar฀and฀Timor-Leste. Fertility Concerns In฀recent฀years,฀there฀are฀women฀in฀Southeast฀Asia฀who฀have฀made฀great฀ strides฀especially฀in฀the฀more฀developed฀economies฀in฀the฀region.฀Especially฀ among฀the฀growing฀number฀of฀educated฀women,฀careers฀have฀taken฀priority฀ and฀this฀has฀led฀to฀smaller฀family฀sizes฀and,฀consequently,฀a฀falling฀fertility฀rate฀ —฀a฀pressing฀concern฀for฀some฀governments,฀including฀Singapore.฀According฀ to฀the฀World฀Fertility฀Patterns฀2007,฀the฀world’s฀fertility฀rate฀is฀2.6.฀Of฀the฀ xiv Message 00฀GTSEAprelims.indd฀฀฀14 9/9/09฀฀฀2:22:28฀PM 11฀Southeast฀Asian฀countries,฀Singapore฀has฀the฀lowest฀total฀fertility฀rate฀at฀ 1.3,฀followed฀by฀Vietnam฀at฀1.9.฀The฀highest฀are฀Timor-Leste฀and฀Laos฀with฀ a฀fertility฀rate฀of฀4.7฀and฀4.6฀respectively.5 Health In฀the฀area฀of฀health,฀women฀suffer฀greater฀vulnerabilities฀than฀men.฀Women฀ much฀earlier฀on฀in฀life฀face฀reproductive฀health฀problems.฀The฀battle฀against฀ breast฀cancer฀is฀increasing฀following฀the฀trends฀in฀many฀developed฀countries.฀ Every฀year,฀some฀1,300฀women฀in฀Singapore฀are฀diagnosed฀with฀breast฀cancer...