Singapore Women's Charter: Roles, Responsibilities and Rights in Marriage

Foreword

Foreword I฀ thank฀ the฀ Director฀ of฀ the฀ Institute฀ of฀ Southeast฀Asian฀ Studies฀(ISEAS),฀Ambassador฀K.฀Kesavapany,฀for฀inviting ฀me฀to฀contribute฀the฀Foreword฀to฀this฀volume฀which฀ contains฀the฀papers฀submitted฀to฀the฀symposium฀“Revisiting฀ the฀ Singapore฀ Women’s฀ Charter”.฀ The฀ symposium฀ was฀ organized฀by฀Dr฀Theresa฀W.฀Devasahayam,฀the฀coordinator฀ of฀the฀gender฀studies฀programme฀at฀ISEAS. First,฀I฀am฀very฀pleased฀that฀ISEAS฀has฀a฀programme฀ on฀ gender฀ policies฀ and฀ issues฀ in฀ Southeast฀Asia.฀ I฀ consider ฀ the฀ emancipation฀ of฀ women฀ and฀ the฀ recognition฀ that฀women฀are฀entitled฀to฀equal฀rights฀with฀men฀as฀one฀ of฀ the฀ greatest฀ achievements฀ of฀ the฀ twentieth฀ century.฀ The฀ UN฀ Convention฀ on฀ the฀ Elimination฀ of฀ All฀ Forms฀ of฀ Discrimination฀Against฀Women฀ (CEDAW),฀ of฀ which฀ Singapore฀is฀a฀party,฀is฀one฀of฀the฀most฀important฀treaties฀ in฀ public฀ international฀ law.฀ It฀ seeks฀ to฀ put฀ an฀ end฀ to฀ a฀ shameful฀ period฀ in฀ human฀ history,฀ lasting฀ thousands฀ of฀ years,฀ during฀ which฀ women฀ were฀ treated฀ as฀ chattels฀ and฀ having฀ no฀ rights฀ or฀ as฀ inferior฀ human฀ beings฀ and฀ discriminated฀against฀in฀a฀myriad฀of฀ways.฀It฀is,฀of฀course,฀ true฀ that฀ CEDAW฀ has฀ not฀ been฀ fully฀ implemented฀ by฀ all฀ the฀ state฀ parties฀ or฀ by฀ all฀ the฀ member฀ states฀ of฀ the฀ UN.฀ However,฀ those฀ who฀ invoke฀ culture฀ or฀ religion฀ to฀ justify฀ discrimination฀ against฀ women฀ know฀ that฀ theirs฀ ฀ is฀a฀losing฀battle.฀They฀are฀on฀the฀wrong฀side฀of฀history.฀ 00a฀SWCPrelims.indd฀฀฀9 1/28/11฀฀฀2:10:30฀PM I฀am฀convinced฀that฀one฀day,฀in฀this฀century,฀the฀dream฀ that฀women฀will฀enjoy฀the฀same฀rights฀as฀men฀will฀come฀ true฀for฀all฀womenkind. Second,฀in฀Singapore฀the฀enactment฀of฀the฀Women’s฀ Charter฀in฀1961฀was฀a฀revolutionary฀act.฀It฀put฀an฀end฀to฀ polygamy฀for฀all฀Singaporeans,฀except฀for฀Muslims.฀Section฀ 46฀of฀the฀Charter,฀inter฀alia,฀gives฀the฀wife฀the฀right฀to฀ use฀her฀surname฀and฀name;฀to฀have฀equal฀rights฀with฀her฀ husband฀in฀running฀the฀matrimonial฀household;฀and฀the฀ right฀to฀engage฀in฀any฀trade฀or฀profession฀or฀social฀activities.฀ Compared฀ to฀ the฀ situation฀ prior฀ to฀ 1961,฀ these฀ were฀ transformative฀propositions.฀A฀member฀of฀the฀Singapore฀ Legislative฀ Assembly฀ was฀ right฀ when฀ he฀ described฀ the฀ Women’s฀Charter฀as฀a฀bill฀of฀rights฀for฀Singapore฀women.฀ There฀is฀a฀disagreement฀in฀this฀book฀between฀Dr฀Kanwaljit฀ Soin฀and฀Professor฀Leong฀Wai฀Kum฀on฀whether฀the฀title฀ of฀the฀legislation,฀“Women’s฀Charter”,฀should฀be฀retained฀ or฀ changed฀ to฀ “Family฀ Charter”.฀ I฀ agree฀ with฀ Professor฀ Leong฀ that,฀ for฀ historical฀ reasons,฀ it฀ is฀ better฀ to฀ retain฀ the฀name.฀I฀agree฀with฀her฀that฀it฀would฀be฀unfortunate฀ if฀future฀generations฀of฀Singaporeans,฀especially฀women,฀ were฀to฀forget฀the฀struggles฀of฀women฀over฀many฀decades฀ which฀eventually฀led฀to฀the฀enactment฀of฀this฀landmark฀ legislation. Third,฀I฀am฀disappointed฀to฀learn฀from฀the฀book฀that฀ divorce฀has฀been฀on฀the฀rise฀looking฀at฀marriage฀trends฀ in฀the฀past฀decade฀and฀more.฀The฀Ministry฀of฀Community฀ Development,฀ Youth฀ and฀ Sports฀ (MCYS)฀ has฀ been฀ campaigning฀to฀encourage฀young฀Singaporeans฀to฀marry฀ and฀to฀have฀children.฀I฀think฀MCYS฀should฀also฀focus฀on฀ why฀such฀a฀high฀percentage฀of฀our฀marriages฀break฀down฀ x฀ Foreword 00a฀SWCPrelims.indd฀฀฀10 1/28/11฀฀฀2:10:30฀PM and,฀whether,฀when฀children฀are฀involved,฀there฀is฀anything฀ which฀our฀counsellors฀can฀do฀to฀prevent฀the฀dissolution฀ of฀such฀marriages.฀I฀am฀also฀appalled฀to฀read฀accounts฀of฀ the฀shabby฀treatment฀given฀to฀children฀in฀families฀which฀ have฀broken฀down฀because฀of฀domestic฀violence.฀If฀the฀ father฀is฀violent฀and฀harms฀his฀family,฀why฀should฀the฀law฀ require฀the฀victimized฀child฀to฀undergo฀counselling?฀There฀ is฀obviously฀also฀a฀need฀to฀re-think฀the฀existing฀law฀and฀ practice฀regarding฀the฀treatment฀of฀an฀erring฀husband฀who฀ refuses฀to฀pay฀maintenance.฀Why฀is฀there฀a฀hesitation฀to฀ apply฀to฀the฀court฀to฀impose฀attachment?฀The฀law฀should฀ also฀be฀amended฀to฀allow฀a฀member฀of฀the฀victim’s฀family฀ to฀apply฀to฀court฀for฀a฀protective฀order.฀The฀victim฀may฀ be฀too฀fearful฀or฀traumatized฀to฀do฀so. Conclusion Singapore฀ has฀ come฀ a฀ long฀ way฀ since฀ the฀ Women’s฀ Charter฀ came฀ into฀ force฀ in฀ 1962.฀Women฀ have฀ attained฀ equality฀with฀men฀in฀education฀at฀all฀levels.฀Women฀have฀ also฀ achieved฀ equality฀ with฀ men฀ in฀ employment.฀ Some฀ discriminatory฀practices,฀such฀as฀the฀quota฀on฀women฀in฀ the฀medical฀school,฀have฀been฀swept฀away.฀However,฀the฀ discrimination฀against฀female฀civil฀servants,฀regarding฀the฀ entitlement...