Sep 13, 2011
MARRIAGE, MOTHERHOOD AND CAREER
Aware disagrees with Mr Lee
THE stark choice between motherhood and professional advancement presented in Mr Lee Kuan Yew's comments to Ms Joan Sim is not new ('A PhD's fine, but what about love and babies?'; last Tuesday).
In 1983, he said: 'We shouldn't get our women into jobs where they cannot, at the same time, be mothers.'
In 1994, he said that 'attractive and intelligent young ladies' should go to finishing colleges so that they will be 'marvellous helpers of their husband's career'.
And now, Ms Sim has been advised to stop wasting time on her doctorate and find a boyfriend instead. These views contradict the recent statements by Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Halimah Yacob to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) that gender equality is central to Singapore's socio-economic growth and that 'maximising the full potential of every individual, male or female, is a priority'.
Under Cedaw, the Government is obliged to 'take appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of the conduct of men and women based on the idea of stereotypical roles of men and women'. However, state policies have not kept pace with social developments and changing gender roles.
Fathers are not entitled to paid paternity leave, reinforcing the social expectation that mothers should bear most of the caregiving responsibilities.
Flexible working arrangements attractive to mothers of young children are not widely available. Infant care facilities are inadequate for the country's needs. Such policies make raising children a daunting prospect for working women who want to continue their careers after becoming mothers. The State should take the lead in making family a more attractive option for these women, starting with a change of governmental attitude and the policies stated above.
The Scandinavian countries have shown that appropriate state policies that counter social norms can reverse declining fertility rates.
Public statements made by influential figures like Mr Lee are also important to shaping social attitudes.
Remarks that imply that women belong at home and men should be primarily providers undermine the efforts of men and women who struggle every day to meet the demands of family and working life.
Implying that marriage and motherhood are more important than education and work belittles the choices and contributions of women who prefer to be single or childless.
Such comments also perpetuate sexist stereotypes for a younger generation.
Nicole Tan (Ms)
President
Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware)
[And may I say misrepresenting the words of others in order to propel your own agenda is disingenuous at best, and a poor reflection of your reading and comprehension skills. You come out sounding like an over-sensitive harpy ready to pounce on any misperceived slight or misconstrued sexism with strident denunciation and accusation of perpetuating sexist stereotypes.
No. Lee Kuan Yew did not ask the PhD candidate to abandon her studies and get pregnant. (See the excerpt below for reference.)
That was your inability to comprehend simple English or your disingenuous attempt to twist his words to create a false assault on gender equality, allowing you to drag in CEDAW, paternity leave, childcare facilities, etc to further your own public agenda.
Mr Lee's advice to Ms Sim did not perpetuate sexist stereotypes.
Your ridiculous letter of complaint to the forum paints you and the association you head and represent as stereotypical strident feminists with no sense of reality and an over-developed sense of prostitution.]
Excerpt from:
A PhD's fine, but what about love and babies?
6 Sept 2011
The 27-year-old, who is pursuing a doctorate in biological sciences at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), observed that Singapore had accepted a large number of foreign immigrants within a short period of time. She asked what could be done to promote a greater sense of belonging among those here.
Mr Lee said that given Singapore's fast-ageing population and extremely low fertility rate, it needs to accept a sizeable number of immigrants each year, to ensure society has enough young and economically active members.
He then cited figures from projections done by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in an exercise due to be made public later this month.
He said: 'The Institute of Policy Studies has a grim statistic of 60,000 migrants a year to keep our people young and economically active. We can't digest that; 20,000 maybe, 25,000 then you're stretched, but certainly not 60,000.'
He called the latter figure 'politically indigestible'...
Mr Lee then turned the tables on Ms Sim and started gently quizzing her about her personal life, to the surprise and amusement of the audience.
He asked her age and if she was married, to which she said 'no'. He asked her when she would finish her PhD, and she said 'in two years' time'.
He then asked if she had a boyfriend, and again she said 'no'.
He then gave her some advice on why she should try to have children by the age of 35.
'After 35, the dangers of having mongoloid children, Down syndrome, in other words, a dull person, rises. So my advice is, please don't waste time. It's more important and more satisfying than your PhD but good luck to you. I hope you get your PhD and your boyfriend.'
MARRIAGE, MOTHERHOOD AND CAREER
Aware disagrees with Mr Lee
THE stark choice between motherhood and professional advancement presented in Mr Lee Kuan Yew's comments to Ms Joan Sim is not new ('A PhD's fine, but what about love and babies?'; last Tuesday).
In 1983, he said: 'We shouldn't get our women into jobs where they cannot, at the same time, be mothers.'
In 1994, he said that 'attractive and intelligent young ladies' should go to finishing colleges so that they will be 'marvellous helpers of their husband's career'.
And now, Ms Sim has been advised to stop wasting time on her doctorate and find a boyfriend instead. These views contradict the recent statements by Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Halimah Yacob to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) that gender equality is central to Singapore's socio-economic growth and that 'maximising the full potential of every individual, male or female, is a priority'.
Under Cedaw, the Government is obliged to 'take appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of the conduct of men and women based on the idea of stereotypical roles of men and women'. However, state policies have not kept pace with social developments and changing gender roles.
Fathers are not entitled to paid paternity leave, reinforcing the social expectation that mothers should bear most of the caregiving responsibilities.
Flexible working arrangements attractive to mothers of young children are not widely available. Infant care facilities are inadequate for the country's needs. Such policies make raising children a daunting prospect for working women who want to continue their careers after becoming mothers. The State should take the lead in making family a more attractive option for these women, starting with a change of governmental attitude and the policies stated above.
The Scandinavian countries have shown that appropriate state policies that counter social norms can reverse declining fertility rates.
Public statements made by influential figures like Mr Lee are also important to shaping social attitudes.
Remarks that imply that women belong at home and men should be primarily providers undermine the efforts of men and women who struggle every day to meet the demands of family and working life.
Implying that marriage and motherhood are more important than education and work belittles the choices and contributions of women who prefer to be single or childless.
Such comments also perpetuate sexist stereotypes for a younger generation.
Nicole Tan (Ms)
President
Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware)
[And may I say misrepresenting the words of others in order to propel your own agenda is disingenuous at best, and a poor reflection of your reading and comprehension skills. You come out sounding like an over-sensitive harpy ready to pounce on any misperceived slight or misconstrued sexism with strident denunciation and accusation of perpetuating sexist stereotypes.
No. Lee Kuan Yew did not ask the PhD candidate to abandon her studies and get pregnant. (See the excerpt below for reference.)
That was your inability to comprehend simple English or your disingenuous attempt to twist his words to create a false assault on gender equality, allowing you to drag in CEDAW, paternity leave, childcare facilities, etc to further your own public agenda.
Mr Lee's advice to Ms Sim did not perpetuate sexist stereotypes.
Your ridiculous letter of complaint to the forum paints you and the association you head and represent as stereotypical strident feminists with no sense of reality and an over-developed sense of prostitution.]
Excerpt from:
A PhD's fine, but what about love and babies?
6 Sept 2011
The 27-year-old, who is pursuing a doctorate in biological sciences at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), observed that Singapore had accepted a large number of foreign immigrants within a short period of time. She asked what could be done to promote a greater sense of belonging among those here.
Mr Lee said that given Singapore's fast-ageing population and extremely low fertility rate, it needs to accept a sizeable number of immigrants each year, to ensure society has enough young and economically active members.
He then cited figures from projections done by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in an exercise due to be made public later this month.
He said: 'The Institute of Policy Studies has a grim statistic of 60,000 migrants a year to keep our people young and economically active. We can't digest that; 20,000 maybe, 25,000 then you're stretched, but certainly not 60,000.'
He called the latter figure 'politically indigestible'...
Mr Lee then turned the tables on Ms Sim and started gently quizzing her about her personal life, to the surprise and amusement of the audience.
He asked her age and if she was married, to which she said 'no'. He asked her when she would finish her PhD, and she said 'in two years' time'.
He then asked if she had a boyfriend, and again she said 'no'.
He then gave her some advice on why she should try to have children by the age of 35.
'After 35, the dangers of having mongoloid children, Down syndrome, in other words, a dull person, rises. So my advice is, please don't waste time. It's more important and more satisfying than your PhD but good luck to you. I hope you get your PhD and your boyfriend.'
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