SISTERLY CAMARADERIE between the women of the PAP and the National Trades Union Congress was in full swing during International Women’s Day (IWD) (8 Mar).
Celebrating IWD, over 1,000 NTUC and PAP women of all ages and backgrounds made the 2 km-long IWD Walk across Marina Bay — from Gardens by the Bay’s Silver Garden to the NTUC Centre on the other bank.
At the Centre, participants attended a frank panel discussion on female empowerment. The discussion covered timely topics: How do women assert leadership in male-dominated industries? How can women find time for themselves in the midst of all their different responsibilities? And how can men support women to create a stronger family?
PAP MP Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), who is also NTUC Assistant Secretary-General, moderated the discussion, with PAP Branch Chair Chan Hui Yuh (Aljunied GRC) and other MPs.
Concurrently, the non-profit group SG Her Empowerment (SHE) conducted a group leadership mentoring session for women.
Participants were also able to interact with about 20 partner booths at the joint PAP WW-NTUC WAF (Women and Family) International Women’s Day event.
These ranged from fun activities like face-painting and muah chee sampling to informative chats about gender equality with United Women Singapore and a free health analysis with Raffles Medispa.
There was also a PAP Women’s Wing (WW) booth where participants could learn more about the WW — and download the PAP.SG app to stay updated on future WW events.
“At the PAP Women’s Wing, as well as NTUC — especially its WAF unit — we have been so focused on supporting women in all spheres of life,” said WW Chairperson Sim Ann. “This is why we find ourselves working together very, very closely.”
“In a recent study — this is the United Nations Gender Inequality Index —I’m very happy to share that we have been ranked eighth globally. And in Asia-Pacific, we have been ranked first,” added Chairperson Sim, who is also Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development. “This is how far our efforts at promoting gender equality have come.”
A fund for caregivers and a longstanding, difference-making WW-WAF partnership
An upcoming $5.4 million NTUC fund for caregiver support will further strengthen efforts at recognising the contributions of women, who make up the overwhelming majority of caregivers.
“Applications will be next month, in April, for many of the women that may need a helping hand alongside to participate in this NTUC Care Fund,” said NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng at the IWD celebrations.
This new fund will alleviate cost-of-living pressures for caregivers who are single parents supporting young children and elderly dependents.
It builds upon “Take Action for Women in Singapore”, a joint paper by the WW and Young PAP which called for enhanced caregiver support.
In fact, the 2025 IWD celebrations build upon previous successful WW and NTUC WAF partnerships.
These include kickstarting a month-long series of events in March 2021 on women’s issues, such as flexible work arrangements for caregivers.
More recently, WW-WAF events include January 2024’s Getting To-Gather!, which built harmonious relations between migrant domestic workers and their employers. The WW also presented “All Things Nice” during the WAF’s second edition of the To-gather: Power of Women carnival in August 2024; “All Things Nice” involves activities like professional portrait photography helping young women to enter the workforce with confidence.
“We have been working together to study the issues of very deep concern to women in terms of workplace representation,” said Chairperson Sim Ann. “Because of our joint efforts, [Parliament has] passed our Workplace Fairness Bill very recently.”
“At the same time, we have also been working very closely together on research and surveys [on] a whole range of issues, ladies and gentlemen: Caregiving, mental health [and] women’s health,” continued Chairperson Sim about the WW and WAF partnership.
All these are vital issues facing Singapore’s women. Having both the WW and the WAF work together means more effective public policy recommendations in this changing world.
Also on the WW agenda: Advocating for more policies to boost Singapore’s fertility rate.
Pro-fertility recommendations from the WW’s and Young PAP’s “Taking Action for Women” 2021 paper, which included input from the WAF, have already been implemented. These include egg-freezing.
“But there’s still a lot more to be done,” said Chairperson Sim. “There’s still a lot more to be done. So we will be sharing more very shortly.”
