THE PAP Women’s Wing (WW) is advocating for four key areas going forward: Careers & Leadership, Health & Well-being, Safety & Respect, and Seasons of Life.
“It speaks to the variedness of life experiences; the different options that women have as they move through life,” said WW Chairperson Sim Ann about the Seasons of Life advocacy area at a sharing session with the media (15 Sept). “This will cover issues to do with marriage …will cover aging, will cover caregiving. Various challenges that women as well as their loved ones navigate together.”
The four areas encapsulate the issues which constituents and volunteers raise during PAP engagement sessions. They respond to a more energetic spirit of advocacy from WW members across Singapore.
This term of Parliament will see an increase in women’s representation, with 29 PAP women MPs, up from 24 in 2020.
The WW’s advocacy involves presenting policies and programmes for the Government to consider, as well as working with external stakeholders such as Non-Governmental Organisations, academics, community partners and industry experts — working across the whole of society to empower Singapore’s women.
A timely refresh, with more details to come at the annual WW Conference
MP Jasmin Lau (Ang Mo Kio GRC) is Adviser for the Seasons of Life area of advocacy, with MP Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) supporting as Head. MP Goh Hanyan (Nee Soon GRC) is Adviser for the Health & Well-being area, with MP Diana Pang (Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC) supporting as Head.
The Health & Well-being area of advocacy focuses on giving women more education, and working with external stakeholders, on women’s health issues. Its ambit includes mental health.
“Most of the time we are the caregivers, and sometimes we’re also the do-ers and the activists in the family,” said MP Pang, about the need for women to have health and well-being support. “I want my women to be health ambassadors for everyone in Singapore.”
MP Sun Xueling (Punggol GRC) is the Adviser for the Careers & Leadership area, with Rachel Ong (Tanjong Pagar GRC) supporting as Head. MP Tin Pei Ling (Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC) and Branch Chair (BC) Bernadette Giam (Sengkang GRC) advise and head the Safety & Respect area respectively.
“We want to continue to advocate for policies and programs to enhance AI literacy amongst our women so that they can contribute effectively as well as benefit from the use of AI in workplaces,” said MP Sun, who is also WW Vice-Chairperson. “We also know that AI [Artificial Intelligence] can potentially disrupt certain job functions, so we also want to look at support and training programs for our women.”
“For respect and safety, we believe that this is not a privilege. It is actually a value and a right in the Singapore society that we want to be in,” stated BC Giam about her area of advocacy. “When every woman in Singapore feels respected and secure, not just families will be thriving. Our communities will grow stronger. And this is something we very much want to advocate for in the Women’s Wing, together with all our Women’s Wing activists.”
This Saturday (20 Sept), the WW will share more details about Seasons of Life, and their other areas of advocacy, at the annual WW Conference. The WW will also present more of their findings on dating, marriage and parenthood at the Conference.
