COMPANIES should not be too hung up on the gender issue when it comes to representation in leadership positions, Singapore's first woman Cabinet minister Lim Hwee Hua and other panelists said at a forum on Thursday.

Instead, companies should continue to embrace the philosophy that the best person lead, said Mrs Lim, who is also second minister for Finance and Transport.

She was speaking at a forum conducted by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore on the topic of women in leadership positions. It was attended by over 150 professionals, mostly women, in the finance industry.

Women representation in leadership positions needs time to evolve from the current base of low female participation.

'This could be a question of timing,' she said, as women become more educated.

Mr Gerard Ee, vice-president of ICPAS and chairman of the National Kidney Foundation, said the problem is that "women don't stay long enough to be in the selection process" for leadership positions for various reasons.

Aasked if there should be a quota set to ensure female representation in high corporate office, Mrs Lim said women should be judged on the basis of merit and good work.

'Quotas can be self-defeating and detract from the true basis of merit' that women are supposed to be assessed on, she said.