Ten women trailblazers were last night honoured by The Singapore Women's Weekly magazine in its annual Great Women Of Our Time Awards, which recognises the achievements of inspiring women.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Josephine Teo, who was guest of honour at the awards party at VLV Singapore, said Singaporean women have scaled new heights.
Last month, Madam Halimah Yacob was sworn in as the country's first woman President, and in 2015, Brigadier-General Gan Siow Huang was the first woman to get the rank.
"It is getting tougher to find the first woman in this or that field," said Mrs Teo, who became a full minister in May and was made Second Minister for Manpower and Home Affairs. "I did not realise until my appointment was publicly announced and someone pointed out that the security sector had not had a woman minister before."
Mrs Teo outlined ways the Government is helping women fulfil their potential. These include more maternity leave, and more paternity leave and shared parental leave so husbands can help in child-raising.
The Government is also studying how to further encourage part-time work and job-sharing, "so that women need not choose between full-time work and being out of the labour force", she added.
The Singapore Women's Weekly is published by SPH Magazines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings.
WINNERS
Arts and media: Tracie Pang, artistic director, Pangdemonium
Design and style: Khew Yu Nong, founder, Khew + Cornelius
Education and public service: Esther Tan Cheng Yin, Singapore's first female naval diver
Finance and commerce: Jocelyn Chng, founder and CEO, JR Group
Health, sports and wellness: Dr Rosemary Tan, founder and CEO, Veredus Labs
Science and technology: Dr Li Jingmei, scientist, A*Star's Genome Institute of Singapore
Subsidiary Award - Lancome Trendsetter Award: Elyn Wong, founder and fashion designer, Stolen
Most Inspiring Award: Candice Ong, chief commercial officer, ShopBack
Honorary Award recipients:
• Elim Chew, entrepreneur and founder, 77th Street
• Laura Hwang, Singapore representative for women's rights to the Asean Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children
