Indranee's advice to women: Believe in yourself

When Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance Indranee Rajah first joined the legal service as a litigator in 1988, she was told it was "more suitable" for women to practise in other areas, such as corporate law, as it was "less confrontational, less contentious".

But she stuck with it because she knew what she wanted to do and believed in herself - a point she stressed to about 200 women she was speaking to at a brunch yesterday to celebrate the first anniversary of the Diva Wellness Connect initiative, a programme led by the women and family arm of Muslim welfare group Jamiyah.

"Identify what it is that you want, your goal, your ambition. And believe in yourself towards achieving that ambition," said Ms Indranee.

Dealing with gender stereotypes was one of the issues raised during small group sessions at the brunch held at the Grassroots Club in Yio Chu Kang. The event also saw women discussing how to juggle family with their career, overcoming conservatism, and the needs of single women in society.

As part of the discussion, participants were asked what they would want to be remembered for and who they considered as examples of inspirational women in their lives.

Facilitating these discussions were successful Singaporean women such as Banyan Tree Holdings' senior vice-president Claire Chiang, KPMG partner Ang Fung Fung and family physician Elly Sabrina Ismail.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on April 09, 2017, with the headline Indranee's advice to women: Believe in yourself. Subscribe