With record number of women MPs, PAP Women’s Wing expands focus areas of advocacy

SINGAPORE - In the upcoming term, the PAP Women’s Wing will focus its advocacy in four areas, including career and health, that have emerged from its engagements with residents, activists and volunteers.

The unit has reorganised itself to better reflect the issues that women are concerned about, and this comes as more women than ever are representing the party in Parliament, said Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Sim Ann on Sept 15.

Ms Sim, who chairs the PAP Women’s Wing, said the new areas are careers and leadership; health and well-being; seasons of life; and safety and respect. The party will put forth policy suggestions in these areas and organise more activities for women to participate in, she added.

The four groups each have a designated adviser and head, and they are an expansion of the previous policy group under the Women’s Wing’s executive committee. There is growing interest among Women’s Wing members in policy advocacy, and there are more issues on the agenda to be discussed, tracked and revisited, said Ms Sim. “We’re very happy to see 29 elected PAP women MPs,” she added. There were 24 in the previous Parliament.

“This not only brings up the representation of women in Parliament on behalf of the PAP, but it also provides us with opportunities to build on the work of the Women’s Wing, especially in terms of advocacy.”

At the same time, the Women’s Wing will review old policies in the light of current trends such as women marrying later, and fertility issues, said Minister of State for Health and Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam, who has been newly appointed as one of the Women’s Wing vice-chairs.

“(Such) policies had been put in place when we were looking at a certain cadence of living in the past, where people would get married at a certain age, live with their parents and then move out... but things are different now and women have different aspirations,” she said.

At a briefing with media held at executive learning centre Catapult ahead of the Women’s Wing conference on Sept 20, Ms Sim said the advisers for the four groups were chosen based on their experience with these issues, including in their previous job roles.

It is also a move to inject new blood into the team and give them experience, she added. Several newcomer MPs will be either advisers or heads of these groups.

Newly minted Minister of State for Education and Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau will be adviser to the seasons of life group, headed by two-term MP Hany Soh.

Ms Lau, who was deputy secretary for policy at the Ministry of Health before she resigned to join politics, will oversee the group’s work that covers the different stages of life that a woman may experience, including issues related to marriage, parenthood and ageing, as well as their role in caregiving.

Ms Goh Hanyan, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth, and Sustainability and the Environment, will advise the health and well-being group that covers both physical health and mental well-being.

Ms Goh, a former senior civil servant overseeing Singapore’s Smart Nation and artificial intelligence policies, will be joined by fellow newcomer Diana Pang as head.

Senior Minister of State for National Development and Transport Sun Xueling, one of the Women’s Wing vice-chairs, will be adviser for the careers and leadership group, with backbencher Rachel Ong as the head.

Fourth-term MP Tin Pei Ling will be adviser for the safety and respect group, which will cover physical safety and women’s online presence and identities. The group will be headed by Ms Bernadette Giam, PAP’s Sengkang GRC candidate at the recent election.

Reflecting on the work of the Women’s Wing in the previous term, Ms Sim said a major milestone was in 2021, when the unit called on the Government to take action to tackle discrimination and advance women’s development in Singapore, and submitted recommendations that went towards a White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development.

“The work doesn’t stop there,” said Ms Sim, who said the recommendations in the paper should be revisited regularly and updated, depending on changes in the economy and society.

“Every improvement in terms of safety and respect for women is hard won, but as we sometimes have seen, it can backslide,” she noted, adding that they want to prevent this.

Asked about the party’s efforts to have more female representation in Parliament, Ms Sim said the Women’s Wing sees itself as a platform for women with an interest in politics or political aspirations to get a feel of what advocacy is like.

“Just as we advocate for greater roles for women leadership in all professions and all fields, the same goes for politics. We would like to see women go further,” she added.