Gender Discrimination in Patriarchal Singapore Draft 3

In his TED talk, Goldin (2009) talks about the unequal development of globalisation. As the world globalises, countries get wealthier and women are getting better education. However, not everyone experiences the same rate of development (Sen, 2002): the rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer in most cases. Despite contributions from women in many countries, they are often not rewarded equally. Because of the patriarchal structure in Singapore, income disparity persists between genders. In order to address the socio-economic disparity between genders, laws need to be enacted to empower women.

Former Prime Minster of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong, once openly pointed out that "in a largely patriarchal society, minor areas where women are not accorded the same treatment should be expected so long as the welfare of women and of the family is protected. I would not regard them as 'pockets of discrimination' or 'blemishes' but as traditional areas of differential treatments" (Chan, 2000). With the government's stand on patriarchy, women often face negligence, if not discrimination in various aspects of life. This gender bias is reinforced by traditional Asian values where women are primary care-givers and homemakers. This led to past emphasis on the male counterparts attaining education, obtaining valuable skill sets for employment, and thus, creating a male dominant society.

Consequently, women face various social challenges throughout their lives. For example, their low levels of educational qualifications in the past and their primary roles as mothers and care-givers, women have been generally economically dependent on their spouses. As of 2012, life expectancy for women stands at 84.5 years while life expectancy for men is 79.9 years (SingStat, 2013). Hence, many of these women will face economic difficulties as they tend to outlive their spouses. Furthermore, the lower educational qualifications of women result in them being consigned to lowly skilled labour jobs, which in turn receive lower salaries. Some women may not even be able to find jobs due to their lack of qualifications, thus, being unemployed despite their willingness to work.

Despite a rise in the percentage of economically active women aged 15 and above from 49.6% in 2001 to 54.5% in 2011 (Tan, 2012), women do not earn equal paychecks compared to their male counterparts. Tan (2012) stated that in 2011 women in the services industry were earning on average SGD3728 to SGD5075 earned by men in the same industry. This is partly attributed to the fact that employers of women have to entitle both married and single women 8 weeks of paid maternity leave (Ministry of Manpower, 2014). The loss of productivity due to childbirth would incur great costs for the employers, especially over the course of the 8 weeks paid maternity leave. Furthermore, women employees do not necessarily enjoy equal medical benefits because it would be costly to provide such medical coverage in view of more women complications. From my past experience of being an insurance agent, women are required to pay a higher premium for their medical insurance due to the increased risk of breast cancer, cervix cancer and pregnancy complications, etc. Hence, employers do not have the incentives to pay women employees higher salaries.

In order to narrow the income gap between genders, certain measures can be put in place to improve women's social status. One such measure is to enact laws on equal pay for women. Although Singapore had ratified the International Labour Organisation Convention Number 100 on equal pay for men and women, women in the law profession, for example, have to increase their working hours in order to receive equal salaries as their male counterparts (Das, 2005). Despite its commitment in providing equal pay for equal wages, the lack of concrete laws on equal pay maintains the income gap.

Secondly, despite the increase in women's educational qualifications and income in recent years, men's income grew faster (Chan, 2000). Therefore, rather than just improving women's education, opportunities for workplace promotion should be on par with the male counterparts. By allowing women to take on more important roles, they are able to increase their income, narrowing the gap and improve their social standing.

Studies show that in countries where males help out with household chores, women generally enjoy higher social standing. However, in a traditionally male-dominant Asian society like Singapore, the change in attitude of men to help out in household chores seems to be implausible and this cannot be done through legislation.

Lastly, greater political attention can be given to civil societies that campaign for women rights such as AWARE and Singapore Council of Women's Organisation. By allowing such voices to be heard in politics, women's social status in Singapore can better be improved, narrowing the income gap as women receive equal treatment in the workplace. However, Singapore government employs a top-down approach in its policy making; the extent to which these civil societies can affect policies is determined by the government. The existence of such societies is generally seen as "gestural" and apolitical.

In conclusion, to narrow the gender income gap, women have to have an increase in their social standing in Singapore. However, this may be hard to come by given the strong stance on patriarchy in Singapore.

References

Chan, J. S. (2000). The status of women in a patriarchal state. In: Edwards, L. P. & Roces, M.      eds. (2000). Women in Asia. pp. 39-58. N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin.

Das, M. (2005). Gender In Justice - Women In The Law In Singapore. Retrieved   http://www.aware.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/Gender_In_Justice.pdf [Accessed: 3 March            2014].

Ministry of Manpower. (2014). Maternity leave. [online] Retrieved             http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave-and-holidays/Pages/maternity-           leave.aspx [Accessed: 3 March 2014].

Sen, A. (2002). How To Judge Globalism. The American Prospect, 13(1), 1-14. Retrieved             http://www2.econ.uu.nl/users/marrewijk/pdf/ihs/geo/sen%202000%20judge%20glob.pdf  [Accessed: 18 February 2014].

Statistic Singapore. (2013). Statistics Singapore - life expectancy at birth. [online] Retrieved            http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/visualising_data/chart/Life_Expectancy_At_Birth.ht ml [Accessed: 3 March 2014].

Tan, L. L. (2012). Singapore Yearbook of Manpower Statistics, 2012. Singapore: Manpower          Research And Statistics Department Ministry Of Manpower Republic Of Singapore.         Retrieved http://www.mom.gov.sg/documents/statistics-           publications/yearbook12/mrsd_2012yearbook.pdf [Accessed: 19 March 2014].