Workfare has indeed been helpful in providing additional income for lower-income workers but it leaves out two major groups of low-wage workers: Workers in the informal sector and workers below 35, with limited education.
We urge the Government to review Workfare to ensure a broader coverage of all low-wage workers.
We recently interviewed 47 low-income mothers on the barriers they faced in accessing paid work. Many were in informal work, that is, irregular or ad hoc, with no Central Provident Fund or benefits. For example, one makes bags at home while another does housekeeping work whenever she gets a call from her friend to do so.
They were not able to apply for part-or full-time employment because of their caregiving responsibilities, and had little family support.
Although individuals who perform casual labour – like many of our respondents – could technically register themselves as self-employed persons on the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore website, file tax returns and be eligible for Workfare, they do not do so because many are unaware of this option and their income is so low and sporadic that they do not identify themselves as self-employed persons, and are not accustomed to filing tax returns and often do not keep records of the desultory sums they earn.
Workfare requires them to make annual Medisave contributions, which exceeds the cash payout they will obtain from Workfare.
The Government should review how it can make Workfare work better for low-income persons who are not in formal employment.
Furthermore, most of our respondents were second-generation poor, who stopped their education young to support their family. Their income started low and generally did not rise above $2,500. When they started their own family, many had to drop out of formal employment.
To help low-income families break the poverty cycle, we recommend that the Workfare age requirement be changed to the age at which they first started working so that the wage supplement can start helping them build savings from a younger age.
On the 1st of December, Beyond The Hijab (BTH), an AWARE Power Fund grantee, held their very first event to celebrate their writers and supporters. BTH started out in 2014 as an online platform for Muslim women in Singapore to share their experiences as they face the demands of their religion and the pressures of the modern world. It provides diverse perspectives about women’s experiences through various blog series where contributors send in their stories based on the theme given. Photographer Nurul Huda Rashid also exhibited her photographs from the Hijab/Her series which featured the many facets of women and the hijab.
The session revved up with an exciting quiz, engaging the audience as it dived into a deeper insight of what Muslim women face in their daily lives with the use of quotes and controversial statements made about or by Muslim women.
Diana Rahim, BTH’s editor, led a panel discussion with two other contributors. She shared about her own writing experience and the process of reviewing and editing submissions. BTH contributors, Shafika Ghani and Firqin Sumartono, talked about how writing is a cathartic experience for them to understand and articulate the issues that they had faced better. They also reflected that the positive responses and support that the community gave them after their posts were published helped foster a sense of solidarity in the community.
The idea of a single narrative also surfaced during the discussion as minorities in Singapore often do not have a platform to express their views or opinions, much less for Muslim women. Therein lies the danger where only one story of a particular community dominates, flattening the experiences of others within the community. Henceforth, BTH stands to lend a voice to those in the community who have always wanted to share their personal experiences without getting judged. Muslim women are not a homogenous demographic and they should not be forced into the same mould.
During the Q&A session, a participant shared her concern about not having enough representation from middle-aged Muslim women on the blog since most of them may not be comfortable writing. One suggestion was for BTH to have oral interviews and write it for them. Ultimately, it should be entirely up to them on whether or not they want to share their stories.
Diana also reminded the audience that BTH allows anonymous submissions for contributors who do not feel comfortable using their real names. She also reassured potential contributors that she will work through the draft with them and ensure that they are fully satisfied with the final piece before publishing it on the website.
Another audience member asked whether BTH will offer an offline space beyond just the blog. Although BTH operates primarily online and will continue to do so, they collaborate with other groups that offer offline support and are keen to do more. Overall, the event was well-received as it allowed for sharing and getting feedbacks from their following beyond their online platform. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates on their latest posts.
ABOUT THE ORGANISER:
Beyond The Hijab(BTH) is an online platform for Singaporean Muslim women to share their stories religion and the demands of the current world. They run a regular blog series covering topics such as rituals, marriage and mental health. Beyond The Hijab is also a recipient of AWARE’s own Power Fund, which focuses on mentoring emerging organisations.
On the evening of 21st November 2018, more than 30 people gathered at AWARE to talk about sex education in Singapore. The crowd comprised of students, parents, and educators, along with four panellists who candidly shared their opinions and aspirations for how sex ed should look like in Singapore.
The panellists were Nithya Thanabalan, a university student; Tan Joo Hymn, a trainer at AWARE and parent; Mohamad Saiful bin Md Anuar, founder of Interverse and parent, and Lee Yi Ting, a trained sex-ed facilitator who works with Project X.
The session opened with a presentation of findings from a youth sexual health survey, conducted by AWARE in collaboration with students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Diploma in Psychology Studies programme. They surveyed close to 800 young persons (16 to 25 years old).
While the survey showed that majority of youths rarely spoke to their parents regarding sexual matters, panelist Nithya represented the small minority whose parents actively initiated conversations about sex. “They did not impart any biases, and did not impose any negative moral values like ‘sex is harmful’,” she said. Her parents’ approach to sex ed allowed Nithya to form her own decisions and views toward sexual matters, which she is appreciative of.
Many participants agreed that sex ed was not informative enough, and was overly-focused on the concept of abstinence. The room cringed in unison upon finding out that some schools were still using judgemental and sexist analogies to demonstrate the consequences of sexual activity. One student observed that schools barely spent much time on sex ed, and others said that there should be a greater focus on “consent” in sex ed. Yi Ting pointed out that sex is always viewed through a heteronormative lens in class, and this resonated with the room which agreed that this issue was problematic.
Parents shared that they found it difficult to know when to talk to their children about sex, and felt shy and awkward when trying to explain acts of sex, anatomy, and body safety to their children. Joo Hymn, a parent of three herself, offered advice to communicate with children in an age-appropriate manner. “Use language and references that they can understand,” she said. To overcome the awkwardness, she recommended picking out informative and fun sex ed videos from Youtube to watch with the children, and “simply wait for the questions to come.” As a strong supporter of open and loving communication, she believes children tend to follow a parent’s values and instructions if approached in a less dictatorial manner. When asked if he reflected on his own values towards sex when conversing with his children, Saiful acknowledged that he did not want them to make the same mistakes that he did. However, he also highlighted the struggle of presenting a consistent view about sex, as he and the children’s mother held differing values toward sex and gender.
After the panel discussion, the Birds and Bees workshop was launched. Birds and Bees is an experiential workshop for parents, run by parents, to help participants start and sustain the important conversation about sex – in a non-judgmental way. Parents who are interested in the next run of the workshop can indicate your interest here.
Leon* is a Singaporean man married to a Vietnamese woman (Wendy*). They met in Singapore in 2012 when Wendy was working on a Social Visit Pass. At that time, Leon was unaware that Wendy was involved in a sham marriage. She was arrested in early 2013 and imprisoned for a few months. Upon her release, she was given a Special Pass to remain in Singapore to assist the authorities in investigating a syndicate that organised sham marriages.
During this time, Wendy had nobody else to turn to, had nowhere to live and was not allowed to work. Leon decided to help her by letting her live in his house. The investigation took seven months and Leon and Wendy’s relationship developed romantically over this period. Unfortunately, his close association to Wendy also caused Leon to be subjected to investigation by the authorities, but Leon was not found to be involved in any criminal wrongdoing.
After the investigation ended, Wendy was deported back to Vietnam and barred from re-entering Singapore. Leon tried to find out from ICA if the entry ban was for life and was told by an officer to “appeal after two years”.
Leon and Wendy wanted to get married but Wendy was still legally in another marriage, despite the marriage being deemed a sham. They faced some trouble in getting the marriage annulled as Wendy was not able to enter Singapore to sign the necessary documents. Eventually, Leon managed to locate Wendy’s then-husband and he agreed to annul the marriage.
Since 2014, Leon has been approaching ICA and his MP several times to appeal for Wendy to re-enter Singapore, as they want to get married and settle down here. Eventually, Leon and Wendy decided to get married in Vietnam. After getting married, Leon again appealed for Wendy to enter Singapore and his appeal failed. He was told to inform ICA when there is a “significant change” to their status. Leon tried to find out what “significant change” entailed but could not get a clear response from ICA.
“I am frustrated with the ICA system and I understand where they are coming from, but I believe everyone make mistakes and should be given a second chance in life,” said Leon. “My wife is pregnant now, so we have to plan how to divide our child’s time between two countries and parents.”
In response to his latest appeal to ICA, Leon was told to wait until their child is born; apply for citizenship for the child, then try appealing for Wendy again.
“How would our child feel they feel when they grow up and find out that their mother is not allowed to enter the country where the rest of us live?”
Update, July 2020:
When Leon reached out to share his story in December 2018, he was appealing for an entry permit for his Vietnamese wife, Wendy. At that point, the ICA had told him to wait until their child was born, apply for citizenship for the child, then to try appealing for Wendy again.
Their daughter was born in Vietnam in May 2019, and Leon applied for Singapore citizenship for her. The girl was granted citizenship in December 2019. Two months later, Leon made another appeal to ICA for Wendy to be able to enter Singapore. However, he did not hear from them until the end of April 2020, when he was asked to submit some documents.
“The documents that they asked for this time were different from the ones I submitted last time, so I thought maybe got chance,” he said.
He then waited for another three months before ICA responded, again, to say that his appeal was unsuccessful.
It has been six months since Leon has seen his family in-person. With travel restrictions in place, he has not been able to fly to Vietnam to be with his family. Meanwhile, Wendy still does not have permission to come to Singapore. The couple has been relying on video calls to stay in contact in the meantime.
Leon is perplexed as to why Wendy is still not allowed to enter Singapore, when her daughter has already been granted citizenship. He questions why their child was able to get Singaporean citizenship in Singapore if ICA is not willing to allow one of her parents to be in the same country as her.
“Is ICA rejection [in] the best interest for my daughter, or the best interest of our society? I also not sure why ICA even granted my daughter citizenship when they already factored in my wife’s situation.”
*Pseudonyms
Note: The author of this post hopes to share his story to let others in similar situations know that they are not alone. He is open to being contacted by those in similar situations. Please email advocacy@aware.org.sg if you would like to be connected to him.
Written by Nurul Fadiah Johari, co-founder of Penawar
On Wednesday, 21 November 2018, Penawar Support Group organised their first public talk, where they shared their work and also launched their first zine and website. Penawar, which means “antidote” or “healing” in Malay, was established in 2015 for women who grew up in the Muslim community. They met up regularly to discuss their personal experiences dealing with patriarchy, body and moral policing, as well as religious coercion. Many of the members shared common experiences and noted that such a safe space did not exist in the community, and saw the need to create one. They found support and comfort through sharing their personal experiences and sought healing from such toxic experiences through community-building.
The event was thus dubbed as Penawar’s “coming out party”, since they have been private about the members and attendees, in order to maintain the safety of the support group. Penawar has always maintained that it is a space strictly for women and non-men, so that the participants would feel safe to share their personal experiences.
During the panel discussion, three members of the core team shared how the premise of Penawar is to affirm the validity of every woman’s experience, and to empower women with the ability to speak for their own experiences. It is empowering when a woman is able to name her pain or trauma and to claim that as her reality. Penawar also sees women’s struggles as collective. They aim to move away from individualising social problems, especially those faced by women. When a woman or a group of women share common experiences, it speaks a lot more about the society that we live in, rather than the individual herself. When asked whether Penawar would include men in their discussions, since men should be made aware of women’s trauma, the panel explained that they are open to engaging with male allies in public events, but not during the support sessions, so as to maintain the safety of the women and non-male members.
Penawar also launched their first zine which documents and showcase the work of Penawar over the past years. The zine contains articles which explain the purpose of support groups, how to live authentically for Muslim women, self-care, as well as some stories and testimonials by Penawar attendees. Guests were also introduced to the Penawar’s brand new website as part of their online community-building and outreach efforts.
The event concluded with a mingling session, where guests were treated to a few booths, which comprised an art therapy activity, one which promoted their first zine, and another which showcased books that the Penawar team recommends as helpful materials for their own healing and intellectual development.
The event was very well-received by its guests, many of whom had never attended the previous support sessions. The Penawar team is looking forward to seeing the community grow, and for more women in the community to come together and support each other in their healing. This quote by the renowned Black feminist scholar, bell hooks, aptly captures the spirit and work of Penawar: “Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
ABOUT THE ORGANISER:
Penawar is a support group created for Singaporean women who are Muslims or are from a Muslim background, to share their thoughts on taboo and sensitive issues of religion and individual experiences of religious trauma. Their main aim is to reach out and build a strong peer-led support that enables these women to heal and find comfort via monthly support groups and other activities. For more information, check out their website and Instagram. Penawar is also a recipient of AWARE’s own Power Fund, which focuses on mentoring emerging organisations.
On Saturday, 17 November 2018, Crit Talk, an AWARE Power Fund grantee, conducted a ‘Positive Parenting and Intimacy’ workshop to kickstart a conversation between parents on how to talk to their children about sex and their bodies.
Positive parenting means providing loving guidance to children to keep them safe and healthy. Research shows that talking to children about sex and personal boundaries at an early age can protect them from or mitigate child sexual abuse, and later on, unsafe sexual practices and unwanted pregnancy.
Conversations about bodies, sex and sexuality can be difficult, especially if we did not grow up being able to ask our own parents about these issues. Crit Talk co-founders, Sya and Saiful, felt that as young parents, there needed to be more discussions with other like-minded parents about how to handle ‘awkward’ or ‘inappropriate’ questions that children sometimes asks.
It was heartening to see so many fellow Muslim parents who were dedicated to being more open with their children about sex. Framed within an overall objective of preventing situations of sexual abuse, the workshop started with getting the participants to think about what myths they had been told growing up. Some examples given were: ”Whisper’ is a brand of shoulder pads’, ‘Babies come from Allah’, ‘If I want a sibling I must eat more chicken’ and ‘Only girls are pressured into sex’. The facilitators reflected briefly about the way the participants felt when they later found these to be untrue. One important feeling brought up was that of betrayal and how this spurred some participants to seek a different path of parenting for their children.
Many of the sex ed myths offered by the participants seemed to revolve around adolescence. Perhaps this was one of their most salient memories because of it being a formative period in their lives. It was reiterated that adolescence would be too late to start talking about sex, however most participants with toddlers seemed to be already open to speaking matter-of-factly about private parts and appropriate and inappropriate touching.
Participants broke out into small groups to discuss about what they would have liked their parents to tell them and what they felt had been beneficial for them. Some of the more uncommon things included: a father demonstrating how to use a condom on a banana, and receiving an informative sex ‘encyclopaedia’ with diagrams.
The workshop ended with optimistic reflections from the participants that they would keep trying to be open with their children, offer them a safe space, and look for resources, such as books, to continue having conversations with their children.
ABOUT THE ORGANISER:
Crit Talk aims to provide a safe space for self-identified Muslims to discuss taboo topics and their unique experiences. They run regular focus group discussions on topics such as masculinity and feminity and interfaith. Crit Talk is also a recipient of AWARE’s own Power Fund, which focuses on mentoring emerging organisations.
On Saturday, 3 November 2018, one of AWARE’s Power Fund grantees Brave Spaces held a workshop on ‘Cultivating Emotional Resilience From Within’. Emotional resilience enables us to be present to those around us and simultaneously acknowledge the negative feelings within us without being overwhelmed by them. When we hit a crisis, how long does it take for us to bounce back and cope with the feelings that come up?
Part of the workshop was spent discussing the different types of “Drivers” we all have, the categories of which are: ‘be perfect’, ‘be strong’, ‘be pleasing’, ‘try hard’ and ‘hurry up’. Participants discussed how each driver can be effective and ineffective, coming up with different strategies to cope with them. The participants enjoyed having the opportunity to have group discussions with others who are similar, as well as learning from the other groups as there can be conflict amongst different people with different drivers.
At the end of the session, participants were able to better understand emotional resilience, and define and redefine their understanding of emotions. Concepts of emotional literacy were discussed, where participants articulate the emotions that they experience as well as come up with both long-term and short-term strategies for coping with emotions and building emotional resilience – such as taking time off, practicing self-compassion and knowing how to talk about emotions. The importance of accepting emotions was highlighted – being open to feelings instead of pushing them away – for us to better understand ourselves.
About the organiser:
Brave Spaces is a non-profit organisation that provides support services for marginalised women through a dedicated helpline, social services, workshops and events. They recently launched the Brave Helpline (8788 8817) for LBTQI women in Singapore. This event was an opportunity for participants to experience one of the services Brave Spaces does, and the workshop was a success with positive participant feedback. There were many new insights gained from the sharing by Brave Spaces, as well as from the discussions had in the workshop.
Written by Nanthini d/o T Sambanthan, AWARE intern
Author Chua Mui Hoong with AWARE Board members and staff
Author and editor for The Straits Times Chua Mui Hoong held a talk at AWARE on 7 November to share her thoughts on inequality in Singapore, as discussed in her latest book, Singapore, Disrupted. Together with Margaret Thomas, AWARE’s current President, they explored how inequality manifests in Singapore and what should be done to eradicate it.
Margaret Thomas kicked off the session by diving into the question of Ms Chua’s motivation behind Singapore, Disrupted. Ms Chua pointed to her experience as a columnist, where her interest in inequality was further heightened by what she saw as the growing divide between ‘ordinary’ Singaporeans and the ‘elite’ in society. Growing up as the daughter of low-income hawkers herself, she was troubled by this as she felt that it would end up being an existential threat for meritocratic Singapore.
She zeroed in on ‘elite fragmentation’, a core theme in her book. According to Ms Chua, this has become much more noticeable since 2011, especially in terms of former members of the Singaporean political establishment challenging long-held policies, such as current Ambassador–at-Large Professor Tommy Koh’s recent remarks which urged the repeal of Section 377A of the Penal code.
Ms Chua pointed out that Singapore’s founding ideal of meritocracy may have inadvertently contributed to the current widening inequality. The ‘Singapore Dream’, which was the dream of social mobility, is an issue that goes right to the “heart of Singapore”. For her, the current idea of meritocracy carries with it troubling notions of morality – if one does well, it’s due to them being hardworking, if one does badly however, it means they are lazy and morally inferior. This perspective ignores the structural reasons behind one’s success or failures (she cites the alumni admission and affiliation schemes in schools). In this regard, Singapore seems to be a victim of its own successes.
Emphasising on the need to be “optimistic”, Ms Chua ended with a vision for Singapore: “Singapore is currently at a crossroads, and if we want to succeed, we need a bold vision and to jump out of the future, instead if continuing to wallow in an increasingly toxic brew of elite fragmentation and fraying consensus.”
Singapore, Disrupted can be purchased for $27.94 here.
This post was originally published as a press release on 26 November 2018.
Ten women courageously open up about their sexual violence and harassment ordeal in a hard-hitting video, kicking off Aim for Zero, AWARE’s latest campaign to end sexual violence in Singapore.
Their stories give us a glimpse of some common experiences among sexual violence survivors: battling victim-blaming attitudes, unsympathetic employers who took no action, or parents who couldn’t fully understand their trauma.
Aim for Zero will be launched in conjunction with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The Guest-of-Honour for the opening event on 26 November will be Mr. K Shanmugam, Minister for Law and Home Affairs, who has led the Government’s recent initiatives to strengthen the laws on sexual assault and improve survivors’ access to justice.
A sexual assault survivor, a community changemaker and an expert in trauma-informed practice will be participating in an empowering dialogue at the event.
Said Corinna Lim, Executive Director of AWARE, “Whether you are a leader, a parent, an employer, or a student, you can take concrete steps to address sexual violence. We should press for collective action by keeping one another accountable, stepping up to diligently ensure the spaces we occupy are free from harassment and violence, and be supportive first-responders to those who have been assaulted or harassed.”
Said Minister Shanmugam, “The campaign video carries an important and powerful message. It takes courage and conviction for victims to come forward to tell their story. There will be zero tolerance for sexual assault, whether it is against women, men, children, or people of different sexual orientation. The CPC has been updated, and the Penal Code will be amended soon. We have introduced new procedures to strengthen protection for victims and will be introducing new laws to deter sexual assault. We take this seriously.”
The campaign is AWARE’s response to the outcries against sexual violence amplified by the global #metoo movement.
“Besides a handful of local cases on workplace and institutional harassment that received public attention, Singapore has been relatively less visible in the #metoo conversation. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t touched by it. Our Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC) saw a 79% surge in cases at the end of 2017, when the #metoo movement took off. This proves that more support is needed, and concrete change needs to happen on every level – that’s what Aim for Zero plans to do,” said Ms. Lim, who is also one of the participants of the video and spoke about her experience of workplace harassment.
“With the recommendations by the Penal Code Review Committee to the Government to repeal marital immunity for rape, there’s no better time to ride on the momentum of these big moves for change and rally behind survivors’’
As part of Aim for Zero, AWARE will:
Expand the outreach and capacity of SACC, Singapore’s only one-stop support centre for survivors of sexual violence and harassment. The centre saw a 79% spike in cases in October 2017 when #metoo first went viral.
Train more employers and workers on how to manage workplace harassment and implement strong anti-harassment policies and processes. Catalyse Consulting, AWARE’s corporate training arm, saw a 400% increase in workshops on managing workplace harassment since #metoo.
Conduct educational programmes and workshops for the public on consent, sexual violence and gender equality. AWARE will introduce a new programme to encourage parents to have age-appropriate consent and sexuality education at home, while SACC will work with community groups and the public to run more first-responder workshops to improve the support survivors receive from the moment of disclosure.
Carry out a survey on the prevalence of workplace harassment, and other forms of sexual violence. The findings from the research will contribute to national discourse on how to enhance legal protection and improve investigative processes for survivors.
Chanel, a survivor of sexual violence who shared her experience through the campaign video, said, “When I was going through different episodes of violence throughout my life, from catcalling to sexual assault, I asked myself, ‘Why do we live in a society where the lines between Yes and No are blurred?’ I traced it back to this power system called the patriarchy. Patriarchy is toxic for everybody, from women to men, from the young to the old. Aim for Zero offers the right space to fight back, a space where important questions are asked and action is taken. Change needs to happen at home, in schools, in institutions, and in organisations.”
Said Dawn, another participant of the video, “Zero is the only number worth aspiring towards to truly achieve respect and safety for every individual. This campaign is important to keep the #metoo conversation going while translating all the talk into necessary action and change. Sexual violence involves every one of us, so let’s listen and Aim for Zero. It’s our collective responsibility.”
Said Zann, a supporter of the campaign who has experienced sexual violence, “I would love to see organisations and companies adopt a strict anti-harassment stance and play an active role in establishing proper channels to report sexual misconduct – safely and anonymously.”
Members of the public can show their support by donating to AWARE’s Aim For Zero fund and sharing the video on social media with the hashtag #AimforZeroSG.
On Wednesday, 21 November 2018, Penawar Support Group organised their first public talk, where they shared their work and also launched their first zine and 
On Saturday, 17 November 2018, Crit Talk, an AWARE 
On Saturday, 3 November 2018, one of AWARE’s 
Ten women courageously open up about their sexual violence and harassment ordeal in a hard-hitting