What does this mean and how do you achieve it at the different stages of your life?

This workshop will teach you the following:

·How to achieve financial independence

·Fun with budgeting

·Making your money stretch

·Managing debt

·Relationships and money- joint or separate expenses, accounts, assets?  What happens if things don’t work out?

You should definitely attend this workshop if you identify with these concerns:

·I have been working for 3 years and I’m kinda clueless about saving and planning for the future. What do I need to know and do?

·I am married or about to be married. Money is always a sensitive topic with my partner. How do I deal with this?

·I am worried about my aging parents, their falling sick and dying. How can I plan ahead to take care of these contingencies?

Training Date: 15 February 2012

Check back for new schedule     7pm-9pm

Money Club Dates:
22 February 2012
29 February 2012

Where:
AWARE Centre (Dover Crescent Block 5 #01-22)

How much?
Single: $50
Pair: $80

AWARE members who log in at the website and purchase will receive a 40% discount. That is just $30 for the workshop or $48 for a pair.

Register here to reserve your spot.

Please send us an e-mail to publiceducation@aware.org.sg if you have any questions.

Dr Adeline Koh and Yu-Mei Balasingamchow are co-editors of Troublesome Women, a forthcoming collection of academic essays on women, gender and sexuality in Malaysia and Singapore.

The particular experiences of Malaysia and Singapore offer valuable and often overlooked insights on the intersection between gender, modernity and globalisation. At this Roundtable Discussion, Yu-Mei will explain the genesis of this project, discuss some of the 24 book chapters which have been contributed by established and emerging scholars from around the world, as well as some of the issues they have encountered in pursuing this interdisciplinary project.

Date: Feb 16, 2012, Thursday
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: AWARE Centre (Blk 5 Dover Crescent #01-22)

Register for this event here.

Speakers

Adeline Koh is an assistant professor of literature at Richard Stockton College in the United States. Her research concentrations are in South-east Asian and African postcolonial literatures and gender studies. She has published peer review essays in journals such as Third Text and Journal of Postcolonial Writing, and co-edited a volume on third cinema titled Rethinking Third Cinema (LIT Berlin: 2009). She is currently working on a monograph called Dangerous Women: Representations of Women’s Education in Postcolonial Literature.

Her website is: http://adelinekoh.org

Yu-Mei Balasingamchow is a writer and independent scholar in Singapore. She is the co-author of Singapore: A Biography (National Museum of Singapore/Editions Didier Millet, Singapore: 2009), which was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2010 and received a gold prize at the Asia Pacific Publishers Association Awards 2010. She is also the editor of Singapore culture magazine POSKOD.SG and recently received funding from the National Arts Council to write her first novel.

Her website is: http://www.toomanythoughts.org.

However, as the primary objective of insurance is to provide for your protection, it is important that whatever insurance you already have or are going to get is tailored to your specific needs. These needs will change as you enter different stages of your life and as your personal goals evolve.

As part of our empowerment training , we are pleased to offer FACT 2 on Insurance. FACT is short for Financial Awareness & Confidence Training.

This course aims to give you a fundamental understanding of how insurance works and how you can protect yourself and your assets with the right tools. You will walk away from this programme with all the knowledge and skills you need to assess your changing insurance needs.

The course consists of 3 interactive sessions that comprise both lectures and discussions. Topics covered will include:
1)    Is insurance necessary?
2)    How does insurance work?
3)    What role does it play in my financial plan?
4)    How much insurance and what type of insurance do I need?
5)    Where and how do I get the insurance I want?

The trainer is Sim Wei Min, who has spent more than 15 years assisting people from all walks of life with their insurance needs and retirement planning.

When:
Training Date: 21 February 2012

Money Club Sessions:
28 February 2012
6 March 2012

Time: 7pm-9pm

Where: AWARE Centre

Price:
Single: $50
Pair: $80

AWARE members who log in at the website and purchase will receive a discount. That is just $30 for the workshop or $48 for a pair.

Quotes from participants:
Layman terms; insider tips.
Interactive and laid back.
Easy to understand, clear explanations.
The open communication about the topic.
It was great. Very informative for all types of insurance.
I like the case studies because it makes us think of the best policies that different individual should get.

Register here to reserve your spot.

Please send us an e-mail to publiceducation@aware.org.sg if you have any questions.

Ice-cream

Advertising tells us that a woman’s body is made to be consumed – and what better way to examine this than through commercials that sell ice-cream? An analysis of ice-cream print ads over time reveals how the rise of the modern nuclear family, capitalism, consumerism, and changes in women’s status have affected the way ice-cream has been bought and sold. A further glance at contemporary ice-cream ads today also show us widespread societal notions about masculinity, race, and ideal gendered as well as sexualised behaviour and body types.

Alcohol

From the cultural, economic and biological perspective, men have consistently been the primary target group for alcohol advertisements over the past 60 years. But why? Themes of masculinity, femininity, sexuality and objectification of women will also be highlighted, to showcase how alcohol advertisements (to a large extent) still utilize gender stereotypes in order to attract their primary target audience – the male consumers.

McDonalds

The presentation will cover an introduction to McDonald’s and its advertising history and a sharing of the analytical findings. It will also highlight the trends in these advertisements – are they all inherently gendered in some way or another?

SPEAKERS

Kellynn Wee
Kellynn Wee is a Sociology and English Literature major at the National University of Singapore with a particular interest in gender and sexuality issues (especially pertaining to South-east Asia, religion, post-colonialism, and masculinity) as well as children’s and young adult literature.

Nur Fadilah
Nur Fadilah is currently a Year 4 NUS undergraduate majoring in Social Work. After graduation in 2012, she will be working as a social worker at a family service centre working with families and at-risk youths

Bryan Chia 
Bryan Chia is a 3rd year undergrad currently reading Sociology at the National University of Singapore. My interests in my field of study is in deconstructing processes and belief systems.

Does your workplace have a clear sexual harassment policy in place and provide adequate training for managers to deal with such situations? If the answer is “no”, be part of the solution. Share what you learn in this course with your company’s Human Resources department.

You don’t need to be a victim to care about making your workplace a safe environment. Many victims of sexual harassment suffer silently because they fear repercussions. And those who do speak up often have to deal with inexperienced HR personnel and managers, which makes their situation even more frustrating. But inexperience can be easily remedied with training.

Aware has offered this managers’ course on how to deal with workplace sexual harassment since 2009. The instructor is Ms Veronica Wong, a personal life coach and specialized project consultant for Human Resource Management (HRM) and Training. She has over 20 years of HRM experience and is a certified counsellor skilled in Choice Therapy, Reality Therapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Besides AWARE, she has also shared her expertise with non-profit organizations like the Kaki Bukit Prison School and the Special Needs Trust Company.

In this course, you will learn:

Quotes from previous participants:

“Very interesting. I have learned so much about sexual harassment.”

“The trainer delivered the information very well and made the class very enjoyable.”

“Everyone must have this knowledge!”

When: April 20, 2012 1pm-6pm

Where: AWARE Centre, 5 Dover Crescent

Fee: Single, S$100, pair: S$180

Reserve your spot! Register HERE.

For more information, go to Workplace Sexual Harassment microsite or e-mail publiceducation@aware.org.sg

A guide to understanding feminism and concepts of gender in ourselves and our society

The word “feminism” can elicit extreme reactions. Some completely identify with it, while many say: “I believe in gender equality but I am not a feminist.”

What exactly is feminism? The definition can vary from feminist to feminist, and many misconceptions prevail.

To help women and men understand feminism better, AWARE has put together a 3-part workshop series that explores the history of the feminist movement, how gender roles are shaped over time, the gender messages that are embedded in popular culture, and what feminism means today.

Men, particularly fathers, are strongly encouraged to participate.

Workshop 1 – History of feminism
28th October 2011,7pm-9pm
By: Ms Braema Mathi

Workshop 2 – Reclaiming the F-word. What does feminism mean to me?
30th November 2011, 7pm- 9pm
By: Corinna Lim and Robin Rheaume

Workshop 3–The Princess Ideology Debunking the Myths
12th December 2011, 7pm-9pm
By: Dr. Chitra Sankaran

Venue: AWARE Centre

Workshops can be booked individually.

Fees

Non-members
$10/person
$15 for two persons

Members
$5/person
$8  for two persons

**To enjoy their discount, members need to log in with their username and password on the AWARE website to sign up for the workshop. Click Forgot Password to have your username and password emailed to you.

For more information, email publiceducation@aware.org.sg or call 6779-7137.

To commemorate UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, AWARE is organising the launch of Kendra Frazier’s seminal book – Nightingale Songs, the first comprehensive documentation of the experiences of domestic violence survivors in Singapore.

In Nightingale Songs, survivors of domestic violence share their personal stories. Professionals like counsellors also discuss their involvement in this challenging field and what their experiences have taught them. The diversity of stories in the book shows that this social problem is not limited to any particular class or ethnic group, but cuts across the boundaries of race, religion, education and socio-economic status.

This book will prove useful to those working or considering working in the field of domestic violence and will speak to anyone whose life has been touched by domestic violence.

At this event, and as part of Stop The Cycle Before It Starts, AWARE’s anti-domestic violence campaign for 2011/12, the following experts and abuse survivors will also share their experiences and insights in a discussion:

• Kendra Frazier, author and professional counsellor
• Benny Bong, family and marital therapist, and director of The Family Therapist
• Danny Ho, survivor and counsellor
• Survivor

Chair: Udhia Kumar, social worker at a family service centre

This event aims to raise public awareness about domestic violence and generate a discussion on what the community can do to stop the cycle of violence.

EVENT DETAILS

Date: November 25, 2011, Friday
Time: 3pm to 6pm
Venue: YMCA, Tan Chin Tuan Room Level 4 (1 Orchard Road Singapore, 5 mins from Dhoby Gaut MRT Station Exit A)

This event is free, but you must register online to reserve your seat.

For further information, e-mail Pam at publiceducation@aware.org.sg

This event is sponsored by:
High Commission of Canada

EVENT DETAILS
Date: Postponed
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: AWARE Centre (Block 5 Dover Crescent #01-22)

Together For A Better World For All: Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities

Persons with disabilities have historically been seen as objects of charity rather than as subjects with rights. However, there has been growing recognition at the international level on the need to include persons with disabilities in all aspects development, on an equal basis with others. In 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first comprehensive human rights instrument for persons with disabilities.

The Singapore government has expressed its intention to sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012. What does it mean for Singapore to sign this Convention, and what should Singapore do to prepare for the signing of this Convention? Come to our November Roundtable to learn more about these and other issues.

For more information, do check out UN Enable’s page on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, as well as their page on Disability and Women.

Speaker: Ron Chandran Dudley

Ron Chandran-Dudley is a veteran disability rights activist with extensive experience at both the local and international levels.

Ron started to work at the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped at the age of 30 first as its secretary general, before moving on to head the rehabilitation of its social services unit. He was later appointed the association’s president.

A person with a disability himself, Ron contributed in many ways to empowering the visually handicapped to live fruitful independent lives. One of the initiatives he moved was the Open Education System, pioneered by Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School in 1967. The system enabled visually handicapped students to study in a mainstream school.

In 1981, Ron came together with a team of like-minded people from different countries to set up Disabled People’s International. This is a global cause disability rights organisation that collaborates with international agencies such as the UNESCO. The organisation is now comprised of 115 member countries. Ron was the organisation’s first world chairman as well as the first president of its Singapore chapter.

Now at his 70s, Ron remains passionate about serving persons with disabilities. He is the vice-chairman of the management committee of Light House School, which provides primary education to children with disabilities.

Ron graduated from the State University of New York with a double Master’s degree in Sociology and Vocational Rehabilitation Counselling and Psychotherapy on a Fulbright Scholarship. Ron’s dedication to the disability cause locally and internationally has won him many accolades over the years.

Chair: TBD

Register for this event here.

Find out more about AWARE’s monthly Roundtable Discussions here.

Date: October 20
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: AWARE Centre (Block 5 Dover Crescent #01-22)

A Crisis of Masculinity? Reflections on Singapore and the United States

Since the 1990s, various commentators have suggested that men face a “crisis of masculinity” in the wake of feminism and changing gender roles. In this roundtable, we will discuss the idea of a crisis of masculinity, whether it has any substance and what if anything to do about it.

The speaker, Associate Professor Eric C. Thompson of the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore will share reflections on the crisis of masculinity as it plays out in both Singapore and the United States.

Speaker: Eric C. Thompson

Associate Professor and Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. Before joining NUS, he completed a PhD in socio-cultural anthropology at the University of Washington and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of California Los Angeles. He teaches anthropology, gender studies, urban studies and research methods. He has conducted research for over two decades throughout South-east Asia, primarily in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia.

His research interests include transnational networking, gender studies, urbanism, culture theory, and ASEAN regionalism. His work has appeared in the journals American Ethnologist, Asian Studies Review, Contemporary Sociology, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Field Methods, Global Networks, Political Geography, and Urban Studies among others. He is author of Unsettling Absences: Urbanism in Rural Malaysia (NUS Press, 2007) and Attitudes and Awareness toward ASEAN: Findings of a Ten-Nation Survey (with Chulanee Thianthai, ISEAS Press, 2008).

Register for this event here.

Find out more about AWARE’s monthly Roundtable Discussions here.

Are any of these situations familiar to you?

•    You throw yourself from solving one crisis to another
•    Your to-do list never gets done
•    You feel under pressure with tight deadlines and ‘no time’ to do anything properly
•    You spend too much time on social networks
•    You struggle to balance work, family life, and your personal well-being
•    You are overwhelmed with life and have no time to enjoy things

If the answer is yes, please pause for a moment…

•    Do you really have to do so much right now?
•    Who decides your timelines?
•    What will happen if you took more time to do certain things?
•    Who won the race – the tortoise or the hare?

This workshop offers solutions on how to manage your time, and maintain a high level of productivity simultaneously.

Workshop Highlights:

1.    The Wheel of Life
a. Importance:  Career, Money, Health, Friends & Family, Relationships,  Fun & Recreation, Personal Growth & Spirituality / Community / Personal Space? How much time do you allocate for each area?
b. Quality of Life’? Is your life balanced?

2.    Setting SMART Goals & allocating time for each of them
a.    Parkinson’s law
b.    Focus & total immersion principle

3.    Planning and the art of prioritisation
a.    Pareto law – the ‘80/20’ rule
b.    Can the task be eliminated or delegated?
c.    Procrastination – reasons and ways to overcome it

4.    Recognising interferences
a.    Dealing with emails and phone calls
b.    Handling requests and interferences from bosses, colleagues, friends and family

At the end of the workshop, participants will know that time management is a personal choice. We can use the tools to organise our lives and set the schedules. We can adopt the perspective that time is unlimited. We can choose to believe that we control time, and leave the rushing behind.

When: 12 November 2011

Time:  9:30am-12:30pm

Where: AWARE Centre (Dover Crescent Block 5 #01-22)

How much:

Individual -  $50

Pair-  $80

AWARE members who log in at the website and purchase will receive a 40% discount.  That is just $30 for the workshop or $48 for a pair.

About the trainer:
Maria Kassova is the founder and Managing Director of RoseSky Pte Ltd.  In 2009, she conducted workshops on building self-esteem at Aidha (www.aidha.org), a non-profit organisation for domestic workers dedicated to enriching lives through financial education. Following her experience there, Maria decided to use her energy and skills to help others nurture their self-esteem and live empowered and fulfilled lives.

A certified Business Coach by the Institute of Business Coaches, UK and a master practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Maria also holds an MBA and a BA in International Economic Relations.   The daughter of a Bulgaria diplomat, she has over 10 years of experience working for MNCs like BBC Worldwide and Discovery Communications International.

Register HERE.

For more information, contact Pam at publiceducation@aware.org.sg or call 6779-7137.