MENU

MENU

Donate Now
Login

Author: AWARE Media

home

Civil society groups express concerns over breadth of Public Order Bill

Civil society groups AWARE, Function 8, HOME, Project X, Think Centre, and TWC2 have serious concerns about the Public Order and Safety (Special Powers) Bill, which introduces wide-reaching police powers, including to potentially deploy lethal force and to stop communications, not just during terrorist attacks, but also during peaceful protests.

The Bill goes far beyond what is proportional to secure police operations against armed violence or hostage-taking. It treats peaceful protests in the same way as terrorist violence, but they are fundamentally different, as they are non-violent and do not threaten public safety. Moreover, given existing strict laws against assembly, law enforcement is already empowered to respond to them as they would any prohibited activity, and have done so – special powers are not needed.

The Bill’s powers can be activated in response to a “serious incident”, including both terrorist incidents and other acts “causing large-scale public disorder”. In the Bill, this includes “a sit-down demonstration for a cause”, which attracts “a large group of sympathisers” and threatens neither human life nor property.

A protest which gains sympathisers often reflects a serious social issue which would benefit from open dialogue. Law enforcement activities should be transparent, so that responsible policing is not only done, but also seen to be done. A communications blackout and a ban on independent documentation would instead heighten public distrust and undermine social cohesion.

We urge that the definition of “serious incident” be tightened so that peaceful protests are not included. We are also concerned that “large-scale public disorder” is not bound by any minimum threshold, and seek clarity as to the size of an assembly that could qualify.

Moreover, we are concerned that powers and offences under the Bill are defined too broadly, which can generate confusion and harm the ability of individuals to gather and share important information during a “serious incident”.

The communications stop order can ban not only the live broadcast of police operations, but also the sending of any films, pictures, text or audio about police operations, or the making (without sharing) of “relevant films and pictures” which are “wholly, partly or incidentally about” the “target area”. This would cover, for example, sending messages to family about movements affected by a police cordon, or taking pictures of a suspicious-looking person or item. This would stop people from communicating to their families to reassure them or let them know what is happening to them during a serious incident. More importantly, the public would not be able to send the police information that may be useful to the police.

It is particularly puzzling why there should be a ban on making films and pictures, even if there are operational reasons for preventing their immediate broadcast. As no justification has been advanced for this, this particular power gives rise to fears of undocumented abuse of police powers. Indeed, if disputes later arise as to police actions, the police would benefit from independent documentation, which they can point toward to strengthen public faith and confidence in their decisions.

It also raises constitutional questions about the separation of powers, because under the 1985 Public Order (Preservation) Act, Parliament can annul the decision to invoke special powers, but the current Bill does not allow for this.

This is a Bill with ramifications for civil society. Peaceful assembly is already outlawed in Singapore. The introduction of another Bill to provide the police with powers to potentially act oppressively against protestors casts a broader chilling effect on civil society. We cannot always assume that all future Governments will act with as much restraint as today’s Government. Civil society is an important check and balance to ensure good governance, and we should be careful not to enact laws that have the effect of undermining this mechanism.

The Bill had its first reading on 27 February. The second reading will take place on 19 March, less than a month later. We hope that parliamentarians will robustly debate the Bill when it comes before them, and that the Government will allow time for public consultation on the scope of the Bill, and the special powers it confers to the police.

Position Filled: Part-time Helpline Executive

We are no longer accepting applicants for this role.

AWARE’s Support Services are expanding the Women’s Helpline to provide Malay and Tamil speaking capabilities, in order to reach a wider group of women in Singapore who may require support.

To ensure that this community is fully supported, we are looking for part-time helpline executives to do 4-hour shifts daily, 5 days a week.

This will be a paid contract position for one year. This executive will be expected to support the Women’s Helpline in its expansion project.

Requirements

∙ Must be able to converse in English and one of the other languages – Malay or Tamil.

∙ Commit to 4-hour shifts per day, Monday-Friday except public holidays (2-6pm and/or 6-10pm).

∙ 1 year of related experience or helpline volunteer work preferred.

∙ Relevant educational qualification such as social work, counselling, psychology or related field preferred.

∙ Excellent interpersonal, empathy and communication skills (verbal and written).

∙ Good knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, MS Word, Powerpoint).

∙ Strong belief in gender equality and the values of AWARE.

Job Description

∙ Assist in expansion of the Women’s Helpline by ensuring that helpline shifts are covered daily.

∙ Ensuring a high quality of helpline support and call log entries.

∙ Contribute to the improvement of the Women’s Helpline, which includes supporting the Support Services team in building relevant resources for volunteers and clients, volunteer training, and identifying and improving current helpline processes.

∙ Supporting in any other Support Services/Helpline-related work, as and when required

If you are interested, please send an email with your CV to ss_executive@aware.org.sg.

Deadline for application: 31 March 2018

The Story of Us: AWARE’s journey (Teo You Yenn)

The following is a speech read by AWARE member and Associate Professor at NTU, Teo You Yenn, at the Volunteers Appreciation Party on 10 March 2018. 

Every time I walk into the AWARE Centre, I feel a sense of pride and joy. This is because I can remember the pre-renovated AWARE Centre—with its meeting room where the temperature was never right, where there was space but nowhere to sit except for a lumpy sofa, and with its slightly creepy toilets.

And it’s not just about the physical environment.I feel a sense of pride every day when I receive emails from AWARE staff about the news they are paying attention to and I see that it is not just news about women, but news about inequality and injustices that cut across different lines, and news about political structures and their limitations. I am full of admiration and gratitude when I see AWARE’s Facebook posts—where there is disciplined, principled, thoughtful critique; critiques that are backed up by evidence, polite but firm, nuanced but hard-hitting. And I am so grateful when I interact withAWARE’s staff and volunteers, and I see people debating important issues, arguing, planning, and doing.

I am very lucky to have witnessed AWARE’s transformation over the past 8 years, after the AWARE saga. When I first became a member and volunteer in the early 2000s, AWARE was formed by an amazing group of people. When I first joined the board in 2010, it was made up of smart and passionate women. But it was not this strong, systematic, impactful organization that is getting stuff done on an everyday basis that it is today.

The transformation was not easy. Board members during that time, and particularly Winifred Loh, the President during those years, will know that it was painful—full of conflict, so much confusion, some hurt feelings, quite a number of missteps, backtracking, starts, stops and restarts.

Looking at where AWARE is today, there are three things I learnt: first, diversity really matters. This is diversity in terms of age, of disciplinary training and occupational origins, ethnicity, sexual orientation, family form, etc. What does diversity do? Diversity forces people to finish their sentences in order to be understood by others who don’t share their frameworks and vocabularies, and it thus surfaces all kinds of hidden biases and presumptions. But diversity in representation alone will not do the job. It is also about creating spaces where diverse people can quarrel. Every time I come to an AWARE meeting, I am amazed by the quality of conversations I have here. At AWARE, people are not afraid to quarrel. Quarreling cordially, without getting personal, is such a valuable trait that AWARE has, and which I hope will continue to be in its organizational culture going forward. This community we have built, where we can quarrel safely and productively, is so incredibly rare and so incredibly precious.

The second thing I have learnt is this: showing up matters. Showing up day after day, month after month, year after year. The fight for equality and justice is a long fight that none of us will see the end of. What AWARE has is people who are patient, who are not easily discouraged, who go to bed angry and then show up again the next day to fight another day. I know this is a volunteer party, but I want to point out that AWARE has an amazing staff that is showing up, doing the hard work that needs to be done, day after day after day. One of the big tensions during the transformation after the AWARE saga was around whether AWARE would still be AWARE if it were staff-run rather than volunteer-run. I think we can now say that this AWARE, the AWARE that has a strong staff team doing the everyday work, it is stronger. But its continued strength probably depends on staying in that sweet spot, that place of tension where it is professional but not too respectable. As long as we have gender inequality, we should try to stay a little unruly, a little disrespectable.

Finally, related to the point about showing up, the biggest thing I have learnt from watching the transformation of AWARE is that being a feminist is about getting shit done. It is not just about feminist belief, it is not just about knowing how to talk about feminist theory, it is very much about doing the work. Theoretical knowledge and understanding and reflection are very important, and I hope AWARE continues to be the kind of organization that thinks big and thinks far and reflects a lot. But showing up, and getting things done, and doing things in ways that embraces imperfections and compromises, this is what feminist action is about. That sweet spot between theory and practice, reflection and action—I think this is one of AWARE’s greatest strengths.

So this volunteer appreciation day, let’s celebrate how awesome AWARE’s volunteers are, and then tomorrow and the day after and the day after that, let’s show up, continue quarreling, and let’s do the work because, what are feminists? Feminists are people who get shit done.

Let’s celebrate the small wins! Dinner & drinks with single parents

We have some good news – on Tuesday, the Minister of National Development announced that the HDB will remove its 3-year time-bar policy for divorced parents to buy subsidised flats. From 6 March, both parents in a divorce will be able to buy or own a subsidised flat each, as long as they are eligible to do so.

While details of the eligibility conditions still remain unconfirmed, we’re heartened that the Government is responding to the growing calls for fairer housing rules for single-parent families. Our supporters’ contribution to this change has been substantive. Thanks to you, the conversation on changes to these restrictive policies have grown in momentum.

So let’s celebrate the small wins!

We still have further to go – but for now, we want to celebrate your contributions so far! Single parents and children of single parents, we’d like to invite you for a gathering over a delicious dinner to hear your stories, and explore how we can build upon these small steps towards change together.

Dinner (halal with vegetarian options) and drinks are on us – we hope to see you!

Date: 7 April 2018 (Saturday)
Time: 5.30pm – 7.30pm
Venue: AWARE Centre (5 Dover Crescent #01-22 Singapore 130005)

RSVP: tinyurl.com/singleparentsdinner

Any questions? Write to Nabilah at media@aware.org.sg.

Single parents & housing: How far have we come?

Since we first embarked on our campaign for fairer housing policies for single parents, we’ve witnessed small steps towards progress. Changes in 2016 mean that unmarried mothers now receive 16 weeks of maternity leave, just like married mothers; last year, the eligibility criteria of HDB’s ASSIST scheme was relaxed to support more divorced parents.

We are relaunching our public petition, which has collected over 8,000 signatures so far. The petition has been refreshed to indicate this latest announcement by MND. If you have signed the petition, we urge you to ride on the momentum of this change, and encourage your friends, family members and peers to call for even greater support for single parents.

[The petition is now closed. Thank you!]

Here are other barriers single parents still face in accessing public housing:

– Unmarried parents still cannot form a family nucleus with their children to apply for HDB housing. If they are under 35, they remain barred from HDB purchases.
– Divorced parents still struggle to access much-needed public rentals due to a low income cap of $1500.
– Divorced parents still face a 30-month bar on public rental housing after the sale of a matrimonial flat.
– The “case-by-case” approach by HDB means that many single parent families frequently lose time and money navigating the system, with no guarantee that their housing needs will be met.

There’s a lot left to be done – and we still need your support to get further. THANK YOU for being part of this movement!

AWARE launches free, revamped Women’s Helpline, run in four languages, to commemorate International Women’s Day

This post was originally published as a press release on 9 March 2018.

If you call 1800-777 5555, a professionally trained AWARE “Helpliner” will be on the line to be your listening ear. She will provide you with emotional support, information and referrals to other help centres – all at no cost.

This service, run by AWARE, is the Women’s Helpline, which for over 25 years has been Singapore’s only specialised hotline catered to women. Now, you can also request for a Helpliner who speaks in a language you’re comfortable in: English, Malay, Tamil or Mandarin.

From this International Women’s Day, AWARE will be embarking on an island-wide campaign to bring the expanded, multi-language capabilities of the Women’s Helpline to all women in Singapore (regardless of citizenship status). The launch will kick off with a community lunch event at 5 Dover Crescent on 10 March at 1pm.

“Over the last few years, we’ve seen an average of 3,000 annual calls from women, on matters pertaining to relationships, work, motherhood, marriage and divorce, abuse, and other personal issues such as mental health and wellbeing,” said Anisha Joseph, Head of AWARE’s Support Services. “Tens of thousands of women have been calling the Helpline for over two decades for support and information, and demand for our services has seen a steady increase over the years.”

“We’re heartened to see this organic growth and we’re ready to reach out to more women – specifically, ethnic minority women and women who are more comfortable conversing in non-English languages. The ethos of our Helpline has always been to provide women with judgment-free support and helpful resources for the options they have, whatever situation they may be facing. We also recognise the cultural, economic and social barriers women may face in their day-to-day lives, and our Helpliners are well-trained to support callers across these differences.”  

“Women can reach out to us for any reason, and nothing is too small to seek support for. Whether someone is hurting you, you’re going through difficulties with your family or marriage, you’re facing stress or anxiety, or you simply need a listening ear, the Women’s Helpline is there to help,” said Ms. Joseph.

The Women’s Helpline launch event will be hosted by Fiza O, radio DJ at Mediacorp’s RIA 897FM, and Jaenani Netra, Vasantham TV personality, and will introduce the wider community to AWARE’s menu of critical services, which includes counselling, legal clinic and support group services. Attendees can learn more about the Helpline and other services through activities and face-to-face interviews with Helpliners. Limited number of vouchers for free counselling sessions will also be given out.

“I feel that it’s important for women to set aside their fears and doubts and reach for help. With institutions such as AWARE that provides services for women, it makes it easier for us to confide and get help,” said Fiza O.

Kim Underhill, President of Daughters of Tomorrow, will lead a dialogue about the importance of seeking help by sharing her own personal journey and the pivotal role that support played in enabling her to overcome challenges. She said, “Resilience does not have to be lonely. It can come from the willingness to seek help.”

MP Foo Mee Har of West Coast GRC, will make an appearance to support the launch of the revamped Women’s Helpline. “No matter what the circumstances, support is always beneficial. I hope with services such as the Women’s Helpline, more women will be able to receive the help and get the information they need.”  

AWARE and DPA: Employment Act amendments can do more to protect vulnerable employees

This post was originally published as a press release on 8 March 2018.

AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research) and DPA (Disabled People’s Association) welcome the Government’s move to amend the Employment Act (EA) to remove the salary cap so that it covers all workers, and to transfer the hearing of wrongful dismissal claims from the Minister for Manpower to the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT).

“These are important steps forward to extend labour protections to a larger number of workers. But a lot more can be done to protect vulnerable employees, such as people with disabilities, women, and those with caregiving responsibilities,” said Shailey Hingorani, AWARE’s Head of Advocacy and Research.

“Vulnerable employees experience discrimination at every stage of their employment – from recruitment to retirement/retrenchment – impacting their ability to care for their families, and to productively contribute to the national economy,” added Marissa Lee Medjeral-Mills, Executive Director of DPA.

As they stand, the amendments do not fully address such employment discrimination. A soon to be published DPA study found that companies and HR managers found loopholes to ensure they were not accused of discrimination. “Companies who were not keen to hire persons with disabilities simply used the excuse of a mismatch in company culture,” said Dr. Medjeral-Mills

Low-income women interviewed for AWARE’s economic security study recounted similar experiences of discrimination, and even dismissal. “Mothers are forced out of the labour force for taking unpaid leave to care for their sick children and elderly parents, or because they are unavailable to work weekends since they cannot afford childcare. Unless they have a legal recourse available under the EA, they will continue to be penalised for caring for their families,” said Ms. Hingorani.

“Even after the proposed EA amendments take effect, including the transfer of hearings to ECT, the legality of several types of dismissals will remain unclear. In choosing to not define wrongful dismissal, the Government has left the door open for vulnerable employees to remain unprotected.”

Furthermore, the vulnerability of these employees also put them at high-risk of workplace harassment. Although the Prevention of Harassment Act (POHA) is meant to provide legal remedies for such harassment, its scope and access is limited. The process to obtain a Protection Order (PO) is expensive and complex, and breach of a PO is a non-seizable offence, meaning that police have no obligation to investigate or initiate charges.

“Instead of relying on POs, the Government should require employers to take all necessary and reasonable steps – such as formalising anti-harassment policies, and providing relevant, appropriate training for staff – to prevent and sensitively handle workplace harassment. Many clients of our Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC) who have experienced harassment at work have reported that their HR departments were not equipped to provide them with support. Some have left their jobs in the belief that their harassers will not be held accountable,” said Ms. Hingorani.

“Employee protection against wrongful dismissal and workplace harassment are basic tenets of any progressive EA. We urge the Government to recognise how discrimination, wrongful dismissal and workplace harassment hamper individuals’ chances to contribute to the labour force, and to build their own livelihoods.”

Read AWARE and DPA’s joint submission to the public consultation on the Employment Act review in full here.

Remove debarment rule for all divorced parents, regardless of care and control arrangements

This post was originally published as a press release on 7 March 2018.

Gender equality group AWARE commends the Government’s move to lift the three-year time-bar imposed on divorced couples for purchase of subsidised housing, urging the state to apply the removal to all, regardless of their care and control arrangements.

“This is a welcome step forward, and can help many parents who would otherwise struggle with securing stable and affordable housing after the sale of their matrimonial flat. However, we hope that the removal of the time-bar will be applied to all divorced parents with any form of care and control of their children, including those with shared or split care and control,” said Corinna Lim, AWARE’s Executive Director.

“We have further to go to truly support single-parent families access affordable housing. The Government should also consider removing the 30-month time-bar for public rental housing. This will be particularly helpful for low-income families, who are more severely impacted by the high cost of divorce, and for whom having immediate access to rental housing is most beneficial.”

In a case cited in AWARE’s 2017 study on single parents’ access to housing, a divorced mother with two children found her search for stable housing impeded due to her getting split care and control – her son was living with her ex-spouse, while her daughter lived with her. It subjected her to the three-year debarment for HDB home ownership, and made HDB officers less friendly towards her appeals for rental housing. The officers she interacted with told her repeatedly that they cannot offer any temporary help because she lacks sole care and control over all her children.   

“The debarment rules – both for purchase and rental – have created unnecessary hardship for many divorced parents. No matter what the terms of care and control are, ultimately, all parents and their children deserve equal access to secure housing,” said Ms. Lim.

Over the last two years, AWARE has been persistently advocating for fairer housing rules for single-parent families, including calling for removal of the debarment policy, through its #asinglelove campaign. Last September, seven single parents signed a parliamentary petition pushed by MP Louis Ng, calling for reform of public housing policies.  

One of the petition signatories, Jamie (not their real name), said, “As a parent with shared care and control of my children, I truly hope that this amendment will include families like mine as well. At the end of the day, we’re still taking care of the kids based on arrangements that have been ordered by the court in a divorce. If the divorce is bitter, it makes it more difficult to attain written consent from an ex-spouse to purchase subsidised housing. My main priority is to find a better home for my children to grow up in. I urge the Government to lift the debarment rule fully for all parents with care and control, instead of penalising one group further.”

In announcing the removal of the three-year time-bar, Minister Lawrence Wong said that it is to “help divorced persons provide a more conducive living environment for their children, and go some way to help families through an already difficult period of transition.”

Said Ms. Lim, “We are heartened by the Government’s recognition that easier access to affordable housing can help divorced parents. We hope policy-makers ensure that this consideration is also extended to unmarried parents, who currently have the rules stacked against them.”

Position Filled: Coordinator for AWARE Awards

We are no longer accepting applicants for this role.

We are looking for coordinator to organise and nominate this year’s AWARE Awards winners.

The AWARE Awards recognises individuals, groups and organisations that have done great work in progressing gender equality and empowering and supporting women in need. This year’s AWARE Awards will be presented at the Big Ball on 25 August. This is a part-time (one or two working days week) position from July to end-August.

The AWARE Awards coordinator will primarily be in charge of:

  • Looking out for potential nominees for Awards and shortlisting nominees, with inputs from the AWARE team
  • Handling preliminary research on nominees’ work and portfolio, including preparing interview questions
  • Making contact with nominees and arranging for in-depth interviews to learn more about impactful aspects of their work
  • Producing strong write ups and photos of the nominees for Awards judges
  • Organising a judging panel and informing winners of Awards and categories
  • Working with Fundraising Manager to prepare Awards, collateral and segments in script for Awards
  • Arranging for Award nominees’ speeches/rehearsals on day of Ball

We are looking for someone who is a strong writer, organised and meticulous, and is very familiar with contributors (groups and individuals) of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Singapore.

Please send in your CV to Desiree at fundraising@aware.org.sg with a previous relevant writing sample.

Tripartite Standard on unpaid care leave must include protection against dismissal

An edited version of this letter was published in TODAY Voices on 6 March 2018. 

Association of Women for Research and Advocacy (AWARE) welcomes the introduction of a new Tripartite Standard to encourage employers to offer caregiving leave to help families deal with unexpected caregiving needs. Under this new Standard, employers will be encouraged to provide 4 weeks of unpaid leave for infantcare, and two weeks of unpaid leave for care of immediate family members who are hospitalised.

Women provide the majority of informal family caregiving, often at the cost of paid, full-time employment. So encouraging employers to offer caregiving leave, even unpaid, is arguably a step in the right direction. However, the Standard should also indicate that taking caregiving leave is not a ground for dismissal. Without this clarification, caregivers’ precarious working situation, which forces them to choose between work and care will persist for two reasons.

First, many women we spoke to as part of our study on economic empowerment of low-income women work in informal, shift-based, commission driven jobs without any benefits. When a caregiving emergency arises, they have no option but to rely on unpaid care leave, which not only depresses their monthly household income, but also puts them at risk of dismissal.

Second, there are a number of caregiving responsibilities that are not covered by the situations outlined in the new Standard.  The needs of our rapidly ageing population requires caregiving for chronic illnesses that suddenly flare up, and for those who are unable to perform activities of daily living, making them completely dependent on their caregivers. The Standard’s narrow focus on the former will encourage the current status-quo which penalises caregivers who take time off in non-emergency situations.

The Comprehensive Labour Survey 2017 shows that 42 percent of all resident women out of the labour force cite family responsibilities as their main reason for not working and not looking for a job. The new Standard raises awareness about a critical aspect of caregiving, and rightly highlights the role that employers can play in fostering a family-friendly and inclusive society. However, without an offer to protect employees who take caregiving leave in emergency and non-emergency situations, we will continue to see the number of resident women out of the labour force rise with negative impacts on their own economic well-being, and that of the country.