Cover The founding members of women’s rights organisation Aware reflect on Singapore’s early years and their fight for feminism
The founding members of women’s rights organisation Aware reflect on Singapore’s early years and their fight for feminism
1 / 1
Women’s rights organisation Aware has made strides towards gender equality in Singapore since it was founded in 1985. Here, some of its founding members share how they found their place on the frontline in the fight for change
When Constance Singam was widowed at 42, she woke up to a frightening reality. The death of her husband, who had made decisions and financially provided for her, left her alone to take the reins of her life for the first time. She did not know what to do.
“I began to think about how girls [in Singapore] were brought up differently, how dependent we had become—by the way we were raised—on the men in our lives,” she says. “I felt helpless; I was upset, maybe even angry for being brought up to be so dependent.”
The year was 1978. More than a decade into its independence from British colonial rule, Singapore, then led by prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, was shaped by a system that gave men more power than women in society. “In those early years, there was no discussion about [gender] inequality, or the word ‘feminism’,” Singam explains. “And ‘patriarchy’ never entered our vocabulary. There was no awareness of that.”
Even without a name for it, some women in Singapore, just like Singam, could sense the power imbalance in their lives. It became even more pronounced when the government introduced the Graduate Mothers Scheme in 1984. “At the time, the fall in [Singapore’s] fertility rate was worrying the government,” recalls Singam. “The women that they didn’t approve of were having more children, and the women that they wanted to reproduce were not.”
The Graduate Mothers Scheme encouraged better‐educated women—defined as those with at least five O‐level passes—especially those who were university graduates, to have more babies. The government offered the children of graduate mothers priority in school admission, while the mothers themselves enjoyed tax benefits that increased with each child they had, up until their third child. On the other hand, a cash grant of $10,000 was given to less‐educated women below 30, with no more than two children and from a low‐income family, who agreed to undergo sterilisation.
“The Graduate Mothers Scheme made [Singaporean] women very angry at the injustice of it all,” says Singam. That anger spurred some of them into action. This included Zaibun Siraj, an alumnus of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and a member of its graduate club, the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS); and Vivienne Wee, who lectured at the university’s sociology department.
Read more: How Singaporean acvitist Noor Mastura is empowering communities to make change
Above A teacher and a writer, Constance Singam joined Aware in 1986. She was president of the organisation for three terms, from 1987 to 1989, from 1994 to 1996, and from 2007 to 2009. She led campaigns to end violence against women in Singapore
A teacher and a writer, Constance Singam joined Aware in 1986. She was president of the organisation for three terms, from 1987 to 1989, from 1994 to 1996, and from 2007 to 2009. She led campaigns to end violence against women in Singapore
1 / 1
“We didn’t set out to be feminists,” says Wee. “We were angry about the way the state dictated how individuals should live their lives. We felt that the state should butt out of individual matters.” To make their message clear, Wee and Siraj organised the “Women’s Choices, Women’s Lives” forum at NUSS in 1984, inviting speakers of different backgrounds to discuss the issues faced by women in Singapore. On the panel were Hedwig Anuar, then‐director of the National Library; Margaret Thomas, then‐deputy editor of the now‐defunct The Singapore Monitor newspaper; and surgeon Kanwaljit Soin.
“Before the forum ended, [a member of the audience] asked the panel of speakers: ‘Is that it? Do we go back home now and live our private lives?’” shares Siraj. The women at the forum, it turned out, were interested to continue the conversation. They began to hold weekly meetings at NUSS, thanks to Siraj, and later at Soin’s clinic, discussing the need for an organisation dedicated to women’s rights in Singapore. When they found out that there were none, they decided to start one themselves.
“Hedwig was the one who proposed the name,” says Siraj. “She suggested ‘the Association of Women for Action and Research, or Aware’. Oh gosh, it was so clever.” Aware was registered in 1985, and many members of the forum were inducted into its first executive committee (exco). Anuar, Wee and Siraj joined as committee members, while Thomas became treasurer. Lena Lim, the owner of local independent bookstore and publisher Select Books, was named Aware’s first president.
“[My objective as president] was to correct the economic and social imbalance [faced by] girls and women,” shares Lim, “and to give women a voice in society.” Lim and Anuar invited their friend, Singam, to be a part of Aware when it launched. Singam confesses that she “was a bit intimidated by all these women, the founding members”, and she only accepted the invitation in 1986. She joined Aware’s committee that looked into a prevailing problem in Singapore: domestic violence.
“That was one of those subjects that was taboo,” recalls Singam. “The culture accepted domestic violence and tolerated it. We had to change the attitude of Singaporeans [so they knew that] you can’t treat domestic violence as a private matter. Because the persons who were suffering were the wives and the children, and they didn’t get any help—not from their surroundings or their families.”
Propelled by purpose, Singam devoted herself to Aware. In 1987, she became its second president. That same year, she spearheaded the organisation’s “Stop Violence Against Women” campaign, launched together with the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations and the National Crime Prevention Council. The campaign aimed to educate the public on domestic violence through dialogues and exhibitions held in community centres and libraries, as well as pamphlets that Aware produced and distributed.
In case you missed it: Mint Lim is on a mission to educate children around the world—especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds
Above Lena Lim, the founder of local independent bookstore and publisher Select Books, became the first-ever president of Aware. She led the organisation from 1985 to 1986
Lena Lim, the founder of local independent bookstore and publisher Select Books, became the first-ever president of Aware. She led the organisation from 1985 to 1986
1 / 1
“We were doing everything. We didn’t have financial resources or people resources. We were all running around,” shares Singam, recalling her early days at the volunteer organisation. “It took us 10 to 15 years of public education [to shift attitudes], but [we also needed] to educate the police.”
In the early 1990s, Singam initiated monthly meetings with the police to discuss how they could handle cases of rape and violence against women more effectively. In these meetings, the police shared crime data as well as statistics on rape and violence against women. “I was the only one raising questions,” says Singam of the meetings, where she was often the only woman present. “Most of the cases that were reported never went beyond reporting or taken to the court. I asked why, and they said that’s because the women dropped out. So I said: ‘There must be some reason why they did.’”
Singam did her own investigation. “When a woman came to the police, she would have to talk to a young police officer at the counter. There’ll be people around because it’s a public space, and the officer would ask all kinds of questions,” she shares. “It was very embarrassing. Of course, once a woman made a report, she wouldn’t want to have anything to do with it because that was the experience.”
Taking matters into their hands, Singam and other members of Aware compiled a report with a proposed police protocol for dealing with victims of violence. After submitting it to the police, Singam received nothing but radio silence for months—until she was interviewed by a local television news station on what was being done to address domestic violence in Singapore.
“It came out on prime‐time news that I hadn’t received any response from [the police],” says Singam. “The next day, the police chief rang me up and said: ‘Constance, I have misplaced the report. Can you give me another copy?’ That was the first time that the authorities were paying attention.”
Above Zaibun Siraj led Aware’s Mediawatch sub-committee that campaigned against sexist advertising in Singapore. She was president from 1996 to 1998
Zaibun Siraj led Aware’s Mediawatch sub-committee that campaigned against sexist advertising in Singapore. She was president from 1996 to 1998
1 / 1
In the discussions that followed, the police accepted Aware’s recommendation that female victims should be interviewed privately, and by a female officer. It was one of Aware’s many important contributions to improving the welfare and treatment of women in Singapore. In the early years, the organisation also looked into another hot‐button issue: sexism in local media.
Siraj chaired Aware’s Mediawatch sub‐committee, formed in 1986. “We accumulated a large number of advertisements, probably more than 250. We also had articles published in magazines and newspapers,” she shares, highlighting Aware’s research in the media. “We categorised these ads: women in the domesticated, nurturing role; women in the servile, submissive role; women belittled and trivialised; women in romantic, glamorous positions; women as sex objects; men in positions of authority.”
With the research, Aware launched its “Spot the Sexist” campaign, encouraging members of the public to identify harmful stereotypes of women portrayed in advertisements. “[It] helped to raise people’s consciousness and awareness [on sexism],” notes Siraj.
As with most of Aware’s activities, the campaign was only made possible thanks to the commitment of the organisation’s members. “We distributed thousands of pamphlets all over Singapore,” shares Siraj, adding that Aware’s posters and pamphlets won a design prize in Taiwan. Its volunteers also organised talks and workshops for the public, on top of typing out and mailing letters to the press and authorities. Siraj also set up Aware’s first website.
“We did it all ourselves. We were very bold,” reflects Siraj, who served as Aware president from 1996 to 1998. “We believed that what we were doing was right. We wanted equality, we wanted feminism. And because of that, we wouldn’t let people tell us to stop doing what we did.”
Lim adds: “Aware made Singapore society and the government aware that women’s position in Singapore had to be improved and supported.” The members also did their best to protect what the women before them had fought for. When prime minister Lee expressed his regret about the government passing the Women’s Charter—a bill that put an end to polygamy among non‐Muslim Singaporeans—in 1961, Aware organised a forum called “Women’s Charter: Yes; Polygamy: No”, where they offered T‐shirts with the slogan. “Our forum was very well attended by lots of people,” recalls Siraj. “We presented reasons why polygamy was bad for our country. And polygamy was not reintroduced at all.”
Above A founding member of Aware, Vivienne Wee was the organisation’s second research and advocacy director. She served at least five executive committees
A founding member of Aware, Vivienne Wee was the organisation’s second research and advocacy director. She served at least five executive committees
1 / 1
Not everyone supported Aware’s fight for equality. “There were many conservative people who couldn’t understand what we were doing and who were critical of us. They were suspicious of the changes that we wanted introduced to Singapore,” she shares.
Case in point: during Aware’s annual general meeting in 2009, a group of women, all members of the Anglican Church of Our Savior who had joined Aware only a few months prior, took over the organisation’s leadership by voting themselves into the exco. The event came to be known as the Aware Saga.
“That was a very painful part of my history with Aware,” shares Singam, who led the meeting as the outgoing president of Aware at the time. “We had just launched our sex education programme for schools, and this group of women took objection to the programme. They were challenging each of our nominations [for Aware’s exco]. A few of our members started Googling and discovered that these women are known for their homophobic attitudes.”
Singam realised that everything that she and the other Aware members had worked to build was in danger of being destroyed. “I thought, ‘If we don’t take it back, we will never get Aware back.’ Because they have the numbers, they have the financial resources. They can mislead Singaporeans if they continued using Aware for their purposes, which is in opposition of what Aware was set up for.”
Wee recalls the incident: “When the takeover happened, I was in Hong Kong. I managed to rally worldwide protests against [the new exco]. People were voicing their support. We had a letter that people signed; we got 2,000 signatures.”
The new exco was eventually ousted at Aware’s extraordinary general meeting over a month later, thanks to the perseverance of its long‐time members as well as overwhelming support from the public. But the Aware Saga illuminated a larger truth about the fight for justice: “Progress is never linear,” says Singam. “You can go back, things can be taken from you. So you have to keep fighting. It’s always two steps forward, one step back.”
Being an activist, especially a feminist, is certainly no walk in the park—and it can be a thankless job too. “[Young women today] don’t know what we did, and probably don’t appreciate what happened in the past,” says Siraj. “Even in the past, people would say: ‘Why are you going on about this?’”
But activism has its own rewards. Siraj, who is a motivational speaker and author, shares that her time in Aware “gave me a lot of confidence and courage in my own personal life”. In her home, she keeps a copy of a newspaper article with a headline that called her a “spitfire feminist”. She quips: “Not only did I save it, I blew it up and even used to have it hanging on a wall.”
Singam, too, embraces her identity as an activist, which informs her other roles as a teacher and writer. “At the end of the day, you discover it has changed you as a person,” she says. “You become a better person. You learn more about life and about people. It’s a huge learning curve. Aware has given me more than I can imagine.”
Credits
Photography: Wong Weiliang
Hair: Leong using Keune Haircosmetics
Make-Up: Benedict Choo using Chanel Beauty
Hair: Ying Cui at Aastral Beauty using Dungüd (for Constance Singam)
Make-Up: Ying Cui at Aastral Beauty using Make Up For Ever (for Constance Singam)
Topics
Pameyla Cambe is the Assistant Digital Editor of Tatler Singapore. She handles the Fashion section of the website, where she reports on trends, the hottest fashion launches and what your favourite Asian celebrities are wearing.
