Meritocracy should come first

WHILE gender equality is an important aspect of a modern, developed society, it cannot and should not be at the expense of meritocracy.

Which is why the Government should be commended on how it has slowly but surely worked women into and up the rungs, rather than indulge in popular appeal and appoint women to positions of power just to achieve a semblance of equality.

There is a very practical benefit to that.

People know that the women who eventually make it to the top have done so on their own merit, and deserve an even greater amount of respect.

This is especially so in traditionally male-dominated fields such as politics, where women are more susceptible to being marginalised or dismissed.

So while Singapore has had to wait 44 years to finally see a full-fledged woman minister in Government, be glad that she is someone to be proud of.

He Zongying, 24, is a final-year business management student at Singapore Management University.

No sign yet of full equality

US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton noted on International Women's Day on March 8 that 'no nation in the world has yet achieved full equality for women'.
I agree.

While Singapore women have equal access to education and health care, they face unjust treatment in the workplace.

There are still instances where companies lay off pregnant employees. And, for women in small and medium-sized enterprises especially, they are pressured into cutting short their maternity leave because there is no one to stand in for them at work.

Some even had to take no-pay maternity leave.

Advocacy group Aware receives three to five calls each month from pregnant mothers who lose their jobs or are not given maternity benefits.

The key to correcting gender inequality is thus to mould the psyche of errant bosses though carrots (training) and sticks (punishments).

Otherwise, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua's achievement is just a sound-bite statistic.

Berton Lim, 21, is a first-year business administration student at the National University of Singapore.

Freedom to choose one's role

WE SHOULD not read too much into the appointment of Mrs Lim Hwee Hua as Singapore's first woman minister, or think that there was no equal opportunity for women at all before this.

After all, men and women are each privileged in different ways.

'Equality' is not the same as 'equity': the roles that the two genders play in society need not be the exact same ones in order for gender equity to exist.

By all means open up opportunities and offices to both genders, but if women do not wish to participate in politics but would rather be homemakers, why not let them?

Many of my female friends, who are capable and intelligent individuals, have absolutely no interest in running the country.

Not that they couldn't if they were to try, but they simply do not want to.

That does not make their future contributions less meaningful or life less fair to them.

If that means a society with fewer women in politics, that is not necessarily a loss.

Alexander Woon, 19, is a national serviceman.

Women's issues not only focus

AT THE risk of sounding like a wet blanket, I really don't see what the big deal is - a minister is female, so what?

Perhaps it is just my gender-blindness acting up, but I think the hullabaloo about the first woman minister seems quite unnecessary.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua's new appointment comes with an assortment of responsibilities, and I'm not sure it is fair that she might now be seen as the champion of Singaporean women's issues.

For instance, women may look to her to champion decades-long issues such as fair remuneration and treatment of women in the workplace, as well as better motherhood benefits, in the process overlooking her other strengths.

These issues may not even be among the obligations that come with her new portfolio.

Playing up her role as Singapore's first and only woman minister will only put her under unfair scrutiny, as hefty expectations are placed upon her.

Instead, we should be objective and allow Mrs Lim to ease into her new role, and decide for herself how to use her strengths to best represent the people.

Liana Tang, 24, graduated with honours in biology from NUS.

A source of inspiration

IT IS high time that Singapore has a woman minister. I believe now it's time for women to take centre stage and take on greater, more prominent roles in society.

Women have already broken the glass ceiling in multinational companies and government bodies. Now they seem to have done so in politics, too. Mrs Lim Hwee Hua inspires me, as a woman, to stump up the guts and plump for a career in politics.

I had aimed to be a doctor, but now, why not aim higher and bring change to Singapore through politics? My female friends and I agree that as long as we have the knowledge, talent and experience, we would be given equal opportunities in any field.

Benazir Parvin, 20, is a Pre-University 2 arts student at Millennia Institute.

Don't just look at politics

THE starkly imbalanced gender ratio in local politics is not a good indicator of whether or not there is gender equality in Singapore.

During my junior college days, I remember seeing almost the same number of female student leaders in office as their male counterparts, if not more. Yet this does not translate to more female politicians.

It seems that my peers of the fairer sex are far more apathetic towards politics or daunted by its pressures. They perceive being a politician as having to work inordinately long hours and being in constant public scrutiny. Our political history reaffirms this. Politics has largely remained the domain of males. We should look to other professions if we want to find out if women have indeed made it.

Nicholas Lim, 20, has a place at Nanyang Technological University's Nanyang Business School.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.