Speech by Minister Edwin Tong SC, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, at YWCA's 150th Anniversary Commemoration Dinner

29 AUG 2025

Ms Sim Hwee Hoon, President of YWCA Singapore

All the distinguished Board of Directors and team at YWCA Singapore

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

Good evening. What a wonderful celebration this evening, and I want to say a big congratulations to all of you. It is such an honour to be here, to celebrate this extraordinary milestone — that is 150 years of YWCA Singapore.

Indeed, it is quite remarkable that, while Singapore has just celebrated its 60 years of independence, but yet YWCA Singapore is now at 150 years and going strong, serving the community for 150 years – more than twice the age of our nation!

So, I am very grateful and humbled to be standing here tonight – in the presence of legacy that is so rich and enduring, one that has touched generations and continues to inspire us today. And I believe that this is a legacy not just to celebrate, but to carry forward.

YWCA’s Achievements

Let me spend a few moments this evening outlining YWCA’s work and explaining to you why I think the work that you have done has not just uplifted women, but has also played a significant role in shaping the society that we live in today.

YWCA’s journey started in 1875, founded by Miss Sophia Cooke, a missionary with a vision, to provide education and support to young women in colonial Singapore. At a time when women had few opportunities, YWCA created a safe and nurturing place for them to learn, to grow, and, more importantly, to build confidence.

What began as a small initiative soon blossomed into a movement championing women’s rights and well-being across the island.

Over the past 150 years, YWCA has evolved with the times, expanding its reach and impact to meet the changing and evolving needs of our society.

(a) In the 1970s, recognising the challenges faced by working mothers, YWCA established some of Singapore’s earliest childcare centres, providing affordable and reliable care for thousands of children. Although these childcare centres have since transitioned to other operators, this pioneering effort helped to lay the foundation for today’s family-friendly policies.

(b) As Singapore’s population aged, YWCA also responded with the Meals-on-Wheels programme – delivering not just nutritious meals, but much-needed companionship to homebound seniors. Today, it remains a lifeline for over a thousand vulnerable seniors each and every week. Earlier on, Hwee Hoon spoke about those whom we know, but there are many others whom we do not know. I think this programme is one example of that – the many others whom we do not know, delivering food week in, week out, quietly without fanfare, but really doing a part to make Singapore far more inclusive and caring

(c) In the recent years, YWCA has embraced the digital age with Digital Literacy initiatives – helping under-resourced women and caregivers acquire critical skills, to navigate today’s technology-driven world. These programmes open doors to information, services, and also economic opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach. If I may dare say, being technology-enabled also allows you to be plugged in socially, into society, into community, enabling you to make friends, companionship, and also find ways in which you can contribute and be part of society.

(d) YWCA’s commitment to inclusion is also evident in its innovative collaborations.

(i) The Y+ Collaboration, for example, brings together YWCA, YMCA and SG Enable. It offers therapeutic programmes and livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities and their caregivers, reflecting a holistic approach to community care.

(ii) Another example, you saw in the video earlier, is the YWCA Weaving Programme – a therapeutic and also income-generating initiative that empowers caregivers and persons with disabilities to find purpose, to be able to have dignity, and earn financial support through creative expression.

And through YWCA Fort Canning, its social enterprise hotel, YWCA has turned hospitality into social impact, with 100% of its net proceeds funding vital community programmes.

Literally across every era of modern Singapore, leading up to our independence – 60 years of independence just a couple of weeks ago - YWCA Singapore has not only adapted to societal changes, ensuring its services remain relevant, up-to-date, but also deeply impactful and transformative.

This ability to evolve while staying rooted to its core values is really what makes YWCA such a lasting and also trusted presence in Singapore.

National Progress in Women’s Development

What’s especially powerful, in my view, is how YWCA’s work aligns with and extends our national efforts to empower women and overall strengthen communities.

Since our independence, Singapore has taken steps to ensure that women have equal opportunities to thrive, to contribute, and to lead. Because when women do well, families are stronger, workplaces are more inclusive, and overall, Singapore moves forward – together.

One of the most important early milestones in Singapore was the enactment of the Women’s Charter in 1961 — even before we became a nation. This landmark legislation was at that time, more than 60 years ago – and remains today, 60 years later – a cornerstone in protecting the rights of women in marriage and in family life. It enshrined the principles of monogamy, protected women against domestic violence, and laid the foundation for gender equality in family matters.

Over the decades, the government has continued to strengthen this foundation and built upon it. From equal access to education and employment in the 1970s and 1980s, to more recent moves like the repeal of marital rape immunity in 2020, and the Workplace Fairness Legislation being developed today. Each step has aimed to reflect evolving norms and changing times, and deepen our commitment to justice and dignity for all – everyone in society.

We have also made significant investments in supporting women’s career aspirations and family responsibilities. Enhanced parental leave, flexible work arrangements, and childcare subsidies have helped many women pursue meaningful careers, whilst at the same time balancing very important family commitments and responsibilities.

In 2022, we released the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development – the result of over a year’s work in public engagement, in stakeholder engagement, in understanding the needs of women in society, their challenges and what it took to create space for them to be uplifted.

(a) This White Paper represents not just a policy document, but I think it reflects a shared national belief – that gender equality is not a women’s issue, but a societal imperative.

(b) The White Paper outlined 25 action plans across education, work, safety, and leadership, including greater support for caregiving and stronger protections against online harm and workplace discrimination.

I believe that these policies have produced real and measurable change.

(a) In the 1980s, only about 15% of women in Singapore had post-secondary qualifications. Today, that figure stands at over 64%. More importantly, women now constitute more than half of university graduates – a powerful testament to the progress that we have made in ensuring equal access to education and opportunity.

(b) Back in 1991, just over 40% of women participated in the labour force. Today, that number stands at nearly 63%. For women aged between 25 and 54 – the prime working years – the participation is even higher, reaching close to 85%. In my view, this reflects not just increased opportunities, but really reflects the better support for women balancing careers and important family responsibilities.

(c) We have also, at the same time, witnessed a steady narrowing of the gender pay gap. In 2002, the adjusted median pay gap between men and women was over 20%. By 2023, this has fallen to just over 14% - some way to go, but we have made progress. There is work to be done.

(d) Women are also stepping into leadership and decision-making roles in greater numbers. Today, women hold more than 25% of board seats in the top 100 companies listed on the Singapore Exchange – and that is an impressive rise from just 7.5% a decade ago. In politics, women make up approximately 32% of elected Members of Parliament, and that is a remarkable increase from about 5% in the late 1980s.

Next Bound

Our commitment in this country to gender equality has gained international recognition as well. According to the United Nations Gender Inequality Index, we are today ranked 8th globally, and 1st in the Asia-Pacific.

In Singapore, girls and women can walk at any street late at night and still feel safe. There is equal access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities. In STEM, Singapore’s average percentage of women in STEM degree programmes is at about 48%, higher than the OECD average of 31%.

These are numbers. What is really important is how women feel in society, and I believe that our work is far from over.

As society changes, so must our policies. It must evolve with the times. And we must keep listening, learning, and adapting, especially to emerging trends such as technological changes that will impact how we relate to one another.

One that we are working on – and we constantly update, to think about future impact and how we can prepare for that – is in legislation to better counter the scrouge of harmful online behaviours. That is something that has evolved with time, and is something that we have seen in recent times grow in number.

We are currently working on new laws and a new framework to better protect Singaporeans from online harms, some of which aim to combat deeply distressing harms, such as intimate images abuse and also deepfakes. They cause tremendous distress, and that should not be allowed. This, unfortunately, disproportionately targets women and girls.

The new measures that we will put in place include the establishment of a new agency, the Online Safety Commission (“OSC”). Once the OSC is set up, victims of online harms will be able to make reports to the OSC, which will assess whether an online harm has taken place. If so, the OSC can assist by issuing directions to the perpetrator of the harm or administrators and online service providers, requiring them to put a stop to these harms. Bear in mind, much of these harms, as I said, disproportionately targets women and girls. Child pornography, intimate images – these are deeply distressing occasions.

Unfortunately, the evidence indicates that such an agency is going to be necessary. IMDA’s inaugural Online Safety Assessment Report found that over 50% of legitimate user complaints about online harms were not addressed in the first instance by social media companies.

So, we decided on having a commission with a system, with powers of regulation and also powers of direction. This will ensure quicker take down of the offending post and restore a sense of agency to survivors of online harms.

These are key concerns reported by those who have suffered such harms. Such survivors are uncertain about when the harm will stop or if the situation will worsen – would their leaked images go viral? Or would their employers or family members see them?

With the OSC, no longer will victims be entirely dependent on online service providers to do the right thing. We intend to put the legislation in the coming months, and this will be operational by the first half of 2026.

But at the same time, laws alone cannot solve difficult social problems such as online harms. We are fortunate, therefore, that we have other community organisations that have acted in the spirit of YWCA’s example of community service.

SHECARES@SCWO is Singapore’s – and Asia’s - first one-stop support centre for survivors of online harms. Operated by SG Her Empowerment (or SHE for short) in collaboration with the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations, the centre provides holistic victim support, including free counselling, and it will be, and has been, a safe space for victims and survivors to turn to when they encounter online harms.

In fact, as I understand it, SHE hosted its symposium at YWCA just earlier this year, bringing stakeholders from across sectors to come together to discuss gender norms issues in the online as well as in the offline world. The choice of YWCA as the venue is testament to its longstanding role in supporting and complementing the work of partners to advance gender equity.

The OSC, once set up, will need the support of SHE, of SCWO and of YWCA as well, because it is not just about setting up laws, or a Commission. We need education, we need support, we need mentoring – all of which will go towards enabling Singapore to deal with the online scourge.

Beyond online harms, we must also press on in closing gaps in equitable workforce participation.

This government has been busy putting in place a new legislation to ensure workplace fairness. The new flexible work guidelines will help women continue to pursue their career dreams, whilst juggling the very real challenges on the home front.

But government policies are only effective when there is take up and when there is buy in.

Entrenched mindsets in society sometimes still hold women back from fuller participation, especially in leadership roles. This is an area that YWCA has worked tirelessly on for over the past 150 years, and it remains central to our shared mission to change mindsets, to shape norms.

All of this is important. It is not just changing the norms about women; it is also about changing the norms about men in society too. The same entrenched mindsets continue to disadvantage women who disproportionately have to take on caregiving roles. This, in turn, then impacts women in many ways – sacrifice of career goals, financial independence, retirement adequacy, mental wellbeing, isolation and so on. More needs to be done to address the multifaceted needs of this group, and I believe YWCA and other social service agencies and VWOs can contribute to the efforts of this ecosystem.

At the same time, we must also continue to safeguard women’s freedom to chart their own paths – defending equality and equity, ensuring choices and opportunities for women that remain open in every sphere of society, especially as other parts of the world move in the opposite direction.

As a father of three daughters myself, I would like my daughters to inherit a Singapore that would never stereotype their choices, that would never stereotype them into the choices that society thinks that they should be stereotyped into.

I want them to inherit a Singapore where no girl is ever made to feel that her dreams are too big. We must allow them to dream and to realise their aspirations because we are strong enough, caring enough as a society, to take collective responsibility to make this happen.

Call to Action

So, whilst policies are important, I think its impact must be felt in everyday lives, and that is where I feel YWCA can play a critical role – turning policy into people-centred programmes. This alignment between national vision and community action is what makes our social fabric so strong.

Beyond policy, as I said, we must also shift mindsets. That, to me, perhaps, is the most difficult – but at the same time most important – challenge of all.

So, this evening, I urge all of us – whether you are a policymaker like myself, business leaders, community partners, or just individuals – to step forward and to play our part:

(a) Support policies that promote flexibility, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

(b) Invest in training and mentoring opportunities for women across all sectors.

True support also means partnership. YWCA cannot do this alone. We need collaboration – across sectors, across generations, and across communities – whether it’s sponsoring a programme, volunteering your time, or advocating for inclusive practices in your own circles, everyone has a part to play in building a society, where women are not just supported, but are celebrated and empowered.

So even as we celebrate this very important milestone of the Young Women’s Christian Organisation, I believe we must double down on efforts to keep men in the conversation. Partners in the women’s development space must work across sectors more than ever and intentionally engage male allies, so that progress is not just achieved, but can be strengthened and sustained.

Let us not wait another 150 years to have this dialogue again, to close this gap. We must carry this legacy forward with action, with urgency, and with a lot of heart.

Conclusion

In closing, let me just take a few more moments to honour YWCA Singapore – not just for its 150 years of service, but for its continual unwavering spirit of compassion, resilience, and innovation.

As I sketched out earlier, through every era of our nation’s development, YWCA has stood with women, with children, and with families – often behind the scenes, but always faithfully – meeting real needs with real solutions.

So, to the dedicated staff, volunteers, and board members of YWCA – past and present – I say a very big thank to all of you. Your tireless commitment and firm belief in this mission have changed lives, made an impact and built up our country. You are the heartbeat of this legacy.

I also do not want to forget the partners of YWCA — the corporate sponsors, the social service organisations, and the many donors — thank you for believing in this mission. You have helped scale its vision, and deepen its impact.

And finally, to the women and families that we serve — you are the reason for the work that is being done in this space. Your resilience, your courage, your stories continue to inspire and to light the path toward a more inclusive and compassionate society. We want you to know that we see you, we hear you, we believe in you, and we will walk this journey with you.

So, here’s to the next 150 years of breaking barriers, building hope, and uplifting lives.

My warmest congratulations to YWCA. May you have another 150 years and beyond of treasured history.

Last updated on 29 August 2025