When Ong Ye Kung was a younger father, he had thought that no matter discrimination and biases towards girls would ultimately be scrubbed out by the norms of a contemporary society.
However talking in Parliament on April 5 as a “son, a father and a husband”, the Well being Minister mentioned: “I quickly realised it was not so easy.”
Recalling previous Chinese language New Yr visits the place kin would ask his spouse if she was ‘attempting for a boy’, Ong, who has two daughters, mentioned: “I do know [they] heard the dialog.”
Ong was talking on the debate on the White Paper on Singapore girls’s growth. On March 28, the Authorities had unveiled a White Paper outlining their suggestions to enhance the lives of girls right here.
The 25 motion plans in 5 key areas which can be proposed embrace: Equal alternatives within the office, recognition and assist for caregivers, safety towards violence and hurt, different assist measures for ladies and mindset shift.
Ong’s childhood experiences on the position of girls in society
In a speech sprinkled with private anecdotes, Ong talked at size about his expertise with gender inequality, the struggles of girls and the way Singapore can transfer away from the antiquated previous of ladies and men stereotypes.
(Learn additionally “The Attaining Lady’s Information To Overcoming Office Stereotypes“)
In one other poignant private expertise, Ong revealed that one among his two daughters “had a shock” when she learnt concerning the idea of dowries.
He mentioned: “Our daughter then exclaimed ‘So it’s a transaction? We’re bought?’
“I attempted to make issues higher by explaining that the cash flowed each methods… It wasn’t a useful intervention.”
Ong additionally described the private battle he beforehand had concerning the position of girls in society.
Sharing that his grandparents had 9 sons, Ong mentioned that he spent his rising up years in a kampung at Lorong Chuan observing how there was “males’s work” and “girls’s work”.
Males within the household had been tasked with rearing livestock and repairing automobiles, whereas the ladies cooked, cleaned and taken care of the youngsters.
However marriage and subsequently beginning a household had modified Ong’s view on a girl’s place in households.
He mentioned: “The dissonance I felt as a child has developed right into a deeper understanding of the struggles and aspirations of girls.
(Learn additionally “The Girls Empowering Different Girls In Singapore“)
“I’m not positive I completely get it, however I’m attempting to get it.”
Describing himself as “old school”, Ong shared in Parliament that there’s a advantage in extending a particular courtesy to girls.
“I usually really feel uneasy that simply because I’m a Minister, folks, together with my feminine employees, will try to supply to hold my bag or open the door for me,” he recounted. “I’ll at all times attempt to cease them and provide to open the door for them as a substitute, reminding them that ‘etiquette comes earlier than protocol’.”
Ong additionally had a message to the youth on gender equality and the way it can relate to taking wefies.
“On these uncommon events the place you’re taking a picture along with your class, CCA group or with a Minister, don’t let the women kneel in entrance and the boys stand on the again,” he gently reminded. “Boys, volunteer to squat in entrance and let the women stand on the again. Or at the least place yourselves freely as equals.”
Ending his speech, Ong mentioned that it’s time to “speed up away from our antiquated previous of ladies and men stereotypes, at dwelling, at work, and in society”.
This text was first printed in AsiaOne.
Supply: Her World
