Efforts to Reflect Women’s Contributions to Nation-building in Singapore Bicentennial Celebration

Prof Lim Sun Sun asked the Prime Minister whether the Singapore Bicentennial celebration will make a greater effort to reflect the contributions that women have made to Singapore's nation-building.

Mr Speaker, the Singapore Bicentennial is an opportunity for us to reflect on the long arc of Singapore's history. Through the events and projects planned for this year, the Singapore Bicentennial Office will highlight the contributions of the diverse communities and peoples who arrived on our shores before and after 1819. This includes women and men of different ethnicities.

For women, in particular, we have started to share through social media stories of prominent persons, such as Hajjah Fatimah, a tradeswoman and philanthropist who came to Singapore in the 1800s and built houses for the poor and donated money and land to build a mosque for her community; Constance Goh, the pioneer of the Singapore Family Planning Association, who also started a feeding centre for poor children after World War II; Elizabeth Choy, a heroine who was also the first and only woman member of the Legislative Council in 1951; and Checha Davies, a social worker and a community volunteer who campaigned for women's economic, educational and social rights, leading to the passing of the Women's Charter in 1961.

Besides featuring individual women, the Singapore Bicentennial Office will also work with over 270 community partners to highlight groups of women who have made important contributions to Singapore. For instance, the Office is working with the National University of Singapore Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy to study the role of female philanthropists in the 1900s. The Office is also partnering the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations to develop a heritage trail linking the iconic infrastructure and monuments built by Samsui women during the 19th and 20th centuries.