Opening Address by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Second Minister for Law, Mr Edwin Tong SC at the SHE Fundraising Dinner 2025

11 APR 2025

Ms Stefanie Yuen-Thio, Chairperson of SHE

SHE Board Members

Friends and Colleagues

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

I. Introduction

  1. Good evening, everyone. Thank you very much for being here. Just your presence alone underscores the importance of the work that SHE has done and will continue to do.
  1. SHE has grown tremendously in this short period of time. It is really not possible without Stefanie, who has been a sheer force, and a real unstoppable force. I thank the Board very much for supporting all the efforts and always being there at the front line, the wonderful team at SHE, and the growing pool of volunteers that SHE has. But more important this evening is to thank each and every one of you for being here, for supporting SHE, for entrusting confidence in the work that SHE has done.
  1. We have seen what Stefanie has presented. It is really a testament to all the efforts that have been put in, supported and empowered by the donations, the support and the resources that are put forward.
  1. This evening, we are here really because we believe in a fairer and more inclusive society, where all Singaporeans, including, maybe some might say, particularly women and children, can flourish and achieve their aspirations.
  1. In a very short time since its founding, SHE has been very accomplished –

(1) from establishing SHECARES@SCWO (“SHECARES”), Singapore’s first one-stop support centre for survivors of online harms.

(2) They have also launched career programmes for girls and women, and

(3) become a strong advocate for women’s issues both locally as well as on the global stage.

  1. In the past two years alone, SHECARES supported close to 260 survivors of online harms, of whom 9 in 10 are women.
  1. We know that online harms, such as online harassment. intimate image abuse, can be extremely distressing and particularly disempowering.
  1. Survivors often feel helpless and overwhelmed, which is where SHECARES steps in with its free counselling services, pro bono legal assistance, as well as help with platform reporting.
  1. It is always heartening to hear about how clients of SHECARES have coped with the ordeal, and come back stronger. And when they come back, they speak about the help that they got. In some ways, it surprised me when I went through some of these narratives to find out that it is not just about the legal help, the pro bono services, but it is really just about being there, being there as a pillar of support, a listening ear, a kind word.
  1. As someone has said, “Thank you very much for listening to me, for validating how I feel and understanding what I have gone through, and just being there to not judge me for what I have gone through, but to be there.
  1. I think that is really tremendous. This kind of support is not something that you can plan for, but it really has to come from the heart. So I thank all the many volunteers who have made this happened.
  1. SHE has also been busy on the career front, inspiring young minds through the Sneak Peek programme, bringing female youths behind the scenes at corporates from the public, private and people sectors to expose them to diverse career paths.
  1. One of the things that I feel very fortunate as I look back on my career was the presence of many mentors as I went from one career stage to another. I think that is what many young people, especially young girls, lack – to have a good mentor who has been there, done that, who have trodden the path and can turn back and say, “Here, take my hand, let me lead you along, because I know the path forward and I can guide you.” I think that is a very good spirit.
  1. In 2024 last year, more than 200 girls from 19 schools, some of whom are right here in the audience tonight, participated in these learning visits.
  1. I heard that one student, in particular, left with a renewed understanding of what it takes to have a career in the banking industry, after her visit to the Standard Chartered Bank. She learnt, to her surprise, that an accounting degree is not mandatory, not necessary, and there were in fact different career paths within the bank. She was keen and very bent on joining the bank, and she thought that not having an accounting degree would foreclose that option for her.
  1. Since the launch in March 2024, 150 women have attended, with 16 partner organisations pledging to be involved.
  1. But beyond these initiatives on the ground, SHE has also been a vocal advocate about women’s issues, facilitating dialogue and research on important topics, such as its research studies on gender mindsets and online harms, in the past few years. They have been helpful in driving evidence-based reforms and policy development on our part.
  1. I want to take a moment to express my deep appreciation to SHE, everyone behind SHE, from the Board to its staff, to the many volunteers, for your contributions to our vision of a special Singaporean society – one that is inclusive, that brings everyone along, one that does not judge us by how well we have done at the top, but how much we have brought the person at the bottom along with us. I want to say a big thank you. Join me in thanking SHE for all the work that has been donen.

II. Building a Fairer and More Inclusive Society

  1. I want to say that building a fairer and more inclusive society is constantly work in progress. We have come a long way, but I think there is a lot more to be done. It is something that we have been working on for many years to achieve.
  1. I think it is important to build that level playing field for all Singaporeans, women and men, young and old, able-bodied and differently abled, so that no one is left behind.
  1. Everyone ought to have an equal opportunity to chase their aspirations, and realise their potential, regardless of where you may start in life, age, economic status or ability.
  1. We have thus been steadily building inclusion into our everyday lives, and reshaping norms and try to shift mindsets. Let me cite a few examples.
  1. First, we have managed the issue of gender inequality relatively well. Over the years, we have done, as a country, reasonably well.

(1) When you look at the rankings, which of course, it is just one decade, Singapore is ranked 1st in Asia Pacific, and 8th globally in the 2023/2024 United Nations Human Development Report’s Gender Inequality Index.

(2) On the ground, the gender pay gap has continued to shrink, whilst women’s representation in leadership roles has increased.

(3) Of course, there is lot more work to be done, but I think we have come quite far, and we are now quite well-established.

  1. Second, on digital inclusion, something that perhaps all of us might almost intuitively take for granted because we can operate on digital devices, and we do not sometimes see that as a gap or as a divide. But it sometimes can be.

(1) Because we live in an increasingly digitalised world today, where technology permeates into almost everything that we do, from banking transactions, which we expect, but even to socialising and getting to know one another, meeting friends, get to know your neighbours. It is a very digital world.

(2) If you are familiar, or not au fait with it, it can be a dividing and often a divisive line between those who can and those who are unable to operate in a digital space.

(3) So to ensure that all Singaporeans can benefit from digital opportunities, the Government has introduced, amongst others, the DigitalAccess@Home scheme. This is a scheme to provide subsidised broadband and digital devices for lower-income households.

(4) We have also made special efforts to bring our seniors on board, by rolling out programmes such as Seniors Go Digital, to help them to look at the online space as not something that is treacherous and difficult, but something they can use to engage with their grandchildren, with their friends and fellow seniors.

  1. Third, deliberately uplifting our vulnerable groups with special programmes.

(1) We work very hard to provide comprehensive support for vulnerable groups, for instance, support for persons with disabilities – not just to live, but to work well in the community.

(2) In 2014, we launched SG Enable’s Open Door Programme, providing grants and employment support services to organisations that hire persons with disabilities. In other words, encouraging employers, through grants, through assistance, through programmes and government support, to hire persons with disabilities. Each year, about 630 people are successfully placed into jobs through this programme, and we hope to grow this even more with the support of the industry and our community.

(3) Since 2021, we have also provided directly a wage offset to eligible employers under the Enabling Employment Credit scheme. What does it do? Well, it directly goes towards hiring persons with disabilities, to help offset the wage for employers and therefore incentivise them to hire persons with disabilities. This scheme is expected to benefit about 10,000 people annually, and has been extended till 2028. We know that some employers might see this as a financial incentive, and there will be some who are hired because of the financial incentive. But overall, the exposure of persons with disabilities in these jobs, being able to prove themselves, show that they can manage, they can do it – I think it makes a big difference. Over time, I hope to shape society’s mindset shift.

III. Progress on White Paper on Singapore’s Women’s Development

  1. Let me also highlight a significant milestone in 2022. Stefanie spoke about the White Paper on Singapore’s Women’s Development, and yes we did approach some people to help us with it – not so much with the White Paper itself, but to put the White Paper into action. The White Paper provided 25 collective action plans to advance women’s development.
  1. But as I said, it is not just a paper. Since its publication, we have taken actual and real tangible steps in various areas, such as equal opportunities in the workplace, and strengthening protection against violence and harms. For example:

(1) Last December, we put in place guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests, which allow employees to better manage their work, personal and family commitments.

(2) More recently, we introduced the Workplace Fairness Act in January this year, which strengthens protections against workplace discrimination, based on specified protected characteristics, such as age and sex.

  1. Moving forward, we will also be introducing legislation to better protect Singaporeans from online harms, many of which disproportionately target girls and women. The new measures include the establishment of a dedicated agency to provide support for victims of online harms, to clarify the roles and duties of stakeholders in the online ecosystem, and taking steps to tackle the challenges posed by online anonymity, which is a real scourge.
  1. I am glad to know that organisations, such as SHE, stand ready to work with the new agency, to ensure that victims are able to receive the holistic care and support that they need.
  1. Even as we tackle harms in the online sphere, let me also assure everyone that we remain committed to reviewing and improving our laws, systems and processes, to ensure they are sufficient and effective in keeping our women and children safe in the offline world as well.
  1. Over the years, we have set up legislative and other frameworks to protect the vulnerable amongst us, including women and children. We have also strengthened our protocols in preschools and increased the channels to make it easier to report abuse, amongst others.
  1. Let me be clear, violence and abuse, online or offline, will not be tolerated in our system.
  1. We continually review our systems and processes thoroughly, with a view to enhancing and strengthening where necessary. Where there are gaps, they will be studied carefully and addressed proactively.
  1. As I have shared, the Government is working hard on multiple fronts to bring our vision of building a safe and inclusive society to fruition.
  1. It takes a whole-of-society effort – it is not just about laws, regulations, grants and systems. But it is about what we do from a ground up perspective, it is about what we do in different communities, and for different societies. Many of them are curated differently. It will take this whole-of-society effort to entrench the positive changes because it is not about individual efforts. It is about changing the whole approach and the whole mindset that I spoke about earlier.
  1. The success we have already seen with these initiatives has been made possible because of our shared values, aspirations and a collective sense of ideals – how do we want to define our society, and what do we want to see in Singapore for our future generations.
  1. It is because of our belief in fairness, equality, and respect for each other, and our unique ability to celebrate this diversity – the multiculturalism and multiethnicity; the fact that we are all different but same – that has enabled Singapore to grow from strength to strength.
  1. But I feel that this is something that we cannot take for granted, not at all.
  1. This Government remains committed to promoting equality, equity, and inclusion. But as you heard Stefanie said earlier, we will come under increasing pressure.
  1. We have seen how international norms and consensus around ideas of equality and equity have come under attack in the recent past couple months.
  1. As a result of shifts in the political leadership in the United States (“US”), we are now witnessing a massive rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion programmes (“DEI”) in the US federal government, and this has spilled over into the private sector. Because of the scale of the US and the reach of its corporate institutions, this can have cross-border effects, where such US companies have presence overseas.
  1. According to a Financial Times report, 90% of the top 400 companies in the S&P index that have filed an annual report since President Trump’s re-election have already reduced references to DEI, with many of them dropping the term, concept, programme altogether.
  1. While some companies have made adjustments in form but not substance, what remains troubling to me is that these companies readily axed the DEI programmes because of the change in political culture and mindset. That suggests to me that the DEI programmes existed only because they were good optics. I do not think that it is acceptable.
  1. The rollback of DEI has been justified, on the basis that DEI itself is in fact discriminatory, and should be scrapped in favour of a “colour blind and merit-based” society. Sounds good but what is it really in practice?
  1. I think this misses the point of DEI completely.
  1. In Singapore, we recognise that there are invisible biases and institutional discrimination that inhibit the development of a truly fair and meritocratic society.
  1. By assuming that the playing field is level to start with, which may often not be the case, this ignores the lived experiences of those which DEI was designed to serve and benefit.
  1. So to now dismiss DEI, and push a divisive rhetoric of “us” vs “them” will only serve to deepen those divisions, exacerbate inequality, and risk undoing decades of hard-fought gains.
  1. It also risks sending the wrong signal to the rest of the world at a time already characterised by heightened emotions and increasing polarisation, casting doubt over gender equality and equity as an international priority, I think it is the last thing we should see.

IV. Conclusion

  1. Given these uncertainties, it is more important than ever for Singapore to take the lead and stay on this course, to support organisations like SHE on the ground through its programmes.
  1. Your support and partnership, standing behind SHE tonight, for our policies and organisations such as SHE, will be become critical or highly essential to keeping this goal within our reach.
  1. Let me again thank Stefanie, her team at SHE, its staff and the many volunteers for the hard work you do – much of it is not that glamorous like this event tonight, but behind the scenes where no one is looking. I thank you very much for all that you do. This has translated into real tangible impact for girls and women in Singapore. I know tonight’s theme is glittery. But I want to say to SHE staff and all those who had helped SHE, that even without a glittery outfit, each of you has been shining bright like a star tonight in all of the work that you have been doing.
  1. Thank you, and I wish everyone a dazzling evening ahead.

Last updated on 11 April 2025