AUG 21 — A document can make an enormous difference. One document which has changed lives throughout Singapore is the Singapore Women’s Charter.
Passed as law by the parliament of Singapore (then called the legislative assembly) in 1961, the Charter was an extremely far-sighted document — and one that was ahead of its time in many ways.
It codified and made clear rights that impacted the lives of women in various ways.
It was driven by Chan Choy Siong — one of the first women active in Singapore politics then — who was an MP for several years in the 60s and 70s. Siong and her collaborators were determined to ensure that women in Singapore would enjoy broad equality with men.
Prior to the charter, women’s rights in Singapore were vague — with multiple sometimes contradictory clauses existing in law.
In some ways it was still unclear at the time if women could even buy and own property in their own names. Protections for divorced women were almost non-existent and men could easily take several wives and discard other wives.
The situation was one that made it difficult for women to be anything other than dependent on men.
The Women’s Charter made it clear that with exception of Muslims — no one in Singapore could have more than one wife. The charter also made clear that marriage was an equal co-operative partnership, not simply an arrangement where the man was the head of the family.
This was a very progressive step for the time. It ensured that women received fair compensation in the event of a divorce and it meant they could claim maintenance and support after a divorce.
It allowed them to claim a share of any assets held within the marriage. Previously women couldn’t easily claim compensation after divorce.
As women often contributed much less financially they often couldn’t claim shared assets and property. But the charter laid the basis for courts to compensate women and divide assets not only on the basis of money earned but also factoring contributions like child care, domestic work, etc.
By making it explicit that a divorced woman was entitled to assets and maintenance, the charter made it clear to men that marriage was not something to be entered into lightly.
Marriage now came with real rights and real responsibilities where previously men had been able to treat women like they were disposable.
While today some people see marriage as an outdated institution, personally I think a monogamous marriage with the correct legal protections in place offers women considerable protection, forcing men to take responsibility and treat women as equal long-term partners.
While the situation for women in Singapore remains far from perfect and women still bear far more of the burden of childcare and domestic work while being hugely under-represented on directors’ boards and positions of significant political power, the charter has at least laid a foundation for married women to build their lives with confidence.
There is still a long way to go before we achieve true marital and gender equality but the charter enshrines equality as the ultimate objective and I am truly grateful that this work was done more than 60 years ago.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
