Ms Carrie Tan, Patron for SHE BRILLIANCE and Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC

Ms Kim Underhill, Co-Founder of SHE BRILLIANCE

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning. It is my pleasure to be here today to celebrate the first anniversary of SHE BRILLIANCE, a movement to inspire women to lead purposeful lives, and to achieve their professional and personal aspirations.

2021 was the Year of Celebrating SG Women. This year, we commemorate SG Families. Since its launch last year, I am heartened to see how SHE BRILLIANCE has grown as a community of women coming together to uplift one another as family.

Our women have made significant progress over the years since our independence.

Our literacy rates of women aged 15 and above is 96.4%, and employment rate of women aged 25 to 64 is 75% in 2021.

The latest UN Human Development Report, published last month, ranked Singapore 7th worldwide for gender equality on the Gender Inequality Index. This was an improvement from our 12th placing just two years ago.

Despite the significant progress made, we recognise that more can, and needs to be done. Earlier this year, Singapore published the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development. It outlined 25 action plans by the Government and community to advance Singapore women.

One key area of the White Paper is ‘Equal Opportunities in the Workplace’, where we will introduce a workplace fairness legislation and entrench flexible work arrangements as a workplace norm among others. This will help women to participate more fully in the workplace and allow both men and women to balance their responsibilities within and outside work.

The theme of today’s conference, “Agency for Growth”, is a timely reminder of the opportunities that await us to champion greater progress for women and shatter glass ceilings. We need to seize these opportunities to empower more women to realise their potential for leadership roles.

We are also working to raise public awareness of the importance of board diversity. The benefits of board diversity are well-established. Having leaders with varied experiences, skillsets and perspectives enables organisations to be nimbler and more competitive. According to the Council for Board Diversity, the percentage of women on boards of Singapore’s Top 100 listed companies have improved over time, from 7.5% in 2014 to 19.7% as at 1 January 2022. The statistics from our statutory boards and top 100 Institutions of a Public Character or IPCs are also very encouraging; standing at 29.7% and 28.4% as at end-December 2021. While we recognise the progress, there is more work to be done in supporting and uplifting women to fulfil their career aspirations and to reap the benefits of board diversity.

Organisations like SHE BRILLIANCE are an important part of this ecosystem of women supporting women. It has made great progress in the past year in three key growth pillars – Career Mentorship, Learning and Development, and Socially Impactful Activities.

Since its inauguration, the SHE BRILLIANCE community has grown to 200 members in the business and professional circles. It has also opened up to male mentors and has three senior leaders from the Technology/Digital, Legal and Financial industry. Under its mentoring programmes, it has paired over 90 mentor-mentees for career coaching.

Its monthly Learning and Development Masterclasses in leadership and career progression have covered a variety of key topics from personal branding to managing transitions.

Besides being a platform for the professional community, SHE BRILLIANCE is also working with NUS Women in Business to provide undergraduates with a head-start through sponsorship and mentoring.

These programmes are invaluable in helping women build confidence and social capital, develop useful connections and relationships, as well as identify opportunities for career progression and new business opportunities. Beyond structured programmes, the community provides women with a safe and supportive space to be authentic.

In the spirit of giving, I am heartened to note that 20% of all event profits go towards supporting a local charity. In the first quarter this year, the community supported Sewing Moms, a campaign that helps women with chronic illnesses or are caregivers to sick children, who earn a living from home-based sewing campaigns. For today’s conference, the funds will go towards funding the programmes under Daughters Of Tomorrow (DOT), an IPC charity empowering underprivileged women into sustained employment. In Singapore, there were about 17,000  women who applied for financial assistance from the Government for their basic living expenses last year. They could be looking for work and grappling with family issues. To date, DOT has positively impacted more than 1,000 women through skills-training, job-bridging, and support programmes. By complementing available employment and social support from Government and social agencies, these programmes empower them through financial independence and upward social mobility.

In closing, let me share a timeless story about what geese can teach us about standing by each other. When a goose flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the goose right behind. This adds greater flying range, as compared to if it flew solo. Similarly, when a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go at it alone. This nudges it back into formation to partake in the lifting power from the bird in front.

This teaches us about the power of community and strength in numbers. There is synergy when individuals pool their energy, ideas, talents, and skills together to achieve more than they can on their own.

I would like to commend SHE BRILLIANCE for its steadfast dedication towards creating this community. I urge everyone to continue this upward momentum and remain committed towards advancing each other to greater heights.

I wish everyone a fruitful and meaningful event ahead. Thank you.