Beyond Cinderella: Unpacking the Realities of Step-family Life
When we think of step-families, the classic tale of Cinderella often springs to mind – a young girl mistreated by her unkind stepmother, an image that lingers as one of the most iconic depictions of step-family dynamics. (more…)
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After getting 3 books published in 5 years, there is still much for me to learn about the publishing industry and just how many things I had assumed wrongly. It has been a really interesting journey and I believe it is only getting started.
Growing up with my nose in books, it had always been my dream to have a book with my name on it as the author. Little did I know that writing is but one of many tasks an author does. Alongside the creative process, significant time and effort go into marketing, promoting, and connecting with readers. As I pen down this article, I reflect on my own journey and insights shared by fellow local authors Maria Mahat and Ustaz Ahmad Ubaidillah.
Recently, an Instagram reel of OMGxBH (a social media platform launched by Berita Harian to spur youth-oriented conversations) went: “Kalau ada Rumi, baru orang muda pergi Geylang?” This reel was released as part of marketing efforts to promote the completion of the first phase of rejuvenation works in the Geylang Serai Cultural Belt, and this particular question can be briefly translated into “Only if there is Rumi, then will the youth visit Geylang?”
For those unacquainted, Rumi The Poet’s cup (abbreviated as Rumi) is a highly youth-frequented Muslim-owned cafe located at Haji Lane, that offers affordable drinks and desserts. Part of its charm is the ambience contributed by the alfresco dining experience where seating areas are extended onto Haji Lane itself, the music, as well as the occasional events that they organise (See: Rumi Blind Date Night)[1]. Looking at this as a sociological site of study, we can situate Rumi to belong to the category of the third place, a phenomenon coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg that describes places that “host the regular, voluntary, informal […] gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work”[2]. We can also look at this through the lens of leisure studies, where leisure can be explored vis-a-vis one’s culture, life course, or in relation to consumption[3].
In the realm of leisure studies, the ways that people carry out leisure have been said to only be described in detail in only a few, almost exclusively Western societies[4]. As such, this raises an inquiry regarding specific communities and how they might interpret and carry out leisure. Specifically, what might leisure look like within the Singaporean Malay youth community? Roberts notes that the youth is the first age group whose “leisure received sustained scrutiny”, where the uses of free time by young people were likely to be defined as a “social problem”[5]. Referencing one of the few studies on leisure of young Singaporeans, Chew et al (1998) examined the leisure activities of Singaporean youth, vis-a-vis gender, race, religion and residential type. It was found that the Malay community appears to engage more often in social and recreational activities than youth of other races[6]. It is hence surprising that for the pervasive stereotype about Malays and lepak (hanging out), there has been very little study about this phenomenon of lepak/leisure behaviours within the Singaporean Malay community. This article then aims to uncover the notion of leisure in the community, particularly in relation to place.
Why Rumi?
Of course, Rumi isn’t the only place that is associated with the Malay youth. If we were to observe the Kampong Glam area surrounding Rumi, there have been many businesses and spaces of consumption popping up for the youth in this particular area of Bugis over the years – from the myriad photo booths opening up along Haji Lane, thrift shops, record stores, to the quaint cafes for desserts and drinks, and the countless restaurants in the area. With the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) officially designating Kampong Glam as Singapore’s Malay-Muslim heritage district in 1989[7], the appeal of this area can also be said to be its Muslim-friendly aspect, where the choice of halal and Muslim-friendly food options available to the Muslim community are comparably ubiquitous.
Geylang Serai vs Kampong Glam
Muzaini (2020) in Locating “Malay Places” and Ethnic Identity Making in Singapore, highlights four areas that have played a crucial role in helping the Malay community navigate their ethnic identity in the history of Singapore – Kampong Glam, Geylang Serai, Telok Blangah, and Kallang (except that the latter two are now less associated with the Malay community)[8].
There is an observation made in the question raised in “Kalau ada Rumi, baru orang muda pergi Geylang?” – being that Geylang is not frequented enough by the youth, despite it being a “Malay place”. What might be different between Kampong Glam and Geylang Serai, and where exactly do our youth spend their leisure time?
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) website indicates how the Malays shifted to the periphery after the British dissolved a floating Malay village on the Singapore River in the 1840s, eventually congregating in Geylang, where it is now promoted as a “Malay heartland”. This has had an effect on the present where Singaporean Malays are drawn to the less central, heartland location of Geylang Serai for ethnic food or clothing[9]. Here, there is a sort of dichotomy of the conception of “Malayness” – one of a peripheral/heartland Geylang with its organic culture borne out of the people themselves. This is in contrast to an urban/central Kampong Glam whose modern, hip culture is said to adopt a more cosmopolitan perspective to fit the image of Singaporean progress.
Taking a step back
Shifting away from a racial lens, Singapore’s Recreation Master Plan shows that Singapore is looking at urban planning through a more intentional holistic approach that incorporates working, living, and playing[10]. This Master Plan takes into consideration three key strategies, through enhancing recreational potential of green and blue spaces, activating underutilised spaces for recreation, and making recreation inclusive for all. What underlies recreation in the urban planning of Singapore is how these spaces built serve an important purpose of bringing people together, fostering stronger social ties and promoting cohesiveness in the nation[11]. But leisure can be defined in many ways, and in various forms. Stebbins (2007) has identified eight forms of casual leisure that include: play, relaxation, passive and active entertainment, sociable conversation, sensory stimulation, casual volunteering, and pleasurable aerobic activity[12]. While Singapore has placed a lot of thought into allocating and curating spaces for the wide range of recreational activities for its citizens, there is value in looking at places where people choose to organically congregate and gather – one whose meaning is curated and created by the people themselves.
A commentary on CNA in early 2024 hints at the loss of these organic spaces for recreation after a street football court in Bedok was temporarily closed in response to residents’ complaints of noise. Yeo argues in this commentary regarding the implications of the loss of spaces such as void decks where children used to play, or the shifting of basketball courts to the community centres[13]. The loss of accessible, close-proximity spaces comes with the loss of unstructured free play, which is important to foster independence, creativity, problem-solving and other important skills for the development of a child.
Where else might youth spend their time? With the ubiquity of shopping malls in Singapore, it is not a strange sight to see our youth spending time at the mall after school, work, or during the weekends, considering the affordances in a mall that offers a myriad of food, retail and entertainment options. It is hence no wonder that the most common site for recreational consumption is the shopping mall. However, the cookie cutter format of shopping malls in Singapore makes it hard to differentiate the stores of one mall from another. This makes them devoid of identity, even though each individual mall may offer goods and services that appeal to various communities. The purpose of these can be seen to provide spaces where consumers can celebrate and experience different cultures, be it theirs or not. For instance, for the Malay/Muslim community, fully halal food courts that offer various cuisines from all around the world allows for a space for people to congregate, since eating can be said to be a social activity in itself. (By virtue of a meme, Wingstop is apparently also claimed by the Malay community.)
Ooi (2005) surmises that “having a certain identity – ethnic or cultural – is supported in large part if there are spaces or places in which one can meet others of a similar identity and social background who can affirm this identity[14].”14An example of what malls could look like in fostering identities would be the recently closed Peace Centre, after social movement PlayPan took over in October 2023 to encourage community-building activities. The mall then grew to house many businesses that did not have physical shop presence beforehand, of which may include a gallery, thrift stores, and a photography studio. To quote Associate Professor Ijlal Naqvi, the “exuberant, messy vitality of the community at Peace Centre convened by PlayPan […] encouraged a spirit of play, a DIY attitude, and fostered an atmosphere of generosity and mutual support among everyone there”[15]. That said, while the function of each mall is up for individual shopping mall owners and operators to define, we also note that there is rarely an opportunity for youth consumers to make meaning out of the spaces in shopping malls, that allows them to iterate and strengthen their identities.
Meaning-making in Geylang
Circling back to the Instagram reel referenced previously, it is interesting to hear the responses of the youth who were interviewed when asked “What should Geylang have to attract more youth?” Aside from the seasonal Ramadan bazaar when there is more footfall in general, answers from these youth suggested more cafes, thrift shops, photobooths, and events – all these to promote the space to be more resilient for the youth. We note how most of these answers allude to this vision of a Geylang Serai that replicates the atmosphere of Kampong Glam, with one answer even mentioning “[bringing] the vibes of Arab Street to [Geylang].” We also note how these answers mention specific types of shops (thrift shops, photobooths, cafes) that may or may not be present in malls that relate to specific types of leisure that allow youth to create and affirm their individual identities. The initial thought is never the mall.
Kampong Glam: A place for the youth?
Perhaps the ubiquity of cafes like Rumi suggests a continuation of a trend of kopi consumption at the kopitiam, that met “local needs for a third place beyond the realms of home and work”[16]. These kopitiams then become local nexuses where people of any culture, religion or social class can socialise, drink, and play chess due to their low barriers of entry with regard to cost and accessibility. Bringing this to today’s context, these cafes then become places where youth can conduct leisure. While there is the element of consumption, as one has to purchase to patronise the space, these youth may not perceive themselves as consumers at independent cafes in comparison to larger coffee chains, since youth are now more conscious of supporting independent businesses as compared to big coffee chains that are said to promote consumerism[17]. In Malay social circles, language has also evolved to accommodate this phenomenon, with the terms mengeteh/mengopi being widely used to describe “having tea/coffee”. Of course, this expression isn’t only limited to those drinks. It just describes hanging out and sharing stories at an F&B establishment. If one wishes to patronise more traditional coffee places in the area, one can just turn the corner to find restaurants like ZamZam, Victory, or Bhai Sarbat to mengopi.
Another factor could also be the later closing times of these places. Malls in Singapore generally close at 10pm even on weekend nights, but there are F&B options open till a later time if the establishment is not located in a shopping mall. The extra hours when spending time with your friends matter.
As much as the earlier generations were drawn to the less central, heartland location of Geylang Serai to assert identity, this younger generation seems to be more inclined to the more urban Kampong Glam area with its own unique culture that seems to seamlessly blend modernity and community. There is so much more that can be observed and unpacked about these leisure behaviours and preferences of a community, which can be important for urban planners, policy makers, or business owners to consider – where a pertinent consideration includes allowing for enough space for culture to thrive organically when curating recreational spaces.
1Zulkifli, D. (2024) ‘Tempat lepak “mat minah”? Rumi The Poet’s Cup ada tarikan sendiri, kata pelanggan’, Berita Harian, 25 May. Available at: https://www.beritaharian.sg/gaya-hidup/tempat-lepak-mat-minah-rumi-poets-cup-ada-tarikan-sendiri-kata-pelanggan
2Ray Oldenburg. (2008) Project for Public Spaces. https://www.pps.org/article/roldenburg
3Blackshaw, T. (2013). Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203140505-61
4Chick, G. (2013). Leisure in culture. Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203140505.ch18
5Roberts, K. (2013). Leisure in culture. Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203140505.ch22
6Chew, S. B., Leu, M., & Tan, K. H. (1998). Leisure Activities. Values and Lifestyles of Young Singaporeans, 89–126.
7Tantow, D. (2012). Politics of Heritage in Singapore. Indonesia and the Malay World, 40(118), 332–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2012.725553
8Locating “Malay Places” and Ethnic Identity Making in Singapore. Singapore Research Nexus. (2022). https://fass.nus.edu.sg/srn/2022/04/13/locating-malay-places-and-ethnic-identity-making-in-singapore/
9Tantow, D. (2012). Politics of Heritage in Singapore. Indonesia and the Malay World, 40(118), 332–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2012.725553N
10Woo, J. J. (2024, May 1). Commentary: Singapore is getting serious about recreation. CNA. Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/singapore-work-play-live-recreation-ura-master-plan-viaduct-rooftop-4302846.
11Ibid.
12Blackshaw, T. (2013). Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203140505-61
13Yeo, E. (2024). Commentary: it’s time to think about where kids can freely play football in singapore. CNA. Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/singapore-street-football-court-close-space-children-play-sports-4027101.
14Ismail, R. (2006). Ramadan and Bussorah Street: The spirit of place. GeoJournal, 66(3), 243–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-006-9027-y
15Chiu, C. (2024). ‘It’s hard to find another place like this’: Peace Centre to close after Jan 28. The Straits Times.
16Chang, C., & McGonigle, I. (2020). Kopi culture: Consumption, conservatism and cosmopolitanism among Singapore’s millennials. Asian Anthropology, 19(3), 213–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/1683478x.2020.1726965
17Ibid.
Nur Izzatie is currently a Research Analyst at the Centre of Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA). She completed her undergraduate studies in Sociology at Nanyang Technological University, where she was able to cultivate her love for unpacking and diving deep into different cultural phenomena.
INTRODUCTION
Singapore’s Budget 2024 was introduced at a time of significant global economic turbulence, aiming to provide a blueprint for the city-state’s prosperity. The budget aims to navigate the balance between fostering economic growth and addressing immediate societal needs amid global uncertainties. This article takes a closer look at the budget’s implications, especially for the Malay Muslim community, and evaluates its potential to address both current and future challenges. (more…)
In 1977, Rosabeth Kanter published her book, Men and Women of the Corporation, introducing the concept of “tokenism” as she covered women’s general negative experiences working ‘non-traditionally female’ jobs and, particularly, their inability to achieve equality in the workplace, despite their capabilities due to their attributed token status, i.e. their low proportion in a workplace dominated by men. Over the years, the term has expanded to also incorporate workplace policies with voluntary or mandated quotas, especially towards minority groups and/or women, in ways that will not change (gender or ethnic) majority-dominated power within an organisation, allowing them mere partial participation. Even so, such practices are, arguably, typically used as ‘proof’ that the organisation does not discriminate against such minorities.
The acknowledgement that tokenism exists allows us to unpack how leadership and representation of minorities are enacted in our everyday professional lives. However, for minority individuals who got to the top through their own merits, an unhealthy obsession over any minority leaders being mere token representatives serves to instead, discredit their capabilities to lead. Disgruntled voices spread like wildfire in our current world of inter-connectedness and on platforms where anyone can post biased and poorly informed opinions as ‘truth’ such as social media, it is so easy to create and grow negativity bandwagons to question an individual’s legitimacy to leadership as token representation, despite attaining the position through merit.
TOKENISM VERSUS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Tokenism refers to policies or practices of making only a symbolic effort to include participation by individuals from under-represented groups to give the appearance of equality or inclusivity. Affirmative action, on the other hand, refers to policies designed to redress inequalities created by historical legacies e.g. group discrimination and disadvantage experienced by under-represented groups.
When Mdm Halimah Yacob was sworn in as the 8th president of Singapore on 14 September 2017, she was Singapore’s first Malay president in 47 years, and the first woman president in the country’s history. She also joined the list of other Muslim-female heads of state worldwide like Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Tansu Çiller of Turkey, Mame Madior Boye and Aminata Touré of Senegal, Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan, Atifete Jahjaga and Vjosa Osmani of Kosovo, Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé of Mali, Sibel Siber of Northern Cyprus, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim of Mauritius, Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, and Najla Bouden of Tunisia. From the list above, most are Muslim-majority countries.
Singaporeans then did, however, and understandably, have mixed feelings as they couldn’t exercise their right to vote for the winning candidate who would go on to play the largely ceremonial role. Even so, she handled the criticisms with grace and calmly told reporters outside the Elections Department on 11 September 2017, “I promise to do the best that I can to serve the people of Singapore, and that doesn’t change whether there is an election or no election…my passion and commitment to serve the people of Singapore remains the same.”
Mdm Halimah was a strong advocate for social issues long before she was elected and championed various social causes, from mental health issues to help for disadvantaged groups. During her term, she continued to support charities and initiatives for various groups, and she leaves the unique legacy of having steered the country through COVID-19, a global pandemic that led to more than 1.8 million official deaths globally by the end of 2020 alone (World Health Organization), giving her assent to the government to draw on past reserves for COVID-19 public health expenditure.
She also spoke up on behalf of Singapore Muslims amid announcements by the Internal Security Department (ISD) regarding the detention of self-radicalised youths, asserting that their aspirations neither represent Islam, nor the Singapore Muslim community at the interfaith group, Roses of Peace’s 10th anniversary celebration in 2023. She spoke up in encouragement of the Malay community’s significant progress in education and household income in 2023 when much public discourse persists in highlighting achievement gaps between the community and the national average. She also spoke up in support of the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development in 2022 as well as increasing participation by women in the economy and leadership positions at the Women’s Forum Asia in 2019.
The point here is, it has become clear, 6 years on, that using the term ‘token’ in the same line as her name when she became President is grossly unfair.
Furthermore, representation matters and it matters further that a Muslim and a female is the one championing the causes of her own community. For me, seeing a fellow Muslim female in a headscarf, in a position of power who remained focused on her responsibilities and delivered despite initial raised eyebrows is something I am proud of as a fellow Muslim woman. Beyond Singapore, let’s also not forget that much of the secular world views Islam as an intolerant religion that oppresses women, and it is always refreshing to see strong female Muslim leaders holding their ground in a political sea of men.
WHEN YOU THINK YOU’RE ‘ONE OF THE GUYS’ AND ‘NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS’
Beyond Singapore politics and politics in general, the percentage of women in leadership positions has only risen slowly and the statistical representation of women in top management and executive positions continues to change at a very emancipation and access to education among women worldwide. Women generally enter the workforce in almost equal proportion to men but the share of women in managerial and leadership positions progressively drops higher up the seniority ladder (see Figures 1 and 2).
In other words, it gets increasingly lonely for women higher up the seniority ladder. This has multiple implications but most importantly, this signifies an increasing under-investment in social capital. Social capital that is usually built through socialising with colleagues and building professional networks. This is made especially difficult when as a gender minority, the influential networks are made up of mostly men who partake in more ‘masculine’ activities or topics of conversation and you face the awkwardness of being the only woman in a boardroom. In addition, as Muslim women trying to make it in more secular workplace settings, there may be activities that may not necessarily align with their faith, like a working lunch at the team’s favourite non-halal restaurant. These may seem trivial but present real, practical challenges to women. In addition to this, working mothers are even more pressed to juggle work and family.
In a study conducted in the United States (Hewlett, 2002), it was found that 33% of women with successful careers (in reference to business executives, doctors, lawyers, academics, etc.) in the 41 to 55 age bracket are childless and that figure rises to 42% in corporate America. Yet, most of these women yearn for children but were unsuccessful in conceiving later on as they had crowded out the possibility of having children in their earlier years meeting the brutal demands of their ambitious careers. High-achieving men, on the other hand, do not experience such a difficult trade-off. 79% of the men surveyed reported wanting children and 75% have them. I suspect this trend is close to the realities in other communities too, including our own.
Having said this though, I am not proposing a gender war but rather I am looking inward into what it means to be an educated and career-focused Muslim woman of today, navigating male-dominated professional hierarchies without downplaying my femininity, to be taken more seriously. Beyond my community, to be accepted in more secular professional circles which may or may not have formed opinions on the rights of Muslim women from biased reporting without downplaying my faith. Unfortunately, internalised misogyny is also present within us women, and as mentioned above, it is already increasingly lonely for women striving to reach the top of their careers. It is especially lonelier to be judged by other women with varying ideas of what it means to be a woman and a good Muslim woman on top of it.
TEAM MUSLIMAH
At the end of the day, we are all trying to be the best versions of ourselves regardless of what our aspirations may be, and we can indeed be kinder to ourselves as well as our peers from a place of compassion and female camaraderie. By the time this piece is published, Mdm Halimah would have already stepped down and I will miss seeing her portrait around our institutions, what it represents and proudly proclaiming to my non-Muslim family members overseas that we have a Muslim woman in power so no, we Muslim women are not oppressed. As a headscarf-wearing Muslim woman, I also want meaningful representation, not tokenism. Perhaps, sometime soon, we will again have another Malay elected head of state whom the public voted for, and we can finally burn that token to the ground.
1 LinkedIn. “Gender Equity in the Workplace.” LinkedIn, linkedin.github.io/gender-equity-2022/. Accessed 29 Sept. 2023.
Rifhan Noor Miller is Centre Manager for the Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA). Her research interests include gender, equity and social justice issues.
From mid-2023, major supermarkets in Singapore will be required to charge at least 5 cents for a disposable carrier bag[1]. The rationale goes beyond the need to reduce single-use plastic waste; producing plastic bags itself is resource-intensive. Reports suggest that approximately 37 million kilograms (kg) of crude oil and 12 million kg of natural gas have gone into the production of three billion plastic bags, all of which were used by Singapore residents in a year[2]. (more…)
2024 marked a pivotal year for Singapore as Mr Lawrence Wong delivered his first National Day message as the nation’s fourth Prime Minister. Following his ascension to office in May, PM Wong’s speech introduced “bold but necessary”[1] policies designed to fortify Singapore’s social compact in an increasingly uncertain global landscape. His speeches, delivered in English, Malay, and Mandarin, each touched on different aspects of this vision for Singapore’s future, though some elements stood out more strongly in certain languages.
In June 2024, news of the US-Saudi Arabia petrodollar deal expiring after 50 years went viral and within weeks, the US stock market suffered. Reports now claim that there was never such agreement in the first place (Morningstar[1], July 17th, 2024). The premise of said agreement was that Saudi Arabia would price its crude oil exports in US dollars and use proceeds to purchase US Treasury bonds. In exchange, the United States would give the kingdom military aid and equipment. Under said arrangement, Saudi Arabia secured its economic and general security while the United States gained a reliable supply of oil and a captive market for its debt.
The idea of a centenarian – a person who has reached (or even surpassed) the age of 100 – once seemed improbable, like something out of a science fiction movie, where technology could attain feats beyond the human imagination.
However, in 2020, the number of centenarians in Singapore doubled from 700 in 2010 to 1500[1].
This remarkable growth challenged our preconceived ideas about longevity and raised hopes that we might significantly extend human life expectancy. Building on this optimism, Laura Carstensen of Stanford University suggested that half of the five-year-olds in Singapore at that time could expect to live to 100[2].
On 23 December 2023, Reverend Dr Munther Isaac delivered the Christmas eve sermon at the pulpit of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, West Bank[1];. In his stirring address, he said “If Jesus were born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza. […] Born among the occupied and marginalised. He is in solidarity with us in our pain and brokenness.”
Representing the Palestinian Christian community, Rev. Munther expressed his unwavering solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, regardless of faith. He criticised how leaders around the world had refused to call for a ceasefire on the basis of Israel’s “right to self-defence” and for their financial complicity, whether directly funding the genocide[2] or indirectly supporting Israel’s military industry[3]; and arms research and development ventures (which are currently used against innocent Palestinian civilians).
In the Malay Peninsula, fabrics hold the essence of a people’s identity, linking the present to a rich past. Batik, songket, and Peranakan embroidery carry stories of culture, tradition, and the endurance of communities. These materials serve as vessels of cultural memory, preserving and conveying the identity, power, and resistance that have shaped the region.
Culture and Identity
Fabrics reflect the deep connection to nature and the unique cultural heritage of the Malay peninsula.
In 1977, Rosabeth Kanter published her book, Men and Women of the Corporation, introducing the concept of “tokenism” as she covered women’s general negative experiences working ‘non-traditionally female’ jobs and, particularly, their inability to achieve equality in the workplace, despite their capabilities due to their attributed token status, i.e. their low proportion in a workplace dominated by men. Over the years, the term has expanded to also incorporate workplace policies with voluntary or mandated quotas, especially towards minority groups and/or women, in ways that will not change (gender or ethnic) majority-dominated power within an organisation, allowing them mere partial participation. Even so, such practices are, arguably, typically used as ‘proof’ that the organisation does not discriminate against such minorities.
The acknowledgement that tokenism exists allows us to unpack how leadership and representation of minorities are enacted in our everyday professional lives. However, for minority individuals who got to the top through their own merits, an unhealthy obsession over any minority leaders being mere token representatives serves to instead, discredit their capabilities to lead. Disgruntled voices spread like wildfire in our current world of inter-connectedness and on platforms where anyone can post biased and poorly informed opinions as ‘truth’ such as social media, it is so easy to create and grow negativity bandwagons to question an individual’s legitimacy to leadership as token representation, despite attaining the position through merit.
TOKENISM VERSUS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Tokenism refers to policies or practices of making only a symbolic effort to include participation by individuals from under-represented groups to give the appearance of equality or inclusivity. Affirmative action, on the other hand, refers to policies designed to redress inequalities created by historical legacies e.g. group discrimination and disadvantage experienced by under-represented groups.
When Mdm Halimah Yacob was sworn in as the 8th president of Singapore on 14 September 2017, she was Singapore’s first Malay president in 47 years, and the first woman president in the country’s history. She also joined the list of other Muslim-female heads of state worldwide like Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Tansu Çiller of Turkey, Mame Madior Boye and Aminata Touré of Senegal, Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan, Atifete Jahjaga and Vjosa Osmani of Kosovo, Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé of Mali, Sibel Siber of Northern Cyprus, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim of Mauritius, Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, and Najla Bouden of Tunisia. From the list above, most are Muslim-majority countries.
Singaporeans then did, however, and understandably, have mixed feelings as they couldn’t exercise their right to vote for the winning candidate who would go on to play the largely ceremonial role. Even so, she handled the criticisms with grace and calmly told reporters outside the Elections Department on 11 September 2017, “I promise to do the best that I can to serve the people of Singapore, and that doesn’t change whether there is an election or no election…my passion and commitment to serve the people of Singapore remains the same.”
Mdm Halimah was a strong advocate for social issues long before she was elected and championed various social causes, from mental health issues to help for disadvantaged groups. During her term, she continued to support charities and initiatives for various groups, and she leaves the unique legacy of having steered the country through COVID-19, a global pandemic that led to more than 1.8 million official deaths globally by the end of 2020 alone (World Health Organization), giving her assent to the government to draw on past reserves for COVID-19 public health expenditure.
She also spoke up on behalf of Singapore Muslims amid announcements by the Internal Security Department (ISD) regarding the detention of self-radicalised youths, asserting that their aspirations neither represent Islam, nor the Singapore Muslim community at the interfaith group, Roses of Peace’s 10th anniversary celebration in 2023. She spoke up in encouragement of the Malay community’s significant progress in education and household income in 2023 when much public discourse persists in highlighting achievement gaps between the community and the national average. She also spoke up in support of the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development in 2022 as well as increasing participation by women in the economy and leadership positions at the Women’s Forum Asia in 2019.
The point here is, it has become clear, 6 years on, that using the term ‘token’ in the same line as her name when she became President is grossly unfair.
Furthermore, representation matters and it matters further that a Muslim and a female is the one championing the causes of her own community. For me, seeing a fellow Muslim female in a headscarf, in a position of power who remained focused on her responsibilities and delivered despite initial raised eyebrows is something I am proud of as a fellow Muslim woman. Beyond Singapore, let’s also not forget that much of the secular world views Islam as an intolerant religion that oppresses women, and it is always refreshing to see strong female Muslim leaders holding their ground in a political sea of men.
WHEN YOU THINK YOU’RE ‘ONE OF THE GUYS’ AND ‘NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS’
Beyond Singapore politics and politics in general, the percentage of women in leadership positions has only risen slowly and the statistical representation of women in top management and executive positions continues to change at a very emancipation and access to education among women worldwide. Women generally enter the workforce in almost equal proportion to men but the share of women in managerial and leadership positions progressively drops higher up the seniority ladder (see Figures 1 and 2).
In other words, it gets increasingly lonely for women higher up the seniority ladder. This has multiple implications but most importantly, this signifies an increasing under-investment in social capital. Social capital that is usually built through socialising with colleagues and building professional networks. This is made especially difficult when as a gender minority, the influential networks are made up of mostly men who partake in more ‘masculine’ activities or topics of conversation and you face the awkwardness of being the only woman in a boardroom. In addition, as Muslim women trying to make it in more secular workplace settings, there may be activities that may not necessarily align with their faith, like a working lunch at the team’s favourite non-halal restaurant. These may seem trivial but present real, practical challenges to women. In addition to this, working mothers are even more pressed to juggle work and family.
In a study conducted in the United States (Hewlett, 2002), it was found that 33% of women with successful careers (in reference to business executives, doctors, lawyers, academics, etc.) in the 41 to 55 age bracket are childless and that figure rises to 42% in corporate America. Yet, most of these women yearn for children but were unsuccessful in conceiving later on as they had crowded out the possibility of having children in their earlier years meeting the brutal demands of their ambitious careers. High-achieving men, on the other hand, do not experience such a difficult trade-off. 79% of the men surveyed reported wanting children and 75% have them. I suspect this trend is close to the realities in other communities too, including our own.
Having said this though, I am not proposing a gender war but rather I am looking inward into what it means to be an educated and career-focused Muslim woman of today, navigating male-dominated professional hierarchies without downplaying my femininity, to be taken more seriously. Beyond my community, to be accepted in more secular professional circles which may or may not have formed opinions on the rights of Muslim women from biased reporting without downplaying my faith. Unfortunately, internalised misogyny is also present within us women, and as mentioned above, it is already increasingly lonely for women striving to reach the top of their careers. It is especially lonelier to be judged by other women with varying ideas of what it means to be a woman and a good Muslim woman on top of it.
TEAM MUSLIMAH
At the end of the day, we are all trying to be the best versions of ourselves regardless of what our aspirations may be, and we can indeed be kinder to ourselves as well as our peers from a place of compassion and female camaraderie. By the time this piece is published, Mdm Halimah would have already stepped down and I will miss seeing her portrait around our institutions, what it represents and proudly proclaiming to my non-Muslim family members overseas that we have a Muslim woman in power so no, we Muslim women are not oppressed. As a headscarf-wearing Muslim woman, I also want meaningful representation, not tokenism. Perhaps, sometime soon, we will again have another Malay elected head of state whom the public voted for, and we can finally burn that token to the ground.
1 LinkedIn. “Gender Equity in the Workplace.” LinkedIn, linkedin.github.io/gender-equity-2022/. Accessed 29 Sept. 2023.
Rifhan Noor Miller is Centre Manager for the Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA). Her research interests include gender, equity and social justice issues.
On 23 December 2023, Reverend Dr Munther Isaac delivered the Christmas eve sermon at the pulpit of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, West Bank[1];. In his stirring address, he said “If Jesus were born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza. […] Born among the occupied and marginalised. He is in solidarity with us in our pain and brokenness.”
Representing the Palestinian Christian community, Rev. Munther expressed his unwavering solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, regardless of faith. He criticised how leaders around the world had refused to call for a ceasefire on the basis of Israel’s “right to self-defence” and for their financial complicity, whether directly funding the genocide[2] or indirectly supporting Israel’s military industry[3]; and arms research and development ventures (which are currently used against innocent Palestinian civilians).
Beyond selfies and viral trends, social media has undeniably had an impact on society and human communication.
One of the areas where platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter), among others, have shaped conversations is in the field of activism.
From the Arab Spring to Black Lives Matter to MeToo — which in 2019 found a local equivalent in Monica Baey’s voyeurism case going viral — it is hard to think of a major movement over the past decade or more where social media has not played a role in amplifying and bringing to a wider audience. (more…)
