iwd 2015 media release - final -...

SCWO Centre, 96 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187967 | Tel: 6837 0611 | Fax: 6837 0081 | www.scwo.org.sg

MEDIA RELEASE March 27, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE USE

Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame: The Inductees of 2015 Eleven outstanding women will be inducted to the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame tonight

at a gala dinner to mark International Women’s Day and to celebrate the many

contributions of women to Singapore’s development.

The honourees this year are:

-‐ Agnes Joaquim, the first woman in the world to breed a hybrid orchid

-‐ Tan Chew Neo, pioneering community worker

-‐ Ellice Handy, culinary pioneer and educator

-‐ Chua Jim Neo, author of the definitive Mrs Lee’s Cookbook

-‐ Yuen Peng McNeice, philanthropist and pioneering conservationist

-‐ Nalla Tan, pioneering advocate for sex and public health education

-‐ Janet Yee, pioneering social worker and advocate of children’s rights

-‐ Constance Singam, champion of civil society

-‐ Kartina Dahari, award-‐winning singer known as the Queen of Keroncong

-‐ Bridget Tan, champion of the rights of migrant workers

-‐ Koh Chai Hong, trailblazer in the Singapore Armed Forces.

Brief profiles of the 11 women are attached.

CONTACT INFO: Amanda Ho, Marketing & PR Tel: (O) 6571 0182 (M) 9634 5322 Email: [email protected]


At the gala dinner, the 11 women or their representatives will be presented with The Flame,

a trophy symbolising the vitality of the women in the Hall of Fame and the torch of

inspiration that is passed from one generation to another.

The Guest of Honour at the dinner will be Mdm Halimah Yacob, Speaker of Parliament, who

was herself inducted to the Hall of Fame (SWHF) in 2014. The SWHF was launched in March

2014 with 108 women being honoured for their achievements and contributions to

Singapore.

As a mark of respect for the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first Prime Minister, there

will be a minute’s silence at the start of the dinner. In addition, a condolence book will be

available for dinner guests to sign. The planned entertainment for the night has been

cancelled, and 2 dinner guests, a violinist and a guitarist, will instead play a few pieces of

music.

For more information, please contact Amanda Ho, email: [email protected]


About the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (www.swhf.sg)

The Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame was launched on 14th March 2014 with 108 Inaugural

honourees. Their achievements spanned two centuries and 13 fields of endeavour, ranging

from the philanthropy of 19th century businesswoman Hajjah Fatimah Sulaiman to the

sporting prowess of Singapore’s women Olympians and Paralympians in the 21st century.

The aim of the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame is to recognise and celebrate the many

contributions of women to Singapore’s development. Information about the inductees and

the selection process is available at the SWHF website – www.swhf.sg

For the second year running, Citi is the Presenting Sponsor for the SWHF. The banking

organisation has made a three-‐year commitment to supporting the SWHF.

About SCWO

The Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) is the National Coordinating body

of women’s organisations in Singapore. Our 57 member organisations represent more than

500,000 women in Singapore. Incorporated in March 1980, the SCWO serves to unite the

various organisations, clubs, committees, groups and women leaders together working in

accordance with its various aims and objectives. The Singapore Council of Women’s

Organisations seeks to coordinate these associations into a national movement and to act

on their behalf in matters for which it is authorised by its members. It seeks to promote the

ideals of “Equal Space, Equal Voice and Equal Worth” for women in Singapore.

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Addendum to IWD 2015 media release to be issued on 27 March 2015

INDUCTEES OF 2015 AGNES JOAQUIM First woman in the world to breed a hybrid orchid Born 1854 Died 1899 Category: Environment & Conservation Agnes Joaquim was born in Singapore in 1854 to a prominent Armenian family that had a long tradition of interest and success in horticulture. Agnes’ speciality was orchids. In early 1893, she brought an orchid to Henry Ridley, the Botanic Gardens director. She had crossed the Burmese Vanda teres with the Malayan Vanda hookeriana. Ridley declared it a new hybrid and sent cuttings to an orchid expert in Britain. The Vanda Miss Joaquim was exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Show in London in 1897 and won first prize. In 1899 it won top prize at the Singapore Flower Show. Agnes, who had cancer, lived just long enough to see her orchid win the honour and to be publicly recognised as its creator. The Vanda Miss Joaquim was chosen in 1981 as Singapore's national flower. TAN CHEW NEO Pioneering community worker Born 1898 Died 1986 Category: Community & Social Work Tan Chew Neo, known as Mrs Tay Lian Teck after her marriage in 1922, was a pioneer community and social worker. Before the Second World War, she served for some 15 years on the committee of the Poh Leung Kuk, or Society for the Protection of Women and Children. She was a key mover in the late 1930s of the revival of the Chinese Ladies Association, rallying its members to help in the war relief work. After the war, she again restarted the Association and became its president. She was made a Justice of the Peace in 1947 and regularly visited women serving jail sentences. She was also active in the St Johns Ambulance Brigade, Young Women’s Christian Association, the Girl Guides Association and St. Andrew’s Mission Hospital, and served on many committees.


ELLICE HANDY Culinary pioneer and educator Born: 1902 Died: 1989 Category: Arts/Culture/Entertainment Ellice Handy, whose entire life was associated with Methodist Girls’ School (MGS), wrote the first Singaporean cookbook, My Favourite Recipes. First published in 1952, it offered easy-‐to-‐follow, everyday recipes reflecting Singapore’s multicultural heritage. Ellice entered MGS when she was four and spent almost all of her student and working life at the school. After getting her Bachelor of Arts degree in India, she returned to MGS in 1922 as a teacher. In 1945 she became its first Asian principal and had to restart the school after the ravages of World War 2. She wrote her cook book to raise funds for MGS and it soon became a culinary reference book in many households. In 1957, she was conferred the Order of the British Empire for her work in education. CHUA JIM NEO Author of the definitive Mrs Lee’s Cookbook Born: 1907 Died: 1980 Category: Arts/Culture/Entertainment Chua Jim Neo, better known as Mrs Lee Chin Koon, wrote her definitive Mrs Lee’s Cookbook in 1974 when she was 67 years old. At an age when many women of her generation were content to play with their grandchildren, Jim Neo decided to produce a cookbook so that future generations would have access to the intricacies of the Peranakan cuisine. The book, reprinted many times, is considered one of the most authoritative on Peranakan cuisine in Singapore. Jim Neo was just 15 when she wed Lee Chin Koon in an arranged marriage. In his memoirs, her eldest son, Kuan Yew, wrote: “She had been married off too early. Had she been born one generation later and continued her education beyond secondary school, she could easily have become an effective business executive.”


YUEN PENG MCNEICE Philanthropist and pioneering conservationist Born: 1917 Died: 2012 Category: Environment & Conservation Yuen Peng McNeice was a philanthropist and conservationist who championed the preservation of the environment and animal welfare long before such causes became fashionable. She was also a social worker and an accomplished horticulturist and wildlife photographer, and was the first Singaporean to become an associate of Britain’s Royal Photographic Society. She was a major supporter of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, acquiring and then donating to it in 1994 a unique collection of some 20,000 bromeliads. She also supported the conservation, research and education efforts of the Malayan Nature Society, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore. For her conservation work Yuen Peng was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2005. NALLA TAN Pioneering advocate for sex and public health education Born 1923 Died 2012 Category: Education Nalla Tan was a pioneering advocate for sex and public health education. A multi-‐talented and outspoken doctor and academic, she was also an advocate for women’s rights and family life, a poet and writer of short stories, a newspaper columnist, and a painter. In the 1960s, when many considered it to be a taboo topic, Nalla called for the introduction of sex education in schools. She wrote two books, You Need to Know (1976) and Beyond Your Navel (1977), that tackled issues such as puberty, sex and reproduction, family planning and relationships for teenagers. In 1984, she received the Friend of Labour Award from the National Trades Union Congress for her advocacy of female employment and work with the Consumers Association of Singapore.


JANET YEE KENG LUAN Pioneering social worker and advocate of children’s rights Born 1934 Category: Community & Social Work Janet Yee Keng Luan is a pioneer social worker who championed the right of abandoned babies to Singapore citizenship. Joining the Social Welfare Department in 1955, she became Deputy Director of Social Welfare in 1983. She led the multi-‐disciplinary team that team that launched in 1985 the first parenting education programme. In 1986 she moved to the post of Deputy Director of Family Services and at one point was overseeing the running of 11 welfare institutions. Janet was president of both the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) and ASEAN Confederation of Women’s Organisation (ACWO) from 1988 to 1990. In 2007, Social Workers’ Day paid tribute to Janet as a pioneer social worker. CONSTANCE SINGAM Champion of civil society Born 1936 Category: Advocacy & Activism Constance Singam came late to activism, only getting involved, slowly, after she was widowed in 1978 at the age of 42. For 18 years she had let her husband make the decisions; now she had to reinvent herself. She went back to university to get a degree. She joined the women’s rights group AWARE when it was launched in 1986. She went to forums and began to speak up. As she gained confidence, each new step into civil society became surer. In the last 30 years, she has led women’s organisations, co-‐founded civil society groups, been a columnist in several national publications, spoken at countless forums and seminars, contributed to and co-‐edited several books, and written her memoir. In 2014, she was the prime mover behind the Singapore Advocacy Awards, which aims to recognise outstanding civil society organisations and individuals.


KARTINA DAHARI The Queen of Keroncong Born 1941 Died 2014 Category: Arts/Culture/Entertainment Kartina Dahari was an award-‐winning Malay singer who was known as the Queen of Keroncong, a traditional Malay folk music genre. A fixture on Singapore TV and radio from the 1960s to the 1980s, she was the first Malay singer in Singapore to record in English. She was known throughout the region, with her ability to sing in both Malay and English gaining her fans beyond the Malay community. In 2009 Kartina won the Perdana Emas (Gold Premier) award at Pesta Perdana, the Malay entertainment awards show. In 2010, she received the Artistic Excellence Award at the 15th Compass (Composers and Authors Society of Singapore) Awards. Kartina died in 2014 aged 72. BRIDGET TAN Champion of the rights of migrant workers Born 1948 Category: Advocacy & Activism The founder and director of non-‐profit organisation Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME), Bridget Tan has been lauded locally and regionally for her advocacy and welfare work for migrant workers. She has also been recognised internationally as an anti-‐human trafficking hero. She set up HOME in 2004 with her own funds. It now runs a 24-‐hour toll-‐free helpline, a shelter for sex workers and foreign domestic workers, and a legal clinic. It also provides training programmes and other services for migrant workers, and conducts research and advocacy. HOME has over the years provided direct assistance to more than 50,000 migrant workers and victims of human trafficking. Bridget received the 2011 Hero Acting to End Modern-‐Day Slavery Award from US State Secretary Hilary Clinton. She suffered a stroke in February 2014 but had recovered sufficiently by December to attend HOME’s 10th anniversary.


KOH CHAI HONG Trailblazer in the Singapore Armed Forces Born 1959 Category: Uniformed Professions Koh Chai Hong made Singapore military history in 1999 when, together with another woman Major, she was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-‐Colonel. They were the first women to reach that level in Singapore’s military hierarchy. It was not the first of Chai Hong’s firsts – in 1979 she was the first woman to qualify as a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) pilot. Three other women subsequently joined her as the first generation of women RSAF pilots, but she was the only one to complete the advanced pilot training phase on jet aircraft. Then in 1997 she was the first woman to be admitted to the Singapore Armed Forces’ Command and Staff Course, the highest level of formal military training. The following year, she became the first woman Commanding Officer of the Standards Squadron in Flying Training School.

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