Singapore 'needs women leaders at every level', including among presidential advisers: President Halimah

Jan 11, 2024

SINGAPORE — Calling for greater gender diversity in leadership positions, President Halimah Yacob said on Thursday (Aug 31) that this should also apply to the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA).

President Halimah Yacob at a fireside chat moderated by Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling during the Council for Board Diversity fifth Anniversary forum on Aug 31, 2023.

Doing so would add to a diversity of views in the council, which advises the President in the exercise of custodial powers, including on “very difficult decisions” regarding the use of the country's reserves.

She was speaking during a fireside chat to mark the Council for Board Diversity’s fifth anniversary. The council seeks to promote a sustained increase in the number of women directors of listed companies, statutory boards and non-profit organisations in Singapore.

When she first assumed office as President in 2017, Madam Halimah noted that there was not a single woman on the CPA, which consists of eight full-time members and two alternates.

“So I decided that as and when there are members of the CPA who have to retire because their terms are up, we should consciously make an effort to look for competent, capable women to sit on the CPA,” she said.

Now, there are three women who sit on the council, which Mdm Halimah called a “tremendous achievement”.

The three women in the CPA now are Ms Mildred Tan-Sim Beng Mei, managing director of Ernst & Young Advisory, Ms Chua Sock Koong, former chief executive officer of Singtel, and Dr Sudha Nair, a social worker and executive director of Pave, which helps those involved in family violence and sexual abuse.

Mdm Halimah added that women in leadership positions can articulate concerns and ask questions that would contribute to robust decision-making.

“We need women leaders at every level… If you don’t have women leaders there, you will not have that diversity in views.”

The dialogue on Thursday was moderated by Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State for Social and Family Development.

The event also featured a panel of women leaders who shared insights into topics such as the importance of diversity and open-mindedness in adapting to a changing business landscape.

The event was the first of the Council for Board Diversity’s new outreach programme, called the CBD Circle, which will feature thought leadership and networking events for current and upcoming board decision-makers.

These events are all part of the Council for Board Diversity’s aim to “facilitate a sustained increase in women directors and the adoption of broader diversity”.

Established in 2019 by the Ministry of Social and Family Development, the Council for Board Diversity works with organisations from the public and private sectors to promote diversity for business value.

While it focuses on a “range of diversities”, it has emphasised its aim of increasing the number of women directors as a “powerful lead-in to the consideration of other diversities”.

During the dialogue, Mdm Halimah also acknowledged that there has been much progress in terms of women representation for leadership positions across the public, charity and private sectors.

Women’s participation on boards of the top 100 listed companies in Singapore were 22.7 per cent as of June this year, compared to 15.2 per cent in December 2018, based on mid-year data from the Council for Board Diversity.

However, Singapore still lags behind other markets such as Australia, Germany and Malaysia in terms of women’s participation on boards.

In the public sector, the proportion of women’s participation on the boards of statutory boards here reached 32 per cent as of June, up from 23.3 per cent at the end of 2018.

The charity sector here also saw an increase in women participation from 27.4 per cent in 2018 to 29.5 per cent this year.

“But as I said, we must not rest on our laurels because it’s very fast for us to slide down if we don’t make sure and we (need to) keep on moving the needle,” Mdm Halimah said.

When asked about ways to encourage board diversity across sectors, she said that there should be an emphasis on finding the most capable candidate for the role instead of having a fixed quota for a number of female board directors.

“Diversity does not have to compromise meritocracy. But reflect the diversity in your selection process and give opportunities to those who have the most capabilities, who are most able to do the job,” she added.