A Singapore Press Holdings publication 90 cents **
MARCH 8, 2009 ■ 88 PAGES IN THREE PARTS ■ MICA (P) 192/11/2008
RIOT
POLICE
out in force in KL
PRIMEPAGE2
DOES
WONDER WOMEN
GAMING
MAKE YOU MAKE THEIR MARK
VIOLENT?
PRIMEPAGE3
THINKPAGE28
Rachel Yeow
makes credit
card deals
at American
Express
More are rising to managerial and
ANOTHER leadership positions, surveys show
DEATH at NTU Melissa Sim
Ang Yiying
W
omen in Singapore
have good reason to
cheer as Internation-
al Women’s Day is
celebrated today.
Consider this: Last year, women
made up 24.3 per cent of employ-
PRIMEPAGE4 ers here – the highest in the last dec-
ade. This is up from just 14.8 per
SPECIAL REPORT cent 10 years ago, last year’s report
on the labour force in Singapore
NURSING noted.
More women have also risen to
HOMES’bed woes senior positions and even become
bosses, recent international surveys
HOME and a Sunday Times poll showed.
PAGE10
One Asian survey sponsored by
American Express (Amex) found
that in 10 companies polled in Sin-
gapore, an average of 17.3 per cent
of senior positions were filled by
women.
And Singapore women did bet-
ter at clinching top posts compared
to their counterparts in China, Ja-
pan and India.
Another survey, by Grant Thorn-
ton International, found that wom-
en in management positions in Sin-
LEE WEI LING gapore went up from 21 per cent in
Has she mellowed? 2007 to 28 per cent this year. It sur-
veyed some 7,200 businesses in 36
THINKPAGE31 countries, including 150 here.
A Sunday Times poll of 11 com-
panies from the transport, finance,
KATHERINE retail and leisure industries found
that between 18 and 50 per cent of
HULL their senior-level positions were
takes two-stroke lead
Given away 48 years ago,
cabby reunites with family
Estelle Low
The Lims were a big family, with 13
index siblings. But three were given away
at birth during a period when times
weather/tides ........................19 were hard.
letters .....................................30 Yesterday, Mr Lim Peng Huat,
horoscopes .........................L15 48, was reunited with his biological
tv listings ......................L16-L17
mother.
comics .........................L20-L22 Any apprehension melted away
when Madam Tan Geok Poo, 79,
tearfully embraced her seventh
child.
Three years ago, the ninth child,
Mr Lim Boo Hwa, 44, a taxi driver,
was reunited with his family after
To subscribe, call 6388-3838 or his adoptive mother died.
go to sphsubscription.com.sg The last missing sibling – the
Ng Shi Yun
builds oil rigs
for Keppel
FELS
held by women.
For instance, at home-grown
shoe retailer Charles & Keith, wom-
en held five of the 14 senior man-
agement positions. Of Amex’s 45
vice-presidents and higher posi-
tions in Singapore, 13 are filled by
women.
Four firms reported at least a 10
per cent jump from five years ago.
Women here also feel more con-
fident about their role in the work-
place and their earning abilities.
MasterCard’s Worldwide Index
of Women’s Advancement found
that more women perceived them-
selves to be in a managerial posi-
tion and to be earning an above-me-
dian income, compared to a year
ago.
Member of Parliament Jessica
Tan, Microsoft Singapore’s manag-
ing director, said Singapore’s com-
parative regional advantages – such
as access to education, career oppor-
tunities and pace of development –
have contributed to its having a
higher proportion of women in
leadership.
On this subject of more women
snagging top jobs, Association of
Women for Action and Research
(Aware) member Lelia Lim-Loges
felt that Singapore’s transition
from a male-oriented manufactur-
ing economy to a more service-
based one was a factor.
Standard Chartered Bank’s glo-
bal head of group premium bank-
ing, Ms Foo Mee Har, 43, who has
held leadership posts in China and
Thailand and is now based here,
fifth child, Ms Lim Sai Cheng, 50 –
has yet to be reunited with the rest.
Mr Lim Peng Huat, also a cabby,
had help from non-profit organisa-
tion Crime Library, which deals
with unsolved crime cases.
When his adoptive father died
three weeks ago, he felt he should
search for his birth mother and got
his son Jonathan, 19, to help out.
Two weeks ago, Jonathan sent
Crime Library an e-mail message,
together with his dad’s birth certifi-
cate and adoption papers.
Within four days, five volun-
teers tracked down the youngest
sibling, Mr Lim Peng Heng, 36, a
manager.
The volunteer sleuths had
straitstimes.com
Juliana Yeo
makes leisure
her business
at Sentosa Lim Cheng Cheng
Leisure Group keeps track of the
cash for SMRT
said women here can rise to leader-
ship positions: “If they choose to, I Their stories
don’t think anything in the system >>Home
will block them.” Pages 6 & 7
Ms Foo, who has two teenage
sons, believes that family support
and domestic help mean that wom-
en here “can have their cake and
eat it”.
There is of course room for im-
provement, women leaders say. MP
Halimah Yacob said there were still
very few women at the very top.
A recent Watson Wyatt study
found that 72 of the 100 largest
companies here did not have a sin-
gle female non-executive director.
Official statistics also show a
gender gap when it comes to
wage disparity.
Madam Halimah said that
maintaining work-life balance
is still a key challenge for wom-
en. “It is not uncommon for
men in top positions to
have homemaker wives
but women at the top
continue to worry
about whether they
are neglecting the
family. There is no
easy solution and
will persist un-
less there is
greater shar-
ing of respon-
sibilities at
home.”
simlinoi@
sph.com.sg
ayiying@
sph.com.sg
Do women make good
leaders? Have your say at
straitstimes.com
ST PHOTOS: CAROLINE CHIA, TERENCE TAN
Mr Lim
Peng Huat,
48, had a
joyous
reunion
with his
biological
mum,
zoomed in on the “Peng” part of Madam
the brothers’ given names and hit Tan Geok
the jackpot. Poo, 79,
yesterday.
“I thought it was a joke at first,”
Mr Lim Peng Heng recalled when
One of his
sisters,
he received a call from Crime Li- Ms Lim Sai
Hong, 56,
brary’s secretary, Ms Jolyn Chua.
was also
Crime Library then met the two
present.
men to verify their identities and
those of their family members.
ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
er sisters made “tang yuan” – Chi- Mr Lim Peng Huat’s only regret
The good news even prompted
four siblings to fly back from a holi- nese dumplings that symbolise re- is that he did not get to meet his fa-
day trip in Macau for the reunion. union. ther, Mr Lim Whee Kim, who died
“It’s good that mother and son of cancer in 1981.
Sales manager Joe Lim, 43, the can reunite before it’s too late,” The search is still on for the last
10th child, arranged for the reun- said Mr Joe Lim, adding that Mad- missing sibling, Ms Lim Sai Cheng.
ion to be held in his Pasir Ris Drive am Tan suffers from some memory She is said to look like her younger
executive apartment. loss. sister, Ms Lim Sai Lung, 49.
He ordered a catered buffet and, “Peng Huat is a part of me,” Mad- Anyone who can help may con-
at his mum’s request, one of his old- am Tan said in Teochew. tact Crime Library on 6293-5250.