Speeches
Opening Address by Minister Josephine Teo at Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) International Women’s Day Conference and Dinner 2026: Crisis to Catalyst 危机、转机、创势: Empowering Women for a Future of Growth and Family
8 March 2026
尊敬的 中华总商会 会长 高泉庆先生
尊敬的 中华总商会 事业女性组 主席黄亦巧教授
沈颖部长 颜晓芳部长 杨涴淩议员 陈诗韵议员 吕思憓议员 彭丽燕议员
各位来宾、朋友们
非常荣幸在总商会成立 120周年之际能出席贵会的国际妇女节庆祝活动。
总商会的正式命名恰好是我已故的祖母出世的同一年。
她16岁结婚那年，正巧总商会搬进了喜街（Hill Street）大楼。
那个年代，大部分的女性都无法掌握自己的命运。
当时还是青少年的她，人生经验已颇为丰富。
过番、回乡、逃婚 - 她都经历过。
选择跟随曾祖父再度回到新加坡，嫁给大她十几岁的中医师（也就是我祖父），一年后便初为人母。
二战期间，和祖父一起经营的药材店， 三度被烧毁。
想不到战后生活开始稳定下来，步入人生第35个年头时，竟然守寡。
膝下幼儿才刚学会走路，长子都还没就业。
瞬时间，她决定咬紧牙关，结束了药材店，重新创业谋生。
其实，建国一代当中，大多数都如同我祖母一般，有过惨痛经历。
她们经历了那个年代的艰辛，应该无法想象，到了她们的孙女这一辈，
由女性主导的企业，已占全国企业总数 的四分之一，是2010年的两倍。
在主要上市公司的董事会中，女性董事的比例已达到了约25%，同样是十年前的两倍
这些成就并非偶然，而是建立在全民上下的共同努力与我们多年来在教育、医疗与经济领域 打下的坚实基础之上。
然而，尽管我国女性的地位相比祖辈已有了巨大的跃进，我们依然面临许多挑战。
正因如此，我于2022年在国会对于女性发展白皮书提出动议，推动国会审视我们如何能够更好 为女性提供更强有力的支持。
当时国会达成共识，一致通过了这项动议，共同呼吁推广灵活工作安排，为家长与看护者提供更多支援等扶持女性的措施。
同时也探讨了政策之外，更重要的是改变社会观念，让尊重女性与女性平等成为我们社会的核心价值观。
近几年，我们在女性发展方面保持良好进展。
然而，新的挑战会不断出现，我们必须继续努力。
在每年的财政预算案中，政府都推出或改良措施。 他们往往为女性 提供更坚实的辅助， 今年也不例外。
接下来，我想与大家分享几项重点措施。
First, let’s start with the policy proposals that support the home front.
We know that many women continue to be the primary caregivers for their families.
In addition to their 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, our “mummies” will soon benefit from up to 10 weeks of Parental Leave, which can be shared between both parents.
In fact, 5 weeks are automatically allocated to “daddies”.
The signal is quite clear. This change recognises the growing desire of fathers who want to support their families more.
The government will continue reducing fees for the majority of preschool operators.
This is a move we started in 2024, to make early childhood education more affordable for families.
For larger families, we are providing $16,000 in additional benefits for every third or subsequent child, because we want to ease the burdens on their parents.
When it comes to women in the workforce, we understand that many professionals want to stay relevant and progress in their careers, even as they manage their commitments on the home front.
They experience the benefits Singapore has made in women’s employment.
More of our women are active in the workforce, compared to many developed nations.
Many women earn as much as men, if not more.
Improvements in SkillsFuture and support for AI training will help them to fulfil their career goals.
However, for women business owners, the going is still tough.
For example,
Startups led by women secured only a fraction of venture funding, about 6%. That is very little.
The sales growth of women-led SMEs also tends to be more modest compared to their male counterparts.
These issues demand a deeper understanding, and more concerted efforts to overcome.
One way I hope to help is through the National AI Impact Programme.
You may already have heard that:
Over the next three years, we aim to support 10,000 companies to use AI to boost their businesses.
We also aim to help 100,000 PMEs become “AI bilingual”, fluent not only in their own domain expertise but also in AI, so they can work smarter and faster.
My Ministry looks forward to working with the SCCCI to ensure that your members, both women and men, take full advantage of these programmes.
That is in fact, the kind of work that SCCCI has been doing for 120 years.
You translate national priorities into ground-level action, turning policy into practice.
In the same way that you have helped many of your members adapt to digitalisation, I am confident that you will also be a key partner in supporting them to succeed in the age of AI.
At this year’s Budget, we also discussed another important topic - marriage and parenthood, which Chairman Kho also talked about.
Unlike previous generations, many young people today do not view getting married and having children as top priorities.
We see this shift in our casual conversations with our children, nieces, nephews, and their friends.
As a result, Singapore’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has fallen to 0.87.
Picture this:
Take a section of 10 tables of guests tonight. In one generation, that will become fewer than five tables. In two generations, there will be fewer than two tables.
In fact, that's how our celebrations will shrink:
from 60 tables of guests tonight to just 11 tables in time to come. It will be a much quieter celebration.
This trend is not unique to Singapore.
Many countries, and cities in particular, are also struggling with declining birth rates.
But here in Singapore, we don’t shy away from challenges. We face them head-on. We heard the Prime Minister say, we are not going to give up.
Minister Indranee Rajah will lead a workgroup to review how we, as a society, can bring about a reset of norms around marriage and parenthood.
I encourage Dr Hwang and the Career Women’s Group to engage your younger members and share their views with the workgroup when the details are announced.
I also want to thank Chairman Kho for calling out the need for enterprises and workplaces to be supportive of those who have started a family and to provide an environment to make them feel comfortable about fulfilling their responsibilities at work and to their families.
From my experience as a parent of three grown children, I believe we cannot return to the past, to the societal norms of previous generations, such as those in my grandmother’s, or even my mother’s generation, where men were breadwinners, and women caregivers. Nor can we expect grandparents to take on a second-round of parenting!
Instead, we need to establish new norms where society plays a more active role in supporting young people who are willing to start and grow families.
We can approach this by taking a leaf from how businesses examine the customer journey, identify pain points, and improve the experience.
Similarly, we can look at the challenges young families face when it comes to raising children and ask: how can we make the journey smoother?
Take Singapore’s vibrant air hub, Changi Airport, for example.
Singapore is unique in the world for offering “the Changi experience” - one that is fast, smooth, and enjoyable. This is quite unlike our experience in many other airports.
What if we could create a family environment that is similarly enjoyable? What if the “Changi experience” could apply to the journey of starting and raising a family in Singapore?
What could encourage young couples to not have just one child, but two or more? After all, having children involves much more than taking a plane somewhere. Of course, we know this is not easy.
I suspect this means going back to the drawing board to ask what more can be done to help young parents get housing sooner, get affordable childcare more easily, and find more quality time with their children.
This is not to say that the task will be easy, or that the challenges of raising children can be made to disappear overnight.
Many countries are also trying to reverse declining birth rates, but few are seeing success.
Parenthood will always be a heavy responsibility. Many young couples know this, and so they think very carefully about this big life change that they must undertake.
However, those of us who have had the privilege of raising children also know that there are also joys and rewards that only parents get to experience.
Such as when your child says, “You are the best mum I ever had”,
or when they write an essay about how they love the food you make even if it tastes funny,
or when they start working and send your monthly “allowance” by PayNow, three months late!
By restoring the joys of parenthood, we can hopefully create a reset in Singapore, to bring about a future where growing a family is highly attainable and fulfilling.
This is a meaningful goal in and of itself. And if it also leads to more babies, that will be a bonus.
So, on that note, thank you once again for inviting me and happy International Women’s Day!
Thank you!