Singapore (CU)_ According to the statistics, women occupy the sixteen percent of SPF senior leadership positions, which is up 50 percent from 2011. The SPF currently has more than 1,800 female officers, accounting for about 19% of the force. In the past decade, more women have been promoted to senior positions in the police department.
Mrs Tay Wee Li was able to ascend through the ranks and reach her goal to become Deputy Assistant Commissioner mainly due to gender equality at home. She divides household works equally with her husband who takes care of cooking and caring their 10-year-old twin daughters. Tay is currently responsible for organizing and conducting Singapore Police Force (SPF) intelligence operations. She said, “He is the tiger father and a better chef than me”.
DAC Tay being a working mother said that having good support and encouragement from her employers and colleagues has made her life a little easier. She said, “They are very understanding when I have to head off to tend to my family. They will tell me to settle things back at home first and come back with peace of mind”.
DAC M. Malathi learned in 2008, shortly after finishing a 5km run, that former Jemaah Islamiyah chief Mas Selamat bin Kastari had just escaped from imprisonment. She plunged directly into the hunt operations for the terrorist chief. On the other hand, being a woman has its benefits. She was once assigned to work on a case where a man was creating havoc at a Thaipusam celebration. DAC Malathi reported that she was able to take a gentler approach and avoid the situation from being more severe. DAC Malathi who is now the deputy commander of Public Transport Security Command said, “His brother told him to stop, seeing that I was a female officer, and we were able to get him to calm down”.
Gender equality is a two-way street for Assistant Superintendent of Police Fionie Chan, who serves as a planning officer in the traffic police department. She holds herself to the same high expectations as her male counterparts. She said, “I take it upon myself as a team leader to make sure that I meet the standards (set for) my officers – if not (do) better. I have to be as fit as they are and as skilled with using the weapons”. ASP Chan encouraged younger women to join the police force. She said the younger women who intends to join the police force should not stay back owing to their gender. She said, “It can be challenging at times, but it’s an exciting and meaningful career”.
