Introduction to SAWA

Caregiving forms the bedrock of a quality ageing experience. Unfortunately, the act of caregiving is rarely valued and caregivers are often unpaid or underpaid. In an ageing society like ours, we can do more for our caregivers, many of whom are women. Read on to know more about the work that the PPIS Research and Engagement (RED) does here for caregivers and for women in general!

The month of March is indeed significant to PPIS as we commemorate the International Women’s Day; a celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The Research & Engagement Department (RED) of PPIS, representing the voice of local Muslim women, wants to take this opportunity to recognise the contributions of a group of unsung heroes in our midst: the caregivers, many of whom are women.

Caregiving is a responsibility that is taken on voluntarily and selflessly with minimal monetary incentives, or none at all. When a woman commits to become a full-time caregiver for her household, she compromises much of her ability to earn an income, which renders her susceptible to financial insecurity in her old age. There are more women than men in the workforce due to caregiving, and yet women are by large the most disadvantaged demographic group when they get older.

This is an area where PPIS, as part of the Singapore Alliance for Women in Ageing (SAWA), has a crucial role to play. A coalition of four local organisations, SAWA comprises Persatuan Pemudi Islam Singapura (PPIS), Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) and the Tsao Foundation.

SAWA promotes the independence, care, participation, dignity and self-fulfilment of older women. We have called on the Government to take a gender and life-course approach to ageing and consequently ease the burden on our caregivers in our inaugural submission for Budget 2020. We are making policy recommendations that are based on genuine ground concerns to help catalyse positive changes in the lives of the caregivers and the aged in our society.

At RED, we believe that effective structural changes can happen when research is accompanied with advocacy. We are also marking the beginning of the year with a milestone research project to acquire a deeper and a more nuanced understanding of the demographic group we serve the most – women. We know that as cultures evolve and trends change, so do the ideals, needs and challenges of our Muslim women today.

We will be researching the aspirations of our Muslim women, which will be a landmark study in this area as rarely have Muslim women been understood through this lens. We hope this research will offer us fresh perspectives, thus enabling us to address real needs and issues through our programmes. Because women, in their multiple roles as caregivers or otherwise, their families and our community will always be at the heart and soul of what we do in PPIS.