Is Life for Women Better Today Compared to the Past? SHE x DBS International Women's Day debate: 15 March 2024

For International Women's Day 2024, SHE collaborated with DBS on a very special event.

Guest of Honour Minister Indranee Rajah (Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for National Development) kicked things off with a keynote speech filled with sage, inspiring and commonsensical advice for folks raising girls, and about the importance of creating a working environment that is supportive of families and working parents.

She gave a nod to DBS who in addition to extending paternity leave, offers a programme allowing employees with infants to take shared parental leave, encouraging flexibility for caregiving arrangements. She also commended SHE's community work in advocating for more support for empowering women at work, especially those returning to the workforce. (Click here to read a fuller report of her speech)

This was followed by a thought-provoking and laughter-filled debate on the subject, "Life is better for women today compared to the past" between DBS CEO Piyush Gupta and Consumer Banking Group Managing Director Yvonne Lim (Opposition), and DBS Head of Group Strategic Marketing & Communication Karen Ngui and Institutional Banking Group Executive Director Akash Mohan (Proposition). Based on live-polling by the audience, the answer was less clear-cut than everybody thought!

The moderator was SHE Chair and Joint Managing Partner of TSMP Law Corporation Stefanie Yuen Thio, who brought her trademark sass and humour.

(From left to right):  Institutional Banking Group Executive Director Akash Mohan, DBS Head of Group Strategic Marketing & Communication Karen Ngui, Minister Indranee Rajah, Consumer Banking Group Managing Director Yvonne Lim, DBS CEO Piyush Gupta and SHE Chair and Joint Managing Partner of TSMP Law Corporation Stefanie Yuen Thio

Thank you, DBS, for a fabulous IWD collab! Let's do it again next year!