Social Discourse on Women’s Education in the 1950s

In early post-war Singapore, women were disadvantaged regardless of ethnicity. The lack of education and employment opportunities were known to be the root for many social issues that women face then. Throughout the 1950s, the issue of education was perceived as the key to women’s liberation, as reflected in letters written to the press as well as talks and conferences organized by women’s groups, especially after a Malayan Forum broadcast on “Women’s Emancipation”. It was pointed out that boys had priority for schooling, especially in homes with small incomes because education for girls was deemed unnecessary by many.

A division existed between the dominant Malay nationalist movement and the Malayan civil service. The latter represented the English-educated Malay elites, teachers, journalists and other graduates of Malay schools. Instead of a political path, many of these activists chose to address the issue on Malay women’s education on a social front.

Female students at the Malay Women’s College in Melaka.

Some intellectuals chose to use prose fiction as their means of communicating with other Malays. This new narrative fiction featured ordinary Malays from all walks of life and there were often conflicts with traditional beliefs or practices. An example would be Hari Mana Bulan Mana written by local author Salmi Manja, who often portrayed women who live in an era with newfound equality. The rhetoric of equality is a highlight of this novel as scenes of contestation is prominent throughout the novel.

In this novel, the protagonist Sal was able to reflect on a public lecture she attended regarding “Women’s Awareness in Singapore”. This is juxtaposed with her friend, Zamilah who is a daughter of an aristocrat in Perak and yet was refused further education by her parents. A greater irony is presented to the reader as Zamilah’s grandfather, who taught at local madrasahs, advocated that women should be given the freedom to study. The self-revelatory comments that Sal made referred to freedom and independence as key to self-development.

Hari Mana Bulan Mana by Salmi Manja.

Salmi Manja’s husband, renowned Malaysian National Laureate Samad Said, also published a book titled Salina. The story revolves around two Malay girls in an imaginary village named Kampung Kambing in Singapore and how they faced the challenges of working in industries that services men—Salina was a prostitute who lived with an abusive and alcoholic man while her friend Nahidah was forced to be a waitress by her cruel stepmother. The author attempted to portray the hypocrisies of living in a misogynistic world that tangled with social taboos against women. Both protagonists took on the challenges they faced in different ways, and it was through the storyline that the author critiqued social norms and encouraged readers to champion their own destiny. Through both narratives of Salina and Hari Mana Bulan Mana the author tried to examine the role of moral values in social change, in this case the drive towards improving women’s education and other rights.

As radical women’s movements in the political scene started to decline in the early 1950s, apart from nation-wide organisations like the Singapore Council of Women, the Singaporean Malays also attempted to establish their own women advocacy groups as a social cause. For example, the Persatuan Pemudi Islam Singapura, or PPIS, was formed in 1952 by affluent, educated Muslims to fight for the right of Muslim women because most of them were uneducated back then. The approach they took was “not of antagonism and feminism but gently and graciously working hand in hand with several other organisations, men included”, with intentional self-regulation within the boundaries of marriage and family. It was deemed a move away from the radical movements that AWAS or Kaum Ibu UMNO (explained in our previous post) were leading since the late 1940s.

Argument on Women’s Emancipation in local press. Click to view article.

While the group was active in working with Singapore Council of Women to demand for “equal rights in every respect – marriage and divorce, inheritance, equal pay for equal work, equal facility for education and entering all professions”, it made greater inroads in regulating Muslim marriages, where the Syariah Court was established in 1958. While PPIS represented the sole credible woman’s organisation serving the Malay community at that time, its focus was directed towards social and welfare outreach within the sanctions of marriage rather than education. There were structural difficulties in establishing greater rights for women during this period, which cannot be resolved solely via education. Access to education was also not made equal at that time due to the lack of educational facilities. Legislation need to be made first, to discourage polygamy and improve women’s standing in society.

If we were to describe the rise of Malay nationalism and increase social discourse on Malay women’s education as “software” that made people aware of women’s rights in Singapore, then the reforms in the education system in the late 1950s would be the “hardware” that would lead this awareness into fruition as more girls were able to receive education. Will be discussed in the next post!