Rebellious Women
Across
Generations
I was raised in New Zealand by a po-
litically aware and politically active
mother.
non—Singaporean
mem-
bers. I had to make sure my
online content and event
topics stayed within accept-
able boundaries.
National elections were marked by
weeks of volunteering for the Labour
party (her father had been a Member
of Parliament). I remember the ex-
citement of campaigners gathering
in our living room, door—knocking
with her on Election Day, and the
highs and lows of Election nights.
In the summer of 2018, we
moved to Hamburg and in
September I very proudly
took my daughter to our first
‘Fridays for Future’ protest.
We marched from St. Pauli
downtown, with a hand-
made signboard. The feel-
ing of walking the streets
with my daughter—of shar-
ing this history of protest—
brought tears to my eyes for
much of the walk, and made
me realize what a privilege it
was to grow up taking this
right for granted.
My mother became more involved
in the women’s rights movement
after my parents divorced and she
went back to university. She became
a qualified social worker, ran a do-
mestic violence shelter, and was a
community organizer for ‘Women
Against Pornography’.
As a teenager, friends and I would
skip out of our inner—city high
school to march for women’s rights,
and to save native forests in the
South Island. Protest and left-wing
politics were part of my DNA. I viv-
idly remember our first elected fe-
male Prime Minister, Helen Clark,
representing the Labour party, com-
ing to power in 1999, despite horrific
treatment in the media about her
looks and voice.
And so, with that background, it felt
very challenging when, years later,
I found myself raising my children
in Singapore. There are many ways
to describe the political system in
Singapore—whatever it is, is not a
democracy with which most are fa-
miliar. The government has an au-
thoritarian, paternalistic rule. There
are no protests in Singapore. The
only concession the government will
make is this: an organization can
apply for a permit to hold a rally in
18
Special Theme: The Good Fight
one specific park in the city that has a
‘Speakers Corner’. If approved, only
Singaporean citizens are allowed to
attend and ID will be checked. No
foreigners allowed. Signboards need
to be pre—approved.
One of the largest gatherings every
year is ‘Pink Dot’ —a movement to
support LGBTQ+ rights. We had to
watch Pink Dot through ‘Facebook
Live’, wearing our pink t-shirts and
teaching our children that every-
one should have the freedom to love
whomever they want. Despite the
large support for Pink Dot, same sex
relationships are still not recognized
by the government.
That was the extent of our protests in
Singapore. I felt powerless and even
somehow complicit. I ran a women’s
space and community that had many
Now we have German poli-
tics, and an extensive history
to learn about. We still have
the isolation of being non-German
citizens and a language barrier that
(slowly) grows less over time. We
can’t vote in elections but we can do
our best to stay informed. Compared
to Singapore, Hamburg feels awake
and full of voices. It feels like a place
in which I can teach my daughter to
have a voice too.
And in New Zealand, we have an-
other smart, articulate, female Prime
Minister from the Labour Party, —
Jacinda Ardern, —who will be look-
ing to stay in power come Election
Day in September 2020. I’ve firmly
kept a hold of my voting rights, de-
spite almost two decades abroad,
and I will be doing all I can to help
from here, and teaching my daughter
all about it.
by Michaela A.