Front row (from left): Ms Khoo Kim Choo, Ms Saleha Mohamed Shah, President Halimah Yacob, SCWO president Junie Foo and Ms Celia Loe.
Back row (from left): Ms Ovidia Yu, Ms Janet Lim, Ms Esther Tay and Ms Lee Mei Yi. Ms Amanda Heng, one of the eight inductees into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame, was not at the ceremony.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
On International Women's Day, Fellow at the SMU School of Social Sciences Ms Janet Lim was among those honoured for breaking barriers. President Halimah Yacob, speaking at the ceremony held at the Istana, said that while women in Singapore have achieved significant progress over the years, there are still gender stereotypes and barriers that limit their ability to achieve their full potential. Madam Halimah pointed out how Ms Lim had chosen to study social sciences at university despite her parents’ objections, as she felt a need to make the world a better place. Ms Lim, who rose to assistant high commissioner of the United Nations Refugee Agency and still does ad hoc work for the agency in her retirement, said: “Don’t just accept preconceived ideas. Even if there is an apparent obstacle, one can find ways to overcome it.”
