Lee Kuan Yew’s remarks on PhD and marriage resurface, draw mixed reactions

SINGAPORE: A clip from 2011 of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew advising a young woman against wasting her time on getting a PhD, as opposed to marriage and motherhood, was shared on Threads recently.

And while the video itself shows that Mr Lee’s remarks were greeted with a lot of cheers and applause, it landed differently with today’s netizens.

 The incident took place at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in September 2011, when Mr Lee was taking questions from the audience. A PhD student from the School of Biological Sciences, Joan Sim, came up to the mic, and the former Prime Minister asked her how old she is. He, along with the audience, learned through a series of questions he asked that she was 27, would be 29 when she finishes her PhD, she was unmarried, and had no boyfriend.

“My advice is, please don’t waste time. It’s more important and more satisfying than finishing your PhD,” Mr Lee told her, which the audience approved.

He added, however, “But good luck to you. I hope you get your PhD and your boyfriend.”

A fuller clip, which can be found here, shows that Ms Sim had asked, “For economic and demographic reasons, Singapore has allowed a high number of foreign immigrants within a short time period. My question is, what can we do to promote a sense of belonging and foster social cohesiveness?”

The then-Prime Minister’s answer had to do with Singapore’s low birth rate, which has only gotten lower over time, which is why there has been a need for a high number of foreign workers. He went on to talk about demographics in Japan, Europe, and the United States, and what is needed for sustained economic stability, before asking Ms Sim some personal questions.

Shortly afterwards, the President of the Association of Women for Action & Research (AWARE), Nicole Tan, wrote, “Public statements made by influential figures like Mr Lee are also important to shaping social attitudes… Implying that marriage and motherhood are more important than education and work belittles the choices and contributions of women who prefer to be single or childless.”

Fifteen years later, commenters on Threads were far more blunt. 

“She is going to finish her PhD in two years!!! That’s a HUGE accomplishment. That’s not wasting time. She dedicated her life to doing something she loves. Who cares if she isn’t married?” a user on the platform wrote.

“This whole interaction would NEVER happen if the person were a male,” added another.

“He minimised her accomplishments, made her the butt of a sexist joke,” another opined.

“Boyfriends/ husbands may come and go, but my PhD is for life,” one woman wrote.

Others, however, tried to explain Mr Lee’s answer.

“I don’t think LKY was trying to shame her. He was looking at the numbers. In the 90s, our TFR was already 1.7 and falling. He knew female fertility drops sharply after 32, and if you finish a PhD + postdoc at 35+, the odds of natural conception are much lower. Men can’t give birth, so he put the demographic reality bluntly to her,” wrote one. /TISG

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