Jamus Lim Advocates for Gender-Neutral Toys in Viral Post

SINGAPORE —  Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) recently posted over social media about a toy his daughter has enjoyed playing with—a T-Rex from the Science Center.

“I think we sometimes fall into a tendency to categorize toys as inherently more ‘male’ or ‘female’: monsters and trains and water cannons for boys; dollhouses and cooking sets and pink ribbons for girls,” he wrote on Facebook and Instagram on Thursday (Dec 29). Assoc Prof Lim added that such distinctions “unnecessarily limits their imagination” for careers children may have as adults, which he does not want for his own child, who turned three in November.

“After all, many of us went through a phase where we dreamt of being an astronaut or a paleontologist or ballet dancer or figure skater, and I’d hate to think that my daughter would preemptively rule out such professions in her mind,” he added.

And while he says he and his wife “have some inkling” of what talents and inclinations their young daughter might have, he does not know what path she’ll take later.

However, he wrote that what’s important for them as parents “is that we support her the best we can to fulfill her god-given potential, and that she finds a way to flourish in the world that she was born into.”

Assoc Prof Lim wrote at the beginning of the post that he and his family had more time together during the holidays with visits to the zoo and Science Center.

“I even managed to squeeze in a bring-your-daughter-to-work outing in #SengkangGRC, although she ended up being less than impressed with giant pictures of her daddy),” he added, posting a photo of his daughter asleep in her stroller in front of a holiday greetings billboard showing the Sengkang MPs (Ms He Ting Ru, Mr Louis Chua, and himself).

His post has gotten thousands of views, likes, and comments and resonated with many Singaporeans, some of whom shared similar stories.

     Others praised his parenting skills.

/TISG

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