Oct 10, 2010
SIA icon should stay
Singapore Airlines has been consistently voted the best airline in the world by a number of travel and business magazines. It is indubitably Singapore's flagship. Part of the company's success must be attributed to the Singapore Girl. She is an icon recognisable worldwide: slim, attractive - and young. SIA stewardesses can work a maximum of only three five-year terms, which means they typically have to retire before they are 40. They also have to resign when they are pregnant, although in recent years, the airline has a Returning Mothers Scheme, which allows cabin crew who quit to have children to rejoin the company. But those who apply to rejoin have to pass an interview and attend a refresher course. It is almost like starting all over again. SIA stewards, on the other hand, can work till they are 57 years old.
Time and again, SIA's portrayal of the Singapore Girl in advertisements has been called sexist and demeaning to Singapore women by women's groups and those more exposed to Western cultural norms. But the formula has proven to be very successful, and there is no reason for the airline to abandon it. Lately, there have been calls to allow the stewardesses to work as long as their male counterparts. SIA should stand its ground. It is not as if the stewardesses do not know when they sign up that being Singapore Girls is not a lifetime contract. In any case, as the nature of the economy changes, more jobs will be on a contract basis.
What the airline must do though is give ex-gratia payment in lieu of maternal leave to pregnant stewardesses who have to quit. It has said that it is in the 'advanced stages' of considering such a payment. It must also be recognised that the Singapore Girl is not an icon in perpetuity, and as values change, which they must, the company should make the necessary changes as quickly as possible. In the meantime, Singapore Girl - slim, attractive and young - will have to stay as SIA's icon.
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