Perils of being a Female PhD Student

RE: 'My mind was a total blank'

"Mr Lee paused and looked at Miss Sim.

“How old are you now?” he wanted to know.

“Twenty-seven,” she replied.

The queries came thick and fast: Are you married? (No) When will you finish your PhD? (In two years) So you’ll be 29 then. Do you have a boyfriend? (No)

That was when Mr Lee drew attention to the biological clock and a woman’s child-bearing years.

After 35 (years old), the dangers of having children with Down syndrome rises, he said.

“My advice, please don’t waste time. I hope you get your PhD and your boyfriend,” he added.

The audience laughed loudly. Miss Sim turned red.

She told The New Paper: “It was very, very embarrassing. At that moment, I wanted to hug myself and disappear.""
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I wonder if Mr LKY would ask a male student about his age, his marital status and tell him to quickly finish his PhD, get a partner, and make babies.

Perhaps Mr LKY wouldn't ask a male student such questions because, ultimately, it is the willingness of the womb of the beholder that matters. Get to the root of the problem.

Notice that Mr LKY did not ask Ms Sim if she had even wanted to be a mother in the first place. He simply assumed that she should.


And after all that jabbing, did Mr LKY answer the question which Ms Sim had stood up to ask?

"Given the big influx of immigrants here in a short time, and a dilution of the national identity, what can we do to create a sense of belonging and foster social cohesiveness, she asked."

Or was she being punished for asking such a question?

Ms Sim should not feel embarrassed at all.
Instead, Mr Lee and all those unthinking people who laughed along in the lecture theatre ought to.