Gender Equality IS Our Culture (GEC) launched its first e-book, Perempuan, on Thursday, 29 September 2016. More than 50 guests joined in the celebratory event, including 22 authors who contributed to the anthology.

The evening kicked off with a short speech by Zubaida Ali, an AWARE Board member who also wrote a piece for the anthology. The organising team was pleasantly surprised by the number of entries received during the open call. The essays that were sent in were far richer, far more diverse than expected. Associate Professor Maznah Mohamed, who contributed the foreword, shared her thoughts on how important it is that these experiences are told.

The audience were then treated to readings by three authors from the anthology: Zarifah Anuar read “Armpits, Breasts and Vulva”, ‘SAY’ read “The Stage” and Joyene Nazatul read “Allah Take The Wheel”.

Zarifah explained how she wanted to write a piece that would resonate with many while still injecting humour in the everyday struggles that Muslim women face. Many members of the audience expressed that they were able to relate strongly to her experiences. SAY shared about how being a Malay and Muslim women meant that she had to face many boundaries and restrictions about her own body. She felt this most acutely when she pursued her interest in dance. Joyene shared her powerful story to raise awareness about the discrimination faced by woman who do not present themselves in a way that conforms to society’s image of a woman.

Guests who attended also shared their powerful and personal stories of being a Muslim woman in Singapore. One of the stories shared was about a young woman, who wore a tudung, or headscarf, who was molested on the MRT. It questioned the assumption that the tudung provided protection for women.

Another young woman shared about her experience of being consistently assumed to be Malay, and interact in Malay, just because she wore the tudung. The editor, Margaret Thomas also urged the authors and other guests present to continue writing because their stories should be heard.

Complimentary hardcopies of the book were given out to guests and authors at the launch. The e-book can be purchased from major e-book retailers including Amazon, Google Play Books, Kobo and Bookmate for US$2.99. Due to high demand during the launch, we are also taking pre-orders for the hardcopy version of Perempuan book. If you would like to pre-order, please place your order here. Pre-orders are only available to residents in Singapore. Delivery will be via postage or self-collection.