Julie Tan Eng Poh (1930 – June 17, 1995) was a women's rights activist in Singapore who served as the founding president of the

Singapore Council of Women's Organisations The Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) is an umbrella organisation founded in 1980 in order to coordinate the efforts of women's groups in Singapore. The organisation represents many diverse women's groups and advocates for women's r ...

Biography

Julie Tan was born in 1930 and was trained as a lawyer. She is known for her role as a leading women's rights activist in Singapore. Tan began her activism by volunteering with the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

in Singapore. She then was elected to serve as president of the organization from 1972 to 1976 and subsequently from 1978 to 1982, the longest-serving leader in its history. As president, her work included efforts to support working mothers, such as through the foundation of the first YWCA day care in Singapore in 1977. She went on to serve on the executive council of the World YWCA. In 1980, she co-founded the

, serving as its first president from 1980 to 1982. The organization aimed to represent the breadth of women's groups in the country and jointly support women's economic independence. She also spearheaded the foundation of the D.E.W. Credit Cooperative, Singapore's first and only

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

specifically aimed at empowering women, in 1981. She served as president of the credit union until her death. Tan was appointed a justice of the peace in 1989. Her other volunteer work included serving on the National Advisory Board for the Disabled and advocating for the rights of elderly women. She died of lung cancer in 1995 at age 65. In 2014, she was inducted into the

Singapore Women's Hall of Fame The Singapore Women's Hall of Fame is a virtual hall of fame that honors and documents the lives of historically significant women in Singapore. The hall is the creation of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), and grew out of an ea ...

"because of her tireless work to see to it that women in Singapore receive the same opportunities as the men."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Julie 1930 births 1995 deaths Singaporean women activists Singaporean women's rights activists YWCA leaders