Tribute to Mrs Wee Wan Joo

For over a decade till her passing, Wan Joo was the Chairperson of the Star Shelter a refuge for women and children who are survivors of family violence. She was committed to end violence against women and her passion goes beyond our shores.  She was on the steering committee of the Asian Network of Women Shelters bringing shelters in Asia together to share best practices.

Wan Joo was a past president of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) and was awarded the PBM in 2011 for her tireless work and dedication to SCWO.

In 2006, she led the SCWO conference held in Phnom Penh as part of the Asean Confederation of Women’s Organisations (ACWO) Network to alleviate poverty in Asia. She was the co-chairperson of the August 2009 APEC Women Leaders Network (WLN) Organising Committee in Singapore.

During her presidency, she also represented SCWO in reporting to the UN Committee on CEDAW in New York and the Shadow Report. She was a member of the SCWO Taskforce on Enforcement of Maintenance Orders that examined the issue of improving the payment of maintenance to families affected by divorce and separation, which resulted in the launch of SCWO’s Maintenance Support Central (MSC) in 2011.

We were blessed to have had Wan Joo as our mentor, advisor, confidante, pillar of strength and most of all our friend.  It is hard to say goodbye to someone so precious.  Her legacy lives on at SCWO.