In less than 24 hours, I’ll be casting my first vote.  I’ll be voting to elect the future leaders of Singapore in the Singapore election 2011. I’ve never voted in any election. It’s a sad fact that many of my American friends find it hard to believe. Being an overseas Singaporean, I’m not allowed to vote until recently. I’m glad to see the change, but it took 12 bloody years for this to happen!

To the rest of the world, Singapore election is a very boring event. In history, the ruling party always wins majority of the seats in Parliament due to lack of contest from any opposition parties. In 2001, the ruling party won 82 out of 84 seats. The same in 2006. It makes one question, are we that happy with the ruling party that they should remain in power, or do we not love our country’s future enough to stand up against the ruling party?

To me, a progressive country requires 2 key ingredients, astute leaders and passionate voters. A country will not grow and progress without these 2. Why run a country if there are no passionate voters, it’s like operating Frankenstein, a country with no heart. After all, it’s the people who defines the country, not her leaders.

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(Source: Love With Food)

I recently turned 35. It’s probably safe to say I’ve reached my mid-life. Given how much I love fried chicken, living past 70 would be a bonus :)

Why a free woman? Because not every woman in this world is free to live their lives. Everyday I’m thankful that I don’t have to hide behind a burqa, I can drive, I can work and I can fall in love. Simple pleasures that enrich our everyday lives shouldn’t be taken for granted. These are the things women in certain nations yearn for but may not ever experience them in their lifetime. Everyday, I’m thankful that I have a free life and not one for sale.

I’m a fervent reader of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project , a volunteer organization that empowers Afghan women to have a voice, a voice that’s not censored or filtered, a voice with it’s own rights. Life of an Afghan woman is beyond hard and yet these women fight tenaciously to live everyday. Many stories are heart-wrenching and many have brought tears to my eyes. One especially, which I bookmarked. The title reads “I Am For Sale, Who Will Buy Me?”. This young woman was forced to marry a 40 year old man and the only way out was to buy her freedom.

In a perfect world, when you are born, freedom should be part of the package. Apparently, in certain countries like Afghanistan, freedom comes with a price tag, a woman’s life is priced like a piece of meat in the market. It’s absolutely outrageous and makes me so furious. I am SO thankful that I was born in a modern world (Singapore) and I now live in a modern world (U.S.) and in a modern world, freedom and equality is a basic human right.

While Afghan women have to find secret ways to write and have their voices heard by the world, we in Silicon Valley are arguing and debating on the topic on why there are so few women in tech. Just because someone noticed the ratio of women vs. men in tech is 4:1, finger pointing began and created a nonsensical talking point out of it.

Fact: When I was a undergrad Computer Science student, there were more boys than girls.
Fact: When I go to a Ruby meetup, there are more pizza than girls.
Fact: I’m in technology, running a startup, and have no babies because it’s my choice.

It’s not a blaming game and I agree with Michael Arrington when he wrote “Too Few Women In Tech? Stop Blaming The Men.” While it’s not a good sample size, but at my age, most of my friends already have at least 2 kids and I’m the only one running a startup. There is some truth to what Penelope Trunk wrote “Women Don’t Want To Run Startups Because They’d Rather Have Children”.

Whether women choose to be in tech, it’s a choice. Whether we choose to be mothers, it’s a choice. Whether we choose to do both at the same time, it’s still a choice. At the end of the day, we have choices in our modern world. We are free to make any decision that’s best for our lives, because we are free women. Be thankful and celebrate.

Photo source: Kawetijoru