'Daughters are like spilt water'

I read with interest today's Straits Times' special on the social issue of gender imbalance in the Hainan province of China. The traditional preference for boys over girls has led to a troubling sex ratio of 136 boys to 100 girls within the group of offshore islands. Straits Times reported the rise of 'bachelor villages', with many young men unable to find a match.



The traditional preference for boys stemmed from many practical issues. Many of the Hainan dwellers are farmers/ fishermen. Such trade is considered unsuitable for women. Boys are also required to carry on the family line and to care for the parents in old age. When daughters grow up and get married, they are thought to 'belong' to the other family and their duty is to care for their in-laws in old age.



The China one-child policy complicates matters further as if couples can only have 1 child, they would want a baby boy. While scans for baby sex and sex-selective abortions have been made illegal, there are ways around these restrictions.



The Chinese government is going through great efforts to change people's attitudes about having baby girls. Financial incentives like one-time payments, school fee waivers and free medical treatment for female new-borns have been implemented. Still, time is needed if people's mindsets are to change.



I know a friend of Hainan descent in modern day Singapore. She comes from a family of 2 daughters while her uncles had at least 1 boy in their families. Some of her relatives subscribe to such sexism and naturally express favouritism towards the families with boys. While its pretty funny to laugh at some of the things that happened before, there is inevitably some bitterness enmeshed in those memories. Its sad how such prejudices can be so deeply in-grained. Of course her encounters are nothing compared to it being a life-and death situation for female foetuses in certain societies.



On a happier note, the article also highlights the kindness of a middle-aged couple in Hainan who adopted 14 abandoned girls even though they had 5 children of their own, 2 of which are boys. The family is not well-off at all, but the couple made sure that their adopted girls were well-fed and have access to education.



Humans have played with nature in too many ways already. To play with the gender balance in the human population might be something that can back-fire pretty badly.