Singapore Airlines used to have a policy that flight attendants must resign at the end of their first trimester. When Fu found out she was pregnant, her happiness immediately turned to worry, as she knew her time was about to be up as a flight attendant. She eventually returned to the role after her pregnancy, but once she became pregnant again, she couldn’t quit her job as she was the primary breadwinner for her family.

Fu did what she knew she had to do and hid her pregnancy as long as possible. Up to five months until a passenger noticed she had a baby bump. “It was difficult. I managed to carry on as usual for as long as I could,” Ms. Fu says.

Singapore Airlines’ dated policy, which they finally dropped in July, was legal in Singapore. Clarence Ding from the law firm Simmons & Simmons explains the country has no anti-discrimination laws, “This is not to say SIA’s policy was not problematic. Singapore’s employment guidelines state that employers should implement fair employment practices,” he says.

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