Originally reported on 26 September 2026 by Mothership and The Straits Times.
Honesty note: The opening character in this story is illustrative, drawn from the patterns in the real reporting. She is not a real named person.
She is 52, and she has started to dread the office air-conditioning. Not because it is cold, but because she is hot — suddenly, inexplicably, in the middle of a meeting, her face flushing, her shirt sticking to her back, while everyone else carries on as if nothing has happened. She smiles, she fans herself with a file, she hopes no one notices. She is going through menopause, and at work, it feels like a secret she has to manage alone.
It is not just the hot flushes. It is the sleepless nights, the brain fog that makes her lose a word mid-sentence, the mood swings she is embarrassed about, the feeling that her body is changing in ways she did not ask for, at a time when she is supposed to be at the peak of her career. She does not want special treatment. She wants understanding — a manager who does not make a joke of it, a workplace that does not treat a normal life stage as a weakness.
What helps, she discovers, is small and practical: a desk fan without comment, flexible hours on bad nights, a colleague who says, “Take your time, we’ve got this,” instead of pretending nothing is happening. She is still the same competent professional she has always been. She is just going through a change that half the population will go through, and that workplaces have, for too long, pretended does not exist.
What Singapore is actually seeing
The PAP Women’s Wing and NTUC Women and Family survey of 2,375 working women (3–31 August 2026, released 26 September 2026) also examined menopause at work, finding many women would not seek help for menopause symptoms, and that workplace understanding remains limited. The Women’s Wing plans mental-health ambassadors and workshops with partners including the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Singapore, with menopause support among its focus areas.
Sources: Mothership, 26 September 2026 — https://mothership.sg/2026/09/pap-mental-ambassadors/ The Straits Times, 26 September 2026 — https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/supporting-women-dealing-with-menopause-early-career-stress-among-pap-womens-wing-focus-areas
Getting help
If you or someone you know is struggling, you do not have to face it alone. National Mindline — 1771 (24 hours), WhatsApp 6669-1771, mindline.sg. Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) — 1767 (24 hours), CareText via WhatsApp 9151-1767. If someone is in immediate danger, call 995 or go to the nearest emergency department.
