Women to the fore
Their contributions are huge
Today, Malaysian women are accomplished persons in their own right.
MALAYSIA is not short of women who have excelled in their respective careers — from educators, teachers and economists to doctors, engineers and beauty queens. The country has come a long way in recognising women’s role in society. Women participation in the country’s workforce has been increasing since 1957 in all economic sectors. By 2000, female employment accounted for 24.7 per cent. Today, Malaysian women are accomplished persons in their own right. We have a long list of them. One is Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the first Malaysian woman to hold the post. A qualified ophthalmologist, she studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, where she was awarded a gold medal in obstetrics and gynaecology. The first woman senator was the late Tan Sri Dr Aishah Ghani, the former social welfare minister (1973 -84). She was Malaysia’s first female representative to the United Nations. Then, we have our very own “Iron Lady”, former minister and parliamentarian Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, who was the 2015 recipient of the Asean Lifetime Achievement Award for her efforts in raising the trade profile of Malaysia and Asean. At 76, Rafidah is still going strong.
There are others — Malaysia’s first astrophysicist, Datuk Dr Mazlan Othman, who pioneered Malaysia’s participation in space exploration; Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the first woman governor of Bank Negara Malaysia; and former chief executive officer of the National Heart Institute, Tan Sri Dr Robaayah Zambahari. One of Malaysia’s foremost cardiologists, Dr Robaayah has been credited with raising national healthcare standards, mentoring junior doctors, and fighting cardiovascular disease. Yesterday’s NST frontpaged three women engineers who head the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry, with Yeo Bee Yin (a chemical engineer) as minister, deputy minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (electrical) and latest addition civil engineer Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir as secretary-general.
And let’s not forget our pageant queens, Malaysia’s ambassadors of beauty to the Big Four international beauty pageants — Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International and Miss Earth. Malaysia has yet to win a crown, although former Miss World Malaysia Lina Teoh came close. She was second runnerup in the Miss World 1998 pageant. She was also Miss World Asia and Oceania 1998, the highest achievement to date by a Malaysian contestant at the Miss World pageant. NST’s story of the day is an interview with Shweta Sekhon, who was crowned Miss Universe Malaysia in March. She will represent Malaysia at the 68th edition of the Miss Universe pageant on Dec 9.
What an impressive list of women achievers for a developing country like ours. NST salutes them. This Leader believes Malaysian women have the grit and determination to be the best. A recent World Bank report said Malaysia’s income per capita could grow by 26.2 per cent, which implies an average annual income gain of US$2,250 if all economic barriers were removed for women. This would mean increasing Malaysia’s gross domestic product by between RM6 billion and RM9 billion. Presently, women make up 55.2 per cent of the workforce, at some seven million. The government’s target is 60 per cent by next year. But we hope it will be higher. Each and every one of them Malaysia’s very own Captain Marvel.