Eight Women to Empower IWD23

By students and staff, INTI International College Subang

In support of women’s empowerment, 48 students from INTI International College Subang’s Pre-University (Pre-U) and Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) programmes together with the lecturers received certificates in a virtual ceremony held recently for successfully completing an Employer Project with the ADYA Empowerment Association.

The ADYA Empowerment Association is a registered NGO that works closely with the National Community Policy formulated by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government by aiming to address social issues faced by the community of housing premises, particularly the low-cost housing programme across the country.

From February to March 2023, the students were tasked to interview eight inspiring women in Malaysia and produce articles and videos about their inspirational journeys before publishing them on ADYA’s website.

Here are the 8 personalities for you to be inspired! Happy reading!

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Is a career in politics something you would consider? Well, it certainly was not something that  YB Hannah Yeoh thought she would venture into when she was growing up. Though originally from OUG Garden, she and her family moved to Subang Jaya when she was around the age of 4. General election season was a fascinating time where Hannah rejoiced every time a Barisan Nasional candidate won while her father laid morose at the lack of opposition gains. Her only connection to politics was by reading The Star and envisioning herself in the shoes of politicians, among them Tun Dr. Mahathir. YB Hannah eventually decided to go to Australia to pursue her law degree. While in Australia, she began to build a life for herself, but her hopes of getting employed were dashed when her PR application was rejected. Moving back to Malaysia was her only option. It is interesting to note that  while studying in Hobart, she had joined the Overseas Christian Fellowship where she met her friend and junior, Edward Ling. Edward was instrumental in convincing her to join the Democratic Action Party (DAP) as a volunteer for Tony Pua. Hoping to support her friend, she decided to take initiative and realized that her purpose to give people a better life could be fulfilled. YB Hannah solidified her position in fighting corruption when she was at her first rally. In fact, her achievements as the first female speaker of the Selangor State Assembly and now as Minister of Youth and Sports are amazing accomplishments for women in politics. YB Hannah acknowledges that in order to achieve success, one has to make sacrifices. She believes in seizing opportunities in order to make a change for the better. YB Hannah Yeoh’s mission to serve her country only burns brighter with her appointment as the Minister of Youth and Sports.

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Noor Amy Ismail, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Malaysia Venture Capital Management (MAVCAP) is currently pursuing her PhD, specializing in inter-collaboration framework for SMEs and startups in Malaysia. Her source of inspiration is her late father who believed in lifelong learning. He went back to Universiti Sains Malaysia and completed his master’s degree at the age of 72. She believes that pursuing knowledge is  vital, and one should never stop learning, either through formal or informal means. She encourages everyone to find their purpose in life and pursue it with dedication as passion alone is insufficient; it has to be driven by curiosity. Furthermore, she has always believed that if one wants to strengthen governance or influence policies in Malaysia, one must pursue knowledge as substance matters.

Having obtained experience for close to 25 years from corporate and SMEs across diverse industries, globally and internationally, she has created a significant impact through the start-up community. Working at MAVCAP, she has also been able to provide initial funds for tech startups through their fund managers – backing more than 1000 companies and creating over 30,000 jobs. She has been instrumental in engaging with the community through initiatives like MAVCAPLACE, free coworking space, monthly engagement sessions ILHAMAVCAP, and championing MAVCAP’s ESG principle to close the digital gap. One such initiative was to help three villages in Sabah close the digital gap between different generations and genders. Noor Amy’s vision is to empower tech startups in Malaysia. She believes that it is essential that all businesses have a direct or indirect social enterprise element such as caring for employees’ welfare and that of their family members. Caring for people and providing employment is a social responsibility that all businesses must fulfill even if it is on a small scale because small changes matter. As she takes on her new role as COO, she is poised to make an even more significant impact in Malaysia’s venture  capital ecosystem.

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A 14-year-old Orang Asli girl’s future hung in the balance; her hopes for an education dashed by the pandemic. She was not able to attend online classes due to lack of resources, so she eventually dropped out of school. This is just one of many heart-breaking real-life incidents that Dr. Hajah Yatela, Chief Executive Officer of Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD), has heard of first hand. The adversities faced by many motivated her in her capacity as CEO of YSD to commit her life to helping others, affecting society positively, and standing up for underprivileged communities. Dr. Yatela is a remarkable role model who is dedicated to giving back to the community. Her personal narrative stands as a light of hope. Growing up in a lower income environment, she worked hard and obtained a scholarship to study abroad, which allowed her to contribute to her family upon graduation.

Some of Dr. Yatela’s work at YSD focuses on education as she strongly believes that every single child deserves access to basic education. Therefore, she is supporting several programs to help those who do not have access to basic education, namely the impoverished, the disabled, and the Orang Asli communities. One such program is YSD’s back-to-school initiative where the foundation provides school bags, stationery, and other necessary items to children from B40 families in order to ease the family’s burden as well as to encourage the children to attend school without worrying about basic school needs. Dr. Yatela also supports the Anti-Harassment and Anti-Stalking Acts via YSD’s sponsorship of the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO). She strongly endorses WAO’s establishment as a haven for victims of domestic violence where these women are provided access to support and training with the aim of empowering and encouraging them to be independent.

With a wealth of experience in Corporate Social Responsibility, Dr. Yatela is an advocate for protecting the planet and helping those in need. She is aware of the dangers posed by climate change and of the fact that, if we do not act soon, our tomorrow may not be as bright as our today. Her mission is very clear; we must do something immediately to leave a planet that is habitable, equitable, and prosperous for our children and grandchildren. With her magnetic personality, Dr. Yatela continues to work with various groups in prioritizing environmental sustainability. On another note, her work at YSD also includes supporting the fight against cancer as well as supporting individuals living with HIV and unable to afford medical assistance. Being a compassionate person, Dr. Yatela believes that the best leaders are those who give back to their communities, who listen, and who are open-minded. She has an admirable drive to improve the lives of others. Her dedication to empower the B40 community and to protect the environment is admirable and motivating.

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“Sustainability is the mantra across our social and community engagements”—these are the wise words of Santhi Periasamy, Head of RYTHM Foundation. Santhi decided to take an early retirement from her position as an educator with the Ministry of Education when she got an offer from a Corporate Foundation which worked to uplift grassroot communities socially and economically.  Four years later she joined RYTHM Foundation, a foundation that empowers lives and transforms communities through grant awards, invests in human development programs, and promotes volunteer engagements.

In a short period of two and a half years, Santhi accomplished remarkable feats not only in Malaysia but also in other Southeast Asian countries. She was impressed by the excellent work done by RYTHM Foundation, especially the work that impacted communities. Initially, one remarkable project by the foundation, Employee Community Impact, required employees to commit 16 hours of groundwork with the disadvantaged and underserved communities. It was meant to bring about the realization in those involved that it’s important to engage in community, pay it forward and contribute in any way they can. However, Santhi felt that what was being done through this project was insufficient. She realized that there is a need for sustainability in the work done for social impact; therefore, she redesigned the plans to ensure the underprivileged community gets the specific assistance, skills and education required. This plan resulted in underprivileged children and women gaining better literacy and communication skills as well as financial literacy. The positive impact of the move added value to the foundation’s mission to reach out to the needy and disadvantaged.

In her line of work, Santhi has traveled to other countries and been able to witness first-hand the impact of projects conducted by her foundation. One such amazing collaboration was with a foundation in India where women were empowered with skills and encouraged to lead their households as they were taught how to farm mushrooms as well as manufacture soaps and sanitary pads. The project was a success; the women were highly empowered as they started to show interest in communicating in English and managing their own bank accounts. The most surprising change in  attitude came from men who were willing to stay home to care for the children while the women became the breadwinners. Another fascinating project was called Safer City for Girls, which aimed at educating and creating awareness among girls to stop them from being exploited or sexually harassed.

There is no doubt that Santhi Periasamy’s contribution as the Head of RYTHM Foundation has brought a positive impact on underprivileged communities locally and internationally.

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Have you ever wondered if your community service project is transforming a person’s life? This is the  very question Anita Ahmad, Head of Community Development, Yayasan Hasanah (‘Hasanah’ means kindness, doing good), asks herself every time she plans a project to help the underprivileged in Malaysia. Anita is a passionate advocate for social justice and supports marginalized and vulnerable communities. She developed this passion at the early age of 11 after meeting an Afghan refugee struggling to become a doctor in the UK. Upon graduating with a degree in law, Anita transitioned to the non-profit sector and worked in conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and Syria. She then returned to Malaysia, where she worked on refugee issues at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and on various social development issues with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) before joining one of Malaysia’s largest foundations, working on community development and humanitarian response.

The projects that she plans at Yayasan Hasanah focus on two main areas, improving livelihood and developing leadership skills among the underprivileged. This is to ensure that those earning a low income can earn additional money for their own survival, especially given the impact of the pandemic on their livelihood. Through the foundation and its implementing partners, she has been able to help various communities to increase their income through numerous programs including a program providing interest-free, micro-credit financing. One of these programs is being implemented by Women of Will (WOW) which supports women from the B40 community by assisting them in setting up their own business ventures. Moreover, WOW offers skills development training, assistance with entrepreneurship growth, and business coaching to ensure that these B40 enterprises are successful and sustainable.

As someone who never stops learning, Anita is always eager to learn and execute new approaches in her work. Through her work with Yayasan Hasanah, she aims to address long-term development issues such as limited access to information amongst the B40 women in order to sustain and scale their enterprises. Although there are many active NGOs     in Malaysia, most B40 women are still unaware of such NGOs or existing programs offered by government agencies and the private sector as these women lack formal education. Moreover, many members of the public do not show interest in investing time in understanding this community and may view them as incapable when all this community requires is support for a longer term especially in the areas of coaching and mentoring. Anita believes this mindset must be changed because the B40 women need to be empowered and need to be given confidence so that they can succeed in earning a living. In view of this, she works meticulously to help B40 women increase their income so that these women can support themselves without having to depend on others. When women in the underprivileged community contribute financially to the household income, their families and the community benefit.

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Have you ever been told to embrace your failures? It might seem strange as failure is something most people fear, but Juliana Ooi lives by this idea. Juliana is the founder of X Ed Malaysia, a social enterprise in reproductive and social health. The idea did not come to her overnight; it was the product of years of volunteering. She believes that everyone has a story to tell. Thus, she is always inspired by the life stories of friends from the underserved communities such as juveniles, sex workers, transgender people, people living with HIV, drug users and refugees. Juliana believes that their experiences are a major influence in her work today in relation to sexual and reproductive health. As part of her current initiative at X Ed Malaysia, she conducts research and works with parents, teachers, teenagers, and young adults to understand their comfort level in discussing sexuality education. This enables her and her team to conceptualize a better behavioral change framework and to design educational materials to support this initiative. In order to ensure that everyone can discuss sexuality education comfortably, she came up with the ingenious idea of designing, producing and using creative tools to teach and discuss about sex education.

Juliana has had a string of achievements, among them receiving the Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment in 2019 to produce a tool kit to assist young parents in “active parenting” as well as to help their children learn both survival and life skills on topics like reproductive and social health. She is also one of the winners of 120 Under 40: The New Generation of Family Planning Leaders, an initiative by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All her achievements did not come easy. Juliana has faced many challenges and failures; however, she has always been inspired to come up with innovative and inclusive solutions. She also believes that failure is something to “cherish” and has been embracing failures as she feels that “coming out of those moments are little wins” that help her grow. In Malaysia, sex education is not talked about enough because it is a taboo subject among many. One of the major issues that her organization has to deal with is the concern that sex education may be against certain cultures or religions. Nevertheless, she sees a silver lining in the challenges she faces as she feels that these challenges provide the opportunity to learn more about the positive and healthy values in various cultures and religions in Malaysia that would support inclusive reproductive and social health education for all.

Juliana believes that instead of blaming girls or women for having an unintended pregnancy or for baby dumping, we should acknowledge that the lack of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) may leave them unaware of precautions they could have  taken; they may have been either afraid to seek assistance due to stigma or prejudice or did not have access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. It is also known from news reports that boys and men are usually excluded from discussions on CSE.  By creating a safe space and empowering everyone with CSE, we can work towards creating safer, more inclusive communities.  Juliana’s determination and advocacy for accessible sexual and reproductive health education is an inspiration.

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“Give yourself credit and love yourself a little more today.” These are the words of Navi Indran Pillai, a 32-year-old breast cancer survivor who believes women should prioritize themselves more and give  credit to what they have already accomplished. She believes that women are born with the natural gift of being nurturers for others rather than for themselves. Isn’t that something common we often hear?  Many women don’t pay attention to their own needs and often criticize themselves for all the petty things that make them a woman. Navi feels that women should not be too hard on themselves, and they should always remember that “Girls run the world” (a phrase from a song by Beyoncé). The fact is that empowered women appreciate their worth and place healthy boundaries. She believes there is a wonderful life ahead for every woman despite various obstacles in life. Navi, who has battled cancer for 10 years and emerged as a fighter, is an inspiration for many who are facing similar challenging times in their life.

Not one to take a back seat while battling cancer, Navi has continued to pursue a career as a Senior PR Executive for 1 Utama while influencing others through social media. Her goal as a social media influencer is to help others by sharing her journey  of dealing with cancer. She wants others who are battling cancer to know that they are not alone. She speaks from experience because she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and faced multiple relapses thereafter. Battling through it all, she felt alone and secluded despite having a family for support. Not one to give up easily, Navi did not let the relapse take control of her life. Navi knew what   fighting alone felt like and did not want others to go through the same experience. She then began her  journey by sharing stories of her life on social media. She hoped to ignite positive thoughts in those battling cancer and encourage them to see a future beyond the hurdles. Having said that, Navi believes  that social media influencers must always share accurate information backed by research in order to avoid misleading or misinforming the public.

Through her social media posts, she is a beacon of hope for others battling cancer. On the home front, however, her unwavering support system includes her family members and her husband. They are her pillar of support, comforting her every time she breaks down when faced with all the pain. In fact, she acknowledges that her family too goes through the whole rollercoaster of emotions along with her. However, together they come out triumphant.

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Would it surprise you if you were told that more than 60% of undergraduates in universities  in Malaysia are female undergraduates? According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), 54.2% of female graduates are unemployed. Would it then further puzzle you if you were told women are still underrepresented in the workforce despite having completed tertiary education?

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Noraida Endut, Professor at the Unit for Research on Women and Gender (KANITA),is well aware of these statistics. She strongly feels that the biggest challenges faced by women are lack of economic empowerment and decision making power which leads to the feminization of poverty. In many cases, women are pressured to focus their time and energy into childcare as they are considered the primary caregivers in a family. This has a severe impact on their career which is not the case with men. Unfortunately, this could be one reason why there are more men in decision-making positions in public and private workplaces as opposed to only 25% of women in such positions.

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Noraida amazingly specializes in law and development and gender studies.  As the former Director of KANITA, she emphasizes its fundamental vision on achieving  gender equality and social justice in our society. The center also focuses on issues of economic development for women in Malaysia by providing programs on women and gender studies to a global audience. She firmly believes that we can reverse the trend in the feminization of poverty by taking certain steps. There could be a family-friendly policy at work in the public and private sectors. The family burden can be eased by increasing allowances or providing financial assistance to single mothers. She also urges employers to be aware of the issues that women face in the workplace such as productive and reproductive time overlaps, stereotypes on skills and abilities, and a lack in career advancement opportunities. She emphasizes that women should not be robbed of their opportunities for job advancement just because they are considered primary caregivers. An advocate of gender equality, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Noraida points out that women should not be solely responsible for taking care of children. Both men and women should share that responsibility. By doing so, both will be equally privileged in career and educational advancement.

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