|
18th July, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday outlined four key criteria essential for Malaysian women in order to overcome barriers and excel in their chosen field.
The deputy prime minister said women in Malaysia must be well prepared to embrace new challenges, meet demands of the future and also equip themselves with new skills and knowledge, be it business, communication, technology or any other profession.
“First, you must build your capacity to compete and be one step ahead at all times,” he said when launching the 10th Women Summit, here, yesterday.
The second, was to nurture positive attitudes and be confident with their own ability to overcome barriers, he added.
He elaborated that only by nurturing positive attitudes, would they be able to explore new opportunities and break new ground in their respective fields.
Also present at the event were Tourism minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen and Women, Family and Community Development deputy minister Datuk Heng Seai Kie.
He went on to note the third criteria as a “ground breaker”, something special, something value added, such as a talent or perspective that provided real benefits.
“And fourth, there must be opportunities allowing women to excel,” he said.
Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, noted that apart from the four criteria, education was a critical factor to include women in the nation’s mainstream.
He added that with better education or higher academic qualifications, women could enter professional fields which were traditionally dominated by men.
Muhyiddin cited statistics of women in various professional fields as of June 2012, saying 63.2 percent of dental officers in Malaysia were women, 49.6 per cent accountants, 49.2 per cent lawyers and 46.2 per cent in the medical profession.
He noted that the figures showed an increase and positive trend in the involvement of women in professional fields and said they have started holding decision making posts in important economic organisations.
“I believe Malaysia is among the few countries in the world which has a dominant representation of women as decision makers at the policy and regulation levels of the economic sector,” he said.
He welcomed the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry’s initiative to collaborate with Talentcorp and said it was in line with the target of achieving 55 percent women in the work force by 2015.
A micro-site database would be launched in September to register professional women who wished to return to their careers, he added.
He also praised yesterday’s summit, describing it as a very important platform for Malaysian women to share their views and propel their success to a higher level.
He said various recommendations and resolutions were considered and implemented by the government, including the target of 30 percent women as decision makers, extending maternity leave and part-time working arrangements, through the summit.
The one-day summit organised by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry was attended by about 1,000 local and foreign participants.
|
