27th April, 2017
34th Annual General Meeting of the Association of
Women Lawyers
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS
A warm welcome to all of you. Thank you for attending AWL’s 34th
Annual General Meeting. It is marvellous to see new and familiar faces amongst
us. For the benefit of our new members, it would be appropriate for me to begin
with a brief history of AWL.
AWL was established in 1983 by the diligence, foresight,
sacrifice and commitment on the part of our founding members - Dato’ Noor Farida Ariffin, Tan Sri Dato Seri Siti Norma
Yaacob, Dato’ Ambiga Sreenivasan and Chen
Kah Leng. In those early years, AWL was one of five (5) women’s groups[1]
whose tireless advocacy and lobbying efforts culminated in the passing of the Domestic Violence Act
1994[2].
Malaysia was a pioneer and the first country in the Asia-Pacific region then to have
domestic violence legislation.
However, subsequent to those early trail-blazing years, AWL,
under the unfortunate moniker of FOWL[3]
(Federation of Women Lawyers, Malaysia), fell into a downward spiral and
appeared to have lost its significance for well over a decade.
Fortunately, in 2008, we managed to shed our FOWL feathers
and went through a process of renewal and reinvention, emerging like a phoenix
from the ashes. A few individuals were instrumental in leading this change to
revamp the society’s
structure and mission. Some of these individuals are here with us today, Ms
Jane Pragasam, Ms Vicky Alahakone and our immediate past President, Ms Meera
Samanther.
As the society began to regain its footing, there was
recognition of the need to support female lawyers in the profession but
empirical data was required to provide credibility to any proposals or projects
for change.
The beginnings of an idea for a survey was suggested[4] over
a latte by Sheena Gurbakhash to our immediate past-President, Ms Meera
Samanther. On 26 June 2014, that idea became a reality! The Findings of the
Baseline Survey[5] on
the Working Conditions of Male and Female Lawyers in KL & Selangor was officially
launched at the KL Bar Auditorium with copies of the Baseline Survey
ceremoniously handed to the then President of the Malaysian Bar[6] (Mr.
Christopher Leong) and both Chairmen of the KL and Selangor State Bars. Notably
at that time, no female lawyer had ever held the chairman post for both State
Bars.
The AWL Baseline Survey provides hard data that women lawyers
faced gender discrimination and vindicated what in the past, had been mere
anecdotal accounts. Key areas were
identified with recommendations and programmes to eradicate gender inequality
in the legal profession.
In October 2016, AWL was invited by the Thailand Institute of
Justice (TIJ) to participate in the South East Asian Regional Roundtable
Discussion on “Women
As Justice-Makers”[7] held
in Bangkok. We were most elated to have been given the privilege of presenting
a copy of our AWL Baseline Survey to the then Australian Ambassador for Women
& Girls, H.E. Natasha Stott Despoja.
The AWL Baseline Survey provided the seed that grew into an
organic collaboration between AWL and the Bar Council, leading to the formation
of the Gender Equality Initiatives (GEI), a platform to raise awareness
on issues on gender discrimination amongst students of local law colleges.
Last year, the theme “Women
in Leadership Positions”
was selected for the GEI Colloquium[8] held
in June, 2016 and the GEI Moot in November 2016. Special thanks to the
organising team led by Meera Samantha and Santhi Latha, our Secretary, Kathlyn
Lee who delivered the Colloquium keynote address and our Treasurer, Daniella
Zulkifili who crafted the moot problems based on real-life case studies. The
GEI theme and moot questions were intended to make the students to think and
analyse why was there a dearth of women in leadership roles. Is there
discrimination? If yes, why does such discrimination exist? What were the
underlying root causes? These questions and more, highlight and bring into
focus the barriers to a woman’s
career and leadership progression - issues such as pregnancy and the double
burden of child and elder care.
To me, it was an extremely befitting theme given my own
personal experiences and the internal mental struggles I had to overcome before
deciding to stand for the post of Chair at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Elections
earlier this year, on 23 February 2017. But I did it! We did it!
I now move on to the AWL Annual Report which chronicles the
hard work of the society. The successful implementation of our projects was
only possible with the passion and dedication demonstrated by my fellow Exco
members. We do this work not for ourselves. Our success and satisfaction comes
from helping other people, advocating for gender-sensitive laws and policies[9],
working for a more inclusive bar and educating others[10]. We work
so that the term “feminist” will one day shed its
unfair negative connotations and to narrow the gender gap[11].
The next stage is for AWL to continue on its mission to
advocate for an enabling environment for women lawyers. A platform for women
lawyers to speak out about what we can do for one another. Mentoring,
friendships, supportive networks whether formal or informal. To help someone
behind us to accomplish and fulfil their fullest potential, to level the
playing field.
Next, is a project
close to my heart, the AWL’s
Child Sexual Crimes team. This originally began in late 2015 as a Standard
Operating Procedure (SOP) project in collaboration with the AG’s Chambers, WCC Penang,
relevant governmental stakeholders and child-focused NGOs.
In 2016, one representative each from AWL and WCC Penang, were selected to represent the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) at the Sexual Crimes Taskforce[12] which led to the eventual tabling of the Sexual Offences Against Children Bill (SOAC)[13]. It gives me great delight to inform you today that the SOAC Bill was passed last night by the Dewan Negara[14].
In 2016, one representative each from AWL and WCC Penang, were selected to represent the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) at the Sexual Crimes Taskforce[12] which led to the eventual tabling of the Sexual Offences Against Children Bill (SOAC)[13]. It gives me great delight to inform you today that the SOAC Bill was passed last night by the Dewan Negara[14].
We would like to thank Melissa Akhir of WCC Penang and our
Vice President, Tham Hui Ying. Melissa (also an AWL member) and Hui Ying were
tremendous sources of support during the hectic weeks in March and April this
year during our SOAC engagement with Parliamentarians. It’s been a wonderful
journey. So far, what moves each
and every one of us is the possibility of making a difference and the
exhilarating feeling that comes when we see it crystallise and happen.
Needless to say,
our work to strengthen victim support services for child victims of
sexual crimes is far from over. AWL continues to support the Star’s R.AGE Team in this
area. Most recently, we have been invited to participate in the filming of a
mock trial[15] on
the new offence of sexual grooming, to take place next Saturday.
I don’t believe anyone has to wait to make a
difference. Your ability to impact others never stops. If you say no, you only
shut yourself from opportunities, like attending a networking event, meeting
new people and transforming mindsets, others and yours. So what I would advise
is, be open to opportunity and from my personal experience, life has begun to
change in a very positive way. It has not always been easy, it is hard work,
there are costs and sacrifice involved. However, we should take on the
challenge and stretch ourselves to gain new experiences and skill sets.
To conclude, how
many of you have heard of the Butterfly Effect[16]?
I read about this recently and it’s a powerful illustration of how little
acts can result in dramatic effects. The butterfly effect chaos theory is that
a butterfly flapping its wings in South America can affect weather patterns
causing a typhoon halfway around the world!
So, we owe it to the next generation of women lawyers to put
our hands down and pull them up. These
small gestures will have tremendous and lasting impact on the careers of women.
Together, we can be very powerful. Let us be part of the solution. Let
us effect amazing change… just like those butterflies, right
here in Malaysia.
Thank you.
GOH
SIU LIN
President
Association
of Women Lawyers (2015-2017)
[1] Women’s Aid
Organisation (WAO), Association of Women's Lawyers (AWL), Malaysian Trade
Unions Congress Women's Section, University Women's Association (University
Malaya) and the Selangor and Federal Territory Consumers' Association
[7] https://www.facebook.com/pg/AWLMalaysia/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1173118259402223 “Women and girls
in the justice system should not only been seen as "passive citizens,
victims, inmates or mere onlookers but also as lawmakers, law enforcers, law
supporters and indispensable resources for the system reform."
Malaysia is
placed 106 out of 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2016
[12] http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1950293 “Azalina to head
new taskforce on crimes against children”
[13] https://www.facebook.com/ragepmp/videos/623909834476959/ Predator in my Phone “Congratulations
Malaysia, We did it.”
[14] 26 April, 2017. http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1351030 “Dewan Negara
Passes Sexual Offences Against Children Bill 2017"
Nice post! This is a very nice blog that I will definitively come back to more times this year! Thanks for informative post.
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