DAP Wanita Advisor, Saudari Chong Eng,
Deputy Chief, Saudari Yeo Bee Yin,
NEC members,
Fellow strong and vibrant ladies in this esteemed programme, A very good morning to all of you and a warm welcome to HERLEAD organised by the DAP Wanita.
I would first like to extend my appreciation and well-wishes to all participants that have taken time out of your weekend to come and join us here for what I would hope to be a fulfilling and productive end to the week.
I hope that you will only take back positive memories and useful insights from the schedule we have arranged for you.
When we started thinking about initiating this programme, the organising committee and I looked at the several challenges that women have faced in politics. Not just in recent years, but historically, women have increasingly faced trials and tribulations in this line of work, in comparison to our male counterparts. For example, gender discrimination, online sexual harassment, male dominance and many more. For many parts of the world, women are still a minority in politics hence why for DAP Wanita, we believe that the solution for these issues is to increase female participation and level the playing field.
Recently, the World Economic Forum released its Global Gender Gap Report for this year where Malaysia ranked 114th out of 146 countries. Among ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste, we placed at number 9, putting us at the last spot as both Myanmar and Laos were not listed in the Report. Although the statistics seem grim, this is a wake-up call for us to do better. And that is why platforms like HERLEAD exist to make that greater change.
Hence by participating this weekend, you will be a part of creating that greater change.
Today, you are a participant in a HERLEAD programme. Tomorrow you may be a Ketua Kampung, an Ahli Majlis, an officer for a Member of Parliament or even a Minister in Cabinet. We want you to aim big, inspire those around you and prove that women can lead, and we can lead by example.
I am pleased to announce that we successfully managed to obtain 66 applications from all races and cultural backgrounds, and 32 were selected.
Among the participants, we have two participants that are 18 years old proving that the DAP is still and will continue to be a party that is relevant to the youth.
I want to also share that it is never too late to lead. 15.63% of the participants here are above the age of 35 whereas a whopping 84.38% of participants are below the age of 35. I applaud and admire your willingness to join and to learn more in this programme.
And finally, I truly believe that this is just the first step to a promising future for you and for DAP Wanita. Together we can overcome challenges in our way, and with camaraderie, solidarity and friendship, we can do it hand in hand, side by side.
With that, let the DAP WANITA HERLEAD PROGRAMME commence.
Thank you.