Four women, one NGO honoured at state-level Women’s Day 2019 event

KUCHING: Four awards were presented to outstanding women and one to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) at the state-level Women’s Day 2019 celebration at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on Saturday night.

The ‘Outstanding NGO Award’ went to Sarawak Society for Parents of Children with Special Needs (Pibakat) – touted as the first NGO to implement early intervention programme.

It currently runs two programmes known as ‘Morning Glory’ and ‘Pibakat Special Care’.

The ‘Chief Minister’s Special Award (In Good Hands)’ were presented to Wong Siong Ting, who had served in the Sarawak police force as the acting superintendent for 31 years, specifically in the Crime Investigation Department and the Special Branch.

The recipient of the ‘Woman Social Activist Award’ was Datin Amar Fatimah Jamil, while the ‘Woman Entrepreneur Award’ went to Nur Rahamah Ranong Abdullah @ Ranong Peru.

The ‘Woman Leadership Award’ recipient was Paliani Samba Bilaidom @ Lucy Lingam.

Each woman received cash prize, a trophy and a certificate of appreciation.

In her remarks, Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said the Sarawak government would acknowledge the contributions of women in various fields during the annual Women’s Day celebration.

She also said Women’s Day would be celebrated with different themes and focus every year – this year, the theme was ‘Sarawak Women in Safety and Security – In Good Hands’.

“It is indisputable that the desire for safety is inherent in all individuals. We long to live in a safe home, a safe community and a safe world. In line with this theme, this year we are highlighting the importance of safety and security specifically for women.

“Women have been subjected to much discrimination and violence throughout the centuries; hence, the need for safety and security of women in communities is long overdue,” she said in her welcoming speech.

Fatimah also highlighted several programmes that her ministry had implemented to empower women’s position as leaders and entrepreneurs.

Among them was a leadership programme implemented through the Women and Family Council of Sarawak (MWKs) involving 20 potential women leaders from across the state.

“We’ve discovered that this programme has been very effective and given more funding; we pledge to do more series covering more women across the three zones of Sarawak.

“In this respect, I would like to appeal to the Sarawak government to provide us with an additional funding of RM500,000, which should enable us to continue our endeavour in empowering more women with the related skills, as leaders in their various fields,” she said.

Another programme was the Women and Family Department (JWK) Sarawak’s entrepreneur training, in which the grant was allocated by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

Fatimah said initially, the approved grant was RM500,000, but following requests from many women, the chief minister had increased the amount to RM1 million for this year during last year’s Women’s Day celebration.

“A total of 520 entrepreneurs had applied for this grant, as at August 2019. As there is high demand for this assistance, I appeal for an increase of allocation to RM2 million to allow us to provide more assistance to more women entrepreneurs in 2020,” she said.

Fatimah noted that besides women, another upcoming challenge of concern to the ministry was the care for the ageing community, in which the ministry had planned to engage a consultant to do a study on the needs and requirements of the ageing society in Sarawak, and also to produce a ‘Gold Card’ programme for those aged 60 years and above, which should enable them to enjoy certain privileges and benefits made available by participating organisations and commercial sectors.

Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and wife Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Raghad Kurdi Taib attended the event.