KUCHING: More than 100 women from universities, non-profit organisations and government agencies attended the Women’s Forum at the TEGAS Innovation Hub at Icom Square here yesterday to share their journey as women at work, home and business.
The forum was held in conjunction with Women History Month in March. Women all over the world also celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8.
Speaking at the opening of the forum, Deputy State Secretary (Performance and Service Delivery Transformation), Datu Dr Sabariah Putit said that the forum was a good avenue to hear stories of women from different economies and environment adapt with digital changes.
“This forum also brought new perspective that can lead to mindset change and cultivation of more women entrepreneurs,” she added.
Sabariah revealed that such forum corresponded to her personal aspiration to see Sarawak progress further and all Sarawakians would benefit from the state’s development.
The forum featured speakers from IBM Malaysia, Chong Chye Neo (Managing Director), The Tuyang Initiative, Juvita Tatan Wan (Co-Founder) and Sarawak State Library, Rashidah Bolhassan (CEO).
Chong delivered a keynote on Transforming Women to Thrive in Sarawak’s Digital Era, Juvita on her tales as a social entrepreneur and Rashidah on Leading Sarawak at an Inflection Point.
The three presentations shared a common thread which stressed on the importance of women’s role in each socio-economic era that echoed the theme #PressforProgress championed by women worldwide.
The presentations also included what women can do to empower themselves and tips on thriving in the digital economy.
The audience also heard from a panel of five speakers on the topic, ‘Mistakes that you dont’t want your daughters to make’, moderated by Vijay Moorthy from IBM. The speakers were Juvita, Bianca Perez (IBM), Donally Visagie (IBM), Martina Gonosova (IBM) and Dan Leach (IBM).
The IBM panelists were among the 15 consultants who had spent a month in Kuching in pro bono consultation with four government agencies.
