PETALING JAYA: Six hundred participants turned up for the recent Walk the Talk — Men on Board — Stop Violence against Women.
The walk, from Taman Jaya, here, to Dewan Tunku Canselor, Universiti Malaya, was led by a fleet of colourful vintage cars and a 60-member school band from Catholic High School.¬
Participants were given a beautifully printed poem entitled I Got Flowers Today by the organiser Soroptimist International Region of Malaysia.
The poem by Paulette Kelly tells
of the fragility of a romantic relationship and that anything can happen.
This year, more men were encouraged to take part in the walk.
The last two walks had low male participation of about 10 to 20 per cent of the total number of competitors, said Soroptimist International Federation of South West Pacific (SISWP) immediate past president Puan Sri Siew Yong Gnanalingam.
Gnanalingam said she wanted more youths to take part in the walk as they were the ones who would benefit most from the walk.
She said no man had the right to hit his spouse because she did not cook lunch or was late, or failed to do what he wanted.
“We want to cultivate a sense of respect for women in the young,” said Gnanalingam, adding that violence against women happened to both the rich and poor and that if the walk could save one life, it was worth it.
She said she was passionate about the walk because many talked about protecting women against violence but did nothing about it.
“Don’t think just because you are rich, your husband won’t beat you.
“It can happen to anyone. It is a woman’s problem.
“Some cannot even walk away. They are trapped.”
Many participants attended a forum at the end of the four kilometre walk at Auditorium Kompleks Pusat Asasi Sains, Universiti Malaya.
The forum, Violence Against Women — The Men’s Perspective was moderated by consultant clinical psychologist Paul Jambunathan.
The four speakers were Sunway Medical School clinical psychologist and lecturer Dr Alvin Ng, lawyer New Sin Yew, Women’s Aid Organisation advocacy officer Yu Ren Chung, and DSP Mohd Fahmi Visuvanathan. By John Tiong