THIS Monday marks International Women's Day (IWD). A day when we honour and celebrate women all over the globe.
We celebrate them in all their roles, whether as mothers, wives, professionals or athletes, young or old. We celebrate the social, economic, cultural, sporting and political achievements of women. In truth, women have achieved many things.
The world owes much to them. History is full of female inventors. Marie Curie conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, discovering radium and polonium and contributing massively to the treatment of cancer, while scientist Ann Tsukamoto was part of the team that patented the first method of isolating blood-forming stem cells.
Women have won various Nobel prizes, including four in 2020. Many still call women the weaker sex, sadly enough. Long before women were allowed in the military, they were there on the frontlines as nurses. World War 2 changed that.
Many manned anti-aircraft guns in Allied countries. Russia employed them as snipers,tank crews and even bomber crews. Their night bombing runs were so accurate that Nazi German forces feared them and gave them the nickname "die Nachthexen" (the Night Witches). Many women, defensive forces or active combatants, lost their lives.
How are they the "weaker sex"? IWD is also a call to action to accelerate women's equality. This year's theme — "Choose to challenge" — especially celebrates this aspect. In Malaysia in recent years, women have increasingly become the mainstay of the country's development and growth. Their credibility cannot be underscored.
Malaysia has done relatively well in achieving gender parity, especially in education.
In 2019, some 60 per cent of public university students were women. The same goes for careers, too, although a significant number of women tend to drop out of the workforce due to personal or family commitments.
While some women choose to do so because of their convictions, others may do it because it is what society expects of them. What society should expect is for women to make their own choices of their own volition. We have our share of women luminaries, those who are an inspiration and who keep showing us that women can do better.
Take, for instance, Dr Mazlan Othman, Malaysia's first woman astrophysicist, and Dr Nur Adlyka Ainul Annuar, who was part of a team that shook the astronomy world when they discovered a hidden, supermassive black hole in our galaxy.
Take also Datuk Nicol David, for so long the world's undisputed squash queen, and Yuna, who took the United States' music world by storm.
These are but a few examples. There are so many more, though still nowhere near enough. We need more women to accept the challenge of stepping up their game. Let us not kid ourselves. It is still very much a challenge.
What is needed is healthy competition between men and women, while respecting each other's talents and qualifications.
We can help forge a gender equal world by celebrating women's achievements and raising awareness against bias.
Our government has made some effort in trying to achieve gender parity. As exemplary citizens, we too, should play a role. Malaysians, time for us to step up and make it so.