Crowning empowered women

Wednesday, 5 December 2012 00:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Rashika Fazali

“To the champions of this year, you are the women of the future. Be proud of your achievement,” affirmed MAS Holdings Group Director Ajay Amalean at the Empowered Women of the Year Awards held recently at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.

At this ceremony, Amalean spoke about women’s ideologies stating: “I noticed young women from humble beginnings dared to dream, to become professionals and earn degrees. They become entrepreneurs, building their homes and becoming leaders. They dared to dream, to focus and to succeed. That’s why they are here today.”

He further mentioned that the young women overcame hardships and acquired levels of success, conquering their own Antarctic just like Sir Robert Swan. Speaking on his encounter with Swan, Amalean stated that he questioned Swan on how he manages his work and his personal life, to which Swan supposedly replied: “When I am at work, I focus on my work. But when I am at home, no one dares to disturb me.” Amalean noted that these successful women also use the same practice when dealing with work and their personal life.

A woman’s success can in fact only mean one other thing – the world is growing and allowing more and more women to take charge with the approval and acceptance of men. He noted that husbands today ‘do not feel threatened’ by their wives’ success or by the fact that they may be earning more money than men themselves. He added, “An understanding husband is critical to a women’s success.”

At MAS Holdings, they have numerous stories of women who have overcome hardships and challenges to achieve excellence and success. For the ninth consecutive year, the Empowered Women of the Year Awards as part of the MAS Women Go Beyond Programme, witnessed 39 women from MAS plants in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh being recognised for their achievements.

The MAS Women Go Beyond Programme was created due to the high ratio of female associates in the company, 90% of the company’s workforce being female, out of which 83% of these females happen to be overseas employees. The company believes that women are in fact the backbone of MAS.

Nevertheless, this initiative focuses, acknowledges and supports the many roles women play in society. Speaking in regard to the roles of a woman, Sri Lanka College of Pediatricians President and Chief Guest Asvini Fernando stated:” She is a mother, a woman and a worker.”

MAS also introduced new programs last year focusing on creating awareness on violence against women, HIV/AIDS and on gender-sensitivity training for men in decision making positions.

This year’s awards also saw the launch of the ‘Orange initiative’ which stands for ‘say no to violence’ against women and children. This campaign started on 25 November, the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women and will continue for 10 days.

To keep the message alive, the 25th of every month has been declared the ‘Orange Day’.

Pix by Lasantha Kumara