Orient - The Official Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore - Issue 66 May 2018 - Page 47
(contd.) EXPERT OPINION FROM OUR BUSINESS GROUPS
LET'S DISCUSS... FOR REAL IMPACT, INVEST IN WOMEN
Color Silk in Cambodia. It was started by a woman who was raised as a weaver but had the opportunity to go the city to become a business school graduate. She started to sell woven materials in the West, which enabled the women in her village to earn a living—and to escape life “as a modern-day slave in factories in Cambodia”. Helping women succeed is a task for women, of course: “What needs to change is there needs to be more ‘She for Shes’—women helping women. We quickly learnt that not all women support other women. Women should realise that we need to work together if we are to change the male dominated system we live in.” But equally, Laina argues for more ‘He for Shes’, with men supporting women, simply because men are often in a better position to change the minds of other men, and hence play a key role to gender equality. Related to this, her favourite quote comes from her Bahai’i faith: “The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female… Until womankind reaches the same degree as man, until she enjoys the same arena of activity, extraordinary attainment for humanity will not be realised. When the two wings become equivalent in strength … the flight of man will be exceedingly lofty and extraordinary.” So, it’s perhaps ironic that her favourite story from the book is not about women. It’s about a boy in Africa who read about windmills in the library and scoured his village for parts to make one, to bring power to his neighbours. “I am always impressed with the resourcefulness of those who have so little, and how they just need access to information, ideas, skills, and resources to do almost anything,” says Laina. “It helps remind us we are no different from them.”