International Women’s Day 2020: Stay On. Everyone Wins

From left to right (L to R): Gamuda Deputy Group Managing Director Dato’ Ir Paul Ha, Gamuda Independent Non-Executive Director Nazli Mohd Khir Johari, Gamuda Independent Non-Executive Chairman Dato’ Mohammed Hussein, Chairman of Air Asia X Berhad and Former Minister of International Trade & Industry Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, GWEN Patron and Gamuda Non-Independent Non-Executive Director YTM Raja Eleena and Gamuda Group Managing Director Dato’ Lin Yun Ling.

“We’re here to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th. Do we need it? I want to think every day is Women’s Day,” Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz exclaimed during her speech at our headquarters.

International Women’s Day is a global celebration that happens on March 8th. The day commemorates women’s milestones and brings about transformative agendas to push for progress. This year, the universal theme for International Women’s Day was Each for Equal.

With that, Gamuda Women Empowerment Network (GWEN) hosted a forum, themed ‘Stay On. Everyone Wins’ with Chairman of Air Asia X Berhad and Former Minister of International Trade & Industry Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz where she provided critical takeaways on our family-friendly policies and changing societal norms that support caregiving as well as career.

The country recognises that Gamuda is leading the change in elevating women in its workforce in both engineering and non-technical areas. In our efforts to retain talents for a sustained future in the construction and property industry, our employment policy has been fine-tuned to be more family-friendly and customised to allow staff to progress along with their careers on a merit basis.

“If we go on gender equality, we will forever be doing a disservice to ourselves. We should progress in our careers based on merits, competence and diligence,” Tan Sri Rafidah emphasised at the forum, which resonates well with Gamuda’s efforts in championing merit-based career advancement opportunities for all staff.

The default in many companies and families is to value the men’s work over the women’s even when there is no significant difference in terms of professional obligations and compensation.

“Women are often asked how they balance work and life needs. It’s actually about women and men combining and integrating their roles for a harmonious existence,” the former trade minister said.

#StayOnEveryoneWins is the theme set by GWEN for International Women’s Day 2020 as it builds momentum towards the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – specifically ones that promote health and well-being, gender equality, decent work and economic growth.