Prominent women like Singapore’s President Halimah Yacob, Co-Founder of ride-hailing transport services Grab - Tan Hooi Ling and even sports legend, Nicol David have made headlines in the region for their tremendous achievements. A growing number of women today are participating in the male-dominated tech industry, politics, and sports, among other fields.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day today, ASEAN must realise that it needs to do more to encourage greater female labour force participation.With data from the World Bank showing that the participation of females above the age of 15 in ASEAN’s work force was around 61 percent as of last September, it is obvious that the region’s economy has huge potential to grow if more women join the workforce.With the male to female population ratio in ASEAN standing at 49.8 to 50.2 in 2017
Stories of brave women in the region are plentiful. In Vietnam, women were instrumental in liberating the country from American occupation. When the Philippines was colonized by Spain, women like Gabriela Silang played a significant role in fighting colonialism. In Malaysia, women like Shamsiah Fakeh led the women’s wing of the Malay Nationalist Party in fighting for independence from the British.
