Good evening everyone! I decided to blog today after attending an event which was part of the International Women's day celebration hosted at the company I'm working for. International Women's day was on March 8, but it was really nice that a small group of volunteers in my workplace hosted a few events to celebrate it not once, but throughout the month :)
Today's session was a book discussion on 'Lean In' by Sheryl Sandberg. I haven't read the book - it's on my To Do list of 'Books to read or it will collect dust soon' :P - but I've seen the video of Sheryl talking about women lacking the will to lead. Among the audience today, a few ladies and 'thorns' - i mean guys :) - shared about their personal stories related to this topic.
What is interesting, which Sheryl shared and confirmed by some of the ladies today, is that women sub-consciously slow down their career ambitions the moment they start to have a baby, or even much earlier, when they just got married. Sheryl highlights that it's very important to have a challenging and fulfilling career, because it's very hard to leave the 'little one' behind at home if you feel demotivated at work - think snoopy with his head on the ground. :) Women need to have that balance, but we intentionally sabotage it by thinking 'Oh, I'm the mother, I need to spend more time at home with the kids. It's my job, career takes a back seat'. Sounds familiar?
As the ladies in the room shared about their struggles at work; should they work hard for a promotion while pregnant with a child, should they volunteer for difficult projects etc....a thought flashed in my mind about my grandmother. In fact, it was a visual image, and the image was that of her name card.
Yup, I found this namecard while clearing my house 2 years back. I think I took it as a souvenir when I was just a kid. My uncle said she's the first business woman in KL back in the 1940s-50s. Not bad for a lady who could not read and write, but she did learn how to count and calculate...very important for business :)
My grandma was born around the 1920s (I think) and got married early via arranged marriage. Both my grandparents (my mum's parents) were very poor, and my grandfather had to do many odd jobs, which include tin mining (which was dangerous), trishaw puller (I bet he had big abs!), painting the cinema screens (yeah, cool right?) and finally found his niche repairing bicycles. From bicycles he moved on to selling new and used cars, and my grandmother was instrumental to help his business succeed.
The ladies who shared their stories, talked about how hard it was to have a kid, much more with 2 kids. My grandma had 6 kids...which was not considered a lot back then (my other grandma had 14 kids...yup...btw, she's super healthy now at the age of 92!). I don't have the full story, I probably need to get it from my mum and uncles, but my grandma did help out with business which lasted over 40 years. In fact, their shop was also their home, and my mum and her siblings would sleep in the 'super tight' attic above the shop.
My grandma was born in China and came over to Malaysia while still a baby, so we do not know her actual birthdate. It would have been useful to know what was her Day Element. I'm assuming she's a Yang Metal - visualize a picture of an axe. Yang Metal people are hard workers who are true to their family. Among all the elements, they are very tough and can handle large amount of stress. They also enjoy challenges; imagine an axe that constantly needs to sharpen itself to be useful to chop trees.
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| Happy Women's Day! Woohoo! |
Today's session was a book discussion on 'Lean In' by Sheryl Sandberg. I haven't read the book - it's on my To Do list of 'Books to read or it will collect dust soon' :P - but I've seen the video of Sheryl talking about women lacking the will to lead. Among the audience today, a few ladies and 'thorns' - i mean guys :) - shared about their personal stories related to this topic.
What is interesting, which Sheryl shared and confirmed by some of the ladies today, is that women sub-consciously slow down their career ambitions the moment they start to have a baby, or even much earlier, when they just got married. Sheryl highlights that it's very important to have a challenging and fulfilling career, because it's very hard to leave the 'little one' behind at home if you feel demotivated at work - think snoopy with his head on the ground. :) Women need to have that balance, but we intentionally sabotage it by thinking 'Oh, I'm the mother, I need to spend more time at home with the kids. It's my job, career takes a back seat'. Sounds familiar?
As the ladies in the room shared about their struggles at work; should they work hard for a promotion while pregnant with a child, should they volunteer for difficult projects etc....a thought flashed in my mind about my grandmother. In fact, it was a visual image, and the image was that of her name card.
Yup, I found this namecard while clearing my house 2 years back. I think I took it as a souvenir when I was just a kid. My uncle said she's the first business woman in KL back in the 1940s-50s. Not bad for a lady who could not read and write, but she did learn how to count and calculate...very important for business :)
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| In loving memory of my Grandma... she passed away a few years ago |
The ladies who shared their stories, talked about how hard it was to have a kid, much more with 2 kids. My grandma had 6 kids...which was not considered a lot back then (my other grandma had 14 kids...yup...btw, she's super healthy now at the age of 92!). I don't have the full story, I probably need to get it from my mum and uncles, but my grandma did help out with business which lasted over 40 years. In fact, their shop was also their home, and my mum and her siblings would sleep in the 'super tight' attic above the shop.
My grandma was born in China and came over to Malaysia while still a baby, so we do not know her actual birthdate. It would have been useful to know what was her Day Element. I'm assuming she's a Yang Metal - visualize a picture of an axe. Yang Metal people are hard workers who are true to their family. Among all the elements, they are very tough and can handle large amount of stress. They also enjoy challenges; imagine an axe that constantly needs to sharpen itself to be useful to chop trees.
My uncles and mum had a cantonese saying for my grandma, which is loosely translated as 'steel bones'. The reason was because she was a very tough lady, maybe a little bit controlling, super stubborn at times!! but acted her role as the head of family, especially after my grandfather passed away. So I guess the Yang Metal does fit her personality well :)
That is more on the BaZi birth chart. The other visual that came to my mind was via the Tarot card reading....and the first image that flashed in my mind was 'The Emperor' card
The emperor represents a personality of power and authority; he provides and protects his loved ones. His wisdom is borne through years of experience. He is also a representative of structure and stability. Talking about stability, my grandma worked hard to save money and invest in properties, which if you think back in 1970s and 80s, it's quite rare to find a women who would think about property investment. She did so to also ensure that her children and grand children would be taken care for. In fact, two of her properties are under their care, long after she has gone.
Many years ago, I did a short video animation tribute for my grandfather. Although I wasn't very close with my grandma, I do hope that by retelling her story, in some ways, I'm paying a tribute to her as well. :)
Whew! Super long post but I hope you found her story inspiring :). She did all of the above during a time when there were hardly any women in business or held senior positions in companies. It didn't really occur to me, until today, that she had a very strong character, to the point that even thieves were afraid of her! I'll leave that story for another day (yes, she evaded thieves twice- one whom she kept kicking as he tried to enter the house, the other she er...negotiated with him to leave her house).
Nites everyone!
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