{"id":2531,"date":"2021-11-16T12:31:57","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T04:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wimnet.org.my\/?page_id=2531"},"modified":"2022-03-12T18:18:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-12T10:18:21","slug":"tsdno-chair-for-womens-leadership","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wpnew.wimnet.org.my\/wpnew\/tsdno-chair-for-womens-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Tan Sri Dato Napsiah Omar Chair For Women’s Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tan Sri Dato Napsiah Omar Chair – Committee<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"Tan Sri Dato Napsiah Omar <\/strong>was born in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan.  She was remembered as an intelligent student throughout her primary and secondary school education.  She proceeded to graduate with a Bachelor of Science, Australian National University, Canberra and a Master of Science, Cornell University, New York.  Upon her return to Malaysia, she was engaged as a lecturer and later appointed as an Associate Professor in 1981 at the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, now known as the Universiti Putra Malaysia.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She later joined the world of politics and soon was appointed as Deputy Minister of National Unity and Social Development, 1982-87, Minister of Public Enterprise 1987-90, Minister of National Unity and Social Development 1990-95 and Senior Executive Councillor, Government of Negeri Sembilan 1996.  During her services in the Public Enterprise ministry, she wanted to know whether permits issued by her ministry for taxis were given to responsible taxi drivers.  One day she took a taxi ride without disclosing her identity.  The driver looked a bit upset and shared with her that a single parent woman-customer was just taken by him to a place to ply her \u201ctrade\u201d to customers so that she could earn money for her children to buy schoolbooks.  That experience shocked Napsiah and that started her interest to run small business training courses for single parent women and other marginalised women.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another experience she shared was when she undertook a tour of duty to Japan, which included a courtesy call on Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, the 3rd<\/sup> longest serving Prime Minister of Japan.  They shared an intellectual conversation about their two countries and before she took leave, he took a piece of rice paper, drew a picture of Mount Fuji, autographed it, and presented it to her as a gift.  This gesture surprised Napsiah and her entourage, and word soon reached Prime Minister Mahathir\u2019s ears even before Napsiah returned to Kuala Lumpur.  Naturally, she was asked at the next occasion when she met up with the PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Napsiah is an impressive speaker whether in Bahasa Malaysia or in English and she outshines many ministers who are not fluent in both languages.  This talent has paid off when she was appointed to deliver an Address at the United Nations General Assembly, New York, an achievement which no other Malaysian woman cabinet ministers have ever been granted.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Napsiah\u2019s \u201cbiggest moment to help women\u201d was when she presented Malaysia\u2019s Domestic Violence Act in Parliament.  She met a lot of opposition from some male parliamentarians, but her deputy minister, Tan Sri Alex Lee, stood up and championed her motion.  The arguments went on until midnight before the Act was finally passed.  The next day, the headlines in the newspapers referred to Napsiah as the \u201cCinderella Minister\u201d.  She also received good comments and congratulations from women leaders in Britain and around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leadership positions she held in Non Profit Women NGOs included as Co-Founder and Chairman of the Women\u2019s Institute of Management (WIM), President of Federal Territory Girl Guides Association and National Vice President of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society.  (The National President of the MRCS is the Prime Minister).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards bestowed on Napsiah Omar include:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n