The peace-filled community project to end all forms of violence, One Million Stars To End Violence, held a special celebration in conjunction with International Women’s Day on Saturday, March 24 at Aeon Mall Ipoh Klebang. It was jointly organised by Perak Women for Women Society (PWW) and Soroptimist International (SI Ipoh) in cooperation with Pantai Hospital.
Various booths were set up offering free health screening accompanied with performances from the drummers, flash mobbers and dancers.
“Women have done and achieved a lot in society on their own even without any support or encouragement. Just to have a day to celebrate is not sufficient; women should be celebrated every day!” Sumathi Sivamany, chairman of PWW enthused.
“Since its establishment 22 years ago, many activities under Pantai Hospital Ipoh (PHI) revolve around women. Each year, PHI sets new targets to increase awareness and address specific breast cancer related issues as well as collaborating with Pink Champions Perak Society. Through Khazanah, we have, to date, over 120 women who are beneficiaries of its fund. Meanwhile, a joint initiative with National Cancer Society Malaysia has seen 125 women in the last eight months benefitting through free mammogram screening,” Chong Siet Fong, the CEO of PHI explained.
Guest of honour, Olivia Constance Nicholas, Miss Malaysia International 2016 spoke on violence against women. “According to a recent study by the United Nations, it is estimated that one out of every three women in the world have experienced violence, in one form or the other, at some point in their life. Isn’t that just horrifying! The lucky ones, live to tell the tale, that is if anyone is listening. Some unfortunately die as a result of this violence, be it domestic or otherwise,” she highlighted.
“Movements have begun around the world to rally around and expose the sheer magnitude of sexual harassment and other forms of violence that women suffer on a daily basis,” she added.
Present was Doreen Kam, president of SI Ipoh.
One Million Stars to End Violence is a global weaving movement and the figure is targeted because it demonstrates how monumental the work of creating a safe and peaceful space for women and children is, be it here in our community or around the world.
Launched in November 2017, the One Million Stars project is ongoing until the target figure is reached. Interested readers who would like to join the effort can visit the project’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/1MillionStars/. Please send your stars to PWW Centre at No. 52 Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, 31400 Ipoh, or call 012 508 2480.
Mei Kuan
