“Powered Tuff” Girls at Motivational Camp

Since earning suffrage rights in the US during the late 18th century, the pressure for women to prove themselves in this male-dominated world remains an eternal issue. Sunway University College (SyUC), in collaboration with Seventeen Magazine Malaysia, organised a one-stop event to mentor young ladies on the challenging journey to empowered womanhood through a “Girl Power Camp” held at SyUC recently.

When secondary schools around Malaysia were invited to participate, 280 students signed up for this two-day, one-night, full board camp. The young campers aged mostly between 16 and 17 years, benefited at the start when trainers from Kanebo International gave grooming lessons, including make-up tips that are necessary to help young ladies feel more confident. More importantly, the trainers encouraged them to appreciate their own inner beauty rather than their physical appearances.

Ms Evon Ho, Legal Affairs Manager of Sunway Medical Centre gave the teen ladies a vital education on ‘Sexual Harassment’, a topic that, in Malaysian society, is still shrouded in mystery. The participants learned how to recognize sexual harassment behaviours and how they should react when faced with such situations.

Other workshops held covered topics on image and impression management, nutrition, financial planning, self-defense and personal safety awareness.

Lecturers from SyUC, Dr Marie-Aimee Tourres, Puan Annyza Tumar and Ms A. Alagarani, engaged the participants in a heart-to-heart discussion during the ‘Pillow Talk’ session. In response to honest questions from the young campers, they provided valuable advice and guidance on relationships, personal motivation and leadership.

One of the highlights for the campers was when they were asked to form fictitious companies that dealt with a product, service or idea. The teams were encouraged to rely on the talent and strength of each member to make a presentation on how to increase revenue for the companies, hence bringing out and complementing the potential in each other.

“Women can be so powerful when they show solidarity and make use of the resources available to them,” said Ms Elizabeth Lee, Executive Director of SyUC. “Thus ‘Girl Power’ is a wake-up call to our schools, sports teams, camps, organizations, the job market and the media to nurture and encourage women’s issues in positive and exciting ways.”

“I certainly hope that this camp has helped our teenaged ladies realize their potential to make the right choices and to believe in themselves,” added Ms Lee.