PRESS STATEMENT BY YB CHONG ENG (21 JAN 2021)
STATE ASSEMBLYMAN FOR PADANG LALANG IN PENANG
STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT & NON-ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS
“CALLING FOR WOMEN TALENTS FROM PENANG”
The Penang State Government is committed to ensure more women representation in decision making and policy formulation level. The Gender Inclusiveness Policy was adopted in March 2019 is aimed to achieve gender balance at every level of an organisation. In October 2020, the state government implemented the minimum requirement of 30% women to hold positions such as the city councillors and board members of state government-linked companies (GLCs).
I was tasked by Chief Minister YAB Chow Kon Yeow to drive this state exercise of achieving a minimum 30% of women in the GLCs Board of Directors. Hence, I would like to call upon all women talents from Penang who are interested in contributing their expertise to the state to come forward to help achieve this minimum target of 30% in decision making. Why 30%? This is because 30% is the minimum critical number to ensure effective gender perspective representation.
These 30% of women are not to fill up the quota, but they must be experienced subject matter experts who can contribute their diverse perspectives to the companies in order to make holistic decisions for the good of the state and its people. As Penang is moving towards being an inclusive state, inclusiveness will not be achieved without diversity. As Telle Whitney said, “Diversity drives innovation – when we limit who can contribute, we in turn limit what problems we solve.”
Currently, there are 28 state government-linked companies which are looking for female subject matters experts from the area of environmental science, forestry, cultural and heritage restoration and conservation, civil and structural engineering, town planning, IT, infrastructure, athletes and many more.
This is a great historical milestone in the journey towards gender equality. I hope more female talents will come forward together in shaping a better future for Penang. Those who are interested to contribute their expertise are welcome to submit their latest resume to chong.eng@penang.gov.my. These resumes will be vetted and suitable candidates with relevant experience and qualifications will be put into consideration.
Hereby, I also urged all women from Penang to take up decision making positions within their organization proactively whenever given the opportunity within their current organization to make women leadership more visible.
槟州社会发展及非伊斯兰事务委员会主席
槟城州巴当拉浪区州议员章瑛发表文告 (2021年1月21日)
章瑛 ：呼吁女性贤能挺身而出一起实现性别平
槟州官联公司招募女性董事，槟州行政议员章瑛呼吁女性贤能挺身而出，一齐为槟州打造一个更性别包容与进步平等的社会。
章瑛是槟州社会发展及非伊斯兰事务委员会主席。她也是巴当拉浪区州议员。她指出，2018年大选后，现任首席部长曹观友为槟州增设了性别包容委员会，她出任主席，此委员会于2019年3月建议槟州行政议会采纳性别包容政策，以确保在所有决策层有更多女性观点，制定更完善的政策。
民联槟州政府其实於2017年在委任乡村社区管理理事会（乡委会）时就开始制定包容女性的政策，规定2017年乡委会的15名理事中至少要有一名女性，2019年须有3名女性，2021年须达到30%女性的目标。
随着制定了2019年性别包容政策后，槟州政府加快了落实增加女性代表和决策者的脚步，于2020年10月21日在行政会议里通过，在委任市议员及官联公司董事时，须以至少30%女性为目标。
可能很多人回好奇为什么是30%？这是因为30%是最低数字达到有效的实际代表。章瑛强调，这30%女性代表并非是填补空缺，反而是她们都必须符合资格与专业经验，有能力将女性的心声和需求带到政策决定的层面，为州政府和有关机构提供更多元观点，让政策更完善。槟州政府的2030愿景致力朝向成为一个包容性及减少不平等的州属，因此多元性必须为前提，方能打造一个多元包容和平等的州属。
其实槟州性别包容政策的男女比例目标是40%女性，40%男性，另20%男女公开竞争，以确保任何决策者都不会由单一个性别垄断，不论是男女，都至少有40代表%，以确保男女代表比率不会相差太远。
“为确保此政策能够实践，首席部长曹观友委任本人主导，落实在槟州官联公司的董事会中落实30%女性的措施。因此，我在这里欢迎所有来自槟州的女性贤能者，为槟州尽一份力，与我并肩，落实30%女性政策，让更多女性成为决策者。”
目前有28家槟州官联机构正寻找各领域的女精英，其中包括环境科学、树木学/林业、文化遗产修复与保护、土木和结构工程、城市规划、科技、公共设备、运动员等领域。
这是州迈向性别平等的一个重要的里程碑。因此，我希望有更多的女性贤能挺身而出一起塑造槟州的未来。凡有兴趣的女性可将她们最新的简历电邮至chong.eng@penang.gov.my. 这些简历将经过审查，有相关经验及符合资格的人才将受考虑。
我再次鼓励女性们勇于接受挑战，把握机会担任要职彰显女性的领导能力。