Kota Kinabalu: State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew said she did not let setbacks and losses in her early political career to dampen her spirit but soldiered on until she succeeded.
“Failure is not a setback. Fight on, smash the glass ceiling and you can see the sky. The sky’s the limit,” she said at the Swepa International Women’s Conference 2024 at the Sabah International Convention Centre, recently.
Urging women to take the cue from her, she said: “If you happen to experience a ‘glass ceiling’ at any point in your life, be it in the home, workplace, society, state or nation, don’t give up. Fight for your rights. If you fell yesterday, rise up today and move on.
“Believe in yourself that you have the willpower and capacity to overcome any obstacle that gets in your way. When you face challenges, don’t break down in tears but be proactive and strong enough to address these challenges in order to emerge victorious, to realise your dream or to attain your goal in life.”
Christina, a lawyer, who also served as a Deputy Chief Minister under the previous Warisan Plus State Government, demonstrated her support for IWC 2024 through an allocation from her Ministry.
Liew presenting a certificate of appreciation and a Sabah souvenir to Dr Pande.
Organising Chairman Sitti B. Damsal said Swepa was fortunate to enjoy a good working relationship with the Minister.
“The Minister gave her commitment to Swepa’s proposed women’s conference on the spot when it was mooted. She announced then and there that her Ministry will support our proposal,” Sitti said.
“It was a challenging journey but we made it. We are indebted to her. She has supported us all the way morally, and financially. She trusts Swepa and is confident that we can handle this mammoth task.”
Given the overwhelming response to the IWC, Christina also threw a challenge to Swepa to organise the event regularly.
“IWC is invariably a Mice (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) event combined with tourism, where delegates have the opportunity to explore and discover Sabah’s attractions pre or post-Conference. Sabah is increasingly becoming a preferred destination for Mice tourism,” she said.
When contacted, Swepa President Karen Wong said it would consider organising it biennially with full support from the State Government.
“It would be great if the international women’s conference could be incorporated into the Sabah tourism calendar,” she said.
She also acknowledged contributions from the United States Embassy, Sabah Credit Corporation, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp), Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), Yayasan Sabah, Qhazanah Sabah Berhad, Sabah Energy Corporation, Hilton Kota Kinabalu, Melilea Group of Companies, and Sounds Tech Production, among other sponsors.
The formation of Swepa as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) was spearheaded by the Sabah Women’s Advisory Council’s (MPWS) Economic Committee (then chaired by Datuk Nancy Ho) in March 1993. It was registered in May 1994.
