From 22 November to 9 December 2012, over a thousand people "Walked the Talk" in Malaysia, part of a Soroptimist International South West Pacific (SISWP) campaign to highlight violence against women. Three brave Soroptimists from SI Kota Kinabalu, Elizabeth Mayrice, Rose Moguloi and Clarice Mojigoh, aimed to walk the full 850km from Perlis to Sabah, with many others joining them for part of the route. In this SoroptiVoice blog, SISWP President Siew Yong reports on the walk.
"From Perlis to Sabah, we have succeeded" is a line from the lyrics of an old patriotic Malaysian song, which was my inspiration for an idea of an impactful walk for the Malaysian "Walk the Talk – Stop Violence Against Women" campaign. And so we did succeed, beyond my dreams, to walk the talk from Perlis to Sabah, as an event to lead by example for the SISWP Federation-wide Campaign.
The Walk was officially launched in Arau, a town in Perlis, by the Crown Prince of the Perlis royal household and his wife and daughter on 22 November 2012. It was a grand launch with about 800 walkers, accompanied by a police band. It set the tone for the next seven city walks in Penang, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, which were organised by the Soroptimist International clubs in each of the cities.
The walk from Perlis to Johor Bahru, approximately 850km, was accomplished by 2 of the 3 SI women, with the third being unable to complete, having been sick half way. This has earned the two women, both over 50 and grandmothers, an entry in the Malaysian Book of Records. The walk was completed in Sabah with a city walk with about 100 walkers from the Kota Kinabalu airport to the city centre, some 6km away, on 9 December.
The walk created tremendous awareness of the need for people to speak up and do more to prevent and eliminate violence against women. The profile of SI in Malaysia was certainly raised, as the organiser of the walk and our connection to the theme "Stop Violence Against Women", through the city walks and media publicity, including a news item on BBC and CNN. There were free slots airing a public awareness advertisment on several TV stations. A special Walk the Talk facebook page was created to keep the public updated about the event.
Funding to organise the walk came from the Malaysian Ministry of Women and a corporate sponsor, The Body Shop. The sale of T shirts helped to raise funds for the SI clubs and SIROM to further the cause through workshops for relevant groups. The Ministry of Women has offered SIROM further funding for such workshops throughout the country. All in all it was a successful inaugural event for Walk the Talk.
I also take this opportunity to thank the Federation Co-ordination team led by Theresa Lyford and all the clubs in SWP that have "walked the talk" to make a stand that violence against women must not be tolerated or perpetuated.
The public awareness advert on violence against women, aired during the walk
More photos of Walk the Talk events.
Reprinted with kind permission from SISWP newsletter February 2013.