A Celebration With A Blast and A Revolutionary Launch of MIASA Young Advocates Programme
On Saturday, 11 March 2023, the Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (MIASA) hosted a half-day event at Royale Chulan, The Curve (Petaling Jaya) to celebrate International Women’s Day. This year’s theme emphasized the importance of ‘Transcending All Boundaries: Be Revolutionary’ when it comes to gender, namely championing efforts that ought to be made by all parties to ensure that women are empowered in spite of continuing challenges faced across many sectors of society.
MIASA’s President and Founder, Puan Anita Abu Bakar, amongst other distinguished guests and panelists, outlined the different barriers faced by women due to various cultural and societal norms. In her welcoming speech, Puan Anita went on to add that such boundaries are further compounded and exacerbated for those who have a particular disability or struggles with their mental health.
“When women find it hard to talk about difficult feelings, they tend to internalise them which can then lead to mental health challenges and poor health. Statistics indicate that around one in five women have a mental health challenge such as depression and anxiety. So, today, we want to let every woman know that there is help, there is support, there is recovery when facing mental health issues. No one has to struggle alone. You don’t have to struggle alone,” she said.
Although the event is meant to commemorate women and the continuing struggle to empower women across various sectors of social and political life, Puan Anita was also quick to highlight that the discussion of gender stereotypes and gender equity more broadly should not be restricted to some of the barriers facing women only.
“In our work within the mental health field in particular, we have a front-row seat to witness the harmful effects gender stereotypes can have not only on women but men too, namely when it comes to expressing one’s feelings. For example, we know that many young boys are implicitly taught to believe that they need to ‘man up’ and that crying is a sign of weakness for example,” she began.
“So let’s take this opportunity to acknowledge those barriers and boundaries as well, and ensure that all of us, man and woman alike, work harmoniously together to ensure that gender equity can be realized from all sides,” she concluded.
After the heart-warming and encouraging speech from Puan Anita, the event began with its first forum, featuring stellar women leaders with impeccable achievements in their own fields. The first forum explored how women can ‘transcend boundaries’ when facing the challenges of 2023. Besides Puan Anita herself, this forum saw the participation of Prof Dr Ruzita Mohd Amin, Professor Kuliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences IIUM, Puan Nadiah Hanim Abdul Latiff, The President of the Malaysian Rare Disorders Society, and Sister Aliza Kim, a talented and friendly influencer, also the Women’s Empowerment Specialist at Multiracial Reverted Muslim (MRM). All the panellists spoke openly about the different challenges faced by women including those with disabilities or rare disorders, and the boundaries they have encountered. They also shared on how women could collaborate with each other across disciplines and industries, as well as standing in solidarity with each other in facing the challenges. It was indeed an inspiring and insightful conversation for everyone present.
The conversation then shifted its focus to the youth in the second forum where 5 talented and inspiring female artists, activists, mental health advocates and unique personalities sat down to discuss on ‘Building a Fairer World for All’. The 5 inspiring figures included Psoriasis activist Rocyie Wong, actresses and mental health advocates Serene Claire and Puteri Balqis Ashikin, award-winning international singer-songwriter Heerraa and the multi-talented personality Hazwani Helmi. The forum started off with each panellist sharing about the woman figure who had inspired them, bringing them to where they are today. When asked about their thoughts on ‘a fairer world’, the panellists shared frankly on their personal experiences of discrimination and stigma face by either themselves or their loved ones. They also talked about their aspirations for a better world, a world where people are treated without judgement, discrimination and stigma. The unique experiences and candid sharing by these young women have definitely made the forum very meaningful, impactful and rather moving. It gave a real and introspective look into the their struggles with mental health issues and stigma.
Besides the power-packed and thought-provoking forums, the celebration was graced by the impressive performances from the multitalented sisters, The Helmis, as well as the award-winning international singer-songwriter, Heerraa.
In further recognition of the role of youths, MIASA also launched its inaugural Young Advocates for Mental Health Programme. Puan Anita emphasised the importance of building a generation free of stigma and discrimination, which she termed ‘the zero stigma generation’. The MIASA Young Advocates for Mental Health programme will be a six-month programme which provides a platform where young people can learn about mental health and mental health conditions, understand the stigma and discrimination around mental health, acquire qualities and skills of an effective advocate, and have access to the different resources that support people struggling with mental health issues. It is a programme that also goes beyond acquiring knowledge and provides participants hands-on experience with mental health peers through the shadowing sessions.
As part of this momentous launch, Wan Dahlia Qaireen (fondly known as Dahlia to the MIASA family), a young person herself, gave a short speech on how mental health issues affect the young people nowadays and what could be done by the young people to advocate for better mental health, to create awareness and to eliminate stigma.
“There are many who don’t know what mental health actually is and how it is just as important as physical health. Physical pain hurts but sometimes emotional pain can affect us even more,” she said.
She also quoted the staggering figures provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO), where one in seven persons of 10-19-year-olds are estimated to be struggling with a mental health condition globally, with suicide estimated to be the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds.
In her speech, Dahlia also reminded everyone about how stigma and discrimination can have devastating effects on people’s mental health, including creating barriers to people accessing the help they need. And young people can play a critical role in advocating for mental health and fighting against stigma and discrimination.
The far-reaching celebration closed with a press conference where Puan Anita and Ustaz Mohd Noor Deros, MIASA’s Vice President 2 answered questions from the media on matters relating to women’s mental health, how to build a ‘zero stigma generation’, as well as the details about the Young Advocates for Mental Health Programme.
