22/06/2025

ON SUNDAY JUNE 22, 2025 II theSunday Special

Ambition, leadership and visibility have opened new doors for Malaysian women. But stepping into power doesn’t always come with ease or without a cost The complex crown: What power means for women

with me. When people see each other in a professional stance instead of a gender related one, we can learn something from each other and push ourselves to greater heights. “But yes, I still had to deal with some male clients who would make dismissive comments to me and instead of addressing me directly, they’d go straight to my male business partner to ‘tell me what to do’,” she said. “Arguing back would give people more ammunition to say ‘women are emotional’. I keep telling myself to take the higher road – stay professional and continue

doing my best,” Wong chose a measured approach. She also believes that navigating the emotional dimension of leadership has built unexpected strength. “I’ve had to juggle not just the KPIs and requirements from management, clients and business partners, but also the emotions and needs of my team members, which I later realised led to depression because I wasn’t taking care of myself. “These challenges taught me to com partmentalise better, become more self aware, see the bigger picture and build mental resilience.

BY SIMON VELLA

T HE image of the powerful woman is everywhere – on pan els, boardrooms and magazine covers. In Malaysia, women helm ministries, companies and creative agencies that men once monopolised. It’s progress but not without complications. Power, for many women, doesn’t arrive wrapped in applause. It’s earned through invisible labour, self-doubt and the un spoken expectation to juggle it all, with a smile. Even as leadership becomes more inclusive, women still walk a line – strong but not cold, ambitious but not intimidat ing, visible but not too loud. Behind every “inspirational story” lies the reality: Pressure, performance and persistence.

For some, that visibility brings more scrutiny than support and no one under stands this better than Eunice Wong. Eunice Wong, senior partner and head of PR at SLPR Worldwide, knows visibility isn’t always empowering. “One of the biggest challenges we faced in our early stages was people looking at us and immediately thinking we were too young and inexperienced. They would talk down to us and my business partner and I had to silently endure this despite having about 20 years of combined experience.” She said women still face more scrutiny. “I’m still facing gender-related barriers even now. I’m eternally grateful for those male colleagues and clients who value me, call me personally for advice and build genuine professional relationships

Navigating the emotional dimension of leadership builds unexpected strength.