- Do not wait till your comfort is compromised to demand change
The second chapter of iLead, an event in celebration of International Women’s Day conducted by NextGenSL in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Sri Lanka, was held on 8 March 2022 at 6.30 p.m. at the Shangri La, Colombo.
This year’s theme of “Eight Women, Eight Minutes” featured eight prominent women in the country and they were given the opportunity to speak for eight minutes on “what they would do differently if they were given the opportunity to lead the country”.
The eight women featured at the panel were Jetwing Travels Chairperson Shiromal Cooray, Conservationist/ Environmentalist Anoka Abeyratne, Loons Lab Founder and Technopreneur Pulani Ranasinghe, ADA Country Director – Sri Lanka Sanjini Munaweera, Consultant Psychiatrist and University of Peradeniya Faculty of Medicine Senior Lecturer Dr. Pabasari Ginige, Roar Media Editor-in-Chief Roel Raymond, Sri Lankan Paralympian Kumudu Priyanka, and Music Director, Pianist, and Lawyer Soundarie David Rodrigo.
The topic was particularly interesting considering the current state of affairs and an overarching theme was that they all called for the importance of reform, collectively made reference to the significance of education, particularly with regard to language and technology, the importance of having more female representation in politics, innovation, and cultural, religious and social harmony.
Sanjini Munaweera spoke specifically about collective responsibility; how in her corporate experience what is most important to grow an industry is in fact the adoption of collective responsibility. She shared that from her three decades in the corporate sector, what she can say is that you need not be a technocrat or a captain of industry to lead, and women can lead in many ways.
Soundarie David Rodrigo also made special note of how she as a member of the Tamil minority chose to remain in Sri Lanka despite opportunities to leave during those turbulent times in the country. She noted that she and her family believe in Sri Lanka’s potential. She shared that, despite great potential, however, she believes that there is a squandering of opportunity when it comes to working in harmony and to expose younger generations to the lessons and benefits of working in a collaborative unit. She made note of her own experience as a law student and how she had little opportunity to engage with her Tamil medium and Sinhala medium colleagues.
During her eight minutes, Roel Raymond, speaking of the nature of politics and female representation in politics, she shared: “The closer I get to politics, the more averse I am to it,” she said, adding that even considering the distinguished panel of the day while the women requalified to get into governance, they would likely refuse the position. She said that the reason why there is such little enthusiasm is the nature of the game in this country; how one must be willing to bend the rules, to lie and cheat, and then eventually one begins to believe their own lies.
However, she shared that there is opportunity for women to change the way that things are, and urged the audience to not wait till their “comfort is compromised to step out onto the streets and demand change”.
