How To Say It

After a period of four months, I am finally going back to attend the Toastmasters meeting tomorrow. This time round, I would be doing my Project 4 - How To Say It. I have not thought of the title yet, but my speech is on women being the better sex. It will probably be a tough speech and not sure if the men in the audience can take it, but here goes :

 

How many of us ladies enjoy being a woman? How many of us feel that being a woman is a burden and we are better off being a man? I can relate to all these. Being born a female, I was always placed second best in my family, while my younger brothers were given all the priorities and chances.

 

They were the ones who were sent overseas to study and were given the best things in life, while I had to stay in Singapore and get whatever I wanted on my own. They only needed to open their mouths and my parents would get anything they desired, whereas my mum would lecture me for wasting money if I so much as wanted something.

 

I see my younger brothers having no curfews while I always had to be home at a certain time. My mum would scrutinise what I did and who I went out with whereas my brothers had all the freedom in the world to do whatever they liked. I always thought it unfair that I was always left out of the finer things in life.

 

Later on, I realised just how wonderful it is to be a woman. As I grew up, my journey as a female turned from one of resentment to excitement. Afterall, we women are entitled to look gorgeous and receive special attention from men. We are entitled to show our emotions and moods and use our mood swings to keep the men on their toes. And the best thing is, we know when, where and how to use our “secret weapons” to our advantage.

 

Let me give you an example. A few months back, I was cave adventuring in Mulu. It was a full day trek, and I was the solo female traveller in that group. After a few hours of squeezing under stones, going over stones, stepping on stones and wading in the river, I could take it no more.

 

I was as wet as a frog, as hungry as a wolf, as cold as Antartic, and as exhausted as a labourer. To top it off, my mobile phone had fallen into the river, gotten wet and died out on me. When the group finally reached the destination, I was so ravenous that I could not even enjoy the beautiful pristine waterfall cascading right in front of us. All I wanted to do was to wolf down the picnic lunch like a person out from a famine and hoped the day would end soon.

 

When it was time to leave, I stayed put. I refused to budge. I could not bear going through the same thing again because we had to take the same route back, which meant more squeezing, climbing, wading, splashing and getting exposed to bats, bats and more bats in a cave so dark I could not even see my hand in front of my face!

 

So I cried, whined, and whinged, and finally the guide took pity on me and stayed back with me while I took my time to make my way back. An Australian family in the same group also took pity on me and helped me all the way.

 

This is only one of many examples how women could use their “secret weapons” to their advantage. There are many more examples which I am sure the ladies here have plenty more to share.

 

Right now, I am proud to be a woman, because we have role models like Mother Theresa, Aung San Suu Kyi, Margaret Thatcher and even the late Mrs Lee Kuan Yew. These are great women who portrayed their gentle strength in a harsh male-dominated society. I sometimes wonder what drives them, what moves them to take the risk they took, while fully aware of the consequences, the sacrifices they made and the lives they chose to lead?

 

I can only conclude it is their hearts and their passion for their people that led them to change the world. And the common factor for most of these women? They are strong, dominant, smart, capable, independent and confident, yet are loving wives and mothers. They also have loving, strong and supportive husbands who are behind them every step of the way, who allow them to unleash their fullest potential to help their people.

 

Let me tell you why it is great to be a woman. Women are sensitive, compassionate, tolerant, and have great maternal instincts. A child will more likely cling on to his mother than his father when in need. The mother will take care of the child, soothe him, wipe away his tears and sing him a song, and the child will feel better immediately.

 

Women are organised, patient and have much higher endurance than men. She fights for what she believes in, stands up for the people she loves, and support her loved ones all the way. She believes in the man she loves and sticks by him, tolerates and endures all his quirks and nonsense, even if the whole world thinks otherwise. She gives herself and sacrifices what she wants so her loved ones can thrive. She always puts others’ needs above her own and does not take no for an answer.

 

She smiles when she feels like crying, sings when she feels like screaming, cries when she is happy and laughs when she is afraid. Her love and sacrifice is truly unconditional. She gives without expecting anything back. She knows where to find the strength to get on with life, faces problems head on, and encourages everyone around her.

 

She is a great multi-tasker, educator, mother, and nurturer. She can juggle a full-time job, part-time studies, growing family, household chores and taking care of the elderly all at the same time. She knows that a touch, a kiss, a hug and a smile can heal a broken heart and solve every problem.

 

She has a memory bigger than an elephant's, as she has to remember all the events and occasions of all her loved ones. As the words of Margaret Thatcher, “If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”

 

There is only one thing wrong with her – She always forgets what she is worth. She is always at the mercy of others but never makes others the mercy of her. She sticks to her choices and never aims for more even if she definitely does deserve much better.

 

All the gentlemen, whether you get it or not, do not feel left out. Just think of all the great women in your life. Go home today, and give all the great women in your life a hug and a kiss, and tell them how much you love and appreciate them, be they your wife, girlfriend, mother, grandmother, sister, and daughter. You do not need to shower your women with expensive stuff, just words of affirmation and showing them your appreciation is enough.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, are women really the better sex? You judge for yourself.

 

I am actually thinking of entitling this "The Men Don't Get It", or "Women : The Better Sex?", but I have not decided wihch is the better title that meets the speech and the objectives of the project. Let's just hope I can keep within the time and not exceed!