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!
