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Much has been written about the Asian financial
crisis of 1997, most of it painful. But in Thailand,
where the meltdown has been particularly harsh,
the crisis has had an unexpected outcome: the
liberation of the country’s women in business.
"Prior to the financial
crisis, most companies were run by men and women
had to retire at 55, while the retirement age
for men was 60," says Chonchanok Viravan,
elected last year as the youngest and first Asian
president of the International Federation of Business
and Professional Women (BPW International). "But
right after the crisis, there was the phenomenon
that a lot more women became executives. The percentage
rise is quite significant."
According to her, an official
survey in Thailand showed that women in business
did not favor reducing expenses during the crisis
by cutting staff.
"They tried to do it
by cutting out other things and maybe reducing
salaries temporarily," she adds. "So
the company did not lose its talented and experienced
staff and the workers were grateful and worked
harder. When the company recovered, it was able
to compensate them. The conclusion was that women’s
better handling of human resources was the reason
their companies survived."
Of course, as Viravan
herself points out, it didn’t hurt that
more Western companies came into Asia in the wake
of the financial crisis, and they were more likely
to put women in executive positions.
Still, she credits this feminine
mystic over financial management as one virtue
that has allowed Thai women to survive and even
thrive after the crisis.
"I believe that women
are very careful with money, they are more cautious
– men are the risk takers. This is why businesses
with women in key positions survived the crisis
better," Viravan says.
"In Thai families, it
is traditional that the woman handles the finances.
The crisis showed the value of women in management,
so their position is now much stronger. But there
is still work to be done."
For instance, she
adds, women in Thailand are generally not paid
the same rate as men for the same job. "It
is still very tough to convince management that
women should have equal pay."
Viravan is doing her bit
to change this attitude, and she is in a very
good position to do just that. Last year, she
was hailed as one of the "Women Who Make
a Difference" in an official publication
of the Gender Development Research Institute of
Thailand. The country’s Ministry of Social
Development has also cited her as one the "Outstanding
Women of Thailand" in 2006.
"Chonchonak Viravan is a
role model for other Asian women,” says
Anna Fang, president of the Hong Kong Association
of BPW for five years and a member of the BPW
International Mentoring Taskforce. "She has
helped to revolutionize BPW and to make it more
responsive to the needs of women today and bring
it into the digital age. She has consistently
worked with a passion to promote the rights of
women around the world."
Viravan was actually the
vice-president of the United Overseas Bank in
Thailand when she was elected to the BPW post
last year. She initially thought she could manage
both jobs but found it impossible, so she took
an indefinite leave of absence from the bank to
focus on her BPW tasks.
The post is not salaried,
but she gets traveling expenses and a subsistence
allowance. "Fortunately, I have independent
means and my family is well-to-do so I am able
to do this," she says.
Her parents were the owners
of the Viravan Co, a major stevedoring business
operating out of the port of Bangkok, where there
is a building named after them.
The eldest of six daughters,
she does not view her distinguished career in
the banking sector and in public office as being
unusual for a Thai woman. "Thai women are
generally well educated," she says.
"When I was growing
up, I did not feel that women were at a disadvantage
educationally. In fact, we all had a very good
education. Out of six girls, three gained doctorates
and three master’s degrees. The doctorates
were in medicine and law and mine was a PhD in
computer science. So I did not feel we were in
any way held back because we were girls."
Her family moved to
the US when she was 16 and she attended high school
in South Carolina, then the University of South
Carolina, followed by Purdue University in Indiana.
While there, Viravan had
a hi-tech epiphany of sorts. "I was very
keen on arts subjects, so initially I wanted to
take an arts degree, but I was advised that it
was not the best qualification for a job,"
she says.
"So I was thinking
of an alternative career path and I had opened
my first bank account and had an ATM card. I used
it in an ATM machine and this was the first time
I had interacted with a computer and I was very
curious to know how it worked. So I decided to
study computer science. It worked out well because
I was later able to combine my artistic flair
with the computer in multi-media work. Computer
science is really a basic need these days for
many occupations."
After she gained her
doctorate in 1994, Viravan went back to Thailand.
"I had been away for a long time and had
no network of friends here, so I joined BPW."
At the time, she says,
the group was eager to attract members under 35
years of age through its Young Career Woman program.
Most of those who joined then are now at the top
of their profession, including Viravan herself.
As she does with all things,
Viravan put her heart and mind into her role with
the BPW, such that shortly after joining, she
was elected Thailand’s representative to
the United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for the Asia-Pacific region (Escap) and regional
co-ordinator of Young BPW for Asia Pacific. Again,
it was technology that largely helped her surmount
the hurdles.
"I was quite young for
these appointments, but this is one of the benefits
of the internet," she says. "Not only
does it speed up communications, it means you
do not have to see people. I was very young and
I looked young but most of the people I dealt
with did not see me. If you are face to face,
people assess you on how you look and how old
you are, but through the internet, you can be
judged only on your work and your capability.
"So I did not
have the disadvantage of people thinking I was
too young for responsibility. It was then I introduced
the first schemes to help poor women in under-developed
countries."
As the regional co-ordinator
for Asia Pacific of the Young BPW, Viravan launched
a global competition for schemes to help poor
women in under-developed countries to help themselves.
"It’s not charity,
it was giving them knowledge, literacy, opportunity,
business and leadership training," she says.
In recognition of
her efforts, she was appointed vice-president
of BPW International and chairman of the United
Nations Committee on the Status of Women in 2002.
Viravan has
ambitious plans for the remainder of her three-year
term as president of the global BPW federation,
most notably to deal with what she feels is the
mounting global problem of migration, particularly
as it affects Asia and Asian women.
"The problem of migration
must be tackled on an international level now,
since in the years to come there is going to be
mass migration because of the changing environment
or climate. It will not matter if you live in
a developed or an undeveloped country –
the environmental hazards will be the same. As
a responsible organization, we have to prepare
to combat these disasters," she says.
The group is also addressing problems faced by
women migrants, she adds. "The problem has
escalated this century because of many factors,
including lack of employment opportunities in
their own countries. Remittances to Asian countries
from migrant workers abroad are now competing
with foreign investment. But a new set of issues
have been raised," she says.
"In many countries,
these women face double discrimination, firstly
because they are viewed as an inferior race and
secondly, because of the limitations of the law,
they end up doing menial, dirty or even dangerous
jobs. Many of them are over-qualified for these
jobs and their rights are not necessarily as respected
as those of the citizens of their host country."
Viravan says most women
who migrate to other countries for jobs often
do not know about their rights. She says BPW will
try to provide "some sort of education"
to explain to these women the realities of their
destination countries.
"They will realize
things are not as rosy as they suppose. Often,
they are very disappointed when they get to the
new country. But if they still choose to go, the
BPW will help them integrate into the society
and enable them to contribute to that country’s
economy."
Another major headache involves
undocumented women workers. For Viravan, the obvious
solution is to make things more transparent.
"Improving documentation
is important," she says. "If you make
it difficult, it does not stop the flow of migrants,
it just increases the number of illegal ones.
It is much easier to make sure they have the potential
to work to their full capability. Legal migrants
can also become tax payers."
As she looks back on her
11 years with BPW, Viravan sees a lot of achievements
– but even more work ahead.
"Recently, there’s
been a great deal of publicity on the status of
women, and especially about violence against women
and trafficking. This is all to the good –
sunlight is the best disinfectant. As a result,
many countries have introduced legislation against
various abuses of women. Of course, it is not
as fast as we would like, but BPW International
is one organization that will continue to fight
to improve the status and opportunities of women
globally.'
Value-added views.
Go to www.bpw-international.org
and learn more about the International Federation
of Business and Professional Women (BPW International)
as well as how you can join.
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