SINGAPORE: Three Malaysian women have been featured in the Forbes 50 Over 50: Asia 2024 list, which features 50 inspirational women across the Asia-Pacific.
They are Tan Sri Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, executive director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat; Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, lawyer-activist; and Tunku Mona Riza Tunku Khalid, a film director and founder of Current Pictures.
According to Forbes, the women of the third annual 50 Over 50: Asia list hail from 14 countries and territories and more than two dozen work sectors that includes fashion, pharmaceuticals, finance and many others.
Forbes said that Sta Maria, 65, who was appointed the executive director of the APEC Secretariat in 2019, is the first woman to lead the 21-member inter-governmental economic advisory body.
She spent more than a decade shaping Malaysia’s contributions to the global economy, serving as deputy secretary-general and then secretary-general and lead trade negotiator for the Malaysian International Trade and Industry Ministry.
She has also represented the region at the World Economic Forum and was previously a non-executive director for RHB Bank.
As for Ambiga, 67, Forbes lauded the prominent Malaysian lawyer and human rights advocate on her achievements of earning the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Medal of Honor and the Gandhi Memorial Trust Public Service Award.
Being the second-ever female president of the Malaysian Bar Council, she played a pivotal role in the “March for Justice” and chaired Bersih 2.0 as an advocate free and fair elections.
Ambiga, who holds a law degree from the University of Exeter in United Kingdom, is also the founding member of the Women’s Aid Organisation and serves as President of the Pure Life Society, a charitable home for orphans and the underprivileged.
As for Tunku Mona Riza, 57, Forbes recognised her for winning the Most Promising Director for ‘Redha’ at the Malaysia Film Festival 2017 which was inspired by a true story.
The film depicts the challenges of raising an autistic child and was selected as the country’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.
Tunku Mona Riza established her production house Current Pictures in 1999 and her 2023 film ‘Rain Town’ is Malaysia’s first Chinese-language film by a Malay female director.
Premiering in February 2024, it was screened at last year’s Vancouver Asian Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India in Goa.
Meanwhile, the eldest on the list was 112-year-old environmentalist from India, Saalumarada Thimmakka who is fondly known as the ‘mother of trees’.
Diagnosed with infertility at 40, Saalumarada’s humble initiative to build a legacy with her husband grew into planting over 8,000 trees in India, including 385 banyan trees lining the highway between Hulikal and Kudur.
Her environmental dedication earned her India’s National Citizens Award in 1995 and a Certificate of Honour from the World Book of Records in 2022.
Despite widespread recognition, she lived in poverty until the Karnataka State government provided her with a house in 2014.
Others on the list include actress Christine Hakim, known as the Grand Dame of Indonesian cinema.
The full list can be found on Forbes.com and in the February/March issue of Forbes Asia. - Bernama
