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KUALA LUMPUR: The Raja Permaisuri Agong, Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah (pix), is confident that scouting can serve as a platform to shape young girls as leaders and prepare them to boldly champion their rights in the world.
Talking about her own experience in the scouting (guiding) movement, from Brownies to Girl Guides, which she said played a big role in shaping her to be a good leader, Tunku Azizah said the Girl Guides Association has evolved tremendously from just camping activities to shaping women of calibre through the inculcation of knowledge, skills and leadership values.
Tunku Azizah, who is the Royal Patron of the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia, said donations are used to send members of the association overseas to attend relevant courses and programmes to enhance their knowledge, skills and self-confidence.
“Those who provide this funding want to see the Girl Guides become a force that really educates girls to be the leaders of tomorrow, fully aware of their rights and gender equality, and free to say what they want as the voice of young girls,“ she said in a special interview with Bernama at Istana Negara ahead the installation of Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Tuesday.
The Girl Guides Association of Malaysia is 103 years old and has almost 130,000 members across the country.
Tunku Azizah, who is also the Royal Patron of the Friends of the Asia Pacific World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), also said that she is proud and satisfied with the participation and achievement of Malaysian girls in the association.
“I am satisfied and there is more we can do,“ she said.
Disclosing that the Girl Guides movement has educated her to be a good leader, Tunku Azizah recalled memories of her participation in the association over the last 50 years, starting from being a Brownie at the age of nine.
Still actively involved in the Girl Guides Association since 1981, she stressed that all the positions she has held and is holding in the association are a result of her experience and hard work.
“Ever since I was a Brownie, as a little girl, guiding has been in my life for more than 50 years. So, I really started from the bottom, not merely holding positions. I earned my badges, I passed the tests,“ she said.
Throughout her involvement, Tunku Azizah has worked with the wives of four prime ministers in her 12-years as the Deputy President of the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia while being actively involved in WAGGGS, as well as being a Board Member of the Olave Baden-Powell Society.
Saying that she missed her “active days” with the Girl Guides, Tunku Azizah said that despite having to let go of several international positions in the movement, she remained active behind the scenes and is still the Royal Patron of Friends of Asia Pacific, the fund-raising arm of WAGGGS.
Tunku Azizah said Friends of Asia Pacific is a regional fund-raising body that provides financial resources for training programmes and projects for the 27 member states and is the “strongest force” within WAGGGS with the largest number of members compared to other regions of the world.
Her main mission now, she said, is to persuade the Indonesian scout movement, Pramuka, which left WAGGGS in 2001, to rejoin the global organisation to strengthen the association in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tunku Azizah said she, on behalf of the WAGGGS board of directors, has gone to Indonesia several times to meet the relevant parties to convince the country to rejoin WAGGGS.
“If Indonesia returns, that’s it. We are already the biggest; we will be a force to be reckoned with. That is what I want,“ she said, exuding excitement.
The Girl Guides, said Tunku Azizah, is part of her life and she regards it as her big family.
“With WI (the Women’s Institute), I deal with women of all ages, all races; with Pandu Puteri (Girl Guides), I deal with young girls of all races. So, these two are very important in my life,” said Her Majesty. — Bernama
