There is a Chinese adage that says women hold up half the sky. In reality, many women feel they are holding up more than half the sky, as they struggle to balance family and work demands.

According to the United Nations Human Development Report 2004, women, on average, work more than men when both paid employment and unpaid household tasks are accounted for.

This article is not about who is better stronger or smarter. Nor is it about wresting control or power from men. This article is about knowing and understanding women's real worth.

Rosa Parks died on Oct 24, 2005. More than half a century ago, on March 2, 1955, she famously refused to give up her seat in the bus to a white man. In Rev Martin Luther King's words, she was "anchored to that seat by the accumulated indignities of days gone by, and the boundless aspirations of generations yet unborn".

She unwittingly started the US civil rights movement, thrust into her iconic stature at the age of 42. The sight of a tiny and frail black woman being carted away by a pair of burly white policemen was enough to spark civil disobedience across the nation that led to the disintegration of the American Apartheid.

She should serve as a gentle reminder to women all over the world that there is such a thing called equal rights. Also, she should serve as a strong reminder to terrorists all over the world that we don't need aggression to solve our problems. True enough, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams cited Parks as his lifelong inspiration. Probably she inspired him to stop the 77-year civil war in Northern Ireland.

Iron ladies

Hillary Rodham was involved in politics at the age of 16 as a Goldwater girl. Not only was she named valedictorian of her graduating class, Hillary became the first student in the history of Wellesley College to deliver a commencement address when she spoke at her own graduation. Her speech received a standing ovation and she was featured in an article published by Life magazine.

She later became the First Lady of Arkansas for 12 years by virtue of her husband Bill Clinton being elected as governor. She only began using her husband's name in 1982, seven years after her marriage.

I was most encouraged by Hillary Rodham Clinton's book 'Living History', in which she wrote about her efforts to instill a sense of well-being in women all over the world; and in helping them to start their small enterprises (inspired by Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh) using micro-credit facilities, among other ventures.

I read in the news recently that Clinton has endorsed his wife to run for the next presidential election. It would a first for the US, just like when Madeline Albright was appointed the first woman Secretary of State.

I hope Hillary runs for the presidency and wins. She can spur other women to reach for the stars and achieve the impossible.

On the home front, we have International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz. She was made a deputy minister in 1977 and a full minister in 1980. This is her 25th year as a cabinet minister, second-longest in tenure only to Works Minister S Samy Vellu.

In her biography by Zhou Mei, she was described as the "personification of the modern Malaysian woman, educated, liberated and yet traditional". She once proclaimed to a group of stunned Americans that she is a fundamentalist Muslim. She then clarified that a fundamentalist is different from an extremist who engages in terrorism.

She was the one who dared to trade a war of words with Albright, ironically, in defence of then boss, now turned nemesis, Dr Mahathir Mohamad. She has been embroiled in the controversy over the issuance of Approved Permits for car imports.

Those who accuse her should remember that, when you point a finger at someone, four fingers point back at you. Rafidah has proved her mettle in Malaysian politics as the 'Iron Lady'.

True worth

Tears flow down my cheeks every time I read about women's sufferings under the Chinese despot Mao Zedong, during his iron rule especially during the Cultural Revolution.

Even as I write, there are still many women who are suffering under the political regime in countries like Rwanda, Sudan, Afghanistan and North Korea, where coverage of news is severely curtailed.

This is compounded by the fact that the world is too apathetic to learn about their sufferings. These helpless souls can be rescued from their desperate situation if greater awareness is created.

Before we can do that, however, we need to improve for our own sake and theirs. Strong women like Hillary, Rafidah, Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie who have done well for themselves by knowing their worth, are doing good for their neighbours.

It is great to learn that Michelle Bachelet was elected president of Chile on Jan 15, 2006. She joined the ranks of women like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Sri Lanka's Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who became the world's first head of government as her country's first woman prime minister on July 21, 1960.

May all the women in the world be enlightened. May all the women in the world know their true worth. Gone are the days where women were nonentities.

We do not need to burn brassieres to prove our independence. We need to stand our ground and fight fire with fire if the need arises. We need to relent and surrender if the need arises, all in good faith.

John Stuart Mills rightly wrote that "the legal subordination of one sex to the other is wrong...and...one of the chief hindrances to human improvement".

NICOLE TAN is a partner in a law firm in Kuala Pilah.