LETTER | Whether we like it or not, we still live in a male-dominated society. While we have made many breakthroughs in narrowing the gender gap, there is still a long way more to go.

As a girl who grew up in a Chinese New Village in the 1980s, there was a lot of genders stereotyping even at a young age. Girls were then "supposed" to play with dolls, not football and there's a "proper" way for us to carry ourselves, unlike the boys who do not have such regimented social conditioning.

In school, I showed a keen interest in computers, which were very nascent in those days. But I was told that it's a domain for the boys. Oftentimes, it's my peers, including girls, who poured cold water on my attempt to break the social mould with regards to gender roles.

At work, such gender stereotyping persists. Women workers were supposedly "inferior" in technical realms, whether in troubleshooting a faulty company-issued laptop or understanding more complex aspects of information technology like Domain Name Servers and "ping rates". But luckily, there's growing acceptance of women in technical fields by then.

Recently, I was retrenched following the economic downturn due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After giving it much thought, I decided to jump into online trading, given my marketing background. I was eager to finally roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty setting up my company's IT infrastructure - a job traditionally performed by males.

Another reason I took to doing a "man's job" was because as a startup, I did not have deep pockets and had to be mindful of every sen I spent. In fact, I could not have started this venture had I not gotten assistance from a matching grant from Socso for women entrepreneurs under the Pemerkasa programme. Getting a bank loan wasn't easy.

So, armed with the government's financial aid that gave me a leg-up, I invested in the tech infrastructure, loaded up on inventories and pushed through. I had a lot of moral support from friends and relatives, but I was determined to break the glass ceiling. Lots of tears and sweat went into the process of getting the business up and running but it was all worth the effort.

I am glad to reap two types of "success" fruits in my venture: my online business is now on the firmer ground; and I am glad that I have, in my own way, shattered the gender stereotype which I have been subjected to since I was young.

It's not an easy task and there's a long way more to go. On a personal level, I am glad to have found aid in the form of the government's matching grant as well as supportive family and friends. At the end of the day, the grit, sweat and faith were worth it!