MALAYSIANSKINI | Charity has always been a passion for 35-year-old V Kokila Vaani, but she knew she needed to have platforms in order to champion her causes.

“Law and (beauty) pageantry are probably the best two avenues for this,” she told Malaysiakini in an interview.

Kokila can certainly affirm this first hand as she was not only Miss Asia Millennium Universe 2019 but also the first woman and the youngest person to head the Selangor Bar in its 56-year history.

She said her desire to help people is what drove her to compete in both the Miss Asia Millennium Universe beauty pageant as well as run for the position of the Selangor Bar chair in 2021.

However, when she did decide to run for the latter position, she was advised – whether jokingly or out of real concern – that she should perhaps drop out of the race or try again next year.

But Kokila, who had previously served as a committee member for the Selangor Bar for six years, remained undeterred as she believed she had a lot to contribute if she were able to helm the top post.

This especially as the country was in the midst of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and ordinary citizens were struggling to cope with a sluggish economy.

“The pandemic changed all of us in many ways. The pandemic made me realise... that many members (of the Bar) were also suffering financially because we are in the service industry as well.

“My priority for this term, after winning the election, would be bread and butter issues and improving the welfare of the members,” she said in the phone interview.

On Feb 24, 2021, Kokila defeated incumbent secretary Gabriel Susayan with a 135 vote majority. The Selangor Bar currently has 7,105 members.

But that’s not enough for Kokila, who is still working on the charity projects which she formulated during her time competing in the Miss Asia Millennium Universe in 2019.

She was intrigued by this particular pageant because it was more about empowering women in professional positions instead of focusing on fashion and beauty elements.

“This pageant gave me the opportunity to work on my biggest dream,” she said, adding that she is also retaining the title for 2020/21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is Kokila’s story, in her own words:

I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO SOME SORT OF CHARITY, and I am always looking for an avenue to champion my causes. Pageantry and law are probably the two best avenues for this.

THE SELANGOR BAR IS 56 YEARS OLD, and it has never seen a female candidate (for chairperson) before.

The rest of the states in Malaysia have seen a female chairperson (for their state’s Bar) already, and Selangor was the last to see it.

I am glad that the Selangor Bar members were reasonable and voted for me based on merit.

I WOULD LIKE TO BE KNOWN AS A LEADER as opposed to being known as a female leader. I do not think women are better than men or anything like that. I just want equal bargaining power.

We are equals, we are both legal practitioners, and we should not be shunned because of gender.

When I was going through the election, a lot of people were saying, either jokingly or out of real concern, “Why don’t you drop out?” or “Why don’t you try next year?” because not only was I the first female candidate, I was also the youngest.

People were just not sure because Selangor had never seen this. People were saying: “You’re a young girl. Maybe you should just look into getting married and having a family.”

The struggle was real, and it was so tough running against the incumbent secretary when I was merely a committee member.

I DO HOPE MORE FEMALE LAWYERS COME FORWARD, or in any industry women are in, and be confident enough to take the step to helm top positions.

I know many women who can do it all. Not many of our stories get highlighted, but I think everybody out there has done what they can to make their mark.

I am glad and thankful, but I feel that in terms of women leadership, we are progressing but it is slow progress.

I WOULD LIKE TO IMPROVE THE LEGAL AID MECHANISM FOR THE PUBLIC IN SELANGOR because there will be nobody who does not need legal advice.

You need medical advice, and you need legal advice; these two are inevitable.

I want to engage the public to utilise the Legal Aid Scheme. Right now, you need to be in a certain category to qualify, and it is a scheme for the poor to help them get access to justice.

It is an integral part of the court system, especially during these hard times.

FOR MEMBERS, I HAVE CREATED A GENDER EQUALITY COMMITTEE because Selangor has never had that committee before.

More than ever, the time is now because if you look at the trending topics in the country, gender equality is always something we want to look at.

The committee's urgent response team has five members and they look at important issues that happen on a daily basis.

I PERSONALLY THINK THE PROBLEM is the lack of a proper complaint mechanism for sexual harassment (within the legal profession).

The Malaysian Bar claims they only received one official complaint in 2007 so far, and everything else has been like a rant on Facebook.

What I want to say is for the Selangor Bar, we would like to look into the complaints that come in but meanwhile, we are creating as many avenues as possible to engage with our members and the public.

People tend to think policies are the way forward, but if you are not engaging with your own members enough, you will never be able to come up with policies that everyone will be happy with.

EVERYONE HAS GOT HOBBIES, so I took part in a beauty pageant. The Miss Asia Millennium Universe was a pageant to empower women in corporate and professional positions.

One of the pageant’s questions was: “Tell us about your career or your start-up’ which was very intriguing to me.

I thought, “that’s not a usual beauty pageant question”.

The pageant gave me a voice. Let’s be honest, it is not easy if you just go as one individual and say I want to do this or do that. This kind of platform further enhanced my dreams of contributing.

WHAT I PERSONALLY WANTED TO DO WERE TWO BIG PROJECTS.

The first is a communal library because, for me, real poverty is the lack of education. With a little bit of education, no matter how much hardship you endure, you will be able to come out of it.

Secondly, a food bank. I was trying to speak to hotels and engage with restaurateurs, but that has taken a bit of a backburner position during the movement control order (MCO).

The idea was to speak to hotels for the leftover food they have for the day to be channelled straight to certain homes or soup kitchens.

I AM A FOODIE. There is an Indian saying that the only thing you will say “thanks, but I’ve had enough!” is actually for food.

It is true, money, fame or popularity, you name it, there is never enough except for food. It is an addiction, but food is something I strongly feel we should have for free.

I don’t know if my committee will agree, but I was thinking of setting up a shelf outside the Selangor Bar so people can come over and take free food.

Before the (Selangor Bar) election, I was also giving out free food but under my firm. We just wanted to give out bags of rice. If you can help out a little bit, it goes a long, long way.

MANY PEOPLE THINK PAGEANTRY LIFE AND THE LEGAL WORLD ARE WORLDS APART, but I think if both are done with compassion, you will go to great heights.

Maybe if people think they do not go together, it is because they have moved away from the real objectives of that particular profession.

I SERVE BOTH MY ROLES WITH COMPASSION AND KINDNESS, and this has not failed me so far.

MALAYSIANSKINI is a series on Malaysians you should know about.

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How teacher Dinnie makes award-winning films in rural Sarawak

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Bake with dignity - Empowering adults with disabilities through baking

The Artist and the Avocado Tree