When we approach the subject of the advancement and creation of opportunities for women, particularly leadership opportunities, one immediately brings to mind a free society. Leadership opportunities for women imply equal opportunities for all. It is only in a truly free society, a democracy, that such opportunities can be created and encouraged. Under almost all other political systems, these opportunities could only be created by stealth and corruption.
Those of you who live in a free society must be congratulated because your foremothers had the strength and vision to fight for it, ensuring that their children could enjoy what should rightfully be theirs. In the East, where we have a long history with its strong culture, a truly free society has never been our right. History still imposes and makes incredible demands on us. Women in the East are made aware of this from the day they are born. One woman in the East is fighting for freedom for her fellow citizens. She has made enormous sacrifices in her long and arduous battle. She is without weapons; she has only her thoughts and her voice. That woman is Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991).
To talk about women in the professions in China and Hong Kong, one has to be acquainted with the history of China. China had been under dynastic rule for thousands of years until the last dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1644 to 1911. The Qing law enforced a rigid class system, which ensured that women had only a decorative role in society and were totally subservient to men. Chinese women had no place in society and therefore could not inherit; men could have multiple wives. The Qing Dynasty is famous for the most exquisite porcelain works of art, some of which were commissioned solely to give pleasure to women. On the other hand, the cruel and bizarre method of binding girls’ feet to make them “beautiful” was imposed on women during this period in China's history. My maternal grandmother, born at the end of the nineteenth century, was spared the physical abuse of having bound feet because of her father's refusal to allow his daughters to be so abused. She therefore had the use of her feet, which allowed her to walk free. A battle had to be fought for women to walk. Other restrictions and prejudices in her society caused her much suffering because she was born a female. My mother also had to endure such prejudices and was not given opportunities to decide how she would live. Generations of women wanted to ensure that their daughters would have the opportunities that were denied them.
I was born into a world of ignorance, prejudice, and suffering in Hong Kong. Hong Kong then practiced a code of law that was unique, a mixture of English Common Law and Qing law. In Hong Kong, monogamy only became law in 1972. I grew up in the 1960s and wanted to be a dentist. I received unsupportive and discouraging remarks. Hong Kong had no dental school. To study dentistry abroad, I had to do well in English and to do another set of university entrance examinations, which our local schools did not prepare me for. I was determined and entered University College Hospital Dental School in London, England, as one of two foreign students in a class of fifty; there were ten women and forty men. In London, I experienced a different culture, which was free and provided equal opportunities.
Later as an orthodontist working in Hong Kong in the 1980s, I saw that women had different employment conditions from men. Women's salaries were lower than men's, they had no pension arrangements (unlike men), and they were not given the same housing conditions. Inequality was everywhere. Women began to demand equal rights. With continuous and unrelenting perseverance, women gradually began to emerge as an important influence in society.
A dental school was created in the University of Hong Kong in 1980. The basic degree course in dentistry is five years. Women now amount to about 50 percent of the annual intake of dental students. Women dentists represent about 20 percent of all dentists in Hong Kong; 75 percent of them work in private practice, and 25 percent work in public institutions. The annual intake of female dental students now equals that of men.
In specialist training, the College of Dental Surgeons of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine is responsible for the training and awarding of specialist qualifications in Hong Kong. The training program of a dental specialist involves a recognized three‐year academic course followed by a three‐year supervised training program and the exit examination of the college resulting in the Fellowship of the College. There are now 160 fellows, of which only 13 percent (twenty‐one) are women.
I was the first woman president of the Hong Kong Dental Association in 1989, the first woman president of the Hong Kong Society of Orthodontists in 1991, the first woman to be appointed to the Dental Council of Hong Kong, and the first woman to be elected chair of the Dental Council's Preliminary Investigation Committee.
My humble achievements and successes could not have been realized if the opportunities had not been available at the time. I was fortunate, in spite of the highly prejudiced society into which I was born, to grow up and to work in a changing society. A developing Hong Kong had to be open to the world and, with this, the need for equal opportunities for women was founded. My opportunities were given to me by men and women who believed and supported me in my career. These opportunities were more often that not given to me by men.
Women's achievements and successes can only be realized with hard work and perseverance. But if women are to achieve in dentistry or in any profession, the support from men is vital. Men and women must work together to bring about efficiency and quality. Men too must develop their own strengths and, by their conviction in women's abilities, enable us to reach higher goals.
In our very own pursuit of higher goals, we often, unknowingly, search for role models. They inspire us and they give us courage. By their achievements, we are reassured and encouraged to push our own frontiers. As we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the conquest of Mt. Everest, we are reminded and marvel at humans’ everlasting search for higher goals. Everest was first conquered on May 29, 1953 by two men, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Junko Tabei of Japan was the first woman to conquer Everest on May 16, 1975.
In early March this year, Hong Kong was struck by a mysterious and rather terrifying SARS epidemic which was spread across the world. The speed and means of spread of this coronavirus have now been widely documented, but the worldwide threat remains. During this crisis, the names and faces of three women were continuously appearing on television and in newspapers. They were Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director‐General of the World Health Organization; Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; and Dr. Margaret Chan, Hong Kong's Director of Health. Their directives and coordination made it possible for the epidemic to be contained and controlled. Theirs is a prime example of “Global Health under Women's Leadership.”
In the pursuit of equal opportunities for women, we must not forget that, most of all, good health gives us the foundation to perform our best and lead the way to breaking that glass ceiling. The advancement and creation of opportunities for women in any country require:
a free society,
learning from history, tradition, and culture but looking towards the future,
being determined (you may have to fight against all odds!),
being prepared to work hard,
encouraging our sisters along the way,
educating men to enable us to reach higher goals,
being true to our chosen profession and to our fellow human beings, and
staying healthy and happy.