WHAT started as a religious association in London, United Kingdom in 1855 by an English philanthropist and a British Christian activist, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) Malaysia is a platform for all irrespective of race and religion, says its Penang branch president Datuk Dr Marina Lalitha David.
Regarded as the oldest non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Penang, Dr Marina said YWCA was founded here in 1909 during the British colonisation of Malaya.
“YWCA was established in Singapore in 1885. It was then known as YWCA Malaya and Singapore before the formation of the Malaysian Federation in 1963.
“Right after that, we stood alone and our association was named YWCA Malaysia.
“Although it started as a religious-based association back then, it has nothing to do with religion now because irrespective of race and religion, we are open to serving people in need.
“We are not here for money or to promote Christianity, but we are a service-oriented body that is truly committed to serving the people,” Marina said in an interview with the Buletin Mutiara team recently.
During the interview, Marina also recalled the heyday of the YWCA when it became the first association in Penang to start a kindergarten.
“In 1954, when YWCA started operating its kindergarten, it used to accommodate easily 300 to 400 students.
“Through the years, the numbers dropped and one of the reasons was that Penang started having quite a few kindergarten operators.
“Then, in 2008 when the current Penang government came into power, I wrote a letter to the then Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, to seek assistance to help us convert the current space at YWCA into a free kindergarten for the poor.
“Do we realise that government schools in Malaysia are free, but we have to pay to enrol our kids in kindergartens?
“In fact, kindergarten is rightfully the most important part of a child’s educational growth before he or she enters school.
“So, YB Lim approved an allocation of RM15,000.
“We used it to purchase school bags, books and other necessary materials for the children to use.
“While getting those things sorted out was rather smooth, we had a daunting task on our tails because finding for poor children never seemed easy as we would have thought.
“So, my team and I at YWCA decided to visit a few low-cost flats around George Town, and when we managed to enter one, we realised these families had very poor awareness of the importance of education.
“We encountered families that were troubled financially, socially, emotionally and mentally.
“They all needed help, and most importantly their children, as they were slacking in their education due to the problems that were shouldered by their family members.
“So, we managed to gather the kids and offered as much as we could to educate and pass down useful knowledge to them, as well as provided free transportation for all of them to get to YWCA for the classes,” Marina said.
As for the challenges, Marina said the toughest one that YWCA had to cope with was the establishment of multiple NGOs across the state.
“Many NGOs these days are specialised in their functions, providing many channels for the people to reach out to.
“Despite it all, we are glad to still operate and some of the services we provide now include baking and cooking classes, as well as offering sewing and flower arrangement classes for women from lower-income families.
“We were badly hit when the Covid-19 pandemic first struck our country. We are still recovering, and lately, the committee has been discussing the area of mental health.
“Mental health is certainly today’s number one topic wherever you go in this world,” Marina added.
Separately, Marina also shared old newspaper cuttings that published the visit of the late His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Husband of Queen Elizabeth II) to Penang YWCA in 1956.
“The Prince met with our previous YWCA president, Goh Heng Chong and the members that were present on that day.
“The YWCA members prepared a traditional cooking demonstration of pie tee for the Prince, which he thoroughly enjoyed and requested to bring home the recipe.
“It was such a momentous day for YWCA, especially for the members for having the privilege of meeting the Prince in person,” Marina said.
YWCA Penang was one of the recipients of the Penang Centennial Heritage Excellence Award that was announced by the Penang government recently at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel in George Town.
Story by Kevin Vimal
Pix by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar