YESTERDAY, the Soroptimist International Club of Bangsar (SICB) celebrated its 30th anniversary by officially launching one of its most important projects known as the Teenage Survival Kit (TSK).
SICB President Dr Inthirani Kumar explained that many teenagers in Malaysia are not sufficiently informed about safe sex which has resulted in the country having the highest number of baby dumping cases in Southeast Asia.
“Teenagers today are facing too many challenges which leaves them in a confused state which leads them to… they can’t make the right decisions… lack of supports from their parents and of course, lack of sex education so they ended up with teenage pregnancy which leads to health jeopardy.
“A lot of youngsters today are prone to getting risky behaviour like smoking, alcohol, recreational drugs you know? They get involved not because knowingly but because of peer pressure.
“It’s that time that they have so much flight of time and ideas that they actually want to be in the 'in' group. So, they end up not knowing their limits. So, when that happens, they end up with sexual actions, which can end up with pregnancy. But what they don’t know is that even the first act (first time) they can end up being pregnant.
“Therefore, we developed the TSK with the aim to educate teenagers about (i) teen sexuality, (ii) teen health, (iii) teen safety and (iv) teen empowerment,” shares Dr Inthirani, who is a retired government service doctor of 34 years.
Dr Inthirani further added that in June of last year, SICB was a successful applicant for the Brilliant Futures Fund awarded by the Soroptimist International of Southeast Asia Pacific.
The fund awarded was A$10,000 (RM30,000) to SICB to start the TSK project, which initially started in December 2020.
The programmes, Dr Inthirani said, were delivered through webinars during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period to teenagers, parents, teachers, and caregivers.
Currently, with the lifting of restrictions, physical workshops are conducted in schools and as of today, nearly 1,000 teenagers and adults have been reached, she said.
While on a personal note, Dr Inthirani explained that she joined SICB 14 years ago out of a passion towards the wellbeing of women and children as these are two groups she holds very dear to her heart.
Incumbent DAP lawmaker Hannah Yeoh, who was also present, said that when looking at teenage pregnancy, the mindset of the society plays a vital role. She also reiterated that the anti-baby dumping campaign program launched under former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in year 2019 was a positive start.
Yeoh served as Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Meanwhile, SICB too marked a stepping stone yesterday, when it unveiled a newly revamped website to share with the public all the work it has done, as well as to create awareness of its projects.
SICB is also known to have had projects with Orang Asal (Asli) communities, upskilling of women in the B40 group, AIDS education for teenagers, personal safety workshops for children, support for paediatric leukaemia patients, upskilling and tuition for the girls at the Sivananda Girls Home, leadership training and promotion of volunteerism amongst university/college students, running a food bank during the Covid-19 pandemic, flood relief, among other things. – The Vibes, October 16, 2022
