A global social enterprise aiming to empower women worldwide through photography.

Oct 10, 2016

A letter to my three young female cousins: #DayoftheGirl

By Bonnie Chiu

On International Day of the Girl Child, this blog is my reflection on the links between education and jobs intended for my three young female cousins, aged 9, 11 and 12 and living in Hong Kong. They are my future; and girls are our future.

Dear cousins,

Seeing the three of you grow up made me reflect on my own educational journey — which I still remember vividly even though I have been in the full-time workforce for two years already. While it might be hard for you to understand what I exactly do (as I am neither a doctor nor a lawyer), you might know that I am very focused on helping other women and girls achieve their potentials. I have always thought about how I can help you achieve your full potentials, and today, I want to write down my thoughts.

Today is International Day of the Girl Child, a day designated by the United Nations to recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world — in other words: it is your day.

I showed these two photos when I gave a presentation at my old school — to show that I was just a timid student and I never dreamt that I would become a social entrepreneur.

I know all of you don’t particularly enjoy school, and I know that the education system in Hong Kong is far from perfect. But you are lucky to receive an education in the first place. Millions of children are still being denied an education, but girls are more disproportionately affected. Four million fewer boys than girls are out of school — that is more than half of Hong Kong’s population. For us who receive a good education, we should not take it for granted. Education is your gateway to a fulfilling life so that you can have an impact on the world, and help those who are given less.

When I met with four scholarship recipients at Leadership College Multan in September 2013 and heard about their difficult journeys accessing education, I knew that we could not take it for granted.

When I was your age, I thought I would be a lawyer, because I was good at writing, and that was the only job of which I knew I could use that skill. The job I am doing now did not exist when I was still studying — as an entrepreneur, I created the job I am doing. With technological disruptions, the job market today is very different from what we learnt in school. So to adapt to the ‘real world’, you do not need excellent literacy and numeracy, but actually ‘soft skills’, which are character traits and interpersonal skills that you use to interact with other people.

Actually my dad — your uncle — always used to tell me, you are better off having a good EQ than a good IQ. He supported this viewpoint with the rise of computers — which can be smarter than human beings in IQ, but probably will never overtake us in terms of EQ. It is of course very hard for teachers to judge students based on ‘soft skills’, but my friend Anand, who teaches at a university in The Netherlands, told me: “Judging students merely on end results is not what counts; judging on the journey of their thought process, their resilience to handle failure, that is a learning experience that endures and prepares for life.”

I was once asked how I would explain empathy to a young kid, and I used this picture that I took in Pakistan, working with my friend Sabir on a project to teach kids in urban slums photography. Sadly the young boy pictured on the right was killed in a traffic accident, but I thought this photo encapsulated what empathy really means.

Another skill that I was very fortunate to learn at my school, but that most people don’t learn, is empathy. My Literature in English teacher told us on the first day: “you might forget all the quotes from Shakespeare, but you will always take away one thing from studying literature. That is empathy.” Being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes is such an important skill, especially as you will work in a more globalised world — with people from across different cultures and backgrounds.

There was, however, one thing that I did not learn at school, and I worked very hard to acquire it. It is not exactly a skill, but it is a state of mind of believing in yourself and all that you have to offer. Confidence. I know it is very hard to believe in yourself, when you constantly get compared to your peers on your grades and achievements, and you may do less well than others. Or when your talent lies beyond what the textbooks offer. Or simply, when society tells you that you should do something you don’t want. I have gone through the exact same challenges, but stay hopeful, and very soon you will get there. And whenever you doubt yourself, talk to me, and I will be your most positive and loyal champion.

With lots of love,

Cousin Bonnie

This is the third in the series of blogs by Millennial Bloggers powered by the Global Search for Education, which selected Bonnie as one of the bloggers alongside other young writers from all over the world.