Tra’s leadership style should be emulated — Taib

Posted borneo post on July 24, 2011, Sunday
KUCHING: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud wants Sarawakian women to emulate the late Dato Sri Tra Zehnder whom he describes as “one of our prominent earlier politicians”.
“I feel very sad to hear the news about Tra Zehnder. She had played her role representing the views from the ground. And she had done well as a community leader after that.
“Besides being the first woman ADUN, she had also been a long-standing community leader especially among the women in Sarawak.
“And I think she should be taken as a good example as a successful woman especially among the Ibans,” he told the press after chairing a PBB meeting at the party’s headquarters here yesterday.
The state Barisan Nasional chairman did not touch on what were discussed at the meeting.
Dato Sri Tra Zehnder was the female pioneer of Sarawak politics as well as the champion of local women’s rights. She passed away at the Sarawak General Hospital at 9pm Friday.
She was the first assemblywoman, from 1960 to 1963, when State Legislative Assembly was known as Council Negeri.
She was also the first woman Temenggong in the state following her appointment from July 1988 to February 1996. She had wanted June 1 to be called Dayak Day in recognition of the Dayaks’ existence in the state.
Meanwhile, Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datin Fatimah Abdullah said the late Tra, who was honoured during the state-level International Women’s Day celebration last year, is a role model for women.
“Her leadership is inspirational especially for generations that followed. She was humble, polite and always committed towards enhancing the economy and social status of women in Sarawak.”
She recalled that the late Tra founded Sarakup Indu Dayak Sarawak (SIDS), as history shows that she was one of the very few women leaders.
“She aspired and was inspired to uplift the economic and social status of women. She had also contributed tremendously to heritage and culture development and all this motivates us to continue what she had done,” she said.
Concurring with Taib, Fatimah said women in the state should emulate the Iban woman leader’s simplicity and dedication.