International Women's Day Special Feature :
Ms. Boonsiri Somchit-Ong Penang Adventist Hospital Charity Fund Committee Member Find out how Ms. Boonsiri Somchit-Ong scaled to the top of the technology industry not only in Malaysia but globally, and let’s read her advice for all our women readers.
1. You were the Corporate Vice President of AMD, please tell us briefly how you started your career and how you climbed all the way to the top of the corporate world I started my career as an accident. I became an Accountant because I didn’t have a choice. I failed Form 6 and worst of all, I failed the General Paper, which was a compulsory paper that I needed to pass during my time. As a result of that failure, I could not qualify for any university entrance, so I basically messed up and had no future. However, luck was on my side as I saw in the New Straits Time paper back then, that Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) actually accepted students who didn't pass the General Paper so I applied to do the Diploma in Business Studies plus the Institute of Cost & Management Accountants (ICMA) professional exams. Why ICMA? Well, I chose that thinking it was the easiest path, but boy, I was so wrong. With determination and the fact that I did not want to let myself or my family down again, I graduated within 2 years with ICMA qualifications and promptly, got a job in Motorola. That started my path into the high-tech electronics industry. I actually think that my failure has truly been my driving force and it helped make me a better person in the sense that it taught me at a very young age, that no matter what you do, it takes resilience and grit to get up and try again even if you fall or did not succeed at something the first time. I would say, that was how I managed my life and my career and so far, it has worked for me.
International Women's Day Special Feature :
Ms. Boonsiri Somchit-Ong Penang Adventist Hospital Charity Fund Committee Member
2. You are the author to the bestselling book "When Chicken Dies, Everyone Cries" How does that come about? I was not planning to write a book but fate had other ideas. It started in 2015 when I was invited to do a talk at TEDx Well Quay Women talk in conjunction with Women’s Day. It was a platform for women to share about the things they had gone through in their life, so I talked about my failure. I believe it is an Asian thing that we do not talk about failure very much, because it is something that is considered as shameful and I was no different. It took me more than 30 years to confront that and to talk about that but putting it out in the open, made me realize that acknowledging it felt so much better than carrying it around inside me like a burden. So, there I was, openly talking about failing, how I was afraid to let anyone know thinking that people would think that I was a fraud because I was in the position I was in and I had failed. That talk taught me a lesson as I was actually surprised by the outcome of it because it received such a positive response locally and even internationally. So, I decided to write a leadership book, talking about how my childhood molded me to become the person I am today and my publisher and I decided on the title “When the chicken dies, everyone cries.” I was taken aback when it became a best seller. A lot of people still reach out to me after reading the book and how it has helped them and I think that’s just amazing. Now that I run my own training & development company, I have adapted a training module based on my book and it's called Sekampung Leadership. It is widely used by many corporate companies to train their staff, from the senior leadership to the engineers and analysts. I am really glad that the content of the book can be of service to help others and to make them realize that it’s ok to not be okay and its okay to fall and make mistakes but the most important thing is, get up and start again.
International Women's Day Special Feature :
Ms. Boonsiri Somchit-Ong Penang Adventist Hospital Charity Fund Committee Member
3. Do you consider yourself to be as an inspiring woman? NO! I just consider myself a woman who is trying to do the best that I can for my family and for the people around me and that’s it. And if people think that I am inspirational, I am glad to be of service. I post a lot on social media and through my Facebook & Instagram pages, I share what I do with my life (my kids complain that I post more than them) and how I enjoy every single day. I really believe that no matter what happens, you need to be hopeful and optimistic because you can always find a way out if not alone with some help from family or friends. You also need to be motivated and inspired, so just do everything that you want to do in your life. My secret to that is Just Start and Do and the motivation and inspiration will magically appear
4. What are you most proud of? I am very proud of my three girls! I have three daughters and all of them drove me crazy when they were teenagers. I don’t know how they have become the amazing women that they are because, while they were growing up, I was very busy building my career and my husband was busy with his career and he was working in KL. I am grateful that I had my in-laws living with us so the children grew up mostly with their grandparents. Grandpa and Grandma helped us take care of them and maybe that’s why they have grown to have a lot of respect for the elderly. They are always willing to help other people and animals as well, and to me that is what being a human should be about, having empathy and compassion for the people and animals around you and sharing your blessings with them in your own way.
International Women's Day Special Feature :
Ms. Boonsiri Somchit-Ong Penang Adventist Hospital Charity Fund Committee Member 5. What is an important message that you have for our women readers? Never give up! No matter what anybody says, never give up! People will put you down, people will say, "oh no this" and "oh no that". You know what, the only person who should say "oh no" is YOU. And "oh no" only if you have tried a few hundred times, and if it doesn’t work, find another way. It’s still not an "oh no", it is an "oh, maybe I will get there". My advice for the ladies out there reading this (no matter how old you are) is that you should never give up! You only fail if you stop getting up! If you continue to get up, you've still got a chance!
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6. What is your favorite food?
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I like Thai food. Obvious right, because I am half Thai. I cook Southern Thai food too, as my family loves it. For me, the best kind of food is the food I grew up with like to eat tau ewe bak, tau ewe kay, ikan sumbat, kengsom, phat ped, tomyam, all the stuff that my mum used to cook. The MCO has made me try my hands at cooking more of these dishes for my family and I am trying to learn the recipes from my sisters so that they are not all forgotten and so that I can hand down their maternal grandmother’s recipe to them to share with future generations.