Tapping Into Girl Power

Given the right tools and training, Izza Izelan of WOMEN:girls aims to nurture the next generation of leaders

- Elizabeth Soong

When she was 12 years old, Izza Izelan started a club called Great Girls Club where she and other girls in her neighourhood created their own great adventures—going up and down hills on their bicycles, selling cookies, and they even have their own march and song. “We were really happy,” reminisces Izza. “We realised that there was no such community for young girls like that, which encourages girls to be active and do sports, so that’s what we did.”

Having gone to an all-girls school and joined the Girl Guides, she hadn’t given a thought about gender disparity until she enrolled into a co-ed boarding school in Pahang. There she noticed that stereotypical views about gender roles ran deep; for instance, class monitors or head students typically had to be boys while girls become the assistants. Izza recalls signing up for marching band wanting to play the drums but she was told, “you can’t play because you’re a girl.” Girls can only apply for either the clarinet or flute. “So that’s when I started questioning why? I can play the drums, too! But when I got together with my friends from other boarding schools, they said it’s the same thing at their school. Never mind, my spirits were not dampened; I’ll just be the best clarinet player there is.”