Solibun (centre) with 36 past presidents, including Organising Chairman Chai (standing at left), key legacy leaders and 50th President Lasimbang (standing fifth from right) during the Golden Jubilee celebration.
KOTA KINABALU: The specially created JCI Intan Golden Jubilee Gallery served as a reminder of how much Malaysia’s pioneering all-ladies JCI organisation has achieved over the past 50 years, and how many women have grown, developed themselves and contributed to the community and State through their involvement.
Celebration Organising Chairman JCI Senator Chai Moi Len said the gallery, featuring 50 “down memory lane” exhibits, traced the journey of JCI Intan and the struggles of its pioneers.
“The exhibition added significance to our celebration. Seeing the gallery that featured 50 ‘down memory lane’ exhibits tracing the journey of JCI Intan and the struggle of its pioneers, and watching our guests take such an interest in the success stories of our past presidents and members was truly special.
“I hope the present crop of leaders will draw inspiration from the selfless work of their predecessors,” said Sabah’s first Queen’s Guide, who is among the chapter’s 50 past presidents.
Chai said she envisioned the younger generation of leaders and members carrying the torch and coming together to celebrate JCI Intan’s centennial.
Sharing the same aspiration, Charter President JCI Sen Jovinia Solibun challenged the present generation to go beyond the accomplishments of their predecessors so the organisation could regain the glory of yesteryear.
“Do not allow our past achievements to become the ceiling of our future. Let them become the foundation upon which you build something even greater.
“The glory of the past belongs to those who created it. The responsibility for the next chapter belongs to you.
“May the next chapter be even more courageous, more innovative, more compassionate and more impactful than the chapters before it.
“Let the next generation take JCI Intan where perhaps we, the founders, could never have imagined,” said Solibun, inaugural winner of the 1985 JCI Malaysia Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians (TOYM) Award.
At least three founding members of JCI Intan’s inaugural Board of Directors, elected in May 1975, later ventured into the political arena.
They were the late Datuk Ariah Tengku Ahmad, Solibun and JCI Sen Datuk Amisah Yassin, followed by two other prominent past presidents, JCI Sen Datuk Christine Vanhouten and JCI Senator Maria Nobleza.
Foraying into a predominantly male domain was no easy feat for five other prominent past presidents who sought the JCI Malaysia National President position, a highly contested post.
They were JCI Sen Adeline Leong, JCI Sen Li Yo Wei, Solibun, JCI Sen Arlena Awang Chee and JCI Sen Teresa Alberto.
It was equally an uphill task for Leong and Alberto as they rose through the hierarchy to become JCI Executive Vice-Presidents.
In her bid to become the first woman National President of JCI Malaysia in 1983, Leong lost a front tooth during a telematch in Seremban while on her campaign trail.
“I suffered. It was a tough campaign. I won narrowly by a one-vote majority,” she recalled.
Undeterred, she went on to create history as the first Malaysian woman to vie for the JCI Vice-President post in 1986, and notably, as the first Malaysian to set her sights on the JCI Executive Vice-President role in 1987, short of becoming JCI World President.
Other prominent past presidents included JCI Sen Datuk Zahra Ismail, JCI Sen Datuk Nancy Ho, JCI Sen Susan Shee and JCI Sen Naomi Munggai.
Among the outstanding ones were JCI Sen Sugar Tham, JCI Sen Stella Lau, JCI Sen Cindy Tsen, JCI Sen Alice Kunjan, JCI Sen Dorie Otion, JCI Sen Amy Chee and JCI Sen Muriel Koh.
During Chee’s term in 1999, the chapter won six awards at national level and one award at the JCI World Congress.
Other outstanding past presidents went on to serve as JCI Malaysia National Officers in the 1990s and new millennium.
They comprised JCI Sen Winnie Long, JCI Sen Janet Boyou, JCI Sen Veronica Chin, JCI Sen Heneritta Gunting, JCI Sen Safarina Wasli and JCI Sen Zyee Dullie, all of whom held the positions of National President and National Executive Vice President.
Those who contributed as National Vice-Presidents were JCI Sen Anna Hiew, JCI Sen Laura Lidi Basinau and JCI Sen Nora Arin.
Both Janet and Nora later served as Development Officers in the JCI Asia-Pacific Development Council (APDC), assigned to Negara Brunei and Timor Leste respectively, while Safarina went on to become National General Legal Counsel.
Currently, Zyee is the JCI Malaysia Senate Director.
JCI Sen Angeline Joimol, who has since migrated to Australia, served as National Secretary-General and subsequently National Treasurer.
In its heyday, JCI Intan members with a flair for public speaking participated in international elocutionary competitions, putting the chapter on the JCI World map.
The late Angel Majanggil won third place in the speech contest held during the JCI Asia-Pacific Conference (ASPAC) in Kanazawa, Japan, in 1996.
Koh emerged champion in the elocution contest during the ASPAC in Bali, Indonesia, in 1999, and participated in the speaking competition at the 54th JCI World Congress in Cannes, France, the same year.
Gunting took part in ASPAC Daegu, Korea, in 2001.
Among the outstanding past presidents was 2012 President Anne Antah, founder of Chanteek Borneo, a growing enterprise involved in ethnic textile designing and printing on synthetic fabrics as a cottage industry in Tamparuli.
As a pioneer in Sabah’s ethnic textile designing and printing, Chanteek Borneo specialises in designing motifs of 36 ethnic and 200 sub-ethnic groups for printing textiles.
Since 2018, Antah has focused on designing textiles and digitally printing them to contribute towards preserving Sabah’s ethnic heritage through digital application.
In 2021, Anne won the Promising Woman Entrepreneur Award during the State-level Women’s Day celebration and received the accolade from Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
“I appreciate JCI Intan for having nominated me for the award, and I am grateful to the State Government for the recognition,” said the Kinarut-born entrepreneur.
Another achiever was past President 2014 Sabrina Aripen, a domestic violence survivor and mother at 19, who, together with her Board of Directors and annual dinner committee, raised funds for the Sabah AIDS Support Services Association (KASIH).
Even as Immediate Past President in 2015, she organised the JCI Malaysia Academy themed “Brave To Lead”, a national project that brought around 70 incoming JCI presidents from across Malaysia to Zip Borneo, Kiulu, to further develop their leadership skills.
The project won the best national award in 2015.
Aripen said her journey as a gender equality advocate began in 2010 through JCI Intan, when she organised the “White Ribbon Awareness” campaign to raise awareness about domestic violence.
In 2018, she established the Society for Equality, Respect and Trust for All Sabah to champion gender equality, specifically healthy relationships and active fatherhood.
“I truly believe that men and boys are key to the solution in ending gender inequalities and preventing gender-based violence,” said Sabrina, who is currently working for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Malaysia.
Looking back, JCI Intan, a household name in the eighties and nineties, excelled in organising leadership training programmes for personal growth and development, community service projects as far as Pitas and Tambunan and international activities.
Through its Raffles project, the all-ladies chapter raised funds for the Sabah Cheshire Home.
It also organised a fundraising dinner in aid of the Sabah Cancer Society, a Mini Bazaar – Lend a Hand to Welfare at the Gaya Street Fair, and made donations to the SOS Heart Fund, Sembulan Spastics Home and Bundu Tuhan Orphanage.
From the outset, the chapter’s flagship projects included youth leadership training camps and medical camps, together with charity visits to children’s homes, fundraising for target groups in need, and bringing relief to fire and flood victims.
Over time, the Book Fairies campaign was added as a flagship project, with members collecting books and helping to establish reading corners at children’s welfare homes.
The activity was carried out again in 2018, 2020 and 2025.
Based on media reports, JCI Intan launched its medical camp project on a large scale in 2000, with emphasis on Oral Rehydration Therapy, benefiting hundreds of people in Pitas, and subsequently in Penampang.
Two years later, the chapter embarked on the “Women’s Rights Awareness: Zero Tolerance To Sexual Violence Towards Women” project to create public awareness about crimes against women.
Through its “Women’s Rights Awareness 2006: Seri Murni Crisis Centre” project, the organisation became the first women’s non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Sabah to seek funds for the institution run by the Good Shepherd Sisters.
The 2006 Area Sabah Team – Best Project Award went to JCI Intan for the endeavour.
Other meaningful projects included dental health education for rural children, a mother and child health workshop, Hepatitis B vaccination, a fostering programme with Princess Anne Children’s Home, adoption of two girls from the Home for their secondary education, seminars on violence against women and child abuse, financial management seminars, and hosting 10 Japanese children during their tour of Sabah in 1989.
The chapter also organised the “Back to School” project.
In 2007, JCI Intan collaborated with Daily Express to collect food, clothing and other necessities from the public for the family of the late Donni John Duin, 11, who committed suicide believed to be due to poverty.
Over the past 10 years, JCI Intan organised other leadership training sessions, a creative workshop to make plaster crafts such as fridge magnets and pen holders, a women empowerment through craft plastic basket-weaving workshop, and a floral design workshop.
This year alone, the organisation initiated Bloom in Rooms (Empowering Young Women) at Woori Jib Home for Underprivileged Girls, the Mind Intervention Programme for SMK St Francis Convent, and Beyond Our Circle: Leadership and Anti-Bullying Awareness Programme for SM All Saints under the leadership of its current President Cynthia Jintian Lasimbang.
The Golden Jubilee celebration was attended by Deputy Chief Minister II and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun, who was recognised as a longtime friend of JCI Sabah.
