8 March 2023
Regis Como will celebrate the achievements of its female elders this International Women’s Day.
And at the Home’s planned celebratory morning tea, the accomplishments of resident and great, great grandmother Margaret Oung will strike a particular chord amongst Regis’s care team.
The 95-year-old, who was born in Burma in July 1927, will be celebrated for her bravery as a qualified nurse during the Second World War in the early 1940s, where she tended to wounded soldiers, many of whom had lost limbs, during the Burma campaign which lasted from 1941- 1945.
And the legacy of Margaret’s war experience made her strident that she never wanted to be involved in conflict again, and her future-husband Danny supported her to go back to school to study as a stenographer and shorthand typist, which led her on a completely different career path – as a secretary for the Ministry Government Office of Burma, a role she undertook for over 15 years.
After Margaret married Danny – who himself survived the war years by trekking from Burma to India to escape the conflict – the couple decided to immigrate to Australia in 1971, along with their four children, in the hope of making a better life for their family.
“My life has been an incredible journey and I’ve many stories, from working in a war zone and for Burma’s prime minister, to then emigrating from Burma to Australia where I again worked in hospitals, this time as a secretary at both St John of God and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospitals,” says Margaret.
“My life has been jam-packed and very rewarding and, as International Women’s Day approaches, I’d say to any girls and young women to take all the opportunities on offer, try different things and just follow your passions.”
“You’ll make mistakes. I certainly did, but that’s what life’s all about – that and making sure you enjoy the ride.”
Bonni Sekulich, Regis Como General Manager, says that International Women’s Day provided an important opportunity to celebrate the eclectic and fascinating lives of female residents at the aged care home.
“International Women’s Day gives us the opportunity to focus our attention on our female residents, to both recognise their achievements and also the contribution they continue to make to our Regis Como community,” says Ms Sekulich.
“We have many female residents who have done things their own way and, in doing so, have blazed a trail and broken down barriers for younger women following behind them. They are inspirational matriarchs, and we are looking forward to celebrating them.”
International Women’s Day is marked annually on March 8. It’s a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It’s also a time to reflect on women’s progress, to call for change and to celebrate the achievements of ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in their communities.
