Ma Chaw Khin Khin: “If you want to achieve, know yourself, know your business, know what you want, then achieve it … Never stop learning, not even for a day.”

THERE was a time when Myanmar tradition dictated that women stay home to prepare the meals, do household chores and take care of the children, all while waiting patiently for the husband – the family breadwinner – to return from work.

To suggest that a woman could conduct business negotiations or make pioneering moves into new markets would do little more than elicit a weak smile from a sympathetic husband.

However, these days Myanmar women are finding growing support for entering the business realm. For many, the husband’s bemused chuckle has turned into attentive interest – either that or female professionals are marching ahead in their quest for higher status and success beyond the family regardless.

Myanmar businesswomen are doing it for themselves.

Ma Hnin Pwint Phyu, a brand manager at Ever Seiko Co., Ltd, works in downtown Yangon as a distributor of the Japanese cosmetic Kanebo.

Her dream, she says, has always been to become a successful businesswoman.

Young, intelligent and motivated, Ma Hnin Pwint Phyu started her career in her early 20s.

“I got into this job because I’d always wanted to work from a young age, and I wanted to do the best I could,” she says.

Choosing to remain single, Ma Hnin Pwint Phyu has avoided some difficulties but has had to face others on her own.

“There were no sacrifices, but there were times when I had to make a choice about what was the right path for me,” she says.

Businesswoman Ma Chaw Khin Khin says challenges are the push-ups to success.

She should know. She is the chief executive of Myanma Computer Co., Ltd, and an executive committee member of both the Myanmar Women Entrepreneurs’ Association and the Myanmar Computer Industry Association.

But pursuing a family life as well has posed some additional obstacles.

“I have a five-year-old daughter and a three-month-old son and I have to focus on the quality time that I spend with them,” she says. “But luckily, some of the household responsibilities are taken care of by my mother. I also have a very supportive husband and, since the very first day we met, I told him what I wanted to achieve and he has accepted it.”

Being the daughter of the Myanma Computer Co., Ltd founder might have helped Ma Chaw Khin Khin get her foot in the door of the business world, but it did not mean she got a free ride.

“I have had to try double hard to disprove any preconceived notions about the position I hold as an entrepreneurial business-woman,” she said.

However, Myanmar could be a favourable place for Myanmar businesswomen and Ma Chaw Khin Khin said the pay gap between Myanmar businessmen and women was not as great as in many countries.

“In my opinion, there is no gender discrimination in Myanmar, at least for the industry that I’m in and that I know of,” she said. “The only limits are that which you place upon yourself . . . Determination is more important than gender.”

Institutions were also available to help. “We have NGOs like the Myanmar Women Entrepreneurs Association, which is a community of businesswomen in Myanmar with a current active membership of about 1300," she said. "MWEA is active in providing a helping hand by conducting various support activities like networking opportunities, seminars, training and overseas exposures.”
Ma Hnin Pwint Phyu says that succeeding in a business environment requires drive and a willingness to learn.

“You have to make daily plans to continue developing in the future. I have a motto not only for my career but also for other aspects of my life: make a plan, take action, check the results.”

Though she sounds much like executives the world over, Ma Hnin Pwint Phyu is still closely tied to Myanmar culture and traditional Asian customs.

“Sometimes I find it hard to give orders to guys older or younger than me because, although I have the right to do so, there is a kind of gap between men and women,” she says with a faint sigh. “This gap is a universal truth that will never, ever change.”

Although her career is important to her, she refuses let it control her.
“If you chase after success and money too much, you will lose everything and get nothing,” she says with a pause, adding that maintaining a balance is crucial.

“If you have too much success you become overconfident, you overlook things.”
As managing director of the Talents and Models Agency, Ma Tin Moe Lwin is a professional woman who has been breaking boundaries by trading the longyi for the miniskirt and the street market for the catwalk.

Going from model to fashion designer has meant a struggle for respect at times. But in the course of 10 years she has seen once-limited market opportunities expand and people’s attitudes slowly change.

A career signified independence and the chance to “design” her own life. But, however modern her work may be, Ma Tin Moe Lwin insists she keeps family customs and ethics close to heart.

Finding a balance between careers and home life is a struggle for women across the world. It is also one that many Myanmar women believe – and prove – can be handled successfully.

Full of confidence and energy, Ma Hnin Pwint Phyu believes the future is bright for Myanmar business-women, especially in the beauty, fashion, art and decoration industries.

“In addition, we are born with talents such as patience, insight and negotiation skills,” she says with conviction, clearly proud of a long, albeit behind-the-scenes, business heritage.