Amanda Kong Hwei Zhen

Rising above her circumstances as a person with glaucoma-induced blindness, Amanda Kong is a brilliant leader in the field of diversity and inclusion projects for disabled individuals (PWDs). As Community Manager of the Make It Right Movement (MIRM), Kong was the first to curate a full-fledged status report on PWDs in Malaysia, but her journey in justice began much earlier.

In 2013, Amanda was awarded the Outstanding Cambridge Learners Award for being the Top Student in the World for Law by the University of Cambridge. In 2016, she graduated with a Class I LLB (HONS) from the University of Liverpool and then in 2017, went on to complete the Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP). In February 2019, she her the first blind woman lawyer to qualify as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.

At MIRM, she conducts and facilitates various internal and external capacity building and professional development workshops with particular focus on diversity, equity and inclusion for corporates, as well as digital literacy, employability, entrepreneurship and life skills for the PWD community. Other her own community, Amanda’s work at MIRM has touched on B40 alleviation, mental health, women empowerment, promotion of child rights and welfare.

Amanda’s pristine record has rewarded her with great accreditations such as being a regular panellist for the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee. Recently, she was listed as one of the 20 individuals under the Enable Role Model List which spotlights role models across the globe who are using their experience of disability, neurodiversity or mental health to enable meaningful conversations and drive diversity and inclusion at the workplace.

Making an impact to me is being able to enrich communities and transform their lives through sustainable community development projects. As a PWD, I learned that being able to fully participate in all aspects of life can only be done by shifting the society’s perception from the charity model to the social model of disability – don’t ask what a PWD needs, but instead step into their shoes and think of how you can empower them to achieve their potential.