It seems unbelievable but ZafigoX 2025 is now over! All those months of hard work and anticipation and it feels like the weekend went by in a blink of the eye.

But was it worth it? Absolutely!

It was worth it seeing all the excited faces of women coming to ZafigoX again after having tasted its wonders last year. It was even more exciting to meet first-timers who didn’t know what to expect but then had their anxieties assuaged from the initial sessions.

It was, as always, wonderful to meet our speakers who had come from London, Melbourne, Dhaka, Colombo, Singapore as well as Kuala Lumpur and seeing them equally enthusiastic about participating this year, even though some of them had not heard about ZafigoX before. What stories and insights they had! We are so grateful that they said yes.

Our panels were stimulating and opened possibilities that we may never have thought of before. It was heartening to listen to feisty young women who are taking up the mantles of advocacy for all women, in schools, online, in sports, in film and in art. They all give us hope.

And what joy it was to listen to the music women make, whether it was a collaboration between an Afghan and a Sarawakian musician, whether it was lively and electronic, whether it was spoken word poetry or behind the screen of wayang kulit. It all filled our souls with happiness.

The workshops too were full of bright-eyed participants eager to learn how to write, journal, sketch, take photos, make cyanotype prints, how to pair vegetables and herbs with other foods, learn how to choose the best colours to dress in, how to stretch and move and defend themselves and how to make the best financial decisions for the future. For 90 minutes, each workshop captured participants’ attention like nothing else.

For all this, we have many people to thank. First, our speakers, panellists, performers and workshop leads. All of them form the core of the ZafigoX experience with their knowledge, their generosity and most of all, their humour. As many participants have said, ZafigoX is just so chill.

Then our sponsors who understood what we were trying to do, without whom none of these two days would have been possible. It takes a woman to get another woman’s idea and I must thank women like Winnie Chan at Maybank and Chryseis Tan at Berjaya and Lumi for understanding how important their support is to us. Also, the myriad other sponsors such as Yayasan Hasanah, Talentcorp, Volvo, Larney, CzipLee, Mangosteen, Thai Odyssey, PURAS, Biosilk, who were so generous with their funding, products, and time. Not forgetting our media partners, BFM and Mak Chic.

Finally, ZafigoX is about our readers and followers who came, learnt new things and made new friends. We created a platform to showcase women that we hope will inspire you, and we provided a safe space for you to feel free to express yourself. We have loved meeting you, talking to you and seeing how you were enjoying yourselves. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Until next time!