After 13 years of education and training as an accountant in Britain, Alison Wong returned to Hong Kong in 1991 to join one of the city's largest multinational accounting firms. The firm had a policy of giving a HK$20,000 monthly married allowance to men but not to women - on the assumption that their husbands would provide for them. Ms Wong, although married, was given the monthly HK$14,000 allowance for single employees. She decided to fight for the married allowance.
'One of the firm's senior partners was a legislative councillor. At that time, legislative councillors, men and women, received equal pay packages,' said Ms Wong, a partner in specialist advisory services with Grant Thornton Hong Kong.
'I asked the partner how he could preside over this discrimination in the firm and not push for sex equality. I offered the same service, why should I be discriminated against? So I fought for the right to get the married allowance and, in the end, they gave it to me and changed the policy.'
Times have changed. Blatant discrimination against women in the workplace has given way to more equality, aided by the Sex Discrimination Ordinance that made sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status and pregnancy illegal.
But research is showing that many women, trying to attain senior positions in their careers, are still finding it difficult to balance work and personal life.
A Gender Diversity Benchmark for Asia report, by Community Business - a non-governmental organisation focusing on corporate social responsibility - in March showed that more than one third of 21 widely-respected women in management positions had no children. Those interviewed were from China, India, Japan and Singapore. This suggests, that for many women, it remains difficult to have a career and family. The survey was conducted at the end of last year.