June Low

Public health educator, TV host of Popek Popek,a sex education program

“If you were already teaching abstinence-based education three years ago and you’ve still got 12 teenage pregnancies a day, don’t teach the same thing!”

June’s training as a lawyer prepared her to make an aggressive case for comprehensive sex education in Malaysia. She has taken on this cause with great energy and imagination, using a variety of methods to deliver her message. To address the lack of appropriate education and access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, June runs community-based sex-ed workshops, gives talks, and hosts a sex-ed webshow. The show, called “Popek Popek,” is produced in collaboration with PopTeeVee, a local online media network. It is presented in Bahasa Malaysia to reach the widest possible audience, offering viewers an open platform to ask questions about sexual health. She believes she can empower young people by giving them greater awareness of and knowledge about their bodies so they can make informed decisions. The show, the first of its kind in the country, has been very well received. June recently received the endorsement of the United Nations Population Fund.