Insultingly slow progress

As published in The Sun

 

I was told the administration listens to young people and takes their recommendations seriously, so I wrote my heart out here for many months. But I lost hope in writing when issues brought up in this column were left unheeded.

 

Until today, the outdated University and University Colleges Act (UUCA) still exists to stifle the already severely drained brains of our youths. American warships too are still welcomed to dock at our shores with their cargo loaded with nuclear things that could fry all of Peninsular Malaysia in a puff. What’s more, despite cries for electoral reform, the long-serving Tan Sri Abdul Rashid was retained as Election Commission chairman and parliament was even mobilised to extend his tenure.

 

Equally upsetting is the painfully slow incorporation of women in decision making positions — so slow it is insulting!

 

And oh, did the leader of Wanita Umno just get dropped from the 2008 cabinet? Shouldn’t she, Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz, instead get a feather in her hat for maintaining her parliamentary seat in a state that otherwise voted Opposition? Does being the head of a wing that makes up half of the party’s membership not count?

 

How many members does Wanita Umno have anyway? That’s right, more than the number of residents in the city of Shah Alam put together! And isn’t Rafidah also the head of Wanita Barisan Nasional (BN)?

 

How is this the way forward for women representation in leadership positions? This question alone is enough to get one writing again.

 

Following the landmark Putrajaya Declaration mooted by members of the NAM Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women in 2005, the Malaysian government vowed to allocate up to 30 per cent seats for women in decision making positions.

 

They were so serious at the time about recognising women’s talents that it was made policy in the Ninth Malaysian Plan (2006-2010). The move instantly won the BN government and then Minister of Women and Family Development, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, extra brownie points.

 

Naturally, the nation could only expect the government to fulfil its promise. And where better to initiate change than the in cabinet itself. But the cabinet reshuffle in 2006 was perhaps held too soon and was too minor a reshuffle for the government to incorporate more women ministers. It therefore maintained only three women ministers in a lineup of 32.

 

Women were told to “be patient” but the government declined to commit to a deadline for the fulfilment the 30 per cent quota. We did however, see some women made boss in various government agencies like Bank Negara and public universities. Still, those appointments were not enough and expectations were high in the political realm.

 

By the time the 2008 election was announced, the nation expected BN’s commitment to manifest in its list of election candidates. It did, but too minimally. According to the Joint Action Group for gender Equality (JAG), Umno which contested for 453 seats, led the pack by fielding 40 women candidates — up only by five candidates since the 2004 election. Had Umno, the backbone party of the BN government, forgotten about their promise in 2005 and in the Ninth Malaysia Plan?

 

Worse still, instead of seeing more women ministers in the 2008 cabinet, we now have less. With Rafidah deserted, we only have Datuk Ng Yen Yen and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman left. Shahrizat doesn’t count because she is not a cabinet member.

 

Speaking of which, what exactly is Shahrizat’s post all about? Why appoint sineibe wgi enjoys ministerial status but doesn’t need to attend cabinet meetings? Is it necessary to make someone a minister if her role is solely to advice on the Islamic Family Law? Shouldn’t she instead be advising Ng Yen Yen who is the new Minister of Women and Family Development, perhaps as an advisor within the ministry? Wait … didn’t Shahrizat fail to defend Muslim women against the Islamic Family Law amendment a few years back?

 

Her appointment may be to give face to Wanita Umno whose boss was dropped from the cabinet lineup. But it looks like it would create ambiguity for the new minister.

 

So how exactly is all this supposed to be good in promoting women leadership?