Crouching tigers in Malaysian politics: Young women and their chance to lead

 

As published in Tell

 

There can be no looking back for young women politicians in the country. The stage has already been set. From now, they have no choice but to get better and make a stronger presence. JUANA JAAFAR has the story.

 

The general elections in 1999 was considered one of the fiercest in Malaysia following the sacking of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and the launch of the Reformasi movement. Although Barisan Nasional won, it lost sizeable support, mainly from young Malaysians.

 

In UMNO, which is the backbone of the Barisan, a solution was found. Puteri UMNO was formed to help the party woo new eligible voters from the largely untapped population of young Malay women.

 

When a formula works, copycats will come. Other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties as well as opposition parties followed suit with their versions of women’s youth wings, thus giving the role of young women new dynamics in Malaysian politics.

 

The women’s youth wing may be a relatively new appendage to party politics, but politics itself is not virgin territory to Malaysian women. Their involvement traces back to pre-Merdeka in organisations such as Angkatan Wanita Sedar (Awas), Women’s Federation (W’s Fed) and Pergerakan Kaum Ibu in UMNO.

 

Women are no strangers in the electoral process either, having participated in the first general elections in Malaya (1955) which saw the first woman elected into parliament – paving the way for more women representatives in subsequent elections.

 

The 12th general elections on March 8th promises to be no less exciting. Women’s contributions in politics have become increasingly important with more of them being given the confidence to contest for their parties. Even the conservative religious party, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), has found itself having to, “go with the flow,” and breaching convention by fielding more women candidates. Interestingly, there are also more young women on the ballot this time around.

 

It has been almost 10 years since young women got their own wings in party politics – can they say they have arrived?

 

Toothless vs. Teething

 

“When I joined in 2005 the women’s youth wing was more of a loose movement within the party. We have since organised ourselves and now have a wing branch in every state,” said 29 year old Farina Hashim from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

 

The head of the women’s youth wing, Puteri PPP, Farina admits the wing is mostly involved in organising supporting activities for the main party. They see themselves as a new entity that still needs the guidance of party leadership, particularly their senior counterparts in Wanita PPP.

 

“Whatever we want to do in Puteri, we must get the Wanita involved. We look to them for guidance because they are more experienced. I think this is the same in most parties where any ideas put forth by the women’s youth wing is vetted and discussed with the main party leadership,” she added.

 

Fellow colleague Feonaaz Roslan, 31, who heads the Puteri PPP branch in Kuala Lumpur said the wing is autonomous insofar as they are free to organise their own activities. But the main party leadership must approve all project mechanics to ensure that the good names of PPP and BN are maintained.

 

“These activities are important for the women’s movement as a whole,” she adds. “We are providing opportunities for young women to come forth and exercise their leadership skills by allowing them to head various projects.”

 

Most of these projects are focused on community work and outreach programmes. For MCA’s Connie Liew, joining a political party allows her to do NGO-type activities besides getting political exposure. The 27-year old Publicity Head says the party’s women’s youth movement, BeliaWanis, organises camps and talks for its members, as well as relief work when there are natural disasters.

 

“While I see our current activities as valuable to young women and the party, I also think we have to start giving more political talks and create real political awareness among young women. Not only will we be able to woo new members who are interested in political issues, it will also give the women’s youth movement more political strength,” said Nicole Wong, Organising Secretary of BeliaWanis.

 

Nicole, 28, said Malaysian politics can do with fresh, new ideas. She strongly believes that in order to remain relevant and competitive, her party must adjust to new social realities where young women are more affluent and independent.

 

BeliaWanis is not yet an independent wing. They exist as a bureau under the party’s women’s wing, Wanita MCA.

 

“The main reason why we are still just a bureau is because we still do not have enough young women wanting to be actively involved in politics. I agree that young women are more politically aware today, but they are not necessarily politically involved,” Connie said.

 

But whether they like it or not, added Nicole, external pressure will eventually force MCA to establish BeliaWanis as an independent wing. For as long as BeliaWanis remains a bureau, young women cannot help but to think the party does not recognise them as an important and valuable bloc.

 

“Right now women really have to fight for their place in politics. In the general elections Wanita members have to negotiate for their seats and they are still struggling to get their 30% quota. But this is also why we need more young women to come in and support them. Across all the parties you see that male Youth members are given more seats to contest in the elections. They actually get a chance to be leaders. Unfortunately, not many young women get the same opportunity,” she said.

 

Time to pounce

 

Zaitun Mohamed Kasim, or Toni Kasim, feels sad for young women involved in political parties because they have to work so hard to prove their self worth. On the one hand they have to convince their elders they are worthy of their stripes. On the other, they have to compete with the seniors for seats and positions in elections. That is, if at all they can participate in the contest.

 

“The formation of women’s youth wings reflects that political parties have come to recognise young women as a caucus. But it has been many years now since these wings were established and it looks like the main parties are still treating them like a kindergarten unit,” she said.

 

Age and experience always come into the equation when young members want to climb party ranks, or when parties decide on their election candidates. Toni, who ran as an independent parliamentary candidate in the 1999 general elections, does not think age should be a deterring factor.

 

“If age was a problem, running at the age of 32 would not have allowed me to gain 43% of votes in Selayang against a strong incumbent,” she said. Toni is member of the Women’s Candidacy Initiative which promotes direct participation of civil society in the electoral process.

 

“The women’s wing must have a shelf life. Indeed, it allows space for women to come together in politics, but until when? When can they run for party leadership? Or are they destined to just head the women’s wing? Women want to be heard so they become members of a political party. But when they join, they get buried,” she added.

 

In 2005, a parliamentary vote on amendments to the Islamic Family Law saw women senators outraged and close to voting against the bill. They were soon forced to change their minds after Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz threatened to invoke the party Whip if they did not comply.

 

“I think some women representatives are doing good work, but they are also inhibited by the party they belong to. I do not see the point of them being in parliament if they have to toe the line on positions that they and their constituents do not agree with. This is why it is important to have independent women parliamentarians,” Toni said.

 

Nurul Izzah Anwar from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) said women are ready to lead in politics. “Women however, are generally selfless by nature and in politics this translates as them willing to take on even the smallest roles,” she said.

 

Women are the machinery in all political parties. They traditionally act as party agents who canvass votes from house to house during elections. It is not an easy job, said the 27 year old, because, “you have to put in a lot of hours into it. It is sad that parties generally do not reward them for their efforts.”

 

Contesting for a parliamentary seat this year against incumbent Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil who was Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Nurul said she is more involved in organising political events for the party’s leadership and doing grassroots work rather than in the women’s wing activities.

 

“I came into politics with a sense of leadership. The whole experience of following my father’s long imprisonment gave me a sense of clarity and vision for myself and my country. I also became a symbol of hope for a lot of young people who identified with me, and who wanted change. And now that I am a mother, I see how women are so important in every aspect of our daily lives. I would go as far as to say women are the ones who should set the country’s agenda,” she added.

 

Held by the tail

 

Nurul acknowledged however, that PKR has a long way to go in attracting more women into politics. Wanita PKR works very closely with NGOs to address women’s issues and does groundwork to help women. But the party has yet to create an image that is attractive to women, particularly young women.

 

“In the early days we got a lot of support from womenfolk which we regrettably did not fully maximise. Although we had an agenda for women then, we were not able to organise a real women’s movement. It is quite tough for us in the opposition because we do not provide access to power. In that sense, there is one less incentive for young women to want to join us,” Nurul said.

 

“We also have to accept the reality of prevalent political culture. In Malaysia it is still an ‘old boy’s’ network. Men tend to bond with the men. But when women bond with women they are seen as a sorority. This is a false assumption,” said Information Chief of Wanita PKR, Elizabeth Wong.

 

Like MCA, PKR does not have an independent women’s youth wing. Instead, they have a department within the women’s wing called Sri Kandi.

 

“We do not have an all-male Youth wing like most parties, rather an Angkatan Muda where it is mixed. We encourage our young women to get involved in the Angkatan Muda and contest for office there. In the real world it is not just women, so this is our way to train them,” said the 37 year old who is also contesting in the coming general elections.

 

As parliamentary aid to PKR president Datin Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Elizabeth said the media is also a stumbling block for women’s progress in politics. She said Wan Azizah could be a positive symbol of woman leadership if the media gave her fair coverage. Wan Azizah is the second woman to ever be president of a political party in Malaysia. The first was Ganga Nayar of the Malaysian Worker’s Party in 1978.

 

Rather than reporting on important matters raised by women parliamentarians, she said the media instead prefers to report on name-calling between representatives and other sensational issues.

 

Puteri UMNO’s Nolee Ashilin Radzi, 33, and Fahariyah Nordin, 29, also agree the media have not been fair in their coverage on women politicians.

 

“The media tends to interview more exco members from Pemuda UMNO than they would Puteri. This probably has a lot to do with society’s cultural baggage where men’s views in politics are seen to carry more weight than women’s,” said Fahariyah, a Puteri division head.

 

But women too have to make statements that are newsworthy. In its earlier days, she said, Puteri used to make larger headlines as it was a national novelty. Apart from being a new wing it also used to make bolder statements. While there is some bias in media coverage, Puteri must also acknowledge that it too has its weaknesses and needs to be more media savvy.

 

On criticisms that the women’s youth wing is seen as frivolous, Fahariyah said it had to do with people’s general perception of politics as something of a man’s turf and where women take up a lesser role. As such, the women have to strive much harder than the men to uphold an impeccable image.

 

“We do recognise that we have an image problem and we have discussed it even at the national exco level. We should not be thoroughly ashamed of it but it is something we certainly have to address. We are not blind to our imperfections and we plan to work on it after the general elections,” Nolee said.

 

Exco member and chief of the education bureau, Nolee said the re-branding of Puteri has to start at the individual level. If individual members carry a good image, it will reflect positively on the wing as a whole. But even with good image, she said, the women’s youth wing still has to deal with the cultural problems within and without the party where women are not seen as a potent force in politics.

 

“Puteri Umno had four elections candidates in 2004 and this year they are fielding ten. The wing considers this a major success considering they are a relatively new entity in the party,” said Fahariyah. “The party leadership has clearly recognised our potential. Even in 2004 we were already given seats to contest in the general elections despite the fact that we were only 2 years old then.”

 

“We look forward to the general elections this year because we want to be valued based on merit. We want to show that we are just as able as the men. If we do not prove our valour and ability then we lose bargaining power. Not just that, people in general will not bother about us,” added Nolee.

 

Similar to most parties, Puteri UMNO finds itself having to give way to their senior women’s wing in the general elections. It is part of their power-sharing pact and a show of respect. But the fight for seats would be less intense between the two wings if the party exercised the policy of 30% women representation adopted by the government in 2004.

 

“As a younger wing we have to make way for our seniors. We also have to remember that Wanita UMNO makes half of the party membership. Furthermore, they are the ones who go from house to house to woo voters. They have direct contact with voters, which technically means they have the power to swing votes. Their role in elections therefore is extremely important to the party.

 

Unfortunately, due to the cultural baggage, they are awarded fewer seats than the men,” Nolee said.

 

“The problem of cultural baggage is something we have to overcome. We will not let it deter us from moving forward,” she added.