The PM and his wife appear to have several overseas trips per year and the frequency with which they break off from their official functions for private purposes is seen as corrupt.
Recently, a few Malaysian women, who with their feckless and frivolous nature, made a mockery of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, have undermined all that women have achieved.
At a time when the nation is on an austerity drive, some women appear to act without discipline.
Whilst women around the world and women of the non-Muslim faith share equal rights with their male counterparts, it appears that some Muslim women in Malaysia appear to want to be deprived of their rights.
Who are these women who have sent out mixed messages? One is the wife of a minister but is itching to be the head of state. Another is a minister who has a penchant for spending, whilst the last is a woman who represents a group who believe that wives should ‘obey, serve and entertain’ their husbands.
These women are guilty of grossly abusing the positions they hold. Their actions have sparked controversy and attracted condemnation from all quarters.
Most women in the nation have to keep strictly to a budget to maintain their families. However, these women have used taxpayers’ money to fund their lavish lifestyles or barmy ideas. When women have struggled to gain the right to work, be educated, be financially independent and have self-worth, some women have decided to reduce themselves to sexual playthings.
Lately, Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was again in the spotlight, together with her husband for alleged misuse of public funds. Rosmah, members of her family and an entourage of over 200 people, ostensibly termed officials, combined an official trip with the wedding of Rosmah and Najib’s daughter.
Observers say that the same thing happened on an earlier trip to the USA when Rosmah and Najib used their official trip to attend their daughter’s graduation ceremony.
Perhaps it is not uncommon for those on business trips to combine their trip with a short holiday after they have conducted their official meetings.
However, the PM and his wife, appear to have several overseas trips per year and the frequency with which they break off from their official functions for private purposes is seen as corrupt, by the public.
It does not help when there is no transparency over these trips and the full and detailed costs are never divulged. What have they to hide if everything is above board?
Naturally they would be horrified to go on a privately funded leave and be asked to break off in the middle to attend to some official function somewhere. They would not hesitate to claim travel expenses and be compensated for the inconvenience.
Rosmah’s political ambition
Rosmah appears to have political ambitions with the way she is alleged to ‘intrude’ in the workings of various departments, the way she goes on overseas trips and represents the government of Malaysia, as on her recent trip to the Middle East and Bangladesh.
Few will forget how she seemed to take charge of the evacuation of the Malaysian students in Egypt during the recent uprising in the country.
Many will wonder about the cost of her treating the airlines as a personal taxi service. On an official trip to the Middle East she returned midway through, to attend the wedding of the Chief Minister of Sarawak, before resuming her middle-eastern tour.
Rosmah’s alleged lavish spending on these official trips is legendary and again, taxpayers must balk at how they have to foot the bill for her shopping sprees and the transportation of her gewgaws to Malaysia.
In the last week, Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen was alleged to have spent RM1.8 million to set up a Facebook page, which she has since denied and said instead that the money had been spent on a full social media branding campaign.
Yen Yen is not new to controversy either, for she is a politician who seems unable to shake off her image as a big-time spender. She chalked up a hefty travel bill of RM5 million in three months, ostensibly “promoting Malaysian tourism” by going on a worldwide overseas junket.
Yen Yen can’t have forgotten the humiliation in Parliament, last year, when she was called a “tourist minister” rather than the tourism minister.
Meanwhile, the formation of the Obedient Wives Club (OWC) whose vice-president Dr Rohaya Mohamad, drew condemnation from most sectors of the public except, of course, from the Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria,
Rohaya said that women should be “good wives” by acting like first-class prostitutes and please their husband. She also blamed women for men’s social ills.
She said, “If you look at the world today, women are already being treated as sex objects … in magazines, on TV … so why can’t they be sex objects to their husbands? It is legal and permitted by God.
“A good wife is a good sex worker to her husband. What is wrong with being a whore in bed for your husband?”
The noteworthy ones
Perhaps all is not lost because we still have two remarkable Malaysian women who lead the pack and have achieved international recognition.
There are other noteworthy Malaysian women of course, but Zainah Anwar and Marina Mahathir were earlier this year, included in the 100 most inspiring people compiled by a New York-based global advocacy group championing the rights of women and girls.
Why can’t we have more women like these, who are committed to social justice and human rights, rather than those who advance their own personal ambitions and are selfish and immature?
Mariam Mokhtar is a local political observer and an FMT columnist.
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