Must MCA women under the leadership of men remain silent?

I don’t know Kian Sit Har personally but I’ve met her once.

Several years ago, I attended a talk teaching women how to defend themselves against robbers. After a demonstration was conducted by Kian the speaker, she asked the audience to form groups of two and practice the moves in pairs.

Coincidentally, Kian was standing next to me. Noticing that I was merely looking at them and didn’t join the practice session myself, she invited me to practice with her. Failing to recognize who she was at that time, I thought she was just another regular aunty and almost accidentally injured her “amid chaos” in the practice.

My brief encounter with the “aunty” brimming with enthusiasm left a lasting impression on me. When I read a copy of newspaper after the talk, I was surprised to find that she is actually the Malacca Wanita MCA chief. I also got to know that she was a cancer warrior after coming across an interview with her.

I can’t really say that I know her after such a brief encounter but a straw does show which way the wind blows. Coupled with the way she carried herself, I guess perhaps she is a nonchalant politician who cares about women’s rights.

After her statement “opposing the view of wife servicing husband” cooked up a storm, Kian admitted that she was caught in the middle when interviewed by the press. At one end, she was challenged by the Malacca DAP to make a stand on this issue while on the other hand, she couldn’t underestimate the influence of Betty Chew.

Political considerations

In view of this, Kian’s statement had seemingly been made out of political considerations.

By not looking at this matter from a political point of view, how did the “wife servicing husband theory” eventually escalate into a controversy? Some saw it as a harmless statement but many argued that the claim was highly disrespectful to women.

Chua Soi Lek first came out with the “wife servicing husband theory” in a bid to attack his political rival but the statement was certainly not unintentionally made. However, little did he expect that he would be criticized by his own people and that the focus on the original topic would be obscured. He was surely unhappy about that.

In fact, how the issue was viewed depended on each individual. However, the protest against the statement indicated that many people, especially women, felt the words had been inappropriately used.

A man's world

Malaysian politics is generally being spearheaded by men. However, men have always been not attentive enough. They say what should be said and even mention somethings that should not be mentioned. Sometimes, they say things that do not reflect their thoughts deep inside. In other words, they may appear completely insensitive when it comes to gender relations.

In all fairness to Kian, whether her statement was political motivated or being made out of sincerity to protect the dignity of women, it nonetheless did more good than harm to MCA. At least, Wanita MCA had created a good impression and MCA would not lose too great a number of women supporters.

If MCA takes the opportunity to leave Kian in the cold because of this issue, one couldn’t help but think that factionalism is rife in MCA. It also makes us ponder whether women under the leadership of men are not entitled any rights to speak up.

- MySinchew