Pakatan pledges RM600 a year for housewives

The women's wings of Pakatan Rakyat parties today launched a 'Buku Jingga' for women, marking out the development agenda for women if the coalition takes over Putrajaya. 

Dubbed Agenda Wanita Malaysia (Malaysian Women's Agenda or AWM), the move is estimated to cost RM5 billion in infrastructure and other costs.

Notably, AWM promises RM50 a month for each housewife in what is called the Caruman Wanita Nasional (National Women Contributions) and compulsory contributions of RM10 to RM100 a month from husbands to wives for the purpose of savings.

"Pakatan Rakyat is introducing the National Women's Contributions to acknowledge the role of women in society.

"We see this aid as not something that is one-off but one that will be continuous and constructive," DAP Wanita chief Chong Eng (right) said.

In line with this, Pakatan also pledged to set up empowerment and support centres to provide training and other facilities for women. 

[More to follow]