Between Rafidah & Shahrizat, Umno women LOSE OUT THE MOST

When I was a fresh reporter, I shuddered at the thought of having to cover the events attended by the then trade and industry minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.

Rafidah was a woman of exceptional capabilities and photographic memory. She had all the external trade numbers and foreign investment data at her fingertips, and always kept abreast of the latest developments in the world.

She spoke fast and straight to the point, eliciting an impression of a truly powerful woman.

Her speeches in English were drafted by herself and the messages she delivered were genuinely her own.

She also demanded a lot from the reporters. As a result, reporters had to do plenty of homework before meeting her, as a stupid question could only invite a merciless reprimand from the minister.

However, after some time I managed to see the positive side of her. She spoke and did things in a straightforward and unpretentious manner.

She hated bureaucracy and wanted government officials to cut unnecessary red tape to facilitate investments.

She also abhorred insincere and time-consuming formal salutations. Her work efficiency and linguistic competency were superlative, and it wouldn't take much effort for her to get potential investors into putting their money in this country.

This probably explained why she was handed the international trade and industry portfolio for so many years.

On a male-dominated platform, she easily shamed many of her male contemporaries in competence, efficiency, eloquence, responsiveness and speed, and that's how she earned the nickname "Iron Lady of Malaysia".

Rafidah was also the Wanita Umno chief. Undeniably many Malay women still belong in the underprivileged segment of society today.

So, when she was addressing issues as the Wanita Umno chief, she would fight for the well-being of Malay women in the country, and tried to draw attention of party leadership and government to their problems in a bid to improve their economic status.

She wanted businesses and investors to mark up their competitiveness and reduce their dependence on government incentives. During Umno assemblies, she urged the women
specifically to stand on their own feet instead of perpetually looking for government handouts.

Perhaps she had been in office for too long and had grown too powerful, the issue of power abuse began to plague her, and she started to see her once invincible stature shaken.

Then there was Shahrizat

In the 2009 Umno elections, she lost to challenger Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, and this spelled an end to the 21-year-old Rafidah era.

Seen as a refreshing new voice in Umno, her successor Shahrizat's reputation lasted not more than two years before the National Feedlot Corporation scandal came into public limelight. Shahrizat became the uncompromising target of opposition parties.

To save her political future as the general elections were drawing near, Shahrizat lost the ministerial post upon expiry of her senatorship but still kept her Wanita post.

The scandal-hit Shahrizat overhauled her erstwhile meek image to become an incredibly tough woman. Even though she did not have the aura of a Cabinet post, she vowed to stage a determined comeback with three-million strong Wanita Umno members as solid backing.

She took on the image of a "victim" in last year's Umno general assembly to successfully steer the emotions of the Wanita delegates as they hit out at the opposition in unanimity.

In this year's party elections, she was re-elected the Wanita chief, showing that she indeed had remarkable grassroots support.

The biggest difference between Shahrizat and Rafidah is that the former banked on the "weak" posture of Wanita Umno to win sympathy votes instead of urging Malaysian women to upgrade themselves and stand on their own feet.

She knew how to please the women delegates, and has asked the party president to set aside a vice-president post for the women's wing besides getting the government to set up a bank for women, reserve more senior positions for women in GLCs and field more female candidates in elections.

She openly warned young and good-looking Puteri Umno members not to override the status of Wanita Umno, and said without the Wanita, Umno would not have existed to this day. She also warned party leaders not to overlook the pivotal role played by the wing during general election.

Although Shahrizat's self-humbling posture has embarrassed many women in this country, she nevertheless enjoyed great popularity in Wanita Umno.

All that I can say is that no matter how tough Rafidah was, she still failed to check the advances of the younger woman. – mysinchew.com