Najib: ‘When women succeed, we all succeed’

© Provided by The Malay Mail Online Datuk Seri Najib Razak (centre left), Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil attend the Asean Conference on Women in Politics in Kuala Lumpur, October 17…KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today preached the importance of women being treated as equals to men, and urged all fathers, husbands and sons here to make the necessary changes in their respective households.

Pledging to do his best to ensure women here are given the same opportunities as men, Najib said the move towards equality must begin at home.

“If we are serious about having more equal representations of women in our legislatures, indeed if we are serious about having a female prime minister of Malaysia one day, then the change must start at home with every father, husband and every son,” he said today at the launch of the Asean conference on women in politics at the Putra World Trade Centre here.

Citing a study by Oxford University, he said women are still responsible for the majority of childcare and household tasks in families where both adults are working.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) president also said women are roughly six times more likely than men to bear responsibility for the majority of household tasks and they are about 10 times more likely to be the primary childcare provider.

He said, however, that it is important for both men and women share responsibilities and tasks at home before equality can take place at work.

“Remember, when women succeed, we all succeed,” he added in his speech to more than 3,000 BN Wanita members and women politicians from the region.

Najib also said that Asean countries should model themselves after countries that were at any one point led by women, and added that it was crucial to focus on how to effectively and permanently address the disparity between men and women.

“Looking forward, we must create a level playing field where women have the same opportunities to succeed as their male counterparts.

“I believe my daughter or our daughters should have the same opportunities I was granted or that we were granted, and indeed my son or our son was granted.

“It is only when she and all of our daughters have the same opportunities that I will rest easy,” he vowed.