Don’t bring religious agenda into women’s rights, Maria Chin tells PAS

Maria Chin Abdullah says distribution of funds based on religious and ideological beliefs would set a dangerous trend.

KUALA LUMPUR: Government allocations of funds must not be predicated on religious or ideological lines, an MP said today.

Maria Chin Abdullah, in taking PAS MP Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff to task for reprimanding Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Hannah Yeoh for giving aid to Sisters in Islam (SIS), warned that if this happened, it would set a dangerous trend.

She said Siti Zailah’s recent remarks in the Dewan Rakyat over the allocation was “nothing more than an attempt by PAS to nudge the government towards selective and preferential distribution of funds based on religious and ideological beliefs”.

Maria, the Petaling Jaya MP, said: “This is a dangerous idea. Ministry funds must be non-partisan. SIS clearly fits the criteria set by the ministry which includes improving women’s welfare and advocating for human rights.”

Moreover, she said, SIS had checks and balances in its financial management that made it transparent and accountable.

“It is high time that PAS starts placing more importance on understanding the welfare work that SIS does and not demonise the organisation.

“SIS has been promoting equal rights in Malaysia for many years. Its free legal clinic, Telenisa, has helped over 8,400 people since 2003 from all over Malaysia, including those from Kelantan, in matters of Islamic family law and shariah criminal offences. This involves cases related to divorces, polygamy cases, child custody, and property.”

Maria said at least half of these women earned below RM2,500 each month and could not afford the legal fees necessary to navigate the complex shariah legal system that differed from state to state. Many Muslim women do not have adequate support when it comes to legal aid and the social prejudice they face further complicates the issue.

Last year, she said, Telenisa revealed that it handled 576 cases with 32.5% of them involving Muslim men failing to support their wives and children financially. Many Muslim women have also sought Telenisa’s legal advice over divorce, particularly the refusal of their husbands to grant them a divorce.

“Without organisations like SIS, these marginalised women might not be able to receive the support they need and will end up defenceless. PAS should realise that such attacks will only hurt those who have nowhere else to turn to.

“In the New Malaysia we should rise above differences and extend our humanity and compassion to those who need our assistance. We must not be blinded by our differences and instead protect and stand up for the marginalised, the infirmed, the poor, those with disabilities, discriminated, beaten and struggling,” Maria said.

Siti Zailah, the Rantau Panjang MP, had told Yeoh on March 28 that while she welcomed aid for women’s development, giving assistance to SIS could “confuse” Muslim women. She claimed that SIS’s activities were contrary to Islamic teachings.

She told Yeoh not to “go against the country’s constitution” and laws that see Islam as the national religion by helping SIS.

Yeoh told the Dewan Rakyat that the RM20,000 donated to SIS was from her own allocation as a deputy minister and not from the ministry’s funds and that the allocation was in support of SIS’s work in gathering data and statistics on Muslim women and in aiding Muslim women. - Mkini