YOU'RE BEHIND TIMES, Eli tells Najib: Step down as Women's minister!

It is hard to understand why Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would choose an occassion such as National Women's Day to insult Malaysian women and our efforts to achieve equality.

Najib, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, was quoted as saying there is "no need for a women's rights movement in Malaysia." According to him, equality has already been given from the start.

Najib further revealed just how out of touch he is with the lives ordinary Malaysians, especially women when he used the example of an elite golf club in the United States that restricts women membership. Women in Malaysia, he says, are free to join any club.

What he fails to understand is the struggle for gender equality is not about gaining admission to elite country clubs. Instead, generations of Malaysian women have been struggling to address the lack of women in decision-making positions, such as Parliament, State Assemblies, corporate boardrooms and the civil service.

We have been fighting to ensure women receive equal pay as our male counterparts. We have been demanding for women to be treated by society with respect and dignity.

In these areas, Malaysia remains very far behind the rest of the world. Despite making up half the population, less than 10% of Members of Parliament are women, while only a small fraction of candidates for public office are female. The recent spate of lenient sentences for those found guilty of statutory rape also served as a reminder how much further we still have to go in pursuit of justice for women in Malaysia.

Squeezing out women

To make matters worse, Najib's view on women's rights is apparent not only from his words, but also deeds. This can be seen in the continous
reduction in budget allocation given to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

In 2010, it received RM2.4 billion in budget allocation. The following year it was reduced to RM2 billion, before being slashed to RM1.9 billion in 2012. For 2013, the ministry will have to make do with even less: only RM1.8 billion has been allocated in the recently announced budget. One would think with Najib helming the ministry it would be given priority in terms of funding, but clearly the opposite has happened.

In stark contrast, Pakatan Rakyat allocated RM4.5 billion in its shadow budget, which will include a National Women's Contribution Fund and childcare allowance.

The Fund will operate as a social safety net for five million women homemakers, and cost RM3 billion a year to operate. In the event that they are widowed, disabled or divorced, they will be able to fall back on the fund for their needs.

Najib's statement today is a shameful step back in the movement towards gender equality and representation. However it has certainly made clear to the public that he does not regard women's rights as important. This is why he should not remain as Minister of Women, Family and Community Development.

YB ELIZABETH WONG is the Executive councillor, Selangor State Government