Rosmah gets AiyohWhatLah! award for her ‘secret weapon’

Get ready to clutch your forehead in despair as AiyohWhatLah! spoof award winners get crowned

IPOH: AiyoWhatLah!?

Yes, that’s right — the winners of the annual thumbs-down awards have been announced and honoured for their stupendously eyebrow-raising statements promoting sexism, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia.

Without wanting to give too much away, the Least Helpful to the Sisterhood award went to a certain woman famously identified by her lavish, luscious hairstyle.

The awards ceremony was held at Sarang Paloh, Ipoh, Perak and hosted by the irrepressible Ribena Berry, played by the incomparable Jo Kukathas.

Guests and members of the public turned up to show their support and enthusiasm to cheer on the most ‘deserving’ winners of this year’s AiyohWatLah! Awards show.

More than 1,300 people, both locally and internationally, voted to choose the winning public statements, actions and policies in the various awards categories developed by JAG.

Without further delay, here are the winners of the Fourth AiyoWhatlah Awards:

Least Helpful to the Sisterhood: Who would have guessed? Rosmah Mansor took the limelight with her statement that women should not ask for so much from men, but should instead persuade them with their ‘secret weapon’.

This statement was made during the opening of the Legal Advisory and Women’s Aid Centre (LAWA).

Foot in Mouth: The award went to Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar who, in response to the report that statutory rape figures are higher in the Malay community, said, “Most Malays are sensitive to [the rape of] teenage girls..Non-Malays are probably less sensitive towards this.”

Insulting Intelligence: Winning by the tip of his nose is Ampang Umno Chief, Ismail Kijo, for the statement that same-sex marriage, particularly among lesbians, threatens mothers-in-law because their daughter’s partners, may have — wait for it — bigger breasts than them! (Exclamation point inserted by FMT).

Close on his heels is an Utusan Malaysia article claiming that if more LGBT persons attended political protests, it would lead to nude parades and kissing by same-sex couples in front of Dataran Merdeka.

Policy Fail: Kelantan State Government, you have been crowned. The PAS-led state banned male spectators at netball tournaments, and enforced strict dress codes for female players regardless of religion.

Cannot Ignore: Put the laughs away for this one, which goes to the Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM), for the ill-treatment of a child victim of the largest gang rape recorded in Malaysia, by remanding and handcuffing the 17 year-old victim and treating her as an accomplice, instead of supporting her after the trauma.

Enough Already: Voters have had enough of repeated acts of discrimination and violence against women in politics. As a woman in Malaysian politics, among others, you may be ridiculed on the basis of your biological functions, find fake photos of yourself circulated, insulted on the length of your skirt, or told that you should not be a leader in order to preserve your purity and honour.

And finally, on a much-awaited happier note, is the Right on Track award, which went to the landmark Court of Appeal judgment declaring Section 66 of the Syariah Criminal (Negeri Sembilan) Enactment 1992 unconstitutional.

The section penalises Muslim men who dress or pose as women in public places, and has a disproportionate impact on transgender women.

According to Justice Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yusuf, “Section 66 directly affects their [transgender women] right to live with dignity as guaranteed under the Federal Constitution by depriving them of their value and worth as members of our society.”

Organised by the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), the AiyohWatLah! Awards aims to encourage higher standards of behaviour from public figures and institutions.