Gender-based quotas are an insult to Malaysian women

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak recently proposed a 30 percent quota for women representatives in Parliament.

“More women participating in politics would better reflect the electorate and make the political process more inclusive, hence strengthening democracy,” he said.

Najib also added that all boards of directors of government-linked companies, government-linked investment companies and statutory bodies should comprise 30 percent women by the end of 2018.

While Malaysia is proposing the 30 percent quota, many countries around the world have already introduced a gender-based quota system, such as Norway, Iceland, Germany, France, Uganda, Libya and India.

But do they work? Are they really democratic? And are they effective?

If the goal of such a proposal is to bring more women into governance and the top ranks of business, they may work in achieving just that. But how do we guarantee the meaningful and effective participation of these women?

Yes, quotas allow women’s voices to be heard where they are otherwise excluded. On this hope many women welcome such gender-based quota systems – because they believe that getting more women into government will result in more women-sensitive laws and policies.

But the question is, do these women representatives make enough effort to champion the women’s agenda and have their voices heard?

A quick check on Wikipedia shows that since 1957, the Malaysian cabinet has had 11 female ministers, 25 female deputy ministers and 14 female parliamentary secretaries assisting ministers.

Yet, today we still see more Muslim women victimised in the never-ending divorce sagas; non-Muslim women losing their children to their Muslim ex-spouses; polygamists celebrated, circumcision performed on female babies born to Muslim couples; young girls married to their rapists; and child marriages.

And to top it all, our current women, family and community development minister is a woman who has no qualms about 12-year-olds marrying their middle-aged rapists and dropping out of school.

Honestly, has the performance of women representatives in our cabinet given any hint that they will champion the women’s agenda?

Or have we forgotten that some insensitive statements about rape and rape victims have come from these women themselves?

If you ask me, any qualified man would do a better job championing the women’s agenda if he is a good leader, compared to these half-baked women representatives.

So do we need a 30 percent allocation for women who can’t even do their jobs?

As a woman, I’d tell Najib, thank you but no thank you.

In his statement, Najib also spoke of Wanita Umno as the backbone of his party, hence he seemed supportive of increasing women’s involvement in politics. But if his statement was genuine, may I ask why then is there no path for a representative from the women’s wing to lead the party?

What is the point of proposing a 30 percent quota system for women in politics if all they are doing is strengthening the grassroots and being benchwarmers, instead of actually being given an equal opportunity to lead, if and when they prove to be better leaders?

Sounds hypocritical, doesn’t it?

A degrading proposal

The truth is, many women of high calibre do not want to be given opportunities just because of their gender. And women who welcome such opportunities are mostly those who do not deserve it.

I feel the 30 percent quota system proposal should be an insult to Malaysian women. I for one do feel tremendously degraded by the mere notion of the proposal.

Introducing quotas, to be frank, conflicts with democracy, equality and fairness, for no one should be treated special because of their gender - what more when other more qualified candidates are pushed aside to make room for them.

If we look from a holistic point of view, to compete as a nation we need to appoint top talent for top jobs. However, this is less likely to happen when a mediocre woman is put in charge just because of her gender. In other words, appointing someone who is not the best person for the job is why progress becomes slow.

Is this what we want for Malaysia?

If you still believe that the quota system is the way to go, should we not also apply the same system to industries concentrating more on women participation such as teaching, nursing and domestic helpers? Why not impose a quota, say 30 percent to ensure teachers, nurses and domestic helpers are men?

What about the industries concentrating more on men’s participation such as hard labour and construction? Why not impose a 30 percent quota to ensure labourers and construction workers are women?

If the quota system can truly get rid of gender discrimination and inequality, why cherry-pick only a certain platform to implement it?

I will tell you why – because we need qualified and skilled individuals who are the best candidate for a job, regardless of gender.

So why does it need to be any different for politics and top management?

Quotas not a form of empowerment

On top of that, the very concept of women being allocated a 30 percent reservation to combat gender discrimination defeats its intended purpose.

Let me explain.

1. 30 percent allocation to women and 70 percent to men promotes inequality.

2. 30 percent allocation to women and 70 percent to men and women also promotes inequality.

For example, if 30 percent of a parking lot is reserved for ladies’ parking and the remaining 70 percent is open for men’s parking, the 30:70 distribution doesn't seem fair to women.

On the other hand, if the 70 percent is open for both men and women to park their vehicles, it isn't fair to men - because technically women can end up enjoying more parking bays compared to men.

So claiming that a 30 percent reservation for women can help in fighting against gender discrimination is technically wrong, because what it really does is promote discrimination.

If the government thinks a quota-based system can overcome inequality and gender discrimination, they are so wrong.

We need to empower women and give them equal opportunity to develop and accomplish things, but this should be based on merit, not gender.

Awarding quotas to women should never be confused with women empowerment. Instead of reserving quotas for women to be more actively involved in politics and top management, why not empower them with good education, training and human development so they can climb the ladder of success by themselves?

After all, if Rafidah Aziz could stay as a member of Parliament for 27 years (1986 to 2013) and remain as the minister of international trade and industry for 21 years (1987 to 2008), while Zeti Akhtar Aziz could become the first governor of Bank Negara Malaysia and hold the post for 16 years (2000 to 2016), all of their own accord, and without any quota system – why are Malaysian women being described as discriminated, weak and fragile, and in need of quotas on a silver platter?

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FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a growing media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a regular director, a struggling producer, a self-acclaimed photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot.- Mkini