Women as born leaders

 

Women have been leaders in our country long before independence and continue to play important leadership roles in our society today. This is particularly important to note because leadership has not always been easy for women in Malaysia. Every woman in a leadership role has had, at some point, her leadership position and qualities questioned.

The latest to cast this shadow of doubt over women’s leadership is Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s daughter Nurulhidayah. In her latest flippant statement, she said that women are not born leaders – a remark that is a disgrace and a disservice to the fundamental leadership roles that women continue to play.

Again, women find themselves having to justify that yes, we are qualified; yes, we are capable and yes, we do want to be leaders.

It is not enough that we need to justify ourselves against men who look down on the leadership qualities of women. We also need to deal with women who disregard the achievements of other women and drag other women down like this.

Within our education system today, girls are now scoring better than boys in both primary and secondary national examinations. At the undergraduate level, the number of women graduates now exceeds that of men. Women are now at the helm of various boards and executive leadership in corporate Malaysia.

And yet, it is mindsets like Nurulhidayah’s that stand in the way of having more women leaders in the government. For years, women have been calling for at least 30 percent representation in the cabinet, and no government has been able to come close to delivering on this aspiration.

In the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, women frontliners far exceed the number of men. This includes women who work tirelessly and below minimum wage to ensure that conditions are hygienic to promote recovery and prevent the spread of the virus on private and public premises.

And yet, it is a man, surrounded by other men, who made daily announcements of the conditions on the ground.

Doubting women’s leadership capabilities is perhaps most offensive for women who find themselves with little choice but to take up the title.

Let us not forget the episode during the pandemic when we, as a nation, had to define for ourselves who a ‘head of household’ is and if gender was a factor in determining this.

Women can be and, in so many circumstances, are heads of households and heads of families. Single mothers who raise whole families on their own are the epitome of women’s leadership.

Warrior queen

Perhaps Nurulhidayah was referring to women at the very top of a leadership position. In that case, she would be well reminded of the story of Cik Siti Wan Kembang.

The story of Cik Siti Wan Kembang is one of the great prevailing narratives in Malaysian history. She ruled as a benevolent single queen over the east coast of the Malayan peninsula from 1610 to 1667.

A descendant of Kelantanese, Champa and Patani royalty, Queen Cik Siti Wan Kembang is famously known to have engaged in wars on horseback while wielding a sword. She was also accompanied by a ferocious army of women horse-riders and warriors.

Yes, move aside warrior princess, Malaysia had its own warrior queen.

Nurulhidayah herself may not have leadership aspirations, but she should not stand in the way of other women with such an ambition. Saying that women are not born leaders sends a negative message, especially to young girls who may have dreams of someday growing into a position of leadership.

Importantly, it also sends a dangerous message to men and boys who already disregard the capabilities of women and girls as it is. - Mkini

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MAJIDAH HASHIM is a human rights defender. She can be reached via Twitter at @majidahhashim.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.