‘Purple Walk event reflects women’s concerns about national issues’
KUCHING: The ‘Purple Walk by Women of Malaysia Against Toxic Politics’ run by the civil societies in Kuala Lumpur yesterday was held to send a message to the ruling government that the nation could not move forward with the existing state of affairs, which is eroding the foundation of the nation and affecting future generations, said Parti Keadilan Rakyat ( PKR) Women national vice-president Voon Shiak Ni.
In noting that the politics of the county had been affecting women in every aspect of their lives – from her own well-being to that of their families – Voon said the crux of the message is to protest against toxic politics; one that does not help in uplifting the community, resulting in the nation not being able to move forward.
“For example, the controversial laws against terrorism, the Security Offences ( Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) was blatantly abused and it was used as a threat against civil rights activists such as the detention of Bersih 2.0 chairwoman Maria Chin Abdullah for 28 days without trial.
“Why do we need to resort to draconian laws to investigate a matter on a civil rights activist when she is not a terrorist? She was made to suffer and endure 28 days in a cell, sleeping on the cement floor,” she said in a press statement yesterday.
Besides that, Voon said the Purple Walk was also held to protest against lawmakers in Parliament who had resorted to sexist statements against their fellow women lawmakers in an attempt to interrupt the debate going on.
“The spate of sexist statements against women lawmakers has been going on and yet, we do not see any concrete action taken by the government to stop the uncivilised behaviour of these male MPs, who are all from the BN ( Barisan Nasional) bench.”
Additionally, Voon said the financial wastage and leakages are also a big problem in the country but the ruling government has allowed it to continue without much improvement as evidenced in the Auditor- General’s (AG) Report every year.
“In a nutshell, many things are just not right in this country. That is why the people have decided to take to the streets to protest.”
Voon said she took part in the Purple Walk to voice out her concern that the nation is in dire need for change to move forward.
“We are not moving forward now, are we? The people are not getting any richer each day but most of us feel that our cost of living is escalating and it is hard to make ends meet.
“The price of food is soaring high and families are unable to have savings for emergencies and higher education for the children. Our young cannot afford to buy their first house because prices have doubled or tripled over those 10 years ago.”
In citing a 2015 Bank Negara Malaysia survey on financial literacy, which showed that three out of four Malaysians found it difficult to raise even RM1,000 for an emergency, Voon said the main factor behind why Malaysians are unable to have much savings is the rising cost of living expenses.