‘Women on track to attain gender equality’
MIRI: Women are on their way to attaining gender equality as some universities in Malaysia have more female students than male.
Besides that, various factors have made it possible for them to gain gender equality in the country despite some hurdles, observed Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
“Our government’s policy of providing access to education to all, irrespective of gender, whether they are rich or poor, or in the rural or urban areas, determination and hard work by women and support from parents and the public have enabled women to have equal opportunities for education,” she said.
“In some universities, the women-to-men ratio is 60: 40. This will enable us to narrow the gender disparity gap,” she told The Borneo Post.
Our government’s policy of providing access to education to all, irrespective of gender .... have enabled women to have equal opportunities for education.
She was commenting on the statement by former minister of International Trade and Industries Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz that gender equality goes well beyond mere numbers in terms of opportunities for women to advance in their careers.
“And any quota that is less than 50: 50 between women and men cannot be considered fair,” she said at a luncheon talk titled: “What gender equality?” organised by the English Speaking Union of Malaysia at the Royal Selangor Golf Club on Aug 15.
Fatimah, who is also Dalat assemblyman and a former teacher, pointed out that setting the target from 30 to 50 per cent is realistic due to the uneven playing field presently.
She said both men and women have their strengths and weaknesses and God has made them with such characteristics to complement one another.
“There are attributes of women which can make them an asset to the organisation they work for, such as attention to details, ability to humanise services and empathise with clients,” she pointed out.
She is all for women to be given opportunities to participate actively in nation building.
“The glass ceiling is still there on promotion to higher grade, be it in public or private sector, but we cannot deny that the situation is much better now,” she said.
Fatimah acknowledged that there are men who are not gendersensitive and able to appreciate the merits of women by having
Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development
them on senior management board, creating opportunities for promotion.
Rafidah had said women should not be regarded as mere ‘quota fillers’ just because of their gender, but more importantly, they should be selected because they were equally or better qualified.