‘High time a woman helms the state’
KUCHING: The time has come for Sarawak to lead the change in the country by nominating a woman to helm the state, says PKR women national vice president Voon Shiak Ni.
She believed women were equally capable as their men counterpart in both politics and public life, but the only thing that held them back was the lack of chance and opportunity.
“If Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem can pave the way for a woman to become chief minister, I think it will be something historical and it means a lot to the women folk. It has to start somewhere,” she told a press conference here yesterday.
Voon said meritocracy was often used as a rhetoric and an excuse to answer why women participation in decision- making level was still at about 10 per cent until now.
“It is not about meritocracy because we have many capable women around. If we talk about meritocracy and commitment, I can say that Minister of Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah is one of the best and qualified to be nominated to be at least a deputy chief minister if not chief minister.”
Looking at the present state cabinet lineup, she said only one out of 10 full ministers was a woman, which she said fell far short of the target of 30 per cent women in the decision-making process.
“Is our Sarawak government making an earnest effort in pushing for the minimum participation of 30 per cent women in decision-making positions and also in the legislature?”
She said during the last state election, BN women candidates only made up six per cent, as only five out of 82 seats were contested by women. She was also surprised that SUPP had no women candidate contesting in the last state election.
Voon said gender discrimination was still prevalent in society and women were not given the priority to be groomed ‘to go to the top’.
She also noted that the representation of women in Parliament and the State Legislative Assembly was also very low at only 10.8 per and 11.5 per cent respectively, adding that in local councils like Padawan Municipal Council and Kuching South City Council, women councillors barely reached 20 per cent.
Voon reminded the government that Malaysia was legally obligated to realise the 30 per cent woman participation in decisionmaking a reality as it was a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) apart from the Federal Constitution prohibiting gender discrimination.
“Malaysia has a duty to see this mission is accomplished - to have more women in the policy-making level, and not only at the (election) candidacy level. We have to be reminded that about 50 per cent of the world population is made up of women. I think women make up more than 50 per cent of the population in Malaysia.
“Their participation, interests and views are very important and has to be taken into serious account in formulating policies,” she said.