Malaysian Mirror, Honeymah Dylyani
Wednesday, 19 August 2009 16:07
KUALA LUMPUR – Women are no strangers to adversity. They are naturally resilient and will eventually bounce back, get up and get going in the worst of circumstances. These were the inspirational and encouraging words from Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, when she addressed over 1,000 participants at the Women’s Summit 2009 here on Tuesday.
She said the history of the world is littered with stories of women who have been knocked down in more ways than one but have got back up to fight for what they believed in.
Gutsy women who inspire others
Shahrizat cited the examples of two women who had made an impact in Malaysia with their gutsy pursuit of their dreams despite the many obstacles in their path.
One of them is ex-journalist Diana Rose, who rallied the people of Mukah in Sarawak to build a RM500,000 traditional Melanau tall house in a cooperative venture, as part of her grand design to preserve and promote Melanau arts and culture.
The other is Chong Sheau Ching who, despite being abandoned by her husband, founded e-Homemakers, a community of tele-workers, homemakers and home-workers which has helped countless mothers trapped between the need to work and the need to look after their children.
Shahrizat said they were women with an inspiring, unbreakable, positive spirit, who see a world ripe with possibilities.
Role in nation-building
She said the women of Malaysia can play an effective role in nation-building, particularly during difficult times such as what the country was currently going through.
The summit, themed Opportunities in Adversity, discussed the obstacles faced by women at the workplace and how they can rise to these challenges and rebound from the difficulties that threaten their well-being and quality of life.
Shahrizat presented four major areas of adversity facing Malaysian women today. They are: the repercussions of the recession; work-life balance; the gender gap, and violence against women.
Repercussion of the recession
Shahrizat said when women lose their jobs; the repercussions are felt by a large number of people, particularly their children. The situation is worse when they are from poor families.
As of March 3, this year, out of more than 19,200 local workers who were retrenched, 50.7% (or more than 9,700 workers) were women. This is despite 36% of the labour force in the country being female workers.
Shahrizat said since female workers are mainly placed in export-oriented industries such as clothing, textiles and electronics, they are hardest hit when export markets collapse.
She said during the last economic crisis, the nation saw how important it was to upgrade the skills of women and the Government initiated programmes to train and re-train retrenched workers to cushion the effects of the recession.
This helped low-skilled women to retain their jobs and improve their promotion prospects.
Furthermore, the recent stimulus packages will also see her ministry spending more on health and education, thus, benefiting women.
Work-life balance
Shahrizar said women choose not to work when conditions make paid employment unfeasible or costly, e.g. when there is no childcare available or when it becomes unaffordable.
“This is also the reason why women are less likely to opt for high profile positions in an organization or get well-paid jobs. The requirements of a career in those jobs are formulated in a way that makes it impossible to balance work and family obligations.”
She said that the time has come for Malaysians to change their mindset and promote shared family responsibility between the husband and wife.
The gender gap
Shahrizat said while Malaysian women have progressed remarkably, the Gender Gap Index, started in 2007, showed that women are still under-represented at the higher levels of corporate and political life.
“So, although girls are outperforming boys in our schools and universities, this has not led to equally significant increases in women’s participation in the workforce and in decision-making positions,” she said.
In the 2008 Global Gender Gap Report, Malaysia slipped four rungs down to 96th place from the position of the previous year.
Violence against women
Shahrizat said in Malaysia women face violence at their own homes as well as on the streets and at the workplace.
“Since women are the primary caregivers in many families, any threat to their safety and well-being, affects the well-being of their children.
“A woman who us abused at home suffers not only physically and emotionally, but also faces economic insecurity and would have less control over important decisions for her children’s health, nutrition, education and well-being.
“In addition, her children can be psychologically and emotionally damaged. This can have serious repercussions, often leading to substance abuse, juvenile pregnancy and even criminal behaviour in later life.
“And often, children who grow up with violence in the home learn to use violence in their interpersonal relationships to dominate others,” she said.
She added that boys who see their mothers being abused are more likely to grow up and abuse their wives.
“There can be no real peace in our country, until our women can go about their business without being robbed, and girls can get to and from school without being raped; and until wives and mothers and daughters can feel safe in their own homes. “
Serious about upgrading lives
Speaking at a press conference after the summit, Shahrizat said: “We will fail as a government if we only know how to criticise but do not know how to take care of the well-being of our citizens”
“We, at the ministry, are serious in upgrading the lives of Malaysian citizens especially, women. We want to see more women entrepreneurs, women politicians and, of course, more women in top posts in both the public and private sectors,” she said.