At the Women’s Summit 2009, the guest of honour Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin participated in a dialogue session with the attendees for the first time in the history of the Summit.
The response was overwhelming. Women lined up to ask the DPM questions affecting them as women, the homemaker and career women. Due to the DPM’s tight schedule, only a dozen women managed to pose questions to the guest of honour. To ensure a smooth exchange of questions and answers session, the DPM took 3 questions at one go before responding.
View Gallery of the Dialogue session
Question 1 - Fiscal stimulus package and women
Sonia Ong put forward the first question on women’s participation in the labour force which has remained consistent between 44 and 47 percent in the last three decades which is well below the participation rate for men in the labour force which is between 80 and 86 percent. She wanted to know if the Government’s fiscal stimulus package would consider setting specific employment growth targets for women.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin replied that the main aim of the Stimulus Package is to mitigate the impact of global economic crisis on the domestic market. So far, RM67 million has been dispersed to all areas to provide jobs and to create opportunities for training. Though there are no specific programmes to address the unemployment of women in the market, he added there are specific incentives and grants dispersed to companies so that they do not retrench and retain their staff.
Under the Stimulus Package, there are no specific targets on how to push women into the job market. However, the package has provision for targets that are broad based. The Government is keen to put in more effort to train women to become entrepreneurs. Funds have been put aside for this purpose by providing women with seed money and to develop more female entrepreneurs for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Question 2 – Discrimination and unemployment of women over 40
The next question focused on the high unemployment rate among women above 40 and how the Government can create jobs for this group of women as they can still contribute in terms of their skills.
The DPM noted it merits a serious look on how to deal with this issue. He noted the agro-based industry provides many opportunities and funds are still available, therefore, he strongly encouraged the women to grab opportunities in this sector.
Question 3 – Support for the tourism industry
The next question came from Ms Jenny Shabuddin, who is a long-time player in the tourism industry having been in the business since 1962. She said that the economic crisis has affected all industries, including the tourism sector, in the country. She acknowledged that manufacturing has always been the No.1 earner for Malaysia, with tourism bringing in the ringgit in second position. However, she wanted to know why manufacturers are able to have their expenses related to promoting their products overseas reimbursed through Matrade while the tourism players’ do not have the same privilege.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin acknowledged the present state of the economy especially in critical sectors requires immediate attention as foreign investment in the manufacturing sector is not even half the amount for the same period as in 2008. Therefore, the Government is pushing other industries such as tourism to bring in the ringgit and develop the service sectors. This can either be done through MITI or Matrade. He added he would require both agencies to review their policies so that either agency will undertake to bear some costs incurred by the players in the tourism and service sectors. He concluded by saying he hopes to see changes made so that “tourism can be accorded the same treatment.”
Question 4 – Women in the ICT sector
Heng who comes from the Information & Communications Technologies (ICT) sector wanted to know if there is an overall plan to assist women in ICT and how all the women can work together to bring about the benefits to all in the industry.
The DPM noted that as the traditional ringgit earner such as manufacturing has taken a beating, it is time to bring forth industries like ICT and green technology as the way forward to develop the economy. He added these industries are the fertile ground for creativity and innovations to develop. In particular, there will be a special conference on Green Technology to be held later this year.
Another sector that is getting a lot of attention from the Government is renewable energy. New policies are being put into place to develop this service sector. The Mid-term Review is being done now and the DPM said a rolling budget is being developed to provide funding for the areas of leadership and development.
Question 5 – Opportunities for women in Greenfield sectors
The next question was from Ms Yin Sin who wanted to know what opportunities are available for women in greenfield sectors. In preparation for future development, the DPM said he would like to see more representation of women in the industry as women are equally capable and qualified or able to fill the positions.
Question 6 – Diversification of GLC Board rooms
Another question from the floor referred to why board rooms in Malaysian GLCs are full of men and when the Government will be more pro-active about requiring having women represented on these boards. The DPM commented that the low representation of women in top positions and on the board of GLCs could be due to weaknesses in recruitment and implementation. He further suggested that putting in more MPs may be the way to go, although there are more considerations to look into as in any election, the Government need to choose a candidate that can win the vote. As for getting more women in the boardrooms, women have to be qualified and earn the positions based on merit.
With regards to enforcing the policy, the DPM wondered aloud as to how it can be enforced, not only at the Government agencies level but in the private sector as well. Perhaps it needs to be discussed at the cabinet level, he added.
Question 7 – Cost of hiring domenstic workers
A woman in the audience wanted to know why it is so costly to hire Indonesian maids to help with caring the family while Malaysian women work.
The DPM who sits on the cabinet committee on foreign workers said one of the reasons is the many reviews on charges. He added these charges could be manipulations by agencies and that the Government need to look into the cost of bringing in these maids. A meeting between the Home Affairs Ministry and its counterparts in Indonesia was initiated and intent for discussion was sent but our Ministry has yet to receive any response from the Indonesian officials.
On the high cost of maids, the DPM believed that many Malaysians find the cost high because the maids that are brought into Malaysia do not meet the expectations. He said the agents must bring in the right maids and they must be well-trained. Most complaints that the Government receives are about maids who are not properly trained. Therefore, if the maids are well-trained and are doing what is expected of them, the complaints would not arise.
Question 8 – Malaysian women in distress in Taiwan
One of the attendees asked if the Malaysian Government can do more to help Malaysian women who are being sexually abused by their spouses in Taiwan. She said right now these women have no recourse and no one to turn to as there is no Malaysian Embassy in Taiwan.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin explained that the matter was a complex one as officially Malaysia does not adopt the two China policy and recognises only mainland China. Therefore, Malaysia only has trade and friendship agencies in Taiwan to help Malaysians living in Taiwan in a less formal manner.
Question 9 – Equal opportunities for transgender Malaysians
Another member of the floor wanted to know how the Government can help the marginalised group, specifically the transgender, get more jobs.
On this question, the DPM said that he lacked exposure to this group of women but stated that under the Constitution, the Malaysian Government does not discriminate against any race or gender. Therefore, these women should have access to job opportunities like the other women.
Question 10 – Requiring more women directors in GLCs
Moving back to a discussion of women in the board room, another participant wanted to know why board rooms in GLCs are dominated by men. She asked when the Government was prepared to put more women into the board rooms.
According to Tan Sri, he was not sure what the basis of selection of board members was, that is, how one gets selected. He added that CEOs and other important personalities within the GLCs would make the recommendations for the selection of new board members. Currently, women only make up 12 % of top positions in GLCs, hence, the DPM believed the Government can use GLCs as the means to facilitate the Government’s policy of putting 30% women into decision making positions and the board rooms.
On the private sector front, he suggested that Dato’ Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil can make recommendations to smooth the way for women to sit on boards of directors. However, he added women themselves must strive to earn these top positions based on merits, capabilities and ability.
Question 11 – Permitting women to work after the age of 50
Next, a woman wanted to know if the Government can change the ruling on the retirement age in the private sector. Men now retire at age 55 but women are expected to stop work at 50. She added at that age, women can still contribute and for them to retire at 50, it poses a difficult situation as it is hard for them to get another job but too early to stop working. At this age, families have financial pressures arising from funding the education of their children, thus women over 50 still need to contribute financially.
The DPM expressed surprised that while the Government has extended the retirement age to 58 in the public sector, the private sector has not followed suit. He was not sure why private corporations still limit the retirement age for women at 50 and for men at 55 because if one were to look at other economies, many governments have extended retirement age to tap into the vast knowledge and experience this group of employees have garnered. He said the Government needs to take a look into the low more seriously to retain these talents.
On the question of his view of introducing legislation to put more women in GLCs, Tan Sri said there are policies being put into place to encourage more GLCs to employ women. However, he said there is a need to change the mindset of CEOs and shareholders on hiring women. Women need to prove they are capable and ascend to top decision making positions based on their own merits. He was not sure if instituting laws to employ more women would be the way to move forward and this move needs further study by the Government. A better way is to use companies with women in leadership positions as the model and to show other companies that women can serve as well as men. Therefore, there is no reason why women should not be hired.
On that note, Tan Sri Muhyiddin had to end the dialogue session and leave for his next engagement. Though there were more women who wanted to pose questions to him, the floor had to be contented with the ones asked and answered. On the whole, the participants were happy to be able to “speak to the DPM directly” for the first time at The Women’s Summit 2009.