Deputy Women and Family Development Minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff has apparently closed down her Twitter account after sparking an uproar over a tweet she had made on Covid-19.
The post had read: “The likelihood of dying from the Coronavirus is only 1%, while the possibility of dying at any moment is 100%.
This comes just days after the deputy minister said in an interview with Sinar Harian that flight attendants should wear shariah-compliant uniforms.
Her comments drew the ire of the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia, which questioned her priorities in bringing up the question at a time when airline staff face possible job cuts in addition to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Meanwhile, women’s rights groups have expressed their concerns over the appointment of Datuk Seri Rina Harun and Siti Zailah as the new minister and deputy minister of women, family and community development mainly because their track record does not inspire confidence.
Veteran social activist Ho Yock Lin said: “Given their track record (Rina as Bersatu Women’s Wing and Siti Jailah as Wanita PAS chief), they have not really been advocating gender rights, it is only natural that the public raises these kinds of reservations.”
Critics had previously pointed out that Rina did not contribute much when she was the Rural Development minister during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.
Meanwhile, Siti Zailah was criticised for her infamous statement in 2013, where she had suggested a female dress code to prevent indecent dressing in public. She reportedly said such a move would also curb rising levels of sex crimes and prevent sexual harassment.
“To be honest, we are not confident at all (with their appointments). Just go and check out the past track record of the PAS representative, what’s her ‘style’.
“She was the one who said that women were asking for sexual harassment because of the way they dress. But it has been proven that even with women dressed in tudung or headscarf, they still experience sexual harassment,” said Ho who is AWAM’s (All Women’s Action Society Malaysia) former president.
“The women representation (in the Cabinet) are conservative, not progressive, not people-centric, not gender-sensitive…this is not the kind of women representative we want to have in the government.
“If we have a minister, full or deputy, who does not fully understand women or gender, then we are not confident that they can perform and progress with women-related issues,” she added.
End child marriage
Expressing similar doubts on the current Cabinet line-up, Sisters in Islam (SIS) raised fears over whether Rina and Siti Zailah would continue to push for the end of child marriage in Malaysia.
“The vision to end child marriage in Malaysia is not a shared goal between SIS and PAS, one of the political parties that make up the PN government.
“Women’s groups have been advocating for many years to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18-years for all girls in Malaysia without exception, and yet, we have a political party in the new federal government that deems child marriage as a necessity,” the group said.
The women’s rights group also reminded the government that Malaysia had made commitments towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
SIS pointed out that among the 17 goals, one of them is about gender equality and to empower all women and girls.
The targets and indicators for this goal include, and are not limited to eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, among others.
Absence of gender equality
As for AWAM, the women’s rights group pointed out that gender equality is sadly not apparent in the new Cabinet.
“We are disappointed that no real attempt was made to improve women’s participation in decision making in parliament.
“The number of women in the cabinet, five full ministers and four deputy ministers, has not increased.
“With the overall number of positions increased in the Cabinet, the ratio of women to men in Cabinet has, in fact, dropped,” said its programme and operation manager Nisha Sabanayagam.
The previous PH administration had the most female representation in history with over 20 ministers and deputy ministers.
Apart from these concerns, AWAM has also urged those in the newly formed Cabinet to continue with proposed reforms such as the introduction of a new stand-alone Sexual Harassment Bill, the Anti-Stalking Bill and amendments to the Employment Act 1955 to introduce paternity leave, anti-discrimination policies and offer longer maternity leave.
“The only step left is to table these policies in Parliament,” she said.
Sumitra Visvanathan, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) executive director also weighed in demanding for the new Cabinet ministers to tell of how they intend to continue these reform efforts.
“These reforms would improve the lives of millions of Malaysians — and therefore must persist,” she said.