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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright June 2023
Anwar's flirtatious joke is highly inappropriate.
Anwar Ibrahim's recent comment during a public dialogue, where he made a flirtatious remark about an 18-year-old female university student, is highly inappropriate for someone in his position as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif, who expressed her strong criticism towards the PM, rightly pointed out that his comment displayed discriminatory and sexist language towards Adriana, the young student.
What Anwar said was far from humourous. Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif deserves recognition for bravely voicing her contempt against such a remark.
In any professional setting, within a respectable organisation, for instance, Anwar's comment would have drawn the attention of the Human Resources Manager, leading to a show cause letter for sexual harassment. Perhaps the Ministry of Human Resources, too, may want to take the queue from Sasha Lyna and demand an explanation from the PM himself by citing a recently approved sexual harassment act.
Sasha continued to express her disgust towards the septuagenarian PM, questioning the example he is setting for the nation's youth. She rightfully highlighted that his comment disregarded the intelligence and capabilities of women, reducing them to mere objects of flirtation.
It is worth noting that Sasha, the deputy chair of Bersatu's Legal and Constitution Bureau, emphasized Adriana's serious and well-thought-out question, which deserved a proper answer. Instead, Anwar's response was inappropriate, discriminatory, and sexist when he said, "If I were younger, I would have asked for your number."
To make matters worse, the young moderator at the event followed Anwar's lead by making an equally inappropriate remark, saying, "When you get it, pass it to me."
Sasha pointed out that Anwar's behaviour contradicts the principles he promotes, such as "Madani" and other slogans he champions in various forums and speeches.
She called upon women leaders within Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition and the federal government to speak out against this clear example of sexism displayed by their own leader.
"They must advocate for girls and women or risk being seen as hypocrites," Sasha insisted.
She further demanded a public apology from Anwar to the student and all attendees of the event, stating that it is never acceptable for a leader, especially the leader of a nation, to utter such words to a student under the pretence of humour.
Anwar should have known better than to make such an uncalled remark, and this incident certainly reflects poorly on him.
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