By Niza Shimi
There are five women ministers under the so-called Unity Government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who helm key portfolios. Let’s hope the women ministers can really make unity a priority.
The women include; Minister of Health Dr Zaliha Mustafa, Ministry of Education Fadhlina Sidik, Minister of Law Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh and Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Dato’ Sri Nancy Shukri.
Only Dr Zaliha, a general practitioner, and Fadhlina, a Syariah lawyer, are first time ministers. They will need to prove their mettle. They have the honour of being the first women to lead these key ministries.
Azalina is well placed as Minister of Law and Institutional Reform as she is a lawyer by qualification and profession. A veteran politician under previous the Barisan Nasional government., she was appointed deputy speaker of the Dewan Rakyat under the short-lived Perikatan Nasional government (2020-2022).
But for me, the spotlight is on new Minister of Youth and Sports (better known as KBS) Hannah Yeoh. She seems down to earth and sincere. To me, she’s the female version of the softer face of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) under secretary-general Anthony Loke.
Although, I would have preferred her to have been made full Minister of Women, Family and Community Development as she had been the deputy minister in the short-lived Pakatan Harapan government of 2018-2020.
I say this because when she was deputy minister, she made serious effort to help the disabled community, of which my youngest brother is now part of. Hannah attended an event he participated in and touched him with her kindness. As does Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi, who represents persons with disabilities in Dewan Negara.
Perhaps, something about Yeoh transcends all the divisive and insulting references in politics, religion and race that people hurl at each other in Malaysia mostly out of ignorance. For me, Yeoh displays the well-bred manners of the educated Christian that she is.
It’s a shame she could not continue her work with the disabled community but will probably do so for the paralympic athletes as KBS minister.
It would be interesting to see how she and novice deputy minister Adam Adli Abdul Halim work together. Kind of like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz trying to quell the stormy Adam Adli. It will be a challenge.
Already their visit to inspect the Bukit Jalil Stadium with both looking down on the water-logged turf has been turned into hilarious memes. Says has collated the best among here. No matter how bad things get, Malaysians always have a sense of humour. Perhaps that’s our coping mechanism through hard times. I like!
Back to Hannah, a law graduate from Tasmania, Australia who turned DAP politician. She lends a soft touch wherever she lands. Whether accompanying Malaysian United Democratic Alliance president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman on TikTok or in interviews.
When Yeoh was deputy minister, according to the Malay Mail report in June, 2019 she even urged those who really want to help the OKU community must put aside their egos and find creative solutions when money is scarce.
Hannah was quoted as saying, “Not everything needs money, sometimes it’s simply about collaboration. And when you talk about collaboration, it’s important to let go of your ego.
“That means don’t say ‘I’m government so I don’t want to work with NGO’s’, while NGO’s go ‘I don’t want to work with so and so. When you look at the economic situation today, we really have to be creative in finding solutions to existing problems.” Yeoh added.
I expect she will maintain her inclusive approach with her calm and dignified style in her new ministry.
Recently, she did something that puts her above the rest. Yeoh presented a contribution of RM29,950 from her Segambut Member of Parliament allocation to top-up the purchase of a hearse for the Al-Imam Al Ghazali mosque. That’s classy, Hannah!
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