PETALING JAYA: While women Cabinet ministers have to serve all Malaysians and not be gender-biased towards their sex, there is a need for all of them, regardless of ministry, to speak up when it comes to women-related issues.
Just because they said they would prioritise certain women’s issues, it does not mean others should be sidelined, said Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi of UCSI University.
He was commenting on statements made by Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa and Law and Institutional Reform Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said upon their appointments as ministers.
Zaliha had said she has been receiving advice from female doctors as well as NGOs that fight for women’s rights and welfare, and vowed to look into health-related women and children issues during her tenure.
Azalina said her ministry would address the citizenship status of children born overseas to Malaysian mothers, which will exclusively affect women.
Mohd Tajuddin said women ministers are appointed to serve Malaysians across both genders.
“There should not be gender bias when it comes to serving Malaysians.
“Also, I disapprove of having a specific Women, Family and Community Development Ministry because women-related issues need to be addressed across the board by all ministries.
“The fate of women and families in modern society is supposed to be communicated through all ministries instead of just one handling women-specific issues. This is not efficient because in the end, women’s issues need to be discussed by multiple ministries to pursue a solution.”
Mohd Tajuddin also said the issues that the two women ministers mentioned in their maiden statements to the media have been around for a long time.
“Women ministers who say they would focus on one particular issue or law should not negate their other responsibilities and public concerns,” he stressed.
He said the concern about women ministers who hold portfolios that are not women-specific stemmed from social and cultural upbringing, where all the while, women have been taking a back seat in the country’s development and education.
Bar Council president Karen Y.L. Cheah said the reason for the urgency in solving the issue of Malaysian mothers conferring citizenship on their children, for instance, is because it was a commitment made in the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan election campaign manifestos.
“Besides, some policies and court rulings were decided in a way that seemed discriminatory against women. For example, in a 2-1 decision on Aug 5, the judges sided with the government and rejected the September 2021 ruling by the High Court that Malaysian women had the same rights as men to confer citizenship to their children. This could be interpreted as discrimination against women.
“Hence, amending Article 14 of the Federal Constitution to allow mothers to confer citizenship on their children was one of the promises Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan committed to should they win the 15th general election. And now that they have established the government, they are just fulfilling that promise.
“As a member of Parliament, Azalina noted that such a policy needed to be reformed so that there is equality among the genders,” Cheah said.
On addressing women’s issues exclusively within the Cabinet, Cheah said: “Although we have the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, women-related issues need to be raised by all ministries because women are sometimes marginalised, and we must remember that.”
