Archive for category Gender

Call on Ministers who oppose government appeal against High Court decision that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers are entitled to Malaysian citizenship by operation of law to jointly raise the issue to withdraw the government appeal at this week’s Cabinet meeting

(Versi BM)

I call on Ministers who oppose the government appeal against the High Court decision that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers are entitled to Malaysian citizenship by operation of law to jointly raise the issue to withdraw the government appeal at this week’s Cabinet meeting.

So far, at least three federal Ministers had expressed their support for the High Court ruling, namely the de facto Law Minister, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Rina Harun, and the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Zuraida Kamaruddin. Read the rest of this entry »

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Some Saudi women challenge drive ban

By Asma Alsharif
Reuters
Fri, Jun 17 2011

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Some Saudi women appeared to have answered a call over social media to challenge a ban on driving, posting accounts and pictures of themselves behind the wheel in the conservative Arab kingdom.

Groups such as “Women2Drive” and “Women’s Right to Drive in KSA” had called for a day of defiance, drawing more than 15,000 supporters on various Facebook groups.

“I drove with my husband, and a policeman stopped me and gave me a ticket, which stated that I was driving without a license,” Maha al-Gahtani, a resident of Riyadh, posted on Twitter along with a picture of a traffic ticket with her name.

“I was disappointed that I didn’t see any other women drivers,” she said. “I did it to get my rights.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Sexual harassment, so what?

By Jeswan Kaur
June 9, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

Comment Seventeen years ago, the country was dumbfounded when a rising female athlete committed suicide. The youngster, Rabia Abdul Salam, apparently had been sexually harassed by her coach.

What drove Rabia to end her life? The shame of being a victim of sexual harassment, of not being able to face life as a result of that?

Unfortunately, the Rabia episode failed to move the government to put into place legislation to safeguard women from vile acts of sexual harassment. Women continue to face sexual distress, be it at the workplace or in public spaces, but the government is least bothered about providing a helping hand.

In April 2008, the then minister Jamaluddin Jarjis was said to have sexually harassed a female worker of a restaurant at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Read the rest of this entry »

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Female journalists break silence on sexual violence

By Kanya D’Almeida
Jun 8, 11 | MalaysiaKini

On Feb 11, while the world was celebrating former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s fall from power, CBS television correspondent Lara Logan was being “mercilessly assaulted” by a group of well over 200 men in a dark corner of Tahrir Square.

“For an extended period of time they raped me with their hands,” Logan, who was ripped away from her bodyguard by a mob and beaten before being attacked, said last month in an interview with the New York Times.

A public statement co-drafted by Logan and CBS chairperson Jeff Fager meant that she “didn’t have to carry the burden alone, like my dirty little secret, something I had to be ashamed of,” Logan said in one of her few interviews on the attack, two months ago.

Though Logan is not the first – and is unlikely to be the last – journalist to be subjected to such brutality, her story exposed the silence around such crimes, which happen far more frequently than the media world has acknowledged or that women themselves are willing to admit. Read the rest of this entry »

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Khalid – End gender discrimination against women academicians or face RM10 salary cut

The Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin should answer the serious charges by former Vice Chancellor of University of Malaya Datuk Rafiah Salim concerning the “kurang ajar” manner of her termination and gender discrimination against women university academic staff.

Even if Rafiah’s appointment as VC of University of Malaya is not to be renewed, why was she treated so shabbily as to be shunted around from pillar to post without knowing her fate until the very lasi minute? This is clearly a most shameful and ungrateful way to treat a person who has given 34 years of her life to public service.

I have said in Parliament that there is no transparency whatsoever about the Search Committee for the new VC for University of Malaya, why it was conducted in such secrecy that nobody in the university – not even Rafiah – knew that a new VC was being selected!

This has compounded the offence of the Deputy Higher Education Minister, Datuk Idris Haron in casting aspersions on her tenure as the first woman Vice Chancellor of University of Malaya, for which Idris must retract and apologise unconditionally unless he could justify his insinuation against Rafiah in Parliament. Read the rest of this entry »

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IGP should suspend Segamat OCPD for using force on seven-month pregnant woman DAP candidate in Labis to demonstrate police respect for women dignity and rights

(Media Conference Statement (2) by DAP Ipoh Timor parliamentary candidate Lim Kit Siang at Ipoh Timor Ops Centre on Wednesday, 5th March 2008)

IGP should suspend Segamat OCPD for using force on seven-month pregnant woman DAP candidate in Labis to demonstrate police respect for women dignity and rights.

The Johore police called an unprecedented 1.30 am press conference in Johore Baru yesterday morning to give their version of the scuffle over a mike between the Segamat OCPD Supt Abd Majid Mohd Ali and the seven-month pregnant woman DAP candidate for Labis Teo Eng Ching in Labis on Monday at about 2.30 pm during my 24-hour four-state 11-stop election whistlestop tour.

This is a reflection of the power of the internet for immediately after the scuffle in Labis at about 3 pm, the Internet was abuzz with reports of a police officer in a scuffle with a seven-month pregnant DAP parliamentary candidate which resulting in her being hospitalized, creating concerns about the health and welfare of both the mother and the unborn child.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Smack the MCPs in Parliament and outside

(Media Conference Statement by DAP Ipoh Timur Parliamentary Candidate Lim Kit Siang at the DAP Ipoh Timur Ops Centre in Jalan Kampar, Ipoh on Tuesday 4th March 2008 at 2 pm)

I have just returned from a 24-hour four-state 11-stop
whistlestop tour which I find most encouraging as the wind of change is blowing strong and hard in Malaysia – and the question is whether it could reach the velocity to change the political landscape by denying the Barisan Nasional two-thirds majority.

I left Ipoh for Johore by car at 3.30 am on Monday morning, starting with a 10-hour swing of Johore to campaign for DAP candidates in eight state assembly and three parliamentary constituencies in Johore, namely Senai, Skudai, Stulang, Yong Peng, Bekok, Jementah, Tangkak, Bentayan (state) and Kulai, Segamat and Bakri (parliament) from 8.30 am. to 6.30 pm, followed by huge ceramahs in Malacca, Rasah (Negri Sembilan) and Subang Jaya. I returned to Ipoh at about 3.30 am – a real 24-hour affair! Read the rest of this entry »

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Sothi vs Pokuan – MIC National VP should stop being a lout and unconditionally apologise for his boorish conduct

It is shame that MIC National Vice President and Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Datuk S. Sothinathan is not prepared to admit his wrong in challenging woman DAP MP Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah) to a fist-fight and is instead trying to deny the undeniable.

Yesterday, Sothinathan said: “No man in the right frame of mind would physically fight with a lady. Not in our culture.”

Sothinathan is right this time, and this is why his “right frame of mind” came under question when he challenged Po Kuan to a physical fight, and not to an electoral contest in the next general election as he now claims.

Eye-witness accounts of what happened in Parliament on Monday are more reliable and better testimony than Sothinathan of the despicable behaviour of the MIC National Vice President on Monday.

The body language of Sothinathan was so unmistakable that the Chinese newspapers, Sin Chew Daily, Nanyang Siang Pau, China Press, Guang Ming, Oriental Daily the next day reported the next day that Sothinathan had challenged me to a physical fight outside the Chamber.

The Chinese newspapers were wrong as Sothinathan did not challenge me to a fight. The challenge was directed at Po Kuan in the expanded exchange between DAP MPs with BN MPs.

The mistake of the Chinese newspapers is understandable as there was a lot of confusion in the Chamber at the time, with voices coming from all directions in Parliament. A video of the parliamentary episode is available on YouTube.

This is what Hansard of 19th November 2007 recorded of this challenge by Sothinathan directed at Po Kuan:

Dato’ S. G. Sothinathan: Siapa takut? Berani, mari lawanlah!!

Tuan Pengerusi: [Datuk Dr. Yusuf bin Yacob]: Ya, ya, Timbalan Menteri, teruskan, teruskan.

Dato’ S.G. Sothinathan: Oh, cakap macam lelaki bukan? Mari lawan, mari lawan!! Jangan cakap no gender bias.

Read the rest of this entry »

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“Bocor” scandal – spread of culture of impunity

All Ministers and Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs should digest the statement of the European Commission Ambassador to Malaysia, Thierry Rommel that there is no proper closure of the sexist “bocor” outrage in Parliament by two Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusuf (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mohtar Radin (Kinabatangan) and that it is most damaging to Malaysia’s international reputation.

In a letter to Malaysiakini yesterday, Thierry wrote:

I would wish to convey a third party opinion, prodded by internal discussions, on the possible effects of sexist remarks made by prominent Malaysian citizens on Malaysia’s international reputation.

The short answer to this pertinent question is yes, for a number of reasons.

It is a violation of the spirit of the Universal Human Rights Declaration more so coming from persons who are in a position of influence and power.

Malaysia is a member of the UN Human Rights Commission, further raising expectations of exemplary and ambitious approach to upholding human rights, including gender equality, and fundamental freedoms.

Finally, such remarks have a far greater and adverse impact than some people in position of power care to admit. Witnessing moreover the impunity that has accompanied such remarks, astonishment and disbelief prevail.

This is one further example rebutting the answer by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to my question in Parliament on Tuesday that the Cabinet regards the “bocor” scandal involving Mohd Said and Bung Mohtar as settled is wrong, ill-advised as well as completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Bocor” scandal not ended – Mohd Said and Bung Mohtar must apologise in Parliament

The answer by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz yesterday that the Cabinet regards the “bocor” scandal involving Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mohtar Radin (Kinabatangan) as settled is completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable.

In a written reply to my question, Nazri said:

“The government has reminded everyone, especially members of parliament, and those in high positions to always be mindful and responsible in their actions.

“We hope the issue will serve as an example to all. We regret that the episode happened but we regard this matter as closed.”

It is no use the government expressing “regret” for the episode when the two culprits, Mohd Said and Bung Moktar are openly defiant and unrepentant as evident from their fake apologies, on six grounds:

Firstly, Both of them refused to make a personal apology to Fong Po Kuan (MP for Batu Gajah), the target of their crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks which women groups have described as “sexual harassment in Parliament”.

Secondly, there was no remorse or contrition in making the apology, even to Malaysian women. Both tendered their apology “if women were offended” — implying that there was nothing wrong with their remarks but with women if they were offended!

Thirdly, they justified their sexist and male-chauvinist attacks at Po Kuan on the ground that they were necessary to defend the government during debates.

Fourthly, the above statement was as good as a declaration that they would have no hesitation in repeating their crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks in similar circumstances in future if they deem it necessary to defend the Barisan Nasional and the Government.

Fifthly, both had lied when they claimed that they had been “provoked” to make the crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive attacks on Po Kuan. The video footage of this disgraceful parliamentary conduct is up on YouTube, Google and many blogs. On YouTube alone, which received a four-and-a-half star rating, it was viewed more than 61,551 times. Read the rest of this entry »

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MPs Bung Mokhtar/Mohd Said – the “Ugly Malaysians”

The Barisan Nasional (BN) Member of Parliament for Kinabatangan Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin is trying to jump out of the burning quagmire which he found himself in together with the BN MP for Jasin, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof as a result of their unrepentant and recalcitrant sexism in Parliament more than a fortnight ago.

He thinks that he has found a very smart exit strategy for his predicament by challenging me to contest against him in his Kinabatangan constituency in the next general election and even offering 1,000 votes free — which was given front-page treatment in Sabah newspapers yesterday.

He cannot be more wrong or naive to think that he could distract or deflect national and international attention from his unrepentant and unpunished male chauvinism in Parliament on May 9, 2007.

Clearly, Bung Mohtar just don’t get it — that there is no way he could extricate himself from the quagmire and the furore he and Mohd Said had created would go away by just turning it into a cheap farce, such as challenging me to contest against him in Kinabatangan.

The issue at stake has nothing to do with him and me, and that is why my answer is a definitive negative when a reporter asked whether I would counter-challenge Bung Mokhtar to contest against me in Ipoh Timur parliamentary constituency.

The question is solely about Bung Mohktar himself Bung Mohtar’s greatest enemy is not any third party but his own self and he must wrestle with his own soul and devil as well as his own sense of decency, as he and Mohd Said have become the worst examples of “Ugly Malaysians” on the occasion of the 50th Merdeka anniversary, bringing shame and dishonour to Parliament, the nation and women in Malaysia, ASEAN and the world. Read the rest of this entry »

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Samy Vellu sexist – comparing dilapidated 43-yr-old Parliament with 50 yr-old woman

RESPECT WOMEN AND END ALL SEXIST COMMENTS
by Loh Cheng Kooi

Barely has the dust of the “bocor incident” settled in the House of Parliament when we are jolted with yet another gender insensitive statement. It is outrageous that the Works Minister, Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu finds it necessary to draw a parallel between the dilapidated state of the 43 year old Parliament House which is in need of maintenance and renovation to the looks of a woman of 50 years. This is not the first time the Minister has made such statements. In October 2005, he was quoted to have compared “toilets to new brides”.

The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) finds it is inexcusable that one of the longest serving Cabinet Ministers in the country chose a sexist comment to make his point on the need for renovation works on the Parliament House. His remarks reinforce the gender stereotype that a woman’s worth lies with her extrinsic attributes (looks) and not with her intrinsic qualities as a human being. His statement and comparison are demeaning and an affront to women of all ages as they reduce women to objects of beauty, depreciating in value over time.

The Works Minister’s comment taken together with the recent ‘bocor’ remark, also makes a mockery of the role and function of the Gender Cabinet Committee on Gender Equality and the government’s ratification of the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as well as the Federal Constitution which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender. Read the rest of this entry »

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2 sexist Malaysian MPs condemned – joint statement by ASEAN MPs

Joint Media Statement by ASEAN MPs (and former MP) from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia in Tokyo on Tuesday, 22nd May 2007:

Sexism by two male MPs in Malaysian Parliament on May 9 an affront and outrage to all ASEAN MPs and ASEAN women — deserves fullest condemnation by all ASEAN Parliamentarians and ASEAN civil society as sexism has no place in a progressive ASEAN

We, the undersigned ASEAN MPs (and former MP) attending an international conference in Tokyo have decided to issue the following joint statement:

We are very distressed by the rank sexism in the Malaysian Parliament on May 9 when two male MPs made crude vulgar, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks at the woman MP for Batu Gajah Fong Po Kuan, which have been regarded as a shame and dishonour to Po Kuan, Malaysian Parliament, Malaysian women and Malaysia’s international reputation.

It is more than that — it is also an affront and outrage to all ASEAN MPs and ASEAN women and deserves the fullest condemnation by all ASEAN Parliamentarians and ASEAN civil society as sexism has no place in a progressive ASEAN.

In fact, it is also a global affront and outrage, which was why MPs and State Legislators attending the GlobalPOWER (Partnership of Women Elected/Appointed Representatives) 2007 Conference in Washington May 7 — 11, 2007 was the first global response to the “sexist and demeaning statements that male Members of Parliament in Malaysia made to their women colleagues”. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two sexist BN MPs – Cabinet must step in tomorrow to reject their fake apologies

The Cabinet tomorrow must step in to make clear that the two sexist Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan)’s fake apologies are unacceptable and support civil society’s demand for six-month suspension as MP and community service with women groups as punishment for the duo, with parliamentary allowances for this period donated in their entirely to women organizations.

It will be a most adverse reflection on the Cabinet and government if Cabinet Ministers endorse the fake apologies by the duo, including accepting the report of the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who had clearly failed to stand up for gender respect, sensitivity and equality in her eagerness to resolve the controversy — even if it was in the form of fake, insincere and dishonest “apologies”.

If Shahrizat had not realized that she had been bamboozled by the two BN MPs with their fake apologies, she should have realized it by now in the face of very critical and even hostile public comments at her failure to do justice to repair the grave wrong done in Parliament by the sexism of the two BN MPs — bringing shame and dishonour to DAP MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan, Malaysian women, Parliament and the nation’s international reputation — as well as women in ASEAN and the world!

In the mishandling of the latest instance of sexist and male-chauvinist outbursts by the two BN MPs in Parliament, Shahrizat is becoming an even bigger issue than Mohd Said and Bung Mohtar. Read the rest of this entry »

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ASEAN MPs back Po Kuan – censure Mohd Said/Bung Mokhtar

ASEAN Members of Parliament attending the International Conference of Japanese Diet Members and ASEAN Parliamentarians on “The International Symposium of the Way to Democratise Burma” in Tokyo today agreed at the sidelines that sexism in Parliament by two Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan) are an affront and outrage to all ASEAN MPs and ASEAN women and deserve fullest condemnation by all ASEAN Parliamentarians and ASEAN civil society

ASEAN MPs are very distressed by the rank sexism in the Malaysian Parliament on May 9 when Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar made crude vulgar, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks at the woman MP for Batu Gajah Fong Po Kuan.

This was more than a shame and dishonour to Po Kuan, Malaysian Parliament, Malaysian women and Malaysia’s international reputation.

It was also an affront and outrage to all ASEAN MPs and ASEAN women and deserves the fullest condemnation by all ASEAN Parliamentarians and ASEAN civil society as sexism has no place in a progressive ASEAN.

This was why there was also global affront and outrage, with MPs and State Legislators attending the GlobalPOWER (Partnership of Women Elected/Appointed Representatives) 2007 Conference in Washington May 7 — 11, 2007 being the first global response to the “sexist and demeaning statements that male Members of Parliament in Malaysia made to their women colleagues”. Read the rest of this entry »

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Of Repentance and Penitence

Of Repentance and Penitence

by Dr. Oh Ei Sun
Sabah Times

These few weeks were indeed packed with events and commemorative days. Last week we celebrated, among other’s, Teacher’s Day, which has become a national occasion when we pay tribute to not only teachers, but indeed all those who undertake the tough and often thankless job of educating the precious minds of the country.

As the son of a teacher (my mom was a school teacher for 34 years), and as a teacher myself, Teacher’s Day is for me a day of reflection on the state and future of education, not so much for the much-vaunted national development effort, but in developing wholesome characters in millions of precious young minds. And perhaps a brief lesson in history from another part of the world could help.

In 1957, just a few weeks after Malaya attained its independence, another smaller-scale, but no less momentous event took place in the provincial town of Little Rock, the capital of the state of Arkansas in the United States. Nine young black men and women were escorted by US Army personnel to attend Little Rock Central High, a hitherto all-white school.

The past entrenched racism of the American South would be a subject for future writing. It suffices to mention here that for almost a century after the liberation of black slaves in the US, officially sanctioned racist treatments abounded primarily in the American South. The images of separate toilets for “White” and “Colored” still haunt us today. Most schools there were either exclusively white or black, with far superior teaching resources reserved for the former. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chia Kwang Chye should not condone the sexism of Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar

Gerakan Secretary-General and Deputy Information Minister, Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye, should not condone the two sexist Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan) for their incorrigible sexism in Parliament if he dare not openly castigate the duo for their dishonesty and fake apologies to bring about a dishonourable closure to the nation-wide furore over their crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks in Parliament last week.

Chia said yesterday that as Mohd Said and Bung Mohtar have apologized, everybody should stop raising the issue anymore. (Guanming).

This is most shocking and shows that one of the problems of Barisan Nasional leaders when they become Ministers or Deputy Ministers is their surrender of the sense of justice and their faculties to differentiate between right from wrong.

Surely, Chia is aware of the patent dishonesty of the duo in making fake apologies which compounded the original offence they committed, and which cannot be accepted at all by right-thinking and justice-loving Malaysians.

I would urge Chia to reconsider what he said yesterday and openly withdraw his statement asking everyone to stop pursuing the issue purportedly on the ground that the apologies of the two are acceptable.

Just imagine what would have happened if it was a DAP MP who made the crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks against a woman BN MP. There is no doubt that he would have been referred immediately to the Committee of Privileges and a severe punishment of one to two years suspension without allowance would have been meted out unless a full, unconditional and acceptable apology is tendered — and I would say, rightly too! Read the rest of this entry »

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Six reasons why fake apologies and “dishonourable closure” by two sexist BN MPs must be rejected

Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil yesterday accepted the apologies of the two sexist Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan) for their crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks in Parliament last week, saying that it was the “closure” her Ministry wanted.

All Malaysians also want a “closure” to the 10-day parliamentary scandal and national shame precipitated by two BN MPs who were guilty of sexual harassment of DAP MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan with their sexist and male-chauvinist remarks, which also brought shame and dishonour to Parliament, Malaysian women and the nation’s international reputation.

However, it must be a honourable closure and not the most shameful and dishonourable closure orchestrated by Shahrizat yesterday, where both Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar went through another farce of proferring an apology which on examination was really no apology at all — a counterfeit coin or a fake apology!

Firstly, both the duo flaunted their lack of sincerity in wanting to make any apology. They pointedly refused to offer a personal apology to Po Kuan, even a fake one!

When he returned to Kota Kinabalu yesterday, Bung Mokhtar said he had been directed by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister to apologise to Malaysian women, conspicuously omitting reference to Po Kuan.

Secondly, there was no remorse or contrition in making the apology, even to Malaysian women. Both tendered their apology “if women were offended” — implying that there was nothing wrong with their remarks but with women if they were offended!

Thirdly, they justified their sexist and male-chauvinist attacks at Po Kuan on the ground that they were necessary to defend the government during debates.

Mohd Said said in his prepared statement that the duo “were only defending Barisan Nasional because the Opposition had belittled, and intentionally made unfounded, baselss claims”.

He declared: “In that situation, it is the responsibility of Barisan representatives and government supporters to defend the leadership and the Government”. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two sexist BN MPs – treating Malaysians as suckers with “apology” which is really no apology

For the past fortnight, Malaysians have been treated as suckers by Cabinet Ministers — the most outrageous case being the demand by the Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for RM22 million to inspect new government buildings in Putrajaya for defects, which did not include a subsequent and lengthening list of government building mishaps, such as the spanking new RM290 million court complex in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur and now Parliament House which has become a “HOUSE OF LEAKS” barely two years after a RM100 million renovation.

Today, even the two sexist Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan), are treating Malaysians as suckers with their “apology” which is really no apology over their gender-offensive male-chauvinist remarks in Parliament last week, directed at DAP MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan, but which brought shame and dishonour to Parliament, Malaysian women and the nation’s international reputation.

I had not wanted to comment on the case of the two sexist BN MPs today, but when I read Malaysiakini news reports of the alleged “apology” of Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar which the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jali had described as a “closure”, I cannot contain my outrage and wrath.

This is because the so-called “apology” of Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar orchestrated by Shahrizat was not only no “closure” of the abominable case of sexual harassment and gender abuse in Parliament last week, but had added “salt to the wound” of Po Kuan, as well as all women and men who want proper closure with justice done to all aggrieved parties.

After their 45-minute meeting with Shahrizat, Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar said they would like to tender their apologies, if “women were offended”.

However, they destroyed all meaning in their apologies when they defended their words used in Parliament as necessary to defend the government during debates.

They also did not issue a personal apology to Po Kuan. Read the rest of this entry »

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People’s judgment on 2 sexist BN MPs — 6-month suspension as MP and community service with women groups and full apology to Po Kuan and Malaysian women

The over 300 people who attended the public forum “Respect Women’s Dignity Towards a 1st World Parliament” at YMCA Hall, Kuala Lumpur last night unanimously agreed that the two sexist Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan) had been guilty of unacceptable sexual harassment and dishonour of DAP MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan, shaming Parliament, Malaysian women and the nation’s international reputation with their crude, vulgar, sexist gender-offensive remarks in Parliament last week — compounded by their low farce of “apology to Po Kuan and all Malaysian women, then only to Malaysian women but not to Po Kuan, and then not even to Malaysian women” on Cabinet day on Wednesday.

The public forum agreed that the suitable penalty for the duo is the following five-point punishment:

1. Six-month suspension as MP.
2. Six-month community service with women groups.
3. Donation of the their entire parliamentary allowance during suspension to women groups.
4. Full apology to Fong Po Kuan and Malaysian women.
5. If no full apology, the six-month suspension and community service to be extended to 12 months.

The forum decided that its decision be conveyed to the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, before she meets up with the two errant BN MPs at 10 am the next day on Friday (18th May).

To implement the five-point penalty, the forum decided that its decision should receive endorsement by the following:

  • Cabinet Committee on Gender Equality.
  • Parliamentary Caucus on Gender Equality.
  • Cabinet.
  • Parliament — with a motion on June 18 (the first day of next meeting) to directly mete out the five-point penalties for the two sexist BN MPs, without any reference to the Committee of Privileges.

Read the rest of this entry »

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