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A Woman PM? Not Just Yet A woman PM? Not just yet The youth generation is open to the idea of a woman premier but political practitioners seem to think that it is as remote as putting a Malaysian on the moon for now at least, writes JOCELINE TAN EPUTY Finance Minister known for its unique matrilineal ing posts in the public and private Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen is no ''The mechanism by system. sector. Dshrinking violet. which we choose the The candidate was said to be Earlier her ministry had succeed- In fact, the medical doctor- Datuk Napsiah Omar, then the No 2 ed in amending the Constitution to turned-politician is on the extro- Umno president is not very in Wanita Umno, but her candida- inculcate gender as a category that verted side and can light up a'gath- advantageous to women in ture for the post was apparently must be protected against discrimi- ering with her presence and person- scuttled by politics on the ground. nation. ality. the party even though they Women leaders are still largely "These are milestones for us," The MCA Wanita leader is also no make up half of Umno. restricted to heading the women's Shahrizat said. hypocrite. wings of their parties. She was rather philosophical When told recently that she is Women can be any- The exception is Parti Keadilan about the notion of a woman pre- technically the most powerful thing but not the PM — Nasional, which is headed by Datin mier: "When the time comes, it will woman in the MCA, she said rather Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail; and happen." matter-of-factly: "Actually, not not yet, anyway. even then, she is still largely seen as If there is a chance for a woman to technically, the post does make me a figurehead. have a shot at the top job, then it the most powerful woman in the —Adnan Yaakob In PAS, the only serious rival to will have to be a woman from Umno party." Umno's dominance among the given the prevailing political con- But that is about as far as it goes But Malaysian politicians, includ- closely watched and analysed. Malays, party leaders are still squab- vention. for women in Malaysian politics. ing women politicians, readily "The mechanism by which we bling over whether a non-ulama can Said Shahrizat: "I've never Women may hold up half the sky admit that it will not be in their life- choose the Umno president is not lead the party. thought about it. If it were to be, it and all that jazz but there is only so time. very advantageous to the women in As MCA's Dr Ng pointed out, even would be Rafidah. I really think she far that they can go in politics. "I have to be realistic, I just can't the party even though they make up the Chinese term for ambition has the capability except that she And that was why a recent survey see it happening in my generation," half of Umno. Women can be any- favours the man - the term "xiong would probably also not be interest- of young people aged 18 to 32 by said Dr Ng. thing but not the PM - not yet, any- xin" translates as "heart of a man". ed." the Merdeka Centre think-tank Others like Pahang Mentri Besar way," said Adnan. And while the statistics for But even while the men in Umno stirred considerable interest among Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob were But he pointed out that his tenure women in a number of fields such as are in agreement about the superior political practitioners. much more blunt. as Pahang Mentri Besar has seen the university graduates and profes- intellect of the International Trade One of the questions asked was He described the survey result as elevation of women state govern- sions are encouraging, there have and Industry Minister, they were on the prospect of a woman prime "unreasonable" and said that "it did ment officers to senior posts, includ- been only a total of seven women rather ambivalent about her as a minister in Malaysia and about 64% not make sense". ing the first lady financial officer in ministers in Malaysian history. political leader. of those surveyed said they were But Adnan has since told The Star. the state. The current Cabinet has only They would complain that she did ready for it. "Don't get me wrong. I am not a "My wife still works as a school three women out of 32 members. not conform to their idea of a The gender bias seems more male chauvinist, I am not against teacher. I didn't insist that she stop There are three women deputy woman even as she insisted that diluted among the youth genera- women in politics." working just because I am the MB," ministers and six parliamentary women could not take on heavy tion. Adnan's point was not so much he said. secretaries. responsibilities because they were After all, many of them had about women not being qualified Basically, the sentiment and even Women, Family and Community not like men. grown up watching women make it for the post as that of the processes the election process in Umno still Development Minister Datuk Seri There was no way that Rafidah to the top in more than a few Asian that determined the selection of the favour male leadership. Shahrizat Jalil has said many times could have made it beyond her states. prime minister. Besides, as some have pointed that women's progress is more Wanita Umno chief post against Recently, Han Myeong-sook be- Malaysia's prime ministers have out, "the material is not there yet" or meaningful when measured by the such contradictions. came South Korea's first female always come from Umno in accor- as Adnan put it, "the tradition is dif- state of women's health, their eco- According to Kelantan's Alwi, the Prime Minister. dance with one of those unwritten ferent here." nomic status and legal rights than first sign that Umno may be ready to And before her, there had been conventions in the country. "Show us the candidate, then we whether they have a chance at the accept a woman on top will come Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indo- Whoever becomes the president talk about it," said Kelantan Umno top political post. when one of them contests for the nesia, Gloria Arroyo and Corazon of Umno also assumes the head of information chief Datuk Alwi Che Her ministry played a big role in coveted vice-president's post. Aquino in the Philippines, Benazir state post and that is one of the chief Ahmad. having the 9th Malaysia Plan docu- "Rafidah is approaching her Bhutto in Pakistan, Khaleda Zia in reasons why the leadership of Years ago, there was a move to ment specifying that women should waktu asar (past her prime) and Bangladesh and Indira Gandhi in Umno is so coveted and why every- push for the first female Mentri compose 30% - often described as there will never be another Rafidah. India. thing that happens in the party is so Besar in Negri Sembilan, a state the critical mass - of decision-mak- We'll have to wait and see." he said. .
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