They make up over half the country's population, yet their representation in the highest legislative body in the country - the parliament - has never gone beyond one-tenth of the total. Can't our women achieve more? TAN CHOE CHOE, SONIA RAMACHANDRAN and CHAI MEI LING talk to some experts.

Tan Sri Aishah Ghani.

Rosie Teh.

Tan Sri Devaki Krishnan.

WHEN Terengganu Puteri Umno state chief Nordiana Shafie was nominated to contest in the Batu Buruk seat, she reportedly cried tears of joy and gratitude.

Understandable, perhaps, since she is the first woman to contest in an election in the state since 1974 — a gap of 34 years!

But immediately after her nomination was announced, there was talk that some party supporters were unhappy that a woman was being fielded.

“It’s going to be tough for her. People here still think women should stay home and look after the kids while the men go to work. It’s a very conservative seat,” an election observer told the New Sunday Times.
Such is the sentiment on the ground, even as the country enters its 51st year of independence and polling day for the 12th general election is just two weeks away.

“Traditional gender roles,” said National Council of Women’s Organisations deputy president Datuk Ramani Gurusamy, “are still impeding women’s proper participation and representation in politics. These roles are so entrenched that it restricts our mobility and freedom.

“They continue to stereotype us as followers and supporters rather than leaders.”

Perhaps Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Abdul Aziz’s stand on Tuesday about fielding a woman candidate in Terengganu best demonstrates Ramani’s point.

She reportedly told reporters that she would provide names of women candidates to the party president for all states, except for Terengganu because of “tradition".

“I believe one day, when the Barisan’s position is no longer threatened in Terengganu, Wanita Umno will move forward,” she had said.

Never mind that there are as many women as there are men in the country; never mind that over 50 per cent of the voting population comprises women; never mind that women politicians have proven their mettle time and again — in the formidable Rafidah, the charming Lembah Pantai MP Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the feisty Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan and the efficient Teresa Kok of Seputeh — just to name a few.

It is no wonder then that when Fong announced last week that she would not be defending her parliamentary seat, it caused such a stir among her constituents and the DAP party leadership.

In an about-turn on Friday, Fong retracted her decision in Ipoh and said she will be defending the Batu Gajah parliamentary seat.

Her initial decision not to contest had given rise to talk about the “difficulties faced by women politicians” in a male-dominated field.

“Fong’s issue highlighted the difficulties faced by women in frontline politics,” acting Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon was reported to have said.

Revealing that Gerakan was having a tough time finding women candidates although it had been actively looking for one, he added: “I’m not saying women are not capable or suitable, it’s just that it’s very challenging and taxing (for them) in terms of time and energy.”

Asked to comment on Koh’s statement, Prof Cecilia Ng of Universiti Sains Malaysia retorted: “Well, if he and Gerakan are serious in looking for candidates, they should examine the barriers for women candidates and provide them with full support.”

Ng is a visiting professor at USM’s Women’s Development Research Centre. She is also one of the founding members of the All Women’s Action Society (Awam).

Saliha Hassan, a lecturer in political science in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, feels the lack of women participants, and consequently representation, in politics is caused in part by “the general socialisation that family is a woman’s priority".

The same socialisation has caused generation after generation of women to think that both domestic and public leadership are domains marked only for men.

“To top it off, there are also other basic structural constraints that impede women from taking part in politics — like access to political funds, inadequate range of political networks, as well as the lack of cultural and political support.

“When you put these together, I think they breed and contribute to the much touted ’uninterested attitude’ that some women seemingly have when it comes to politics,” said Saliha.

Not surprisingly, Shahrizat, who was the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said “there’s so much more to be done” to increase women’s participation and representation in politics,

“If we look at the statistics, we can see that it’s not only the mindset of the men that must change, but women as well.

“Women are half of party memberships. We form the quota, we are the quorum, but we are very reluctant to elect another woman, or offer ourselves for election,” she said.

Emphasising that it’s wrong for deserving women to be “barricaded” from certain opportunities or openings, she added: “But if there are others who are not interested (in politics) because their priorities lie elsewhere, then I say c’est la vie (such is life).

Yet, Shahrizat concedes, the playing field is far from level, especially at the very top.

No bed of roses

DO you know that Malaysian women candidates have the ability to make their male counterparts feel “impotent"’?

Apparently so, according to political researcher Dr Bridget Welsh.

“Men feel impotent. They feel they cannot attack the woman candidate. So they focus on the party instead of candidate.”

An attack on women often backfires, she said, adding that it then becomes personal, and will turn into a gender issue.

Welsh, from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, was speaking at a talk in Kuala Lumpur themed “Women at the Polls” organised by the Women’s Candidacy Initiative last year.

So, how do women candidates fare compared to men candidates?

They are more qualified, “cleaner", have more ties with local organisations, and do better in garnering votes.

“Women are more qualified because they face more obstacles climbing up the political ladder,” said Welsh, who specialises in contemporary Southeast Asian politics.

In a study on the 2004 election, professionals made up almost half of the women candidates fielded by both the coalition and opposition parties.

“Scandals have not made any difference to their image,” said Welsh, the project director of Asia Barometer Survey.

Despite possessing a seemingly upper hand in the electoral race, women remain a minority in the political sphere.

“There wasn’t much inclusion of women until the 1980s — it was a real slow fight.”

It’s not a bed of roses for women candidates, however.

New women candidates, said Welsh, have “very serious problems” in getting funds and they rely heavily on the party.

“They often get much less than what is given to the men.”

However, if she is an incumbent, she’ll do better than the men in terms of raising money.”

Women generally get less support from the chief of a local area and face hindrance in getting the same degree of access to voters as men, because they won’t go out to campaign alone.

As for women voters, ethnicity is still the driving force, said Welsh.

They are less of a risk-taker and support the ruling party considerably more than men.

They also care more about national than international issues.

Male voters, on the other hand, often ascribe gender “attributes” to women candidates, like a pretty face for posters, dressing and morality, instead of taking substance into consideration.

Quotas to fast-track women

LAST year, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry called for at least 30 per cent women participation at decision-making levels.

One “temporary special measure” to fast-track women’s participation in politics is the quota system.

“These can be through the reservation of seats for women or formal electoral quotas.

Other countries have done this very successfully,” says Datuk Ramani Gurusamy.

Prof Cecilia Ng says countries with high rates of women in politics — like Sweden (47.3 per cent women in parliament) and Norway (37.7 per cent) — usually have certain political party quotas.

Jordan and India practise the quota system in their parliament and it has worked for them, says veteran woman politician Datuk P.G. Lim.

“Malaysia should consider adopting a similar policy, with 30 per cent of seats or more allocated for women,” says Lim, who stood for elections in 1964 in the Sentul constituency.

Lim, now in her late 80s, believes there are many opportunities for women in the country, but most are not aware of their choices.

“Pressure groups play an important role in ensuring a law is passed to open more doors for women delegates in the country.”

Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil argues that to catalyse change, it must first come from within.

“Women must stop thinking of themselves as victims and take the lead. Force should only be our last resort.”

But she points out that not every woman wants change and resent being thought as less because they are happy with the status quo.

Women pioneers

It was all hard work

FOR former Wanita Umno leader and Welfare Minister Tan Sri Aishah Ghani, campaigning then was a lot of hard work and as a woman candidate, it was even harder.

“You not only had to persuade the women to come out and vote but you also had to convince the men of your ability to be a leader,” she said.

The octogenarian said in the early 1960 and 1970s there was still a lot of discrimination against women candidates.

“In the eyes of the men, we were never good enough. If you were married, they would find fault with you, if you were single, you would still be at fault.

“If you were a widow or spinster, it was worse. Being a woman itself was wrong!

“That was the kind of mindset we had to deal with. So the women candidates had to work doubly hard to win their votes.”

Aishah also remembered the early years of campaigning where she had to walk, or ride pillion on bicycles and motorcycles to reach remote villages.

“We would walk the length and breadth of the kampungs under the blazing sun to persuade the womenfolk to come out and vote.

“Then we had to teach them how to vote... where to mark the cross on the ballot paper, how to recognise the symbols.

“We did not have an allowance then and we had to dig into our own pockets for much of the expenses. We had to make a lot of sacrifices.

“Today’s politicians have all the facilities they need to canvass for votes.”

But Aishah believes the difficulties that women of her generation had to endure made them more hardy politicians.

Proud of what she did

WHEN asked to apologise for dispersing a crowd of campaign supporters at 6.30pm 25 years ago, Rosie Teh stood her ground.

Teh was then fielded as the MCA candidate against DAP stalwart Chen Man Hin for the Seremban parliamentary seat in 1983.

She sent her supporters home with good intentions, saying they should be having a meal with their family instead of gathering outside.

“I never expected my statement to create an uproar. But it did. They wanted me to apologise and I refused.

“There is nothing wrong in wanting to stay at home with your husband or campaigning at night,” said the 63-year-old former teacher, who lost in the election.

“There is a time and place for everything, and I refused to be a crowd pleaser.

“The real issue women faced is ’choice’. Women should be allowed the choice to do what they deem best and live according to their principles.

“Women didn’t have much of a say then because of their level of education and women delegates in those days usually did as they were told, because it was expected of them.”

Teh said she felt like a sacrificial lamb when she was pitted against the veteran DAP politician.

“But I took up the challenge and I won 44 per cent of the votes. I am proud of myself for that.

“I could have whined and complained my way out of the situation, but I used it to build my character. And I was respected for it,” she said.

Devaki blazes a trail

SHE was the first woman to contest and win a seat in the country’s first election — the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Council election in 1952 — on an Independence of Malaya Party (IMP) ticket.

“We have come a long way since the 1950s,” said Tan Sri Devaki Krishnan.

“Bread and butter issues such as the need for better sanitation, piped water supply, health and education facilities were the focus of our campaigns.”

Devaki served two terms as an elected representative for the municipal ward of Bangsar and later served in the MIC, rising to the post of MIC Wanita deputy president in 1984.

“Women then were not so emancipated, so we had to convince them to come out from the estates and kampungs.

“We organised social gatherings where we taught them how to bake, sew, groom themselves and educate their children.”

Not to make these women feel guilty about leaving their homes, Devaki would advise them to attend to their chores and family matters first before attending the gatherings in the evenings.

“To me, nothing is impossible if you manage your life properly. I managed to raise my children as doctors despite my hectic schedule as a teacher by day and politician by night.

“We impressed on them the need to fight for their rights while not neglecting their family.

“We also encouraged them to be more financially independent by engaging in petty trading such as selling sarees and cookware to their neighbours or supply cakes to the school canteen.”

Devaki, who is the first Indian woman to be made a Tan Sri, said there was a need for women to be more fearless. This she finds lacking in the present set of politicians.

“Our women leaders are very intelligent now but some lack the calibre and stamina.”