Is the Minister for Women and Family clueless about modedn day living? Does she or members of her team, scrutinise the ministry’s advice before it is made public?
On 30 March, several posts on the Ministry’s official Instagram account urged women to refrain from arguing with their husbands, or nagging them to do household chores. The ministry also urged wives to speak with the squeaky voice of Doraemon, a Japanese cartoon character and ‘giggle coyly’. Is this professional?
Why did the Ministry not offer any suggestions to the husbands? Did the Ministry forget? Are husbands not part of the family unit?
The Ministry’s advice for wives and working mothers during the movement control order (MCO) is not just insulting to women, it is also patronising and condescending. It belittles the efforts of women who have fought hard for equality in Malaysia.
The ministry also advised working mothers, who had to work from home, during the MCO, to stay focused and productive. One of the tips was to avoid wearing home clothes, but to wear make-up and dress neatly.
Isn’t the ministry aware that women who usually work from home, know that their attire does not determine the quality of their work?
It is discipline that matters.
When the ministry’s advice provoked a public outrage, the Instagram posts were removed and an apology was offered, with the remark. “We would like to apologise if several tips were inappropriate or if they touched on the sensitivities of certain groups.”
To which “sensitive groups” did the Ministry’s apology refer?
The wording of the apology, and reference to the “sensitivities of certain groups” is odd. To which ‘groups’ did the ministry allude?
Are the women who lead this ministry out of touch with reality? Do they lead their lives as women in the middle ages, when females were seen as mere objects and had to do the husband’s bidding all the time?
In 21st Malaysia, both husband and wife contribute towards the efficient working of the household. We do not live in a patriarchal society where women are repressed.
Recently, various women’s groups warned that the number of domestic violence cases will increase during the MCO, because both the abuser and victim will be forced together, all day. There will be increased tension and stress with little chance of escape for the victims, or a chance to seek help as their movements are constantly being watched.
The ministry needs to engage with women’s groups like the Women’s Aid Organisation, before it issues statements that present the ministry in a very bad light.
Muhyiddin’s administration goes from one bad ministerial mis-judgement to the next
The administration of Muhyiddin Yassin has been seen to lurch from one bad ministerial mis-judgement to another. From the Health Minister and his tepid water treatment for Coronavirus, to the Minister for Housing, who thinks that disinfecting the streets, in a publicity stunt, is a priority, when the money allocated for this exercise could have been better spent on Coronavirus test kits for key frontline workers. There is also the Deputy Minister for Women, whose focus is on the uniforms for MAS Muslim cabin crew members.
What’s the Minister’s advice for lazy husbands and those who abuse their wives and children?
The Women’s Minister appears to be clueless. There are more important issues to deal with, than nagging wives and husbands who refuse to do household chores.
The Minister for Women, could have said that in 21st Malaysia, women are joint breadwinners, and men should make similar contributions in the house. Her attitude suggests that she has a lot to learn about modern marriages and she should realise that men must also assume responsibility in the home. Is she aware about the increse in domestic violence cases?
We know that many of the Covonavirus cases in Malaysia stemmed from the tabligh gathering at the Sri Petaling Mosque in Kuala Lumpur. Many of the participants, have failed to forward for testing to stem the spread of the disease.
The Minister for Women could have urged women to persuade any of the members of their household, who were at the tabligh gathering to contact the authorities so that they can be tested, quarantined and treated. This is one positive way in which the minister could have used her powers to motivate women.
Sadly, the calibre and performance of the ministers in Muhyiddin’s administration does not inspire confidence in the rakyat. His ministers appear to be outdoing one another in their mediocrity and abysmal policies.
We look forward to the day, when a racially balanced, progressive, inclusive, engaging, and forward-thinking ministerial cabinet is able to lead Malaysia out of the mess that we are now in.
“21st Century Malaysia”
There’s no such thing, to begin with.
No matter how much we like to patronise ourselves with fake attributes, Malaysia is essentially a convenient name for a patch of soil with those with the blessed mentality of cave-dwelling, tree-swinging barely-evolved almost-upright walking something-species.
As such, it is not terribly difficult to come by Stone Age thinking, our Doraemonkey is no exception when we talk about “modern”, maybe even “progressive” thinking – or twitching of the tauhu in the heads of our rather unenlightened ones.
Dolly Doraemonkey insults both women and men in her amazingly ignorant advice for the world.
Rather than urging women to be glorified vacuum-cleaners and cheap banging machines, Dolly should demand give women more genuine purpose and power for themselves rather than being thought of and used as mere objects for their men, like, say, another old mattress, or Proton.
Women should not fake subservience or pleasure or submit to men purely because the Code of Conduct for cave-dwellers state that those are their roles.
Even if there is good code of conduct, our men cannot be expected to heed them.
Women should simply be given right such as the power to divorce men at will, never mind their reason/s, get rid of their excess baggage.
Many women I have come across want that right rather than put up with their men, but they encounter all sorts of crap preventing divorce from happening.
Unhappy marriages are torture chambers, deathtraps for women, even though children suffer terribly because of the fault of the “adults”. Matters regarding divorce should mainly be in the hands of the persons (and children) involved, they should not be in those of kaypoh outsiders no matter how they think they have the “wisdom” or “authority” to interfere.
More often than not, the kaypohs are quite a deluded, ignorant, and poorly-educated or uneducated primitive lot creating more evil than good in the cave.
Pity the poor men too! Can you imagine how they suffer, not being able to sneak out to their secret girlfriends and mistresses to spend quality time away from being tortured by either nagging wives or fake Doraemons?!
Men with the extracurricular urge should be brave – or even “man” enough to divorce their wives, pay all the money, make sure the children are adequately provided for in life. Women get nowhere and face all sorts of difficulties getting the money from those “little boy” rogues after the rare occasions of divorce – or even when there is no divorce.
Stone Age code of conduct and cave-dweller “giggling” advice from the seriously backward primitives do not help anyone, they show Malaysia’s gomen up as freaking dumb – when at least we could try harder not to look so freaking dumb!
It is galling as it is painful for women to put up with our dumb men. It is totally unnecessary and against their human right – or even plain commonsense, for women to go through the suffering and torture of any marriage with our dumb rogues.
I find it is easier to come across bright women than bright men who can also be totally useless without their mums or sisters around to “think” for them.
A big number of women feel they are more capable and “man” than their husbands, lovers, boyfriends. That would indeed be correct and true belief.
We can only be a genuinely liberated, and, I dare say, civilised country, if we stop fearing our women and want to permanently shackle them because some of us think they are somehow “better” than women.
Or if we have women who want to help our rogue men shackle the women.
Somehow we seem to be so damn freaking stupid that we pick the worst men and the worst women to take care of the welfare of women (and children).
I am more for more women running our country, it would vastly improve everything in Malaysia – but that does not mean dig up just any woman or the worst from any rubbish bin.
No, I am not a woman.
Yes, I do have lots of “deviant” women friends, bless them!
Yes, Dolly Doraemonkey should resign or be chucked out – her crass advice is embarrassing – and dangerous, it gives a bad impression of our country even if it is still a primitive cave.
Think about it if it does not injure your midget brains, it is also a deep embarrassment for our “men” to have such a woman like Dolly Doraemonkey around, how freaking stupid can some “men” be?!
As I told my friend..only in Malaysia