CAIRO, May 3, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Malaysian women are pressing for more say in the decision making process as the country continues preparations for a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on women advancement.

“Women have the skills, mindset and experience to do so,” Deputy Finance Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen told The Star newspaper on Tuesday, May 3.

She maintained that currently the equal participation of women in all spheres of life is more the ideal than real.

“For example, only 10% of the elected representatives are women although more than half of the members of political parties are women. 

“This is partly because of cultural factors that shape society although the Constitution safeguards against gender discrimination,” she said.

National Council of Women's Organisations vice-president Ramani Gurusamy echoed a similar position.

She said women must be given the opportunity and right to participate equally with men in the social, economic and political process.

The government announced late last year that it wanted to see women taking up 30% of decision-making positions in the public sector by 2015.

The Malaysian city of Putrajaya will host a ministerial meeting of the 113-member NAM on the advancement of women on May 7-10.

The deputy finance minister said that although the notion that a woman's place is home is fast disappearing and more women have “taken on the world” in various arenas, women were still not given equal opportunities to make decisions.

This is due, according to Ng, to the traditional perception that a woman's place is home.

“This stereotyping needs to change. All we're asking is that women be given equal access to the same positions as men.”

She underlined the need to “sensitive leaders” like Prime Minister Ahmed Badawi “to make the changes”.

Ng recognized, at the meantime, the need for “cooperation from the critical mass”.

Malaysia amended its Constitution in 2001 to prevent discrimination on the ground of gender and existing laws are being reviewed to ensure gender equality.

Even before that, the Married Women Act 1950 and Married Women and Children (Maintenance) Act 1950 provided employment rights for women and the Income Tax Act 1967 was revised in 1971 to allow wives to elect for separate assessment of their income for tax purposes.

Ivy Josiah, the executive manager of the Women’s Aid Organisation, maintained that policies to get more women in decision-making roles was not enough.

“What we need to do is to implement, implement, implement. Political will is needed to implement policies as sometimes men feel threatened by the presence of women,” she said.

What could be done, added the activist, was to create a positive environment for women – providing childcare services, for instance – to encourage them to take on leadership positions, especially in politics.

Sisters in Islam program manager Masjaliza Hamzah said that training programs could propel more women into leadership positions.

“Corporations and government bodies need to provide an environment where (women) can achieve their true potential,” she stressed.

International Women Entrepreneurs Association Malaysia president and founding member Norazizah Borhan said women had shown what they were capable of, even without being given equal opportunities. 

“However, for men to take them seriously, women must deliver while in decision-making positions.”

Also read:

• The Status of Woman in Islam 

• Islam and Equality of Genders  

• The Status of Woman in Islam 

• Women in Leading Posts 

• Voice of Women in Islam 

• Are Women Intellectually and Spiritually Inferior?