KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia women's rights groups and activists are lashing out against Prime Minister Najib Razak over his statements earlier this month that the country does not need a women's rights movement. Member of Parliament Teresa Kok wrote that the PM is not fit for his second posting as women's development minister. “It was women's rights groups that have guided and pressured the government and the society in general to improvise the rights of women, including equal pay of men and women in government and private sectors, formulation of Domestic Violence Act, establishing the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, gender budgeting and various other changes that involve women, to eliminate violence and discrimination against women and to bring awareness to the Malaysian society,” she wrote in an editorial. The prime minister argued that Malaysia is even more advanced than developed nations in this aspect. “In some developed countries, the men were allowed to vote before women but, in Malaysia women had the right to vote from the start," the PM said at the Women's Day celebration. “Don't think that everything is better (in the developed nations) as we are way ahead especially in terms of women's rights." His comments angered many women in the country, who demanded an apology from the PM's office. He continued to tell the 3,000 people who gathered that the success of Malaysian women was well known “to the extent that the men are said to be an endangered species." He added the government works hand in hand with NGOs and the private sector in raising the position of women in policy making, as reflected in Budget 2013. “We provide incentives like grants, double tax reductions and allowances to private early education centres so more can be built, and women can go to work," he said. “All companies and departments should have crèches and I believe the Chief Secretary can issue a directive on this." The statements are a shocking display of “arrogance," women's rights activist and opposition youth leader Lina Aziz told Bikyamasr.com shortly after the PM's speech. She said that Razak “lives in a world where reality is void of truth. This is the most shocking thing I have heard a Malaysian politician say in a while." Aziz and other women point to the rising attacks against women across the country, the poor court rulings against sexual assaulter and rapists and the “overall sense that women are second-class citizens continues to pervade this country, so where he gets his information is ridiculous." Kok added that Najib's comments “show his utter ignorance about women's struggle and issues in the country.”
