Let’s face it – racial bigotry, sexism and misogyny are issues that we stand against. Despite the strong displeasure we feel, why does it still happen? It isn’t a matter that should be taken lightly. Rather than turn a blind eye, best educate for the betterment of us all.
To highlight this matter, a forum was held via Zoom on Bersih 2.0 [OFFICIAL]’s Facebook page. It was attended by members of parliament from the previous government coalition; YB Kasthuri Patto, MP Batu Kawan, YB Nurul Izzah, MP Permatang Pauh and YB Hanipa Maidin, MP Sepang. The forum was moderated and hosted by Rusni Tajari from Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO).
What happened?
There was a recent pandemonium that erupted between two MPs of the lower house of parliament – YB Abdul Azeez, MP Baling and YB Kasthuri Patto, MP Batu Kawan. YB Kasthuri questioned the lack of women representatives in the list of the Parliamentary Selection Committee on Monday. When the floor was open for debate, YB Azeez made a snide remark towards her, “gelap tak nampak” (Too dark, I can’t see) and then proceeded to tell her to apply powder to look more visible.
The remark made towards the MP of ethnic Indian descent was not acceptable. When YB Azeez was told to retract his comment, he acknowledged that he too was dark skinned as he’s of Indian ethnicity himself and it wasn’t at all intended to be a derogatory remark made towards YB Kasthuri. His apology via social media pertaining the remarks do not seem to link at all.
Throughout the history in parliament, for as long as one can remember, no one has been ejected from the Lower House for sexist remarks. When such issues arise, the members of parliament are told to retract their statements and apologise. But what about racism? There was an incident where the MP of Pasir Salak was ejected from the house due to a racist comment made towards YB Rayer, MP of Jelutong with regards to the holy ash mark across his forehead.
Holy ash is a symbol of Hinduism. The MP commented on the holy ash by saying, “Did the ash across your forehead come from the corpse of Cheng Peng?” The MP was then ejected from the House by the Speaker. YB Kasthuri stated, “When it comes to sexist remarks towards women parliamentarians, the members of parliament are only told to apologise for it but sadly, it does not happen immediately.” Most of the time, it happens the next day. Rulings pertaining such issues are rare. Does this mean that the parliament accepts sexist remarks and discrimination towards women in the parliament lightly? How is this at all okay?
When the Speaker was schooled by YB Hanipa, MP Sepang on the issue and advised to make a ruling pertaining such issues after the pandemonium, he did not at all proceed to do so. (Now, this is just disappointing!) However, the Speaker did inform YB Azeez to apologise to YB Kasthuri for the remarks made towards her. This isn’t the first time. Racism and sexism have been an ongoing issue in the parliament for some time. It’s a reflection of what is happening in society today. Dear Malaysians, it is time to wake up!
How do we tackle this?
1. Psychological violence and sexual harassment in Malaysia towards women have been on the rise. Why hasn’t anyone addressed these issues? Why aren’t we aware? Even if we do, not much is shared. Women, do not be afraid to voice out the mistreatment. Do not think that you’re alone. We stand with you in this.
2. More proactive actions should be taken towards such issues. Never take matters as such lightly. It is serious and needs to be stopped.
3. As a mother herself, YB Nurul Izzah advised for mothers to educate their sons to respect women for who they are so that they are more sensitive towards gender discriminatory issues pertaining women.
4. “There is no problem with the law. The problem lies in effective enforcement so improve it.”
– YB Hanipa Maidin.
In the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat under the Rules of Debate section, 36 (4): It shall be out of order for Members of the House to use offensive language or make a sexist remark and 36 (10): It shall be out of order to use – (a) treasonable words, (b) seditious words (c) words which are likely to promote feelings of ill-will or hostility between different communities in the Federation or infringe any provision of the Constitution or the Sedition Act 1948.
5. The implementation of UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) could make a lot of changes on the line of discrimination against women. Malaysia acceded to it in 1995. However, the federation is not putting forth the right attention to implement this and the NGOs have been speaking actively about it. CEDAW’s existence would educate the public.
6. Rise to Youth Power. Youths are not afraid to voice out their opinions on such issues. Their voices will be heard.
7. YB Kasthuri stated that victim blaming is the norm when it comes to sexual harassment issues. It is never the fault of the victim. Don’t forget the predator.
8. Speak up on gender equality and respecting women since young. Educate your children on this and stress on why it’s important.
Gender sensitization
Gender sensitizing is about changing behavior and instilling empathy into the views that we hold about our own and the other genders. It helps us examine our beliefs and personal attitudes as well as question the ‘realities’ “that we thought we knew”. Holding conversations in schools, universities and places of worship would help to shade light on the matter.
Tolerance
There’s a limit to tolerance. Let’s face it – there’s so much one can tolerate but once it crosses the boundary, the line is drawn.
According to YB Kasthuri, “When we speak about racism and sexism, I see the word tolerance. Especially when you speak about racism, you see tolerance. Actually, tolerance is very dangerous. Tolerance means “saya tak suka dan saya akan tahan sampai takat ni je dan kalau kamu buat benda tu lebih daripada tu, saya akan react.” (I don’t like it and I will only tolerate it until a certain level and if you go beyond it, I will react) That line is variable. So tolerance means, it’s already a discrimination of a superiority and inferiority – two different parts.
She added on to say, “The superiority will say, “I would let you do this but if you cross the line I will react.” And that’s dangerous when it comes to racism because there’s always a kami membenarkan, so kamu tidak patut. (we allow, so you shouldn’t) You always need to look at racism from a respect point of view and living in harmony and celebrating the common factors rather than focus on the differences. I think that is the only way to break the cycle of racism.”
“We need to break the word tolerance. It’s very dangerous. We should move away from it. It must be based on respect. It must be based on love. It must be based on compassion. It must be based on embracing our diversity but focusing on what unites us – the values. Nilai-nilai murni that we all have among all our races and religion. That should be the glue.” – YB Kasthuri Patto
Focus on what unites us as a community. Uphold the values we learn in religion. We may come from different religious backgrounds but the values we learn are the same. At the end of the day, it all falls down to us on what we choose to uphold and believe and how we choose to react.
