Jamie Tiew
SIBU (Nov 26): Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) candidate for Pelawan, Jamie Tiew, calls on voters to support women’s participation in politics in the coming 12th State Election.
She said that without women’s participation in politics, democratic politics was more than just empty talk and women’s rights in the political circle mostly led by men would be reduced to “decoration”.
“PBK believes in equality between men and women and will give the same opportunity for the betterment of Sarawak. I therefore appeal to voters to support PBK candidates in this 12th Sarawak election,” she said.
The 51-year-old PBK treasurer urged voters to support women’s participation in politics to change the current distorted social pattern that generally oppresses women.
“In Sarawak, under the leadership of the GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) government, women have been reduced to support roles.
“Not only has the status of women’s rights not improved but Sarawak has become backward, poor, resource-drained and has frequent policy deficiencies due to improper management,” she said.
Tiew said Sarawak needs more new forces, especially the vitality of women’s participation in politics, to bring more inclusive decision-making to break the current impasse of Sarawak’s stagnant development.
“I call on the people to support women who have the courage to participate in politics and create a new situation for Sarawak.”
Tiew said that according to the Malaysian Gender Gap Index (MGGI) released by the Bureau of Statistics in 2020, there was a significant gender gap between men and women in political participation, with a maximum score of 1.0 and a score of 0.108.
Currently, she said the number of women in the Parliament and Senators in Malaysia each account for 15% of the House of Representatives.
“There are 220 MP (two vacancies with their passing) and only 33 are women. In Sarawak, the proportion of female state legislators is even lower.”
She said Sarawak’s low level of concern for women’s rights was a major factor in the difficulty of women’s participation in politics in proportion to men’s.
Adding on, Tiew said the proportion of women in the field of political decision-making was slowly rising in the world and the current proportion of women ministers worldwide has reached 20.7 percent, compared to 2.4 percent in 2017.
“Our neighbors Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Myanmar have had female leaders. The German female Prime minister, Chancellor Angela Merkel, stepped up to accept the challenge when the country was in crisis.
An excellent 18 years outstanding performance shows that women will be better politician and leader of the country. Merkel’s successor is also an outstanding woman, showing that Germany recognizes the ability of women to govern the country.
In Malaysia, women account for half or more of the population.
“However, why do women lack opportunities in the workplace and politics? This is the consequence of the discrimination and prejudice against gender and prejudice in traditional male respect, which severely restricts the spatial development of women,” she lamented.
Tiew also expressed her belief that to break the inequality between women and men in various fields, more women with a sense of mission participating in politics would be an effective way to fight for and protect women in their rights and welfare.
“From my previous political participation experience, I noticed that the participation rate of female party members in the party is very high, and the motive of involvement is pure and noble for the betterment of another human being and nation. The public should give women more opportunities to work side by side with men.”