Women can’t become menteri besar?
By Vizla Kumaresan (The Nut Graph)
ON 29 Jan 2010, Perak’s Barisan Nasional state executive councillor Datuk Hamidah Osman said female politicians cannot become menteri besar. Her reason: a menteri besar “has to meet the [monarch], where protocol is involved, and one has to meet religious officers … in such situations it is not possible for a woman to become the head of a state government.”
She did not elaborate on exactly what these protocols were that would be difficult for women to perform if they were menteri besar. It’s possible that she was referring to some legality that could prohibit women from becoming state premiers. However, this argument holds no water, say constitutional law experts. And personally, I do not think the law is behind Hamidah’s reasoning.
But I can think of at least two reasons for Hamadah’s claim. One, she is worried that women’s bodily functions might get in the way of performing such duties. Two, she assumes that women are not good enough, either in qualifications or intelligence, to perform menteri besar duties. This, in turn, brings about the age-old debate on whether men have superior intelligence and abilities, and that they are natural leaders while women are followers.
Read more at: Women can’t become menteri besar?
