‘Glam-ma’ Shahrizat set to rev it up for women at Umno meet

Joceline Tan, The Star

TAN Sri Shahrizat Jalil’s house in Damansara Heights used to be a grown-ups’ kind of home – cosy yet sophisticated.

Today, the first thing you notice in the living room is a white cot, lots of children’s toys and a baby chair.

The Wanita Umno leader is now a grandmother of three and life in the house revolves around her grandchildren who spend a lot of time there.

“I came home one day and there was a diaper on the coffee table. Sometimes, there’s hardly space to walk because of their toys, but I’m loving it,” she said.

But there is also a certain calm and sense of peace from her persona these days.

“I have been through a lot. I’ve learnt that life is bigger than yourself,” she said, referring to the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) issue that sent her political career spiralling.

She survived the debacle thanks to woman power. The Wanita Umno ladies stood by her. She is not bitter about what happened, she takes it as a test.

Politically, things will never be the same again but the overwhelming crowd at her Hari Raya open house this year suggested that socially, she is back in the groove.

She prepared food for some 2,000 guests but so many people dropped by that she ran out of food just as a call came that the Prime Minister was on the way.

“I had to hide in my kitchen for five minutes. Imagine, I had to tell the PM and his wife we had no food left. But they were very gracious and, thank God, we had some durians in the house to serve them,” she said.

A great deal is resting on her shoulders. The Wanita wing is officially acknowledged as the backbone of the party, its members are also the most effective foot soldiers of Umno and they are again set to take charge of campaigning in the general election.

But before that, there is the Umno general assembly starting Dec 5 which will be the party’s most important gathering before an election that will decide the fate of Umno and Barisan Nasional.

“I intend to finish reading my speech this year,” she said with a laugh.

For a number of years, she had to set aside the prepared text midway to launch into a more informal and political speech that brought the women delegates to their feet, clapping and shouting in a less than ladylike way.

Shahrizat is aware that her speech at the Wanita assembly this year has to press the right buttons.

It has to touch the senior ladies’ hearts and minds so that they will be fired up and go all out for the party in the polls.

At the same time, the speech will target what she calls the “soul of the wing”, that is the motherly role of Wanita Umno members.

The secret of Shahrizat’s success with the ladies lies in the respect she pays to the nurturing role of women. She recognises that politics and commitment to the party has to revolve around the women’s priority as mothers, wives, caregivers and, in more recent times, as career women.

“Livelihood issues and political stability are important to the women so that their children will have education and jobs. I often tell people that good economics is good politics,” she said.

Women she meets everywhere are less interested in the political warfare going on between the ruling coalition and the Opposition front than in everyday issues.

“There’s so much talk about Johor and Kedah falling, but when I meet my ladies there, they want decent schools, facilities like clinics and hospitals, putting nutritious meals on the table. They want jobs for their children. If you put aside the politics and the hype, there is still so much hope. I believe common sense will prevail,” she added.

Shahrizat began working on her speech a few days ago. The theme last year was ‘Ibu Terbaik Bangsa’ (most devoted mothers) but an election year lies ahead and she indicated that it will be a “very political speech” this time.