Published on: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 |
Kota Kinabalu: Single mothers face a lot of problems related to psychology after their husbands' deaths or divorce.
Deputy Sec-Gen of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Abas Abdul Rahman (l) said Monday that about 70 per cent of single mothers face emotional stress that stems from society's perception and attitude and family members' attitude towards them (single mothers) as well as feeling of loneliness.
"Single mothers are forced to take over responsibilities as the head of the family and this requires them to support the family when more than 90 per cent of them only earn less than RM1,000 a month.
Such situation poses a heavy burden on single mothers," he said in his keynote address on the theme "Women Psychology and Development in the New Millennium: Challenges and Expectations" at the 2005 Malaysian Psychology Conference.
The text of his speech was read by the Director of Sabah Women's Affairs Department (JHEWS), Siti Sapoo Ahok.
Abas said comprehensive programmes in the form of economic development, self-development and the like were planned and implemented to assist single mothers.
Single mothers, he added, need mental endurance and stable psychology to pick up the pieces and carry on with their lives.
According to him, one new approach to seeking well-being and happiness in life is Positive Psychology "where positive emotions and ability to adjust oneself play an important role in developing a positive life."
He called on researchers to come up with programmes and activities conducive to promoting a positive psychological development among women in the country.
Abas said women need emotional and psychological support to remain in the workforce, given their multiple roles as a wife, mother and career woman, which could give rise to emotional stress.
2004 Statistics show that 65.1 per cent of women in the labour market are married, widows or separated from their husbands.
"The country will suffer losses if women who lack mental strength decide to withdraw from the workforce."
Quoting figures, Abas said women's participation in decision-making has increased in several sectors such as the political arena, local authorities and corporate sector.
The conference heard that the number of women ministers, deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries has increased from eight in 2003 to 12 in 2004. Following the 2004 General Elections, we have 36 assemblymen and assemblywomen compared with 28 in 1999.
"As many as 320 women were appointed members of local councils (example, city hall, municipal council, district council and town board), an increase over previous years."
He said the number of women appointed as members of the board of directors in 50 companies (listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange) rose from 43 in 2000 to 49 last year.
"In addition, 86 women (or 14 per cent) were reportedly members of the board of directors in 77 government-linked companies (GLC) last year."
About 200 people are attending the conference jointly organised by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Psychology and Social Health Research Unit, and the Malaysian Psychology Association at Hotel Promenade here.
