AG urged to strive for 50pc quota
Published on: Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Kota Kinabalu: State Community Development and Consumer Affairs Datuk Jainab Datuk Seri Panglima Ahmad Ayid (pic) called on State Attorney General Datuk Mariati Robert to work to achieve 30 per cent women representation requirement as envisaged by the Prime Minister and implemented by all public and private sectors."Just like in Norway where the authorities would not grant licences to organisations unless Norway's 40 per cent women quota policy is met."I am not the minister for women affairs, unlike the federal portfolio (Woman, Family and Community Development Ministry); I am the Community Development Minister, for everybody, so I have to be fair to all. I call on all women, men to work together and change for the better. We have to change and improve, it must start from us, from the grassroots, from our hearts," she said.
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She warned civil servants and job seekers looking for public service employment not to take for granted their job responsibility to serve with dedication as an easier career."There must be improvement, the civil service and agencies are not welfare organisations where easy life remuneration and pension are the motivating incentives. When sent for training courses, regrettably some did not improve or change for the better, they merely used such educational attainments for better promotional prospects or remuneration raise."Jainab called on parents to bring up their children properly by educating them against gender bias, prejudices and discrimination. She cautioned parents against marrying off their children early to rid themselves of their responsibility which has made Sabah, a state with a high populace of single mothers.She congratulated Mariati for breaking the glass ceiling to become the State AG which she said was more of a mental block barrier for women rather than a glass ceiling barrier.
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Mariati Robert heading the MPWS as chair, in her speech recalled that the Sabah Women Advisory Council was established by the Sabah State government 25 years ago on August 26, 1988 together with the Department of Women Affairs, previously known as Unit of Women Affairs as its secretariat."The council works through seven committees namely Economic, Social, Health, Education, Gender, Legal and Media. Since the establishment of both the council and the department; various trainings, visits, exhibitions, awareness programmes, workshops, forums, seminars have been organised," she said.
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"Today's event is one of the programmes to celebrate our Sabah Women Advisory Council and Department of Women's Affairs' Silver Jubilee with a theme: 'Sabah Women - The Way Forward' and we finally translated the idea in Malay as 'Wanita Sabah Memacu Kecemerlangan.'"Mariati thanked the Women's Leadership Centre of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for their collaboration in realising the public lecture by Prof Dr Louise Morley which touches on 'Lost Leaders: Women in the Global Academy' examining the universally under-representation of the fairer sex in senior leadership positions and drawing on recent research on women in higher education. She considers evidence on enablers and impediments to women becoming leaders.In Malaysia's 20 public universities there are three female vice-chancellors (15%) and 11 female deputy vice-chancellors out of 40.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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