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MARCH 8 is International Women’s Day.It is a good occasion to see how far women in Sabah have progressed in 2020. We fully agree with Chief Editor of Daily Express, James Sarda, that women development goes beyond having a Wisma Wanita. (“Sabah Can Lead In 30pc Women Quota” on Jan 24, 2022)

Yes, Sabah’s Wisma Wanita was the envy of many other Malaysian states when it was officially opened by the wife of then Prime Minister, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, in July 2010. Notably, Sabah is the first state in the country to have a Wisma Wanita of such magnitude, thanks to then Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman. Musa had envisioned Wisma Wanita to be a tourist attraction by getting indigenous women handicraft makers to be based at the building. Economic activities involving the public were held on the grounds of the building but response from patrons wasn’t encouraging, probably due to lack of promotional efforts or little media publicity. There was also talk of holding a weekly bazaar at the site to boost entrepreneurship but this did not materialise.

At least something was done during the chairmanship of Datuk Noni Said when the Council undertook the task of giving the building a facelift with mural paintings completed by art teachers. She could have achieved more had it not been for the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the Covid-19 pandemica.

A Wisma Wanita that is under-utilised and not put to good use for the benefit of women’s progress is akin to a “white elephant”. Perhaps Wisma Wanita started on a wrong footing when rooms were rented out to women NGOs, instead of allowing them to use the premises for free for their meetings and activities. This facility shouldn’t be profit-oriented. Within this symbolic building is also housed the two arms from the government to represent, strengthen and pursue the further empowerment of women in Sabah. They are the MPWS (Majlis Penasihat Wanita Sabah / Women’s Advisory Council) and JHEWA (Jabatan Hal Ehwal Wanita / Women’s Affairs Department). MPWS/JHEWA was given a RM5.8 million budget in 2022 to fulfill its advisory capacity. Has MPWS collected data to establish what is truly needed by women who are in poverty, distress, or even those who may need education or exposure for leadership to build their confidence to lead their families or communities out of the B40 category? This work would contribute to the role of giving sound advice to the Chief Minister, as MPWS was set up as a “think tank” to the government of the day. MPWS was the brainchild of former Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Ariah Tengku Ahmad. We hope MPWS will continue meeting up with the Chief Minister and presenting a Memorandum on Issues and Recommendations for Women Development for the State Government’s consideration. This was done by Founding Chairman Datuk Adeline Leong, Datuk Noni late Datuk Rita T. Jaafar, Datuk Asnimar Sukardi and Datuk Mariati Robert. There are some who feel MPWS has deviated from the original struggle of integrating women into the mainstream of development towards bridging the socio-economic gap between urban women and their rural sisters. The focus on creating women millionaires is way off the mark. What is the rationale? It should commit to creating more women entrepreneurs with focus on assisting rural women move out from the B40 category, rather than creating a handful of women millionaires.

Charity work is also not within the scope of MPWS objectives, laid down in 1988.

Yet, MPWS went out of its way to extend aid to fire victims in Tanjung Aru, last year, when there are so many important women-related issues to be addressed.

For example, its implementing agency, JHEWA, could help women impacted by the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic. It can offer much-needed assistance to single mothers, widows, women with disabilities, women who have lost their jobs, other vulnerable groups and the like.

JHEWA should continue to train women of substance to be leaders or to sit in corporate boardrooms, as had been done in previous years.

The public should also be informed how funds allocated for the empowerment of women have been spent. We have not seen work accomplished in the above mentioned areas. The same should apply to JHEWA. Have the numerous training programs over the last 10 or 20 years made any significant impact to lift women out of their undesirable conditions? Is there data, or any report that can show encouragement or hope that we are heading in the right direction? There was preparation of a 10-Year Master Plan for Women Development in Sabah organised by MPWS and IDS. We do not know what had been completed or adopted by the government. Hence Wisma Wanita should host more events that can empower women. Technical equipment should be upgraded to host more online or hybrid events and programmes. JHEWA lead a more dynamic push to gather data, provide and manage reports and records so university students or other government departments who require women-specific data could approach JHEWA as a one-stop centre? Women place high hopes on MPWS as this is the highest decision-making body for women in Sabah. As the name (“Sabah Women’s Advisory Council”) implies, it is meant to advise the State Government on any issues affecting women and on possible solutions to problems hampering women’s progress.

We have seen many training programs from NGOs, sponsored by local, national and foreign governments, as well as local, national and international corporations and NGOs. For the most part, all they working in silos. There was some effort from the government to bring women NGOs together to dialogue and to give grants and awards in the past. But there was minimal impact in terms of seeing women rising to greater heights. As for the Hari Wanita awards organised and funded by the government, we see government servants given awards by their employer. Nothing wrong in that but that should be done internally as they are already paid salaries to do a good job. The award should be for good deeds done for the community when not paid salaries to do so.

A good number of women in Sabah agree that 30pc representation should be legislated. Political parties should take the lead and field 30pc women candidates who are just as capable the men. Sadly, based on media reports, the pleas for 30pc women candidacies by the women wings of almost every political party (at state or national levels) falls on deaf ears. General election after general election we see the same scenario of only a pitiful number of female candidates (selected and decided by men) and even fewer made full cabinet ministers. There is no shortage of capable women for Cabinet posts or the Boardrooms. What is in short supply are the opportunities for women because the decisions are still made by men who are in those positions. We recognise and applaud the men and women in decision making positions who make extra effort to give opportunities to women. Because it really does take extra effort to empower women. They deserve our respect. But there are too few of them. We hope those reading this who can make decisions truly make an impact in empowering women in Sabah. Men and women in positions of power in government, in politics, in NGO and corporate leadership positions, in media – you are our friends and our allies. Let’s do it in unity so together, we can create a better Sabah. Sabah Maju Jaya. 

Women activists