NURULHIDAYAH Zahid has done a great disservice to women empowerment when Malaysians should be looking for the next glass ceiling to be broken in having a woman as prime minister.
UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s daughter, Nurulhidah, has done a great injustice to women empowerment when she said that women are not born to be leaders.
We already had a woman deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and it should not be a tall order to have a woman prime minister later.
Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, India, Nepal, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Argentina, Greece, Finland, Ireland, Iceland and Brazil were among the countries which had women presidents and India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Turkey while Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, France, Belgium, Israel, Tunisia, Norway, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal were among the countries which had women prime ministers.
Germany had a woman Chancellor in Angella Merkell while Queen Elizabeth just celebrated her platinum jubilee for her 70-year reign as the monarch of the UK.
Nurulhidayah wants to turn the clock back but she should be reminded of the quote by lsrael’s “Iron Lady” woman Prime Minister Golda Meir: “Whether women are better than men I cannot say – but I can say they are certainly no worse.”
Nurulhidayah should remember that we are in a new era of women empowerment with the Chief Justice, Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, President of the Court of Appeal Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf, both women, and seven women judges serving in the Federal Court of twelve judges. – June 4, 2022
Lim Kit Siang is the MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
