Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Shocking sad!!!

I can't believe what I discovered while doing some research on gender equality and equity in Malaysia.Apparently I am the only one who seem to be ignorant of this fact.It's stated clearly in the 9th Malaysian Plan book and other researchers have been flaunting the statistics here and there.

Apa ceritanya,Cik?

The story is this: Malaysian women don't even make half of the working population

Kadar penyertaan tenaga buruh
mengikut jantina ialah:

Jantina / Tahun 2003 2004 2005
Jumlah 65.2 64.4 63.3
Lelaki 82.1 80.9 80.0
Perempuan 47.7 47.3 45.9


Manakala bilangan guna tenaga (employment) mengikut jantina bagi tahun 2005
ialah:

Jantina / Tahun 2005 %
Jumlah 10,045.4 100.0
Lelaki 6,470.5 64.4
Perempuan 3,574.8 35.6

What does this mean?

1.It means women are at the mercy of their male guardians and very often become subjects of abuse cos' they are NOT financially independent.

2.It means all these talks of too many female students at the unis (more than 70%) mean nothing cos' employers still prefer male employees no matter how dumb they are (and I'm not being emotional when I say this)

3. It means what is Kementerian Wanita doing about this stats? Reasons given for women NOT working include : prioritising family and kids; no childcare facilities at work/residential areas. We don't see any improvement in helping women ease up their burdens or encouraging them to participate in nation building without them jeopardising their motherhood or wifehood.In a uni nearby, it is the Staff Assoc which has to finance the running of the Daycare Centre.We have been fortunate at IIUM that this bit is taken care of by the employer (thanks IIUM!)but I wonder how many organisations are as sensitive as this?

But then again, can we look at women NOT working as something positive? That they are not turned into industrial slaves? Only if they are not turned into cheap labour or domestic servants by their husbands.If they are given enough space and time to nurture the children with shared responsibilities between husbands and wives, help out with charity organisations, then maybe this is something to celebrate.But I rasa byk yg hidup atas ihsan suami.Suami kontrol pergerakan dan perbelanjaan.Which is so so sad.We are in 2006.The figure was almost the same in 1990.

What do we do, women?

6 comments:

Nik Nor Zafirah said...

i guess woman don't always get that much exposure on the working life.lepas kahwin,mesti kena jadi housewife.this mentality must be stopped and the hubby must support the wife so they can bring more income into the family

Faridah said...

I don't know Zaf.Sometimes women sendiri yang choose NOT to work sebab duduk rumah lagi seronok..no jams, no need to get up early, etc.Asalkan keluarga semua selamat, that is enough.I hope once the kids are all grown up, these highly skilled/educated women will turn padang balik and contribute to the society/nation.Sayang ambik s/ship byk2, belajar jauh2, lepas tu duduk rumah w/hal mereka ni boleh jadi think tank dan bantu bangunkan agama, bangsa dan negara.

Nazhatulshima N said...

Dr Faridah,
Sorry this in not related to your post. I want to find out how to get invited for the workshop with Malika Booker? Is it 23rd (from British Council's website) or 24th ?(as informed to me through my blog)

Fynn Jamal said...

well, talking on behalf of the corporate darlings, i think its the biasness we women get at the office that makes us wanna quit. *in which* makes us a stay home mom. truth be told, i am thinking exactly the same right now. we women are expected to work double just to get as recognized as the other gender! and being an ex-IIU student, i voiced out. guess what the boss says? "well, u girls gonna have months of birth holidays, so why bother sticking to the job?"

God! now we cant have babies??

p/s: it's Fynn the poet, Madam.

Fynn Jamal said...

*out of the context*
i realized my passion is poetry. *winks* i said no to the telle. its too fake out there, i know i'd love being one fake bimbo *haha* but i am trying hard to find ways to just teach. *hint hint* haha.

help me out here, gorgeous!

Faridah said...

Don't quit your job just yet, Fynn.It's worse if you have to depend financially on someone (usually a man).You can still write poems and be a corporate person (am I too late?)Just join British Council workshops...the next one will be in March.Get in that one.It will allow you to meet like-minded people and you can create poems/perform nites or weekends (if the boss says no, just use up your annual leave)We women have to work doubly hard to get where men are (without moving much muscle)Kita bukan hate men, kan? But the reality of their world and ours memang tak sama.Ignore the male chauvinists.Nothing will change them.It's how they were raised.It will take another generation or two to see the kinda men we want as our working partners (there are already a few amidst us but we know it's just NOT enough) :)))