inroads - Women`s Aid Organisation

INROADS
January - June 2013
EDITOR’S NOTE
Dear friends of WAO,
It has been awhile since our last issue in December 2012. How are you?
Did you exercise your rights as a Malaysian and voted at the last election on
5 May? Were you at the Aiyoh...Wat Lah?! Awards that was recently held at
Leonardo’s, Bangsar? Did you dance with us at the One Billion Rising flash mob
on Valentine’s Day? If not, it’s time for us to catch up!
In this issue, we will read about a couple’s journey to Indonesia to rescue a
migrant domestic worker who has been a part of their family for many years.
This amazing story highlights the plight of a migrant worker in this country and
how two individuals went the extra mile to ensure her safe return.
You will also be pleased to know that we had an interview with three men who
took part in the Bell Bajao’s One Million Men, One Million Promises Tweetathon.
One of the interviewees was Dr Ong Kian Ming who was the DAP Parliamentary
candidate for the constituency of P102 Serdang. We are happy to congratulate
him for being elected as Ahli Parlimen Serdang. All the best, Dr Ong!
Read all about WAO’s advocacy officer, Ren Chung’s trip to the Netherlands
under the Dutch Visitor’s Programme. It’s also election time at our 30th
Annual General Meeting in April. Let’s extend a warm welcome to the
Executive Committee for 2013/2015 term – Mok Chuang Lian, Vivienne Lee,
Chin Oy Sim, Tashia Peterson, Carol Chin, Puveshini Rao, Yeow Ai Lin, Meera
Samanther and Shoba Aiyar.
Check out what WAO has
been up to in our Events
and Happenings section.
Lastly, thank you so much
for your continuous support!
Have a good read!
Vivian Yap
MEN, STEPPING UP!
Niki Cheong, Ong Kian Ming and Zain HD
A creaive events consultant. An elecion strategist. A social
media expert.
Zain HD
Written by Vivian Yap
What do these three people have in common? Zain HD, Ong
Kian Ming and Niki Cheong are three of the five men who
paricipated in the recent Bell Bajao’s One Million Men,
One Million Promises Tweetathon, a campaign that calls on
men of all ages and background to take concrete acion
against violence against women.
They’re back again, this ime, to remind us that each and
everyone of us has a role to play in changing the society’s
mindset.
Ong Kian Ming
When you were growing up, were you aware that boys are oten treated differently than girls?
Kian Ming: Being from a tradiional Chinese family, I was always aware of gender
roles, even at the very young age. For example, during gatherings with the
extended family, the girls were always expected to help out the aunts in clearing
away and washing dishes.
I tried to buck this trend by volunteering to do the dishes. This has served me well
later in life since I was the one who did the dishes while I was doing my PhD in
the US and I sill do most of the washing up at home ater dinner with my wife.
I think the key here is to try to break gender stereotypes. This doesn’t mean that
a woman can’t do the dishes, cook dinner, wash the clothes etc… but this shouldn’t
be the expected default assignment of roles in a modern family.
Zain: Yes I was aware. My sister tend to get away with things whereas the boys
had less of a lifeline. Haha.
Do you think that it is important for both genders to receive equal respect in all aspects of their lives?
Niki: These days, I try not to think of things through the gender spectrum. I’ve met enough people in my life who
don’t fit the tradiional gender roles to think the way I used to. I think it’s important for us to just see everyone
human being across the board as equals, within reason of course.
When you become a parent or if you are already a parent, what do you think is the best way to teach your
children about the rights of women and girls?
Niki: Going back to the last quesion, I think I’d try to teach my children how important it is to be fair to everyone –
regardless of who the person is. I hope to teach by example and I think constantly reminding them about this
anyime we are exposed to behaviour where anyone is treated in unjust ways.
Kian Ming: The best way is always to show by example, by treaing everyone equally, regardless of gender, religion,
race, wealth, background, language, sexual orientaion, and whatever other differeniaing factors which we can
possible conceive.
One specific example I can think of is to allow our children to quesion us when we don’t walk the talk i.e. we do
things which we ask our children not to do e.g. we ask them to respect our elders but we do not respect our
parents.
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MEN, STEPPING UP!
Continued from previous page
Interviewed by Vivian Yap
Zain: I think I'll teach them in a manner that they understand all things have rights, including animals and plants.
And that in today's context, depending on where we are, the rights of each enity, women included, are at imes
taken for granted and also abused at the same ime. And it is key to jusice not just to them but to ourselves too, to
find a way to make it beter.
What would you do if you got to know that a close friend is abusing his partner?
Kian Ming: I would ask the abused and abuser the reason for this behaviour, separately, and then try to reach out
to them together with my wife. Oten, couples speaking to couples, in a safe environment can be a good start
towards understanding and hopefully, later on, resolving these problems.
Zain: I'd find the best way to make it end. Directly or indirectly.
Why do you think some men abuse women?
Zain: The same reason why some abuse some others. Out of ignorance, which is the root of many things. Among
which are of course inability to control themselves, to understand themselves, to understand the person they are
abusing, and mostly to understand the implicaions of the abuse. Oten people don't see themselves in the bigger
picture. This inability to do so, the ignorance, be it in abuse or something else, is a key factor as to why we're
coninuously ignorant.
Aside from the women’s movement, do you think law enforcers and decision makers, like the government and
judicial system, are part of the soluion too?
Kian Ming: I think that this requires a muli-prong approach given that different groups, communiies, and
individuals are at different stages of ‘reaching’ a goal of greater gender equality and parity. There is no ‘one
soluion’ that can or should be coordinated by any single enity or even group of eniies.
How do you think you can be a posiive role model to our community in support of this cause?
Niki: I think just speaking out as and when I see any inappropriate behaviour or injusice happen is a start.
I’m grateful that your organizaion has reached out to me to play a bigger role – I hope that I can help make a
difference, no mater how small. I also think that more than just speaking out, it is also to encourage others to
speak out as well. Causes like these could always benefit from having more advocates.
Niki Cheong
What is your message to all men and boys in this naion with regards to violence against women?
Niki: I think at the end of the day, we should just think
about how we ourselves want to be treated. It really
sucks to be treated badly, so why would we want to
inflict this, or see it happen, to others too?
Kian Ming: It’s not cool. And if you think that it is,
you should have your head re-examined.
Zain: It is a terrible thing. One injusice complements,
supplements and even give rise to another. For example
men and boys oten voice out against the abuses in
poliics and commerce. That stuff won't stop if others
aren't worked on too as well. All are interconnected.
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Ordinary people
doing the extraordinary
by Vivian Yap
This story is a true account of the rescue of an Indonesian domesic worker by a family of two. I personally
admire Agusina* and her employers because they have developed a strong bond that kept them together
during their toughest ime. This is also a story where ordinary people did extraordinary things. This is my
interview with Mrs Chong*. Read on.
Mrs Chong and her husband have been staying in Ulu Yam since 13 years ago. They decided to employ a
domesic worker to help with household chores. Agusina arrived with minimal knowledge and was struggling
with her work for the first 2 years. “She’s a fast learner though. So, she’s adaping very well. We spend a lot of
ime together. She is like family. We also got to know her own family as we have visited them in Indonesia”
said Mrs Chong.
Problems began in 2011. Agusina turned 29 was pressured to get married by her family back in her home
country. She agreed to be engaged to a man recommended by her father. Litle did she know that her future
husband would soon be involved in crime and jailed for 10 months. She has no choice but to return to
Malaysia.“I asked her if that is what she wants. To be married to a man who only wants her money. He
doesn’t even have a permanent job. She was silent”.
In July 2012, Agusina made up her mind about not geing married. She called her parents to inform them
and surprisingly, her father did not oppose. Thinking that all is well, Agusina let for Indonesia in August 2012
for the Hari Raya celebraion. Mr Chong maintained contact with Agusina via the phone to ensure that she is
well and safe. “One day, she called and told me her passport is missing. A few days later, she got into an
argument with her parents about the called-off marriage and she told us that she has no choice but to accept
it this ime. Her mom was feeling ill. What she didn’t know was her family has been planning this trap to get
her back to Indonesia to marry the man!” said Mrs Chong.
Between August and September, Agusina’s life fell into a downward spiral. The Chong family lost contact
with her. When they managed to contact her again, they found that Agusina‘s father has received Rupiah
500,000 during the akad nikah, which is only worth about RM200 in exchange for a dreadful life for his
daughter. She got married but was not allowed to leave the house for 30 days as instructed by her parents.
“She was very afraid of her husband and refuse to have sexual intercourse with him. She kept saying that she
is having her period. In the end, he hit her”. The Chong family is afraid that ime is geing shorter for her.
During a phone call, Agusina told Mr Chong that she had enough and wants to leave her home. He told her
to just run and bring the most expensive thing she has with her. She brought along a camera and a viewcam.
“Agusina is a fast thinker. She got her cousin to send her to the market while everyone was not at home. Her
cousin was suspicious but she managed to escape. We weren’t sure how to guide her out of where she is as
we are not familiar with Indonesia. Suddenly, I recall that we know of a driver whom we have been contacing
while planning for a holiday in Yogyakarta. He was such a big help. He gave direcions to Agusina to take a
bus to Yogyakarta!”
Agusina arrived safely at Yogyakarta but she is let with only RM50. The Chong family requested for the
driver to take her to a safe place and get her some clothes and food which Mr Chong will pay when he arrives
in Indonesia the next day.
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“We were extremely worried about her situaion so my husband went to Indonesia to make sure that she is
safe and to handle the replacement of her passport. Agusina’s family was looking high and low for her. My
husband came back without her the first and second ime. It was taking forever to process her documents.
He only managed to bring her home to Malaysia the third ime”. Agusina came back in October 2012.
I was very touched by the Chong’s family’s ireless effort to search and bring Agusina back to Malaysia. I had
to ask Mrs Chong why she felt responsible for Agusina’s well being. “We miss her. My children will call her
when she is in Indonesia. Agusina is a member of our family”.
Mrs Chong said that it is wrong for some of us to treat domesic workers unfairly. “People think that since
they are here to work then they can’t eat at the same table with us. I have seen a few helpers eat in the
kitchen or they eat ater their employers. We are always showing our bossy aitude. How about seeing things
from their point of view? Do you want to be treated poorly by your employer? You get what you give!”
The Chong family believes that domesic workers must be treated equally. They too have rights as human
beings and as workers. Agusina’s life is a classic example of the kind of treatment that a domesic worker
gets. She leads a beter life with the help of the Chong family but what will happen to her once she finally
needs to head back to her family in Indonesia? Her fate is unknown.
*All names have been changed to protect idenity
WISHLIST
1. Matresses (single)
2. Pillows
3. Double deck bed
4. Blender
5. Ceiling fan
6. Sofa set
Terima Kasih!
The expenses of the organizaion including staffing, cost for
food, medical needs, rent, transport, uiliies and upkeep of
the Refuge and Child Care Centre total up to RM1.5 million
yearly. Thank you for your donaions that enable us to
coninue serving women and children including promoing
their rights.
To know more about making a donaion, go to
www.wao.org.my and click on ‘How You Can Help’ and
‘Donate Now’.
A quote from Hillary Clinton, American poliician and diplomat
If a country doesn't recognize minority rights and human rights,
including women's rights, you will not have the kind of stability and
prosperity that is possible.
via brainyquote.com
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by Yu Ren Chung
At the end of March this year, I was fortunate
enough to be invited by the government of the
Netherlands to participate in the Dutch Visitors
Programme. Along with seven young women and men
from other countries, I spent ten remarkable days
in the Netherlands learning about international law
and peace, human rights, and Dutch society, history
and culture.
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As a soft diplomacy initiative, the programme was undoubtedly a success. An evaluation exercise
asked participants to rate their emotional attachment to the Netherlands on a scale of 1 to 10,
before and after the programme, where a higher number corresponds to higher emotional attachment. The average rating shifted from around 3 to around 7.
One reason for this positive shift, for me at least, was learning about the emphasis the Dutch
government places on human rights. Things are not perfect of course – challenges in issues like
human trafficking and migration remain, and women are still fighting to break the glass ceiling. But
the Netherlands consistently receives favourable ratings in human rights indicators like Freedom
House’s Freedom in the World survey and the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report.
This emphasis on human rights can be seen in the way the Dutch government views civil society: as
complementary. This is an attitude we should move towards in Malaysia, where civil society is often
treated with disregard or hostility. Government consultations with NGOs on human rights issues are
haphazardly organised and lack meaning. State funding for civil society is restricted, and comes with
strings attached. Vocal civil society leaders are harassed and threatened, with impunity. To be sure,
adversarial stances are sometimes necessary. But the government could do better at treating
criticism as constructive rather than a challenge to authority.
An example of this complementary relationship is the way the Dutch government consults civil
society. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs meets with civil society and other government bodies
roughly every two months. The government also holds separate consultations with civil society around
other events. Consultations were held before and after the recent 57th session of the Commission of
the Status of Women (CSW), twice before the government reported to the UN Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women, as well as twice leading up to Netherlands’ Universal
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Periodic Review (UPR) session. The civil society groups I spoke with were satisfied with the level of
engagement they had with the government, though one complaint was that the government often
referred to programmes as evidence of action and not the actual impact of policies.
Another example of this complementary relationship is the resources the government puts into
human rights. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a Multilateral Organisation and Human Rights
Department, with around 15 staff dedicated to human rights. The government also financially
supports NGOs working on human rights issues. An LGBT rights advocacy organisation I visited had
more than half of its budget funded by the government. An NGO that coordinates registration,
counselling, and shelter services for trafficked persons I visited receives all its funds from the government to conduct those specific services. In addition to a National Human Rights Institute, the
Netherlands also has a statutory body dedicated to reporting on human trafficking and sexual
violence against children.
Malaysia is of course very different from the Netherlands. I was reminded of this when visiting a prison
in the Netherlands. All eight participants in the Dutch Visitors Programme, all from developing
countries, commented on how the prison was in better condition than many schools in our countries.
Nonetheless, we must not use this as an excuse to dismiss the possibility of moving forward,
sometimes by learning from others.
An NGO in Netherlands - Wo=Men
6
JAG: No One Deserves to be Batered
10 January 2013
Within the past two weeks, a woman in Alor Setar, Kedah was murdered and a woman in Kangar, Perlis was
severely batered, reportedly by their jealous husbands. This is unacceptable.
On 7 January 2013, Kosmo! reported that a 27-year-old woman in Kangar was hospitalised ater her husband
atacked her using a chair, a stone mortar, a picture frame, and a knife, because he suspected infidelity. On 29
December 2012, The Star reported that a 17-year-old girl in Alor Setar was batered to death with a blunt object,
apparently by her husband who also suspected infidelity.
Domesic violence survivors oten face muliple acts of abuse over a period of ime. Surely more prevenive
measures could have been taken before the situaions escalated to hospitalisaion and murder. The 27-year-old
woman in Kangar said she was beaten weekly before she was finally hospitalised, creaing muliple opportuniies
for intervenion be it by the family, community, police, doctors, or religious figures.
Three to four thousand cases of domesic violence are reported each year. This is undoubtedly a small fracion of
the actual number of incidents. A Women's Aid Organisaion study esimated that 36% of women in Malaysia
experienced domesic violence. Though this study was published in 1995, this esimate is consistent with contemporary studies of domesic violence prevalence in other countries. None of these women deserve to be batered,
more so die.
We all have a role to play in combaing domesic violence. The government must improve the enforcement of the
Domesic Violence Act (DVA), paricularly in the following areas:
> Effecive and uniform enforcement of the posiive amendments made to the DVA in late 2011, which recognise
psychological violence as a form of domesic violence, and make domesic violence a seizable offence.
> Interim protecion orders must be more descripive to clarify what a perpetrator cannot do, instead of simply
staing that the perpetrator must desist “from using domesic violence” (“dihalang daripada menggunakan keganasan rumah tangga”).
The language employed by the media in their reporing of these situaions is also something we find deeply
troubling. Phrases such as “Wanita disyaki curang dibelasah” (Woman suspected of cheaing beaten up) and
“Rahsia kecurangan isterinya terbongkar” (The secret's out: the wife's a cheater) insinuate a lack of sympathy with
the vicim and instead supports the unacceptable noion that the violence was deserved and jusified.
Domesic violence is a crime, not a private mater. As neighbours, friends, and members of a community, we too
have a responsibility to speak up. If we suspect abuse, the police must be called immediately. No mater what the
reason, no one deserves to be batered.
Joint Acion Group for Gender Equality (JAG), which comprises:
Women’s Aid Organisaion (WAO)
Sisters in Islam (SIS)
All Women's Acion Society (AWAM)
Perak Women for Women Society (PWW)
Persatuan Kesedaran Komunii Selangor (EMPOWER)
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
Sabah Women Acion Resource Group (SAWO)
Women’s Centre for Change (WCC)
7
JAG: We Remember And We Will Not Be Indifferent To Rape
16 January 2013
Today, we remember ‘Nirbhaya’, which means ‘fearless’, a name given to a courageous young woman who fought
for two weeks to survive horrific injuries from a brutal gang rape on 16 December 2012 in New Delhi. The
23-year-old was on the way home from the cinema with her male companion when they boarded a bus that
would take them closer to home. They were instead thrown out of the bus ater being brutalised. The young
woman was raped and tortured by men on the bus and her companion was beaten up. Nirbhaya and her companion were let in the streets for almost an hour before the police arrived, and passersby had not come to their aid.
In Malaysia, we too have our share of terrible rape incidents that have been etched in our collecive consciousness. We remember Noor Suzaily Mukhtar, a 24 year old computer engineer who was raped and strangled in a bus
by the driver; and Canny Ong, a 28 year old computer analyst who was abducted from a basement car park, raped
and set on fire. We also remember our children - Nurul Hanis Kamil, a 16 year old who was brutally raped and
murdered on the way home from school, Nurul Huda Ghani, a 10 year old, who was abducted and killed by a
security guard, and 8 year old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, who was sodomised and murdered. Between 2001 and 2011,
police staisics show that incidences of reported rape have increased from 1217 to 3301. These staisics are only
the ip of the iceberg as research demonstrates that many vicims do not report rape for various reasons including
sigmaisaion, vicim blaming and fear of not being believed.
Today, we honour Nirbhaya’s memory by renewing our call to the government to implement the demands in the
JAG Memorandum on Rape submited in 2003. While some amendments have been taken on board, many more
need urgent atenion. These include widening the definiion of rape in the Penal Code to include rape with an
object. Currently, rape with an object is called “sexual connecion with an object”, which is an “unnatural offence”
that carries a lesser length of maximum imprisonment compared to rape.
As a party to the Convenion on the Eliminaion of All Forms of Discriminaion Against Women (CEDAW), Malaysia
has an obligaion to ensure that laws and policies are in line with its obligaions under CEDAW. Under CEDAW,
violence against women (VAW), including rape, is a form of discriminaion against women. Under aricle 5 of
CEDAW, in addiion to legal reform, the state has an obligaion to take measures to address prejudices and harmful
stereotypes regarding expected behaviour and roles of women and men based on ideas of inferiority or the
superiority of either of the sexes. There must be equality both in the law and in reality. While today, more than
ever, women are in the public and poliical sphere, we sill grapple with harassment and sexism in these spaces.
Nirbhaya’s brutal rape has brought to our atenion the consequences of
leing sexism and misogyny thrive. Reportedly, one of the reasons given by
the perpetrator for the rape of Nirbhaya was that she had the audacity to
be out in public with a male companion who was not related to her. It was
also reported that she was further brutalized for fighing back. While we
have laws against rape in our Penal Code, we need more than the law to
protect us from rape. We need a change in mindset.
Rape is a crime of violence and power. As a society, the larger issue of
sexual violence against women and children need to be prioriised. We
need to see that rape is not a private mater between the individuals
concerned, but a violaion of human rights. Careless invesigaion and
ineffecive prosecuion must be addressed immediately, especially since
under-reporing of sexual violence is a great concern. We need to change
stereotyped ideas about the roles and posiion of women and men in
society and quesion the power imbalance between women and men. It
Pic from bbc.co.uk
is ime to stop asking women and children to avoid geing raped. It is
ime to start asking men and boys to NOT rape. Rape is one of the only crimes where the vicim is asked what he
or she was wearing at the crime scene. Sexist aitudes must be addressed and we all must share the responsibility
for addressing the root problem of sexual violence. VAW is a public concern, and men and boys are part of the
soluion to this issue.
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Today, we remember Nirbhaya’s bravery in standing up to her atackers, her courageous struggle to survive and her
will to live. We will not forget all the other faces and names which have come to symbolize our collecive failure to
teach not just our daughters but also our sons. We remember and we must, each of us, make a conscious decision
that sexual violence is not acceptable and take collecive responsibility not to be indifferent to this great injusice.
Joint Acion Group for Gender Equality (JAG), which comprises:
Women’s Aid Organisaion (WAO)
Sisters in Islam (SIS)
All Women's Acion Society (AWAM)
Perak Women for Women Society (PWW)
Persatuan Kesedaran Komunii Selangor (EMPOWER)
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
Sabah Women Acion Resource Group (SAWO)
Women’s Centre for Change (WCC)
JAG: Keep to Your Word
5 February 2013
SEKALI LAGI, KOTAKAN KATA!
The Joint Acion Group for Gender Equality (JAG) welcomes our Prime Minister’s promise that “the government
would hasten effort to make changes to legislaion, regulaions, pracices and thinking that obstructed the
progress of women.” We look forward to seeing acion match the rhetoric and call for pro-women legislaion to
be passed without delay, by the government of the day.
We trust that the promise made by Dato’ Sri Najib Razak, who is also the Minister of Women, Family and
Community Development, that “something good will not take seven years” demonstrates his cognisance of the
seventeen years it took to amend the Domesic Violence Act and a new determinaion to prevent further delays
to law reform.
Law and policy reforms that ensure jusice and challenge discriminaion should not take seven or more years
before being passed and implemented. Jusice delayed is jusice denied.
Yet, in our experience, such delays are the norm. In just over a decade, JAG has submited 22 memoranda to the
government that highlighted urgent areas for reform and acion. Most of these have received scant atenion or
response. Efforts to adopt pro-women laws and policies can begin with a review of these memos and the recommendaions contained within.
In paricular, we call for the following reforms to be prioriised:
• Ensure that all state and federal laws prohibit gender-based discriminaion, in line with Aricle 8(2) of the
Federal Consituion, and that all naional legislaion is consistent with the Convenion on the Eliminaion of All
Forms of Discriminaion Against Women.
• Table the pending amendments to the regressive Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) (Amendment) Act 2006
that were agreed upon by members of the Syariah Community Meeing organised by the Atorney General’s
Chambers in 2006.
• Amend our rape laws to expand the definiion of rape to include rape with an object and marital rape.
• Expand the Domesic Violence Act to cover inimate partnerships, to harmonise it with all relevant pieces of
criminal jusice legislaion, and to standardise insituionalised support for survivors of domesic violence.
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• Introduce comprehensive laws on sexual harassment, with sensiive procedures and remedies atached
In 2008, JAG called for elected representaives to ‘Kotakan Kata!’ and make good on elecion promises to end
gender-based discriminaion and uphold women's rights. Five years hence, we are once again at the cusp of a
general elecion. And once again our poliicians repeat their promises. Which pledge is genuine and which a
blatant appropriaion of women’s issues?
In the upcoming days, not only will JAG be measuring the performance of potenial parliamentary candidates on
our demands, we will also be educaing women consituencies around the country on how to monitor whether
their representaives take women’s rights issues seriously and ways to hold them accountable.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Acion expresses prioriies.” Similarly, credibility rests in acion. A government that
prioriises women should demonstrate its ability and willingness to change laws that work against women.
Enough talk: now is the ime to act.
Joint Acion Group for Gender Equality (JAG), which comprises:
Women’s Aid Organisaion (WAO)
Sisters in Islam (SIS)
All Women's Acion Society (AWAM)
Perak Women for Women Society (PWW)
Persatuan Kesedaran Komunii Selangor (EMPOWER)
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
Sabah Women Acion Resource Group (SAWO)
Women’s Centre for Change (WCC)
Aiyoh… Wat Lah?! The Joint Acion Group for Gender Equality announces
nominees for annual sexist, misogynisic, homophobic, and transphobic
awards
13 March 2013
PETALING JAYA – The Joint Acion Group for Gender Equality (JAG) announced today the nominees for the Aiyoh…
Wat Lah?! Awards 2013, and opened voing to the public.
Inaugurated last year, the Aiyoh… Wat Lah?! Awards is an annual event organised by JAG to raise awareness on
what consitutes sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia and to encourage higher standards of public
discourse from public figures and insituions in relaion to gender and sexuality.
The Awards focus on public statements and acions instead of individuals and insituions. Selected from media
reports in 2012, the nominees contend for one of seven categories: “Foot in Mouth”, “Insuling Intelligence”,
“Policy Fail”, “Cannot Ignore”, “Least Helpful to the Sisterhood”, “Enough Already!”, and “Right on Track”.
A statement by Prime Minister Najib Razak is once again in the limelight as a nominee under the “Insuling Intelligence” category. The Prime Minister reportedly claimed that there is “no need for a women’s rights movement in
Malaysia” because equality has been given “from the start”. Malaysia fared poorly in the World Economic Forum's
Global Gender Gap Report 2012, ranking 100 out of 135 countries.
The shortlist of nominees for 2012 also saw the perpetuaion of discriminatory aitudes towards the LGBT community in paricular, reflected in the “Enough Already!” category which highlights statements and acts that repeat
sexist, misogynisic, homophobic, or transphobic messages. This year, three of the four nominees under this
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category targeted LGBTs, whether through organising forums and publishing guidelines to idenify symptoms of
homosexuality in order to stop their “spread” or by demonising LGBTs as a source of social ills and an offence to
religion. The fourth nominee was the harassment against Ambiga Sreenevasan, co-chair of Bersih 2.0.
“It is sad to see religion being used to propagate prejudice against LGBTs,” commented Hew Li-Sha from the All
Women's Acion Society (AWAM) on this apparent trend. “All religions preach tolerance and acceptance. We must
be wary of the use of religion to spew hate and deny individuals their consituional liberies and human rights,”
concluded Hew.
Other contenders include statements by the Prime Minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor, Wanita MIC Chief Komala
Krishnamoorthy, and former Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, each
having secured a spot in the “Least Helpful to the Sisterhood” category by respecively downplaying the gender
discriminaion faced by women on a daily basis, implying that women poliicians are not as commited as their
male counterparts, and placing the burden of keeping their families together on married women.
Besides the six categories that focus on discriminatory aitudes, the Aiyoh...Wat Lah?! Awards include the “Right
on Track” category. “We thought it was important to recognise posiive statements and acions, as well as the
individuals and insituions that took those progressive steps,” said Yu Ren Chung of Women's Aid Organisaion
(WAO) about this category, which awards public statements or acions deemed paricularly helpful in fighing
discriminaion on the basis of gender and sexuality.
“These nominees are
extremely encouraging
to us, and we hope
that highlighing them
at the Awards will serve
to encourage others as
well,” Yu added.
The winners of the
Aiyoh...Wat Lah?! Awards
will be crowned at a
public ceremony on
Sunday May 26th.
Ribena Berry, a character
played by actor and writer Jo Kukathas, returns to host the Awards.
“I’m glad to be a part of the Aiyoh… Wat Lah?! Awards once again. Clearly the nominees take pride in being the
laughingstock and making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Let’s not deny them the ‘recogniion’ that is
their due,” said Kukathas.
Members of the public are encouraged to visit aiyohwatlah.tumblr.com to see the full list of nominees and to vote
for the most ridiculous, cringe-worthy, and nasty displays of sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia.
Voing ends April 5th.
Joint Acion Group for Gender Equality (JAG), which comprises:
Women’s Aid Organisaion (WAO)
Sisters in Islam (SIS)
All Women's Acion Society (AWAM)
Perak Women for Women Society (PWW)
Persatuan Kesedaran Komunii Selangor (EMPOWER)
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
Sabah Women Acion Resource Group (SAWO)
Women’s Centre for Change (WCC)
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EVENTS & HAPPENINGS
Flash Mobs
Dancing to Make a Change for Women Everywhere
>>>
According to the United Naions, one in three women will
experience violence and rape in her lifeime, which makes
1 billion women across the world. On Valenine’s Day
2013, WAO took part in the worldwide movement One
Billion Rising; a movement that uses dance to make a
statement against gender violence and inequality. The
Body Shop Malaysia collaborated with WAO for a flash
mob at their outlet in Fahrenheit 88. They even went a
step further and had a flash mob going on at each and
every one of their outlets across Malaysia! WAO had a
team of staffers, volunteers and members walk from KLCC
to Pavilion holding up signages and we definitely got a lot
of atenion from the public. The response was so encouraging that The Body Shop Malaysia organized another
flash mob at Pavilion for Internaional Women’s Day, this
ime with the full works of balloons and roses too.
One Million Men, One Million Promises
>>>
With the highly publicized case of the Delhi gang rape
incident and the flood of involvement from men who have
come forward to voice their anger about it, it presented the
perfect opportunity to get more men involved in combaing
the social issue of violence against women. The One Million
Men, One Million Promises Campaign by Bell Bajao (Ring
The Bell, India) is a year long campaign doing precisely that;
geing men to make a tangible acion pledge that can
immediately change mindsets. As the campaign partner in
Malaysia, WAO organised a tweetathon as part of the
campaign launch gambit on Internaional Women’s Day.
Local public figures like Niki Cheong, Fahmi Fadzil, Syahredzan, Zain HD and Ong Kian Ming were invited to lend their
voices in support of the campaign.
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EVENTS & HAPPENINGS
Ranjit Singh & Yeoh
>>>
On Friday, 22 February at Leonardo’s, Ranjit Singh and Yeoh
coninued the tradiion started by Dato’ Ambiga Sreneevasan in
2011. The law firm raised funds worth RM90,775 for WAO in just
one evening of scrumpious food, delighful music and fabulous
company. A huge thank you to the team at Ranjit Singh & Yeoh for
being such a fun-loving and generous bunch!
>>>
The Pink Heart Campaign
Internaional Women’s Day, Unilever has again teamed up with
Guardian Pharmacy to raise funds for the Women’s Aid Organisaion’s
(WAO) Pink Heart Campaign 2013. The campaign seeks to generate
money and support for WAO, as it coninues to combat violence against
women and their children in Malaysia. It ran between 1 March to
30 April 2013, and customers who spend RM20 or more on Unilever
products, will get to purchase an exclusive ‘Pink Heart Foundaion’
pendant necklace (worth RM19.90) for just RM2.90. The Pink Heart
campaign has been raising funds for WAO since March 2011.
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EVENTS & HAPPENINGS
Accenture
>>>
This global management consuling company collaborated
with WAO in conjuncion with Internaional Women’s Day
(IWD) on 8 March. WAO was invited to speak at the IWD
event which was themed “Defining Success. Your Way” for
Accenture staff at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts
Centre (KLPAC). Accenture also printed and sold a special
ediion ‘Be a HERo’ T-shirt to raise funds for WAO. A total
donaion of RM7,610 was raised from the event.
>>>
>>>
WAO 30th Annual General Meeing (AGM)
We would like to thank everyone who was present at WAO’s
30th AGM on Sunday, 28 April 2013. The meeing began at
10.00am and ended at 1.00pm with a hearty lunch. It was
also elecions at the AGM for a new EXCO for the 2013/2015
term. Congratulaions to the new EXCO and a warm welcome
to the newly elected - Tashia Peterson, Puveshini Rao and
Yeow Ai Lin.
WHO IS WHO IN WAO
President
Mok Chuang Lian
Executive Director
Ivy Josiah
Social Work Manager
Wong Su Zane
Vice President
Vivienne Lee
Finance & Admin
Manager
Sharmini Kanesamoorthy
Social Workers
Jessie Ang
Nazlina Abd Ghani
Umadevi Rajah Denram
Ermawati Ahmad Sanusi
Yogasri
Amy Hor
Chris Chong
Secretary
Chin Oy Sim
Asst Secretary
Tashia Peterson
Treasurer
Carol Chin
Assistant Treasurer
Puveshini Rao
Committee Members
Meera Samanther
Shoba Aiyar
Yeow Ai Lin
Admin & Account
Assistant
Divvyananthini Manoharan
Administrator
Vashani Perimbanayagam
Projects Executive
Vivian Yap
Advocacy Officers
Yu Ren Chung
Sally Wangsawijaya
CCC Supervisor
Mary Selina
CCC Child Minders
Saras
Meryl
Paru
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