First-ever Penang Women's Assembly to give rise to new candidates, leaders

GEORGE TOWN – It was hailed as Malaysia’s first-ever mock legislative assembly sitting exclusively for female participants, including fully elected state assembly representatives and MPs.

The committee organising the Penang Women’s Assembly held today wants the event to be held on a regular basis to expose women to the responsibility of being legislators.

Its chairperson Kasthuri Patto, who is the DAP MP for Batu Kawan, said the initiative should have been undertaken years ago.

She said the mock assembly can serve as a platform to push a new pool of potential female candidates to the fore in politics, while also cultivating participants to become leaders in their communities, government and private sectors.

“I find that many of the issues that were raised today I can raise in Parliament,” she said after the event. “It is really good because we got the participants thinking out of the box to put forward their ideas.”

Convened under the auspices of the Penang State Assembly, the event was held after the state’s main legislative assembly meeting ended sine die yesterday in the Dewan Sri Pinang.

The idea to have the mock assembly was mooted by Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang in 2018 and implemented with the coordination of Chong Eng, the state executive councillor for social affairs.

Law carried out his speaker’s role in presiding over the session and even reprimanded participants whose debating got out of hand.

He stressed that input from women is crucial in the formulation of the state’s laws and policies.

In her speech, Chong Eng said that there is a need for balanced representation to meet the needs of both men and women. 

“Men and women have different roles, responsibilities and needs,” she said. “There is a gender gap when it comes to representation, especially in the political arena.

“To narrow the gap, the Penang government has created the Women and Family Development Committee that aims to get 30% involvement of women at the village Community Management Council (MPKK) level.”

Later, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow expressed hope that the women’s assembly will be held after the end of every state assembly sitting so that issues concerning women and their constituencies can be brought to light and deliberated.

Penang Women’s Development Council (PWDC) CEO Ong Bee Leng said that the formation of the women’s assembly was planned with diversity in mind.

“Some of the participants are members of Amanah, PKR and DAP. There may be those who are in (state) opposition parties too but we don’t really mind,” she added.

The mock sitting was organised by the state government and PWDC. A total of 100 women were shortlisted from a pool of 400 before the final 40 were selected to attend. - The Vibes, October 20, 2020