<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffeeshop Chit Chat - More Women to be in Politics</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>eureka75 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Jul-3 9:58 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 9) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>16383.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Lim Hwee Hua hopes for 30% of MPs to be women, one day by Loh Chee Kong
05:55 AM Jul 04, 2009 WITH 17 People's Action Party (PAP) women MPs already in Parliament, the groundwork has begun towards beefing up the ranks with at least half a dozen more - starting with the upcoming General Election, due by early-2012.
But even as PAP Women's Wing chairman Lim Hwee Hua (picture) spelt out her hopes of "gradually" having women make up 30 per cent of MPs in Parliament, she cautioned against setting a minimum quota and using the Women's Wing as a lobby group.
"There is no queue out there wanting to be admitted ... also, I wouldn't want anyone to doubt or question the quality of women MPs," said Mrs Lim, who was speaking on Friday at a press conference ahead of the Women's Wing's 20th anniversary celebrations this weekend.
Around the world, various governments have committed to increase female representation in politics. The Malaysian government will soon launch an action plan to allow women to hold at least 30 per cent of leadership positions in both the public and private sectors.
Since the Women's Wing was founded, the number of female MPs here has swelled from four to 17. And despite making up only about 20 per cent of the total number of MPs, the current batch of women MPs had tabled 42 per cent of all parliamentary questions in the first half of their term, said Mrs Lim.
Still, she made it clear who should be given much of the credit for the greater female representation in Parliament.
"It is really through the vision of the men who were in charge ... Most of us came through because we were identified by the leaders who were men," she said.
Mrs Lim became the first full woman minister when she was appointed in April as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Pointing out that there are now five women activists heading the PAP branches, Mrs Lim also shared how women - especially the younger ones - were keen to get their views across during closed-door feedback sessions by the Women's Wing.
While women have "gone beyond" the point of seeing politics as the exclusive domain of an elite few, getting them to stand for elections was a different story, due to factors such as the need to juggle competing demands of career, family and political work, said Mrs Lim.
THAT FEMALE EDGE
The value of women in politics is apparent, given their greater sensitivity and attention to detail, Mrs Lim noted. Such qualities give them an edge in the "social aspect" of politics.
At meet-the-people sessions and house-to-house visits, women activists and volunteers are deliberately deployed at the frontline to "draw out" needy residents who might be too shy to seek help.
"The reality is that, for example, when we do house-to-house visits, when you have a woman knocking on the door, it's likely that the door will be opened a lot faster than if it is a man," Mrs Lim quipped.
While her appointment to the Cabinet has invariably cast her as a champion for women's issues in a male-dominated line-up, Mrs Lim was clearly uncomfortable with that tag.
Citing her professional background in finance and economics, Mrs Lim said: "When I first came into (politics), at some point (I was) a little irritated because I keep getting asked: 'What are the women issues that you are going to bring up?'"
"But that's not to say that I won't speak on women's issues. If there's a real cause to be pursued, we will obviously take it up and do our best for it."
<HR SIZE=1>Edited 7/4/2009 2:06 am ET by eureka75</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
05:55 AM Jul 04, 2009 WITH 17 People's Action Party (PAP) women MPs already in Parliament, the groundwork has begun towards beefing up the ranks with at least half a dozen more - starting with the upcoming General Election, due by early-2012.
But even as PAP Women's Wing chairman Lim Hwee Hua (picture) spelt out her hopes of "gradually" having women make up 30 per cent of MPs in Parliament, she cautioned against setting a minimum quota and using the Women's Wing as a lobby group.
"There is no queue out there wanting to be admitted ... also, I wouldn't want anyone to doubt or question the quality of women MPs," said Mrs Lim, who was speaking on Friday at a press conference ahead of the Women's Wing's 20th anniversary celebrations this weekend.
Around the world, various governments have committed to increase female representation in politics. The Malaysian government will soon launch an action plan to allow women to hold at least 30 per cent of leadership positions in both the public and private sectors.
Since the Women's Wing was founded, the number of female MPs here has swelled from four to 17. And despite making up only about 20 per cent of the total number of MPs, the current batch of women MPs had tabled 42 per cent of all parliamentary questions in the first half of their term, said Mrs Lim.
Still, she made it clear who should be given much of the credit for the greater female representation in Parliament.
"It is really through the vision of the men who were in charge ... Most of us came through because we were identified by the leaders who were men," she said.
Mrs Lim became the first full woman minister when she was appointed in April as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Pointing out that there are now five women activists heading the PAP branches, Mrs Lim also shared how women - especially the younger ones - were keen to get their views across during closed-door feedback sessions by the Women's Wing.
While women have "gone beyond" the point of seeing politics as the exclusive domain of an elite few, getting them to stand for elections was a different story, due to factors such as the need to juggle competing demands of career, family and political work, said Mrs Lim.
THAT FEMALE EDGE
The value of women in politics is apparent, given their greater sensitivity and attention to detail, Mrs Lim noted. Such qualities give them an edge in the "social aspect" of politics.
At meet-the-people sessions and house-to-house visits, women activists and volunteers are deliberately deployed at the frontline to "draw out" needy residents who might be too shy to seek help.
"The reality is that, for example, when we do house-to-house visits, when you have a woman knocking on the door, it's likely that the door will be opened a lot faster than if it is a man," Mrs Lim quipped.
While her appointment to the Cabinet has invariably cast her as a champion for women's issues in a male-dominated line-up, Mrs Lim was clearly uncomfortable with that tag.
Citing her professional background in finance and economics, Mrs Lim said: "When I first came into (politics), at some point (I was) a little irritated because I keep getting asked: 'What are the women issues that you are going to bring up?'"
"But that's not to say that I won't speak on women's issues. If there's a real cause to be pursued, we will obviously take it up and do our best for it."
<HR SIZE=1>Edited 7/4/2009 2:06 am ET by eureka75</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
