If non-Malay PM won't do, is female PM okay?

If non-Malay PM won't do, is female PM okay?

Mariam Mokhtar


COMMENT | The mess Malaysia is in was largely created by men who called themselves prime ministers but who lacked leadership qualities and, armed with their huge egos, refused to confront the major issues head-on.

You’ve probably heard of the saying, “If you want something done, ask a woman.”

If Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal is extremely agitated about a non-Malay prime minister, would he go ballistic at the thought of a female PM?

The Constitution does not say that Malaysian prime ministers must be Malay or Muslim. Does it say that the PM has to be a man?

Cast your mind back to the weeks before GE14, when many of you thought Umno-Baru could not be defeated. But they were subsequently kicked out of office.

So, stop harbouring those negative thoughts or create more excuses as to why another miracle cannot happen. Every Malaysian deserves an equal chance.

Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal


In any confrontational situation, you should be able to rely on the people you work with, to have each other’s backs. These are the people whom you trust to stand behind and protect you.

It does not fill anyone with confidence to know that he can only depend on someone to have his back, just because he is of the same race and religion.

We need a Malaysian with principles and integrity, who will fight for the interests of all of Malaysia, and not just a section of the population. It’s time to tap the unknown talent among the non-Malays.

Perikatan Nasional politicians want to amend the Constitution so that only Malays can be PM. Is this because they know all our former PMs were not truly Malay?

Previous PMs were pseudo-Malay with Thai, Turkish, Arab, Chinese, Indonesian, and Indian blood coursing through their veins. Many pseudo-Malay PMs betrayed us.

Some “Malay” PMs double-crossed the rakyat with their corruption and abuse of power. The convicted felon, Najib Abdul Razak, brought Malaysia to its knees.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak


Malays exploiting Malays

Many senior politicians will remind us to understand the concerns of the Malays/bumiputera who fear their rights and position would be threatened.

So, why did they omit to tell us about the exploitation of some Malays by other Malays? Cases like Tabung Haji, Felda, Mara, the silence of the previous Malay-majority cabinet about the scandal involving 1MDB, and embezzlement in the various ministries by senior civil servants.

Conservative Malay politicians want another Malay to lead the nation, defend the Malays, and protect Islam. They said nothing about Mercedes-Islam corrupting the politicians in Kelantan.

They kept quiet about Malay PMs and chairpersons of GLCs allegedly stealing from the rakyat and the huge corporations they lead.

They failed to say that successive PMs neglected the needs of the Orang Asli.

Many ‘Malay PMs’ have in the past used their position as a stepping stone to acquire more riches.

Why fear the non-Malay PM? He (or she) will want to prove that he is worthy of the position and may overcompensate to accommodate the Malay majority.

If politicians like Wan Ahmad Fayhsal cannot accept a non-Malay PM, would he back any female MP who aspires to be PM?


Advantage of woman PM

The Malaysian woman who decides to take up the challenge of becoming PM has nothing to lose, but everything to gain.

Most of them are no strangers to suffering, or to being treated worse than second-class citizens.

The Malay woman knows she is often belittled by her husband, who may try to put her in her place by telling her she is easily replaceable. Even in non-Malay families, sons are treated preferentially to daughters.

The pay gap between men and women has also widened. The labour participation rate of women is far lower than men, with 55.8 percent of women involved in the labour market, compared to 81.9 percent of men.

This is considering about half of all women have tertiary education compared with only a third of men. However, while men receive RM100 in salaries and wages, women receive only RM67.

Women only fill a quarter of the positions of legislators, senior officials, and managers. How behind are we compared with other countries in female boardroom representation?

The female PM will be in a strong position to steer the country towards stronger women’s rights and gender equality. She can use her platform to ban child marriages among other things.

If she is a mother or has experience helping her parents, she knows the impact of the cost of living crisis on the family. She understands the problems of managing the home and she will be best placed to understand the problems of running the nation.

The female PM knows how many women suffer domestic violence in silence and how the rates of domestic violence increase when the economy is bad.

She is aware of the struggles faced by single-parent families. She knows about expensive childcare and the prohibitive costs exclude many women from the workforce. She is aware of the financial burdens and difficulties of taking care of aged parents.

The Malay Muslim woman has additional anxieties, especially with a polygamous husband, or if she has been abandoned by her husband and left with no child maintenance or alimony.

The Malaysian female PM may help to sanitise the sexist language in Parliament, force misogynists in Parliament to learn to respect women, and compel PAS female MPs to realise that women have rights too.

Change for the better can only happen with a non-Malay or female PM.



MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.