As I ponder on the International Women’s Day 2021 I feel that significant initiatives have been left undone to bring meaningful change to Malaysian women folks .
Before we celebrate this year’s International Women's Day, can we ask ourselves, how much are we doing for working Mothers?
The race to eradicate the inequality that exists seems to have taken a step back after the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government last year.
Working mothers are a crucial segment of the national workforce, yet we seem to have forgotten their contribution and immense role they play in our society.
I can fairly say, the responsibilities women face at home to keep their families functional and intact while striving to prove themselves at the workplace, is not an easy feat.
So what can we do for the working mothers that we know?
During my stint as the Minister of Human Resources, I championed women centric initiatives to try to level out the inequality that has existed for far too long.
I proposed to introduce a new law to provide Social Security Organisation (Socso) coverage for all housewives.
The law was supposed to be brought to Parliament to be debated but that effort was derailed after the Sheraton Move.
The law would benefited about 1.4 million housewives in the country, and was part of Pakatan Harapan’s pledge to provide better social security for Malaysian housewives.
During the Talent Corporation Malaysia’s (TalentCorp) LIFE AT WORK 2018 Awards, I declared that women will play a big part in the Government’s strategy to prepare for the Future of Work, if we offered them a better Work-Life balance , including Flexible Working Arrangements and supportive Family-Friendly Practices.
I proposed that to encourage more women to return to work, the Government should give an individual income tax exemption of up to 12 months to eligible women returnees.
I also brought the matter of 90 days Maternity leave as well as 7 days of Paternity leave to the Cabinet for deliberation.
I received conditional approval for it and was preparing to bring it to Parliament just before the Sheraton Move.
I do believe that it is crucial for husbands to be by the side of the wives and newborn in the first few days. The 7 days Paternity leave was meant to encourage better bonding between the newborn, mother and father.
Unfortunately the Sheraton Move resulted in a Pakatan Harapan losing Putrajaya which means all the good work has been halted.
I would like to urge the Perikatan Government to consider reviving these reforms immediately and also to study and implement better flexible work schedules for working mothers.
Let that be the message for this year’s International Women's Day.
M. Kula Segaran
Member of Parliament for Ipoh Barat, Perak
National Vice-Chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP)
Former Human Resources Minister, Malaysia
Comments
Post a Comment