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Media Statement
by Chong Eng
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(Bukit Mertajam, Tuesday) : Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib, all ministers and all BN members of parliament must quickly learnt that the August house of parliament has no place for sexist jokes and humor, which in fact were demeaning. 

The women MPs from the opposition, who are the minority among the minorities had faced enough intimidation and sexist harassment in the parliament since we first step in to the parliament in 1999. 

We had protested strongly each time and we will continue to do so and unless chairman of Gender Equality Cabinet committee and the Prime Minister can stop his male members from repeating the same rude, offensive and demeaning remarks against women and the so call “jokes” and “humor”, we will take our protest and struggle to be free from harassment and intimidation to international level., including taking our protest to the Unite Nations CEDAW monitoring committee. (Convention to Edaricate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). Malaysia is one of the 185 countries that have rectified CEDAW. 

We urged the Prime minister to take action against MP for Kinabatangan Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin and MP for Jasin Mohd Said Yusof to sent out a clear message that such sexist, intimidating , offensive and   demeaning remarks against women would  not be tolerated by Barisan National government.  

DAP national chairman and MP for Glugor Karpal Singh was suspended for six months for being accused of misleading the house over some MPs did not raise their right hands during swearing in ceremony in 2004. Another DAP MP Fo Po Kuan had faced the same fate for questioning the decision of the speaker for not allowing a debate on CLP issue in 2001. 

Bung Mokhtar and Mohd Said Yusof have demeaned the women in the country and brought shame to the parliament and the country and we urge that they be censured accordingly.

(15/5/2007)