‘Menses’ makes Azizah unfit as MB, lawyers say

Casey: How stupid can these sexist bigots be? Would they say the same if it had been their mother or sister who is tipped to be the next MB, or for that matter, the next PM? PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is the people’s elected representative.

What’s more important is whether she’s capable of looking after the rights of the people; that is, that of the Malays, Chinese, Indians and others. And whether she can command the respect and the support of the governed.

I do ponder as to how these shallow-minded bigots obtained their law degree and called to Bar when they clearly exhibit an absence of the ability to reason, rationalise, and think logically and in an objective manner.

Well Thats Fantastic: What a load of crap. A man can suffer from illness that will prevent him from doing a great many things and yet a man can be MB?

Also is this lawyer aware of a thing called menopause? There are male chauvinists everywhere these days.

Ozzie Jo: Sorry for being so indelicate but I felt I needed to state the obvious. At her age, I am pretty sure Wan Azizah would have menopaused, therefore, not more menses. Does that make sense, Mohd Hafarizam Harun, constitutional expert?

Gerard Lourdesamy: The stupidity of this Umno lawyer and Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) lecturer Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz have no bounds.

Do they have any understanding of Islam? What about Pakistan and Bangladesh having Muslim women as their prime ministers?

The use of the male gender in the state constitution also includes the female gender. This is in the Interpretation Acts.

If Wan Azizah is not yet menopausal and needs to attend state functions with the sultan, which are of a religious nature, she can deputize any Muslim member of the exco to represent her. In fact, the state constitution provides for a deputy MB for such eventualities.

I wonder if this Umno lawyer tells his wife to keep away from him and sleep in a separate room when she is having her period?

Rikk: Seriously? In this day and age, with such emphasis on equal rights and gender discrimination in other parts of the world, we want to make headlines again for all the wrong reasons.

A.A: I cannot believe what I read here. While the description of a female politician as a beauty with brain may be regarded as subconscious or subtle sexism, what we have here is outright blatant sexism. What’s next, I wonder.

EmLaw: Oh gosh, what era are we in? So all the wives of royalties cannot be around when they have menses? And what about the PM’s and other ministers’ wives?

Do they need to declare that they are “menses free” before attending functions that requires them to sit with the king or sultans? I really can’t believe this is happening in Malaysia.

Keturunan Malaysia: Mohd Hafarizam, first and foremost you can call yourself whatever you like, “constitutional expert” included, but it needs the majority of good people with good working minds to accept what you claimed you are to make your title credible.

Fair Play All: What I can say is that their stupidity knows no bounds. When we thought they have attained a first, lo and behold, another one sets in to take pole position.

It looks like to them, the record-breaking of stupidity is their most preferred pastime to gain notoriety.

Anti-Tokkok: And this nation hopes to attain “developed nation status” by 2020?

With people with cavemen-era mentality abounding in Umno, together with crass sexual discrimination attitude in supposedly highly-educated Malaysians, is there any hope to achieve that status, even in another half a century? I have serious doubts.

Open minded; My goodness, what will they think of next? This is depraved mentality, a product of indoctrination of an insular society.

This is an exhibition of extreme stupidity and ignorance of the outside world where many women leaders have become prominent figures shuttling from one nation to the other without any sign of weakness or fatigue. There is little wonder why they cannot progress.

Dr Jacob George: It is a pity how intellectually shallow, hollow, disengaged and archaic this country has become because of a few minority idiots and morons.

It’s embarrassing that we continue to claim ourselves an education hub, intellectual, and transforming nation when all that we see is an attempt by a few, which gives the perception that this country is on a fast track spiraling down to the very dark ages of history.

Peacemaker: Mohd Hafarizam’s opinion smacks of gender bias. If not for the bodily function of his mother, he would not have been born.

You are disgrace to decent sensible men everywhere and plainly what we musicians call a ‘jalra’ in an Indian music ensemble. The least of the hand cymbals whose only role is to echo the chief cymbal. In short, you are somebody’s mouthpiece.

David Dass Golda: Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Begum Khaleda Zia, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Margaret Thatcher, Aung Sun Suu Kyi, Cory Aquino. Arroyo Macapagal, Hilary Clinton, Benazir Bhutto, Jenny Shipley, Helen Clark, Angela Merkel, Julia Gillard, Yingluck Shinawatra, Mary Robinson, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Pratibha Patil – just to name a few women leaders.

In Sweden and Finland, more than half the cabinet are women. What would the world be if women were disqualified for high office because they have periods?

We are supposed to be heading towards being a developed nation. We will not get there if we disqualify women because of menses. Good heavens.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakinisubscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakinisubscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.