Panties and skimpy dress talk in Parlliament

Instead of debating on bills , our distinguished lawmakers are more interested in frivolous matters.

PETALING JAYA: After three weeks of the new parliament session the debates on bills was not the talking point but, rather it was on panties and scantily dressed women.

Even though it was the start of the fasting month, the sexist remarks did not let up. It started on the very first day of the fasting month when  Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan , Rantau Panjang MP Siti Zailah Mohd Yusof and Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh telling us how life would be better without “shit-stirrers”, “short pants” and “men who ask women to flash panties”.

Ku Nan got the ball rolling in the morning by calling the opposition “shit-stirrers”, as he slammed them for allegedly inciting chaos in his bid to justify the need for Sedition Act 1948.

He said: “We have shit-stirrers now, the shit-stirrers are the opposition. They try to stir things up until there is a chaotic situation in our country.”

Although shit-stirrer can be used to describe someone who makes trouble for another person, the Federal Territories Minister could have chosen better vocabulary to describe the opposition.

Then came Siti Zailah who, when taking part in the women minister’s winding up speech in the afternoon, asked for a dress  guideline to be imposed on women to deter rapists.

The two-term PAS parliamentarian, who was seen sporting a long head scarf covering her shoulder, singled out short pants and skimpy dresses as the cause of women falling victim to sex crimes.

“Maybe this trend is because BN leaders are bringing in artistes from South Korea,” she said.

A moment later, Siti Zailah’s colleague Fuziah caused another stir when she claimed that a parliamentary official has asked a women MP to flash her panties in exchange for a state executive councillor post.

“He said the reason the woman MP did not get to be an exco was because she did not flash her panties. If she did so, she would have been an exco,” Fuziah claimed.

Fuziah was trying to point out that sexual harassment is still prevalent in the society and the Women and Girls Protection Act 1973 cannot sufficiently curb this because the burden of proof lies with the women.

The sexist and vulgar remarks simply underlines the fact that women are still subject to discrimination.

Tengku Adnan  simply accused the opposition for inciting riot without giving the proof of any opposition’s remarks or behaviour which had contributed to chaos.

In fact, the government is widely blamed, even by Suhakam, for their high-handed approach against Bersih 3.0 rally which led to people being assaulted and injured.

They were also remembered for condoning Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali remarks threatening to burn the Malay version of Holy Bible.

Siti Zailah blamed skimpily-clad women as the cause for rising sex crimes, but where are the research studies for this.

For example, Malaysia recorded 4,959 rape cases in 2008, according to the Home Ministry. However in the Philippines, where adult magazines like “Playboy” are widely available, only 2,585 cases were reported in the year.

So, how does she justify her reasoning that short skirts are the cause of rape.

There, is one more week of Parliament left and dare we hope that our elected lawmakers will get into some serious debates on issues concerning the rakyat.