Goh
KOTA KINABALU: The Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) hopes that the State government could seriously consider appointing a woman as the next Mayor of Kota Kinabalu City.
Its president, Tan Sri T.C Goh reckoned that such a move could allow the State government to better achieve its noble goal of empowering women and promoting gender equality in the public service sector.
He noted that the present Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) State government made the unprecedented move of nominating Amisah Yassin (PN-Bersatu) as one of the six nominated members of the State Legislative Assembly recently.
“If the State government could make another historical move of appointing a woman to the post of Mayor of Kota Kinabalu City, it would be a significant breakthrough in the aspect of women’s empowerment for Sabah,” Goh said.
He further noted that with our national population equally consisting of men and women, women in Malaysia should have equal power and influence as their men counterparts, when viewed from a decision-making perspective.
“But, since the inception of our nation, the appointment of women to important government posts is still comparatively far lower than men,” he said.
He then reminded that, in August 2004, as a State Party committed to the 1995 Beijing Conference and Platform for Action, and the 1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Malaysian Government introduced a 30 percent policy for women at the decision making level in the public sector. Such a policy was later also expanded to the private sector and political arena.
In a statement, Goh who is also the President of The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) nonetheless observed that Malaysia, Sabah included, is currently still lagging far behind the set target.
While acknowledging that it was rare to see a woman appointed as a mayor in Malaysia, he nonetheless recalled that in Penang, there had been women appointed as Mayor on two occasions, in the past.
“With such a precedent, if we could have a woman appointed as Mayor for KK City, it would definitely bring about a positive effect and a boost to women’s empowerment in the country.
“Since we have had women appointed as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Dewan Rakyat, as minister and deputy minister, as Member of Parliament and State Assembly member, and director-general of key government agencies, there’s nothing wrong to have more women appointed as Mayor, ” he said.
On the choice of candidate for Mayor of Kota Kinabalu City, Goh emphasized that since Kota Kinabalu is the State Capital and gateway to Sabah, and a fast-developing city in Malaysia, the candidate should preferably be a person who possessed vast administrative experience, is people-oriented, and business-friendly.
He thus believed the current Director-general of Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK), Noorliza Awang Alip would make a good choice of candidate for the post, especially citing her steady rise in DBKK from bottom to the top, over the years, besides her resourceful, dedicated-and-approachable leadership which is well-received by the people of all races.
He added that during this extraordinary time of pandemic, it is important for Kota Kinabalu City to have a public servant who is truly experienced and effective to be appointed as the next Mayor, so as to better lead City Hall to forge greater and closer cooperation with the business sector towards stimulating economic recovery.
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