WPP Workshop December 2023

WPP Workshop 8-10 December 2023

Empower’s Women’s Political Participation Workshop in December 2023 was the second workshop in the series and was made possible thanks to funding by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. The workshop was a slightly scaled down version of the previous workshop in July that year that was run over two weekends. In the spirit of inclusivity, a Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia sign language interpreter was made available by the organisers for all sessions of this workshop.

On Day 1, participants were introduced to key concepts and principles of election theory and the formation of government. The session was conducted by Tindak Malaysia’s Danesh Chako and Dr Ng Kit Yoong. The first part of the session brought participants up to speed with key legislation pertaining to the elections; the right of citizens to participate in the election of their government; and several of the processes that take place during an election (including in the pre and post-election phases). Mr. Chako, who presented the first session of the day was able to demonstrate some of the complexities and problems with the electoral system and the impact and shortfalls of election law reform, especially with regards to redelineation, the newly enacted anti-Party Hopping Law (2022) and the lowering of the voting age that came with automatic voter registration.

An election simulation exercise followed, with participants being divided into three groups that acted like political parties - having to come up with a manifesto and then selecting a candidate from among the members in the group to represent them. Candidates here had a chance to express what kinds of reform they would engage in and exchange ideas with the rest of the workshop. This was followed by a simulation of what happens on election day itself. The simulation was conducted by Dr Ng, who calling on her experience as a Presiding Officer (Ketua Tempat Mengundi), took the opportunity to also brief participants on the various roles and responsibilities of the many players who are involved on voting day.

Day 2 was a full day session that had participants experience two modules i.e. Human Rights (conducted by facilitator Asura Nasron from Suaram) and on Women’s Rights and Political Participation in Malaysia (conducted by Hisommudin Bakar of Ilham Center).

The first session served as an entry point into the concept of human rights as being a universal notion on the state and nature of the human being. Ms Nasron taught of not only the local legislation and bodies in Malaysia that deal with human rights issues but she also extended some comments on the various international treaties that exists to safeguard those rights. Ms Nasron’s session was highly interactive with participants roleplaying a scenario in which a woman who suffers from domestic abuse, seeks justice despite being turned away by law enforcement; also leading stakeholders to push for new legislation on domestic violence.

Ms. Nasron also touched on the subject of gender equality, the history of feminism in Malaysia and challenged participants to debate on the issues that mark the 5th wave of feminism. Here, participants discussed issues such as the implementation of a 30% quota for women as political candidates, enforcement of laws on sexual harassment, the need for more social empowerment, the right to privacy online, gender expressions, abuse of marginalised groups, cyberbullying, diversity, equity, the right to self-expression, intersectionality and barriers to women at the workplace, among many others. In a group exercise, participants also learnt about intersectionality and how understanding different perspectives can be valuable in identifying privilege and differing experiences of people.

The third session of Empower’s WPP Programme was conducted by Hisommudin Bakar (Ilham Centre) and concerned women’s rights and political participation in the country. Mr. Hishom had participants talk about the role of women in Malaysia in the context of social, economic and political life. He engaged them in a debate on the political will among elected leaders and also among women in politics themselves to create reforms that affect women’s lives including breaking away from the limiting roles of women in politics, and giving women a stronger voice in the political sphere. By using group discussions, Mr. Hishom was able to get participants to talk about some of the issues that women face, the challenges in getting political parties to take them up, and how the patriarchy manipulates political representation of women. 

A key part of Mr. Hishom’s session was the presentation of viral politically motivated content on social media. Political in nature, yet not directly representing any political alliance, these clips were meant to represent the political narrative that the average citizen in rural Malaysia is exposed to online; with the objective of getting participants thinking about how these narratives shape opinions, public support and understanding of current issues. The facilitator ended the session by getting participants to think about how to leverage social media to benefit their organisation or awareness for the cause that they fight for.

At the end of the day, participants had a sit down with special guests, YB Anfaal Saari who heads the Selangor State Assembly Executive Committee for Women Development and Community Welfare, and is the Selangor State Assembly Representative for Taman Templer. Her interaction had participants asking questions on her experiences so far as a woman politician and on the possibility of getting more women into politics, including the implementation of a 30% quota.

Day 3’s session was titled Politics and Administration conducted by facilitator Maha Balakrisnan. The module concerned parliamentary processes with a particular focus on engaging the participants in an understanding of not only how laws are formed but how they could use that information as leverage for their own advocacy work. Participants were taught where the cycle of policy formation begins at the parliamentary level, the various committees and their roles and perhaps more relevant to them, who to lobby and convince. Aside from learning about the various process, proceedings and procedures that make up the Malaysian Parliament, a key message was to highlight the importance and role of Parliament as a check and balance and in relation to the citizens of the country.

The main activity had participants learn about how elected representatives would have to structure and bring up their questions in Parliament. Participants were grouped into pairs and made to present a question they would have an MP of their choice ask on their behalf in the Dewan Rakyat. Ms. Balakrishnan also provided reference materials on parliamentary processes and helped participants navigate the official portals for transcripts of the proceedings in the national and several state assemblies.

Day 3 also had participants involve in a meet and greet session with former MP, former Bersih chairperson, and Empower co-founder Maria Chin Abdullah. After sharing her account on the social movement that had led to the fall of the Barisan Nasional government in 2018 and her subsequent role as MP, she encouraged participants to ask her questions, stressing the importance of strategies to push forward an agenda. This includes the use of informal alternatives outside the parliamentary process, such as the APPGM-SDG, to carry the voices of the Rakyat and of civil society to parliament.