'Sissy' to 'Playboy' to 'Rosmah': Sarcasm greets Najib - the first male Women's minister

Unable to decide on who appoint to be Women's minister replacing the scandal-tainted Shahrizat Jalil, Prime Minister Najib Razak chose himself and is probably the only male to ever head a domain meant to look after the special needs and interests of the female population.

The announcement followed heavy speculation on who would fill the post, which although a low-profile one is significant in that Shahrizat is also the head of the Umno women's wing.

An insult to all women: Wanita disunited and corrupt

As such, whoever replaces her is watched closely as a sign of who the male-dominated leadership in Umno wants as its next Wanita chief, although Kamilia Ibrahim, the current deputy, is by convention the next in line to take over and was expected to replace Shahrizat in the Cabinet.

"It is a huge insult to all women, not just Wanita Umno. For Wanita, this confirms there is disunity in the wing. The cancer is strong just like in the rest of Umno. This happens when the members are forced by people like Najib to accept Shahrizat as the head of their wing even though she is considered too tainted to be a Cabinet minister," Zuraida Kamaruddin, PKR's no-nonsense tough-talking Women's chief, told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Is Najib saying Shahrizat is not good enough for the Cabinet but good enough for Wanita Umno? Her involvement with the NFC corruption cannot be accepted by the Cabinet but Wanita Umno must welcome corruption and graft with open arms. It is another huge blunder because Najib is now telling Wanita to their face, they have no trustworthy or capable leader apart from Shahrizat. Isn't this rather stupid and insulting?"

"Sissy", "Playboy" to "Rosmah Mansor" or just greedy for the extra salary?

Indeed, Najib has not only made Wanita Umno a laughing stock but perhaps also one of himself. Comments that greeted the news that he would be new Women's minister ranged from the ribald to the sarcastic. In cyberspace, scores of "Pondan" or "sissy" greeted the news.

Some even accused Najib of being greedy and rushing to grab the "extra allowance" or remuneration for himself. Yet other critics feared Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor might soon become the ministry's de-facto head.

"If there is a lot of sarcasm, Najib asked for it. He deserves it for his foolish and two-timing politics. In terms of experience, if people rake up Altantuya and Ziana, and say this more than entitles Najib to be Women's minister - serves him right for digging his own grave. If people worry that it opens the door for Rosmah Mansor to busybody or to poke her nose in the Women's ministry, I think it is justified concern and something should be done to prevent it from happening. That would be huge abuse of power," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Tian was referring to Altantuya Shaariibuu, a murdered Mongolian national, and Ziana Zaina, a local artiste. The 58-year-old Najib is known for his love of women and has been accused of having romantic affairs with both before.

Hand that rocks the cradle - Umno Lembu Wing?

Shahrizat has in meantime welcomed Najib's joining the Women's ministry. In a statement issued on Saturday, Shahrizat expressed her gratitude to Najib although her comments were deemed to be "odd" given that he had sidelined her deputy Kamilia and other eligible candidates in Wanita.

"We hope that Shahrizat is not playing the politics of hate and revenge towards Kamilia who criticized her for not quitting over the NFC scandal. It is a valid criticism by Kamilia and any good leader would have done so to protect the reputation of Wanita and more importantly women as a whole. Remember, we are the mothers and the hand that rocks the cradle must be clean, otherwise we would raise a terrible future for the nation," said Zuraida.

The NFC or National Feedlot Centre is a national cattle breeding project awarded to Shahrizat's family in 2006 and is now mired under a mountain of corruption scandal. The RM250 million corruption debacle has created a major backlash for Wanita Umno, resulting it it being called the Umno Lembu Wing, because of the Shahrizat connection.

Kazakh connection and disrespect

Najib too has been attacked for bowing to Shahrizat because the NFC - which is controlled by her husband and children - had bought a luxury apartment in Kazakhstan for RM1.7million purportedly as a wedding gift to his daughter who recently married into a powerful political family there.

Indeed, in Najib's announcement made a day ago, his reasoning for taking the post and not assigning it to Kamilia or other Wanita or BN women including MCA's Ng Yen Yen and Heng Seai Kie was conspicuously lame.

So strongly does his self-appointment reek of disrespect to women in the region, there is suspicion that he had been motivated by personal reasons to help Shahrizat retain the Women's chief post.

"Shahrizat has promised me that as Wanita Umno chief, she will assure a big win for the Barisan Nasional in the upcoming general election," he said.

"I dare say that the people are gradually coming back to us, their affection for us is rising. Shahrizat emphasised the word 'sayang' (love) during her ministership. If the people give their support, it comes from their minds, but if they give their love, it comes from their hearts. When it comes from the heart, the choice will definitely be the one and only Barisan Nasional."

GE-13 not an excuse

Although Najib pointed to the 13th general election in his comments, PKR leaders said he might just be using the GE-13 as an excuse to hide his motives in making himself the Women's chief.

"Zuraida is right. However, you look at it, it is an insult to women. No doubt, the Umno media will try to turn it into something 'cutesy' and cartoon-like. But it is a gross insult. As it is, there are more than enough signs that GE-13 is very close, perhaps mid-June. In fact, all signs show that but nobody is sure because of Najib's own indecisiveness. He can tell you, it's next month and then flip flop just like that. This has kept the country in limbo for 2 years and the inertia is now actively harming the economy," said Tian.

"For us, until Parliament is dissolved, that's when GE-13 will be held. Anything apart from that is just the usual Najib sandiwara or melodrama to cover up his self-interest. For example, if he gets a lot of flak over this, very soon you will see him appointing a new chief for the Women's Ministry and the GE date will still be anyone's guess."

Malaysia Chronicle