Penang Exco Urges Federal Government to Conduct More Women’s Development Programs | Malaysia

GEORGE TOWN, November 2 – The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development should organize more programs focusing on the development and empowerment of women, said the executive adviser of the State of Penang, Chong Eng.

This would create greater awareness about the problem of gender bias and domestic violence in the country and generate greater support for the victims of such cases, said Chong Eng, head of the Social Development and Religious Affairs Committee. non-Islamic.

“These issues are still not known to some Malaysian communities, so a lot of people don’t know how to ask for help and haven’t approached the police to file a report,” she said in a statement. press conference here today.

She said the state government‘s “Penang Safe Family Policy” offered a way to set up the first support points at the counters of all government agencies.

“This is something you don’t need a big budget for, because all we have to do is train the existing staff and use the existing meters,” she said, asked about her wishlist for the 2021 budget.

She believed that the federal government could lead such initiatives, as volunteers and non-governmental organizations set up similar programs to help victims of domestic violence.

Earlier today, Chong Eng announced that the proposal to have at least 30 percent female representatives on local councils and boards of directors of government-linked companies had been approved.

She said that appointments to these posts would always be based on the qualifications and suitability of the applicants.

“This makes Penang the first state in Malaysia to take a progressive step towards closing the gender gap in decision-making,” she added. – Bernama