The prime minister and his wife are in the running for the “Aiyo…Wat Lah!” awards.
Najib had been nominated for the “Insulting Intelligence” category with his remark that there was “no need for a women’s rights movement in Malaysia because equality has been given from the start.”
Whereas Rosmah could clinch the “Least Helpful To The Sisterhood”
title with her call on women to stand by their husbands to help
strengthen the family institution.“It’s what wives must do, we give strength to our husbands,” she had said.
Inaugurated last year, the “Aiyo…Wat Lah!” awards is an annual event organised by the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG).
It aims to raise awareness on what constitutes sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and to encourage higher standards of public discourse from public figures and institutions on these matters.
The awards focus on public statements and actions selected from media reports and there are seven categories: “Foot in Mouth”, “Insulting Intelligence”, “Policy Fail”, “Cannot Ignore”, “Least Helpful to Sisterhood”, Enough Already!” and “Right on Track”.
The shortlisted nominees for 2013 also saw the perpetuation of discriminatory attitudes towards the LGBT community in particular, reflected in the statements.
Last year’s winner for the “Insulting Intelligence” award was Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali.
The Pasir MAS MP had impressed judges when he said that “extramarital affairs are caused by wives who neglect their responsibilities to their husbands.”
Nazri for ‘Foot in Mouth’