E-Paper
Don’t nag husbands during lockdown, Malaysia tells women; hell breaks loose online
One of the campaign posters depicted a man sitting on a sofa and asked women to refrain from being “sarcastic”.
Malaysia apologised on Tuesday after telling women to speak with a cartoon cat voice and avoid nagging their husbands during coronavirus lockdown, a move that sparked a sexism row.
“We apologise if some of the tips we shared were inappropriate and touched on the sensitivities of some parties,” the women development department in Malaysia’s women’s affairs ministry said in a statement.
The ministry had issued advice on how to avoid domestic conflicts during the partial lockdown, which began on March 18, with a series of online posters with the hashtag translating as #WomenPreventCOVID19.
One of the campaign posters depicted a man sitting on a sofa and asked women to refrain from being “sarcastic” if they needed help with household chores.
Avoid nagging your husband, another poster said, but use humour or imitate the infantile voice of Doraemon, a blue robot cat from Japan that is hugely popular across Asia.
The ministry also urged women to dress up and wear makeup while working from home.
The advice led to a barrage of angry reactions on social media.
After the online posters sparked a public outcry, the ministry removed them.
“(It) is extremely condescending both to women and men,” said Nisha Sabanayagam, a manager at All Women’s Action Society, a Malaysian advocacy group.
Malaysia is ranked 104 out of 153 countries in the latest World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap index, after scoring poorly on political empowerment and economic participation.
