Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI) is currently coming under fire for a comment he made against a Form 6 student at a question and answer (Q&A) event at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
The form 6 student had allegedly asked him questions that showed her intellectual capabilities but was ultimately told by DSAI that if he was her age, he would ask for her number.
Taking to her Facebook page to call for an apology over the matter is BERSATU’s Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif, who also pointed out that DSAI had degraded the girl’s intelligence by treating her as a “object of flirtation”.
The questions the form 6 student, Adriana, asked were whether Malaysia can become a first class nation and what can the government and the younger generation do in realising that notion, and what was the government’s plan on recovering the value of our Ringgit.
“It was a classic and stunning display of discriminatory, bigoted and sexist language by the 75-year-old Prime Minister to the 18-year-old Adriana. In no circumstances is this kind of language acceptable; in a public televised forum, it is doubly shocking. What sort of example is the country’s PM setting for the youth of the nation? That it’s fine to ignore the intelligence and capacity of women and instead treat them as an object of flirtation?” she wrote.
She added that, should the questions have been asked by a male student, this would not have happened.
“To sum up, it is never okay for a leader and a leader of a nation at that, to utter such words to a student in the guise of being humorous.”
She has since called for transparency and accountability over the matter
“We hope that the women leaders in Pakatan Harapan and the Unity government do not keep silent over this manifest example of sexism by their own leader. They must speak up for girls and women or be branded hypocrites.”
“We also urge the Prime Minister to accept that he had made a blatantly sexist comment in a public forum and apologise to the student affected and to all who participated in the event, as well as to the nation,” she shared.
You can check out the video to the incident here:
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