THE Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development should hold more programmes highlighting development and empowerment women, said Penang executive councillor Chong Eng.

This would create more awareness of gender bias and domestic violence, and generate greater support for the victims, said Chong Eng, who is in charge of the social development and non-Islamic religious affairs committee.

“These issues are still not known to some of the Malaysian communities, so many people do not know how to reach out for support and did not approach the police to lodge a report,” she told a press conference here today.

She said the state government’s Penang Safe Family Policy provided an avenue for the setting up of first support points in counters of all government agencies.

“It is something you do not need a big budget to spend on because all we need to do is to train the existing staff and use the existing counters,” she said.

She believed the federal government could carry out such initiatives as volunteers and civil society groups have carried out similar programmes to aid victims of domestic violence.

Earlier today, Chong Eng announced that the proposal to have a minimum 30% of female representatives in local councils and on boards of government-linked companies has been approved.

She said appointments to these posts would still be based on the qualifications and suitability of the candidates.

“This makes Penang the first state in Malaysia to take a progressive step in bridging the gender gap at the decision-making level,” she added. – Bernama, November 2, 2020.