I NEVER expected to get this award, but I accept it on behalf of all the women and men who supported me through the years.
I grew up during the rule of the British and Japanese. I saw all the problems myself. I remembered them and kept them in mind.
I was the head of Kaum Ibu (the Umno women's wing at the time) for 16 years.
I fought for women as well as independence for the country.
| Tun Fatimah Hashim worked tirelessly for women’s rights. She was married senators and judges. to the late Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Yusoff. |
Women are capable. My struggle was to get them recognised as being equal to men.
In the early days after independence, a woman did not draw the same salary as a man even though she had the same qualifications.
I thought that if we did not fight for our rights, then who else would do it. The men certainly wouldn't.
It (equal rights for women) was, however, well accepted by the men.
They don't argue or get upset about it. But at the same time they won't go out of their way to fight for women's rights.
Umno is about politics. But women at the time did not know much about politics or about Merdeka.
We in Kaum Ibu did a lot of charity work. The members loved to do charity and would help people in need.
They also liked to sew and cook at that time. Today, they probably wouldn't be interested anymore.
I became the country's first woman minister. When I took over the Ministry of Welfare, the office in Batu Road (Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman) in Kuala Lumpur, was like a cowshed.
It had a cement floor and it was located next to the Labour Office.
| The late Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Yusoff. |
When the poor asked for work at the Labour Office, they would drop by my office to ask for money.
My office was in shambles. I asked the officers and staff to help me clean up the gardens and plant flowers.
I managed to convince Tun Abdul Razak Hussein to revise their conditions of service, upgrade their positions and pay them higher salaries.
The women's movement in pre-independence days was different from what it is today.
They were high-spirited and worked for the party and country. They didn't ask to be paid for their services and nobody paid them either. They didn't ask for taxi licences or other things.
Sometimes supporters would provide the transport, sometimes I would borrow my husband's car to go to Terengganu or Kelantan where the roads were not good.
We also travelled in perahu to those places. That was real perjuangan.
I remember once when three of us took a perahu to go to Kuala Terengganu. There was a storm and strong winds rocked the perahu. We were not worried about the boat sinking.
We weathered many a storm. Sometimes it rained so heavily that we had to bail out the water by hand.
But we were never scared. We weren't afraid because the determination to free our country was strong.
Whenever I spoke in the remote places, I emphasised the health of mothers and the education of children.
During the colonial era, there were few clinics in the kampung. Many mothers died during pregnancy because there were not many midwives.
This was what strengthened my resolve to fight for independence.
I was still young at the time, not more than 20 years old.
Yet, even at that age, I realised that if we were independent we could get whatever we needed for ourselves.
When I was raised in the kampung during the colonial era, there was no piped water or electricity.
There were no bridges. The villagers had to cut down coconut trees to use as bridges over ditches.
The villagers were a poor lot. They would tap rubber everyday. When they came back in the evening, they would have just enough money for the day.
If it rained, they wouldn't have any money. That was what our country was like.
Once in a year, they would be "well-off". That was when the duku, durian and langsat were in season. They got more money than when they just tapped rubber.
If we want to continue developing the country, it must be from the grassroots. In the villages there are still Wanita Umno members with the right spirit.
Today people are so busy improving themselves that they keep to themselves. I'm sad with what has happened to our country.
In the early days, we had to trek on long journeys to meet the womenfolk.
I remember one woman who was afraid to pay the RM2.40 membership fee because she was afraid her husband would scold her for using the little money they had. I managed to persuade her to become a member.
When these women became members, they were always loyal.
But it took time to explain to them (about politics) and get them to follow (party programmes).
I became the nation's first women to contest a parliament seat in the Jitra-Padang Terap constituency.
Only after I entered Parliament did Pas and MCA follow suit by sending their women representatives.
Nowadays, the women leaders are of a higher calibre. I didn't have high education. All I had was determination.
Nowadays, you have women lawyers, economists and others. Because the country managed to achieve independence, these women had an opportunity to get an education.
We got the first woman judge and senator during my time. It was easy to deal with Tunku Abdul Rahman. I said to Tunku that it would be nice if we had women senators.
Tunku just told me, "Give me the candidate".
Some people said Tunku was following the words of a woman, when even in England there were no women senators.
Tunku's reply was: "England negeri orang lain... ni negeri kita." (England is another country, this is our country.)
The National Women's Day was my idea. We got a lot of support for this idea, even the men supported it. The teachers supported it.
We celebrated the first National Women's Day on a grand scale on Aug 25, 1963.
When we fight for our rights, we can't be too confrontational. We have to be brave, sincere and organised.
(Tun Fatimah was talking to Arman Ahmad.)
TUN FATIMAH HASHIM
Date of birth: Dec 25, 1924
Place of birth: Parit Kurma, Muar
Marital status: Married to the late Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Yusoff (the former Attorney-General and Minister of Law and National Development).
Career development: Leader of Kaum Ibu Umno (now known as Wanita Umno) in Oct 1956. Member of parliament for Jitra-Padang Terap, Kedah, (1959 to 1969. Minister of welfare (1969 to 1973).
Fatimah worked tirelessly for equal wages for women, better protection and alimony for women, pensions for women, introduced a woman welfare officer at the Syariah Court and worked to get women appointed as senators and judges.
2009 MERDEKA AWARDS
THE recipients of the 2009 Merdeka Award are Tun Fatimah Hashim, Datuk Lim Phaik Gan(P.G. Lim), Professor Dr Halimaton Hamdan and Professor Datuk Dr Zaini Ujang.
Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican, who heads the Merdeka Awards board, announced the names of the recipients on Aug 19.
The members of the board are Hugh W. Thompson, Datuk Saw Choo Boon, Juniwati Rahmat Hussin, Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim, Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim and Mohd Azhar Osman Khairuddin.
Selecting the candidates for the Merdeka Award involves an exhaustive process.
The candidate for each category — education, community, health, science and technology, and scholastic achievement — of the Merdeka Award are selected by a nomination committee.
The names are short-listed by a selection committee and the list is then submitted to the board.
| Tun Fatimah Hashim |
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