Since she took office, Nancy has hit the ground running so that she can see first-hand the issues that she must try and find solutions too. Here she's paying a visit to the Mamacare centre in Kuching, Sarawak for women post delivery. Photos: Bernama -- fotoBERNAMA (2022) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA
Right from the get go, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri was fully aware of the gargantuan task she had ahead of her as Women, Family and Community Development Minister.
She wasn’t “excited” about her appointment, she says candidly, even though she’s aware that her admission may not come across well.
“It may sound unfair of me to say this but, sincerely, I wasn’t excited... simply because I was very aware of the challenges that lie ahead,” she says.
“The scope of the ministry is so wide. We cover all Malaysians, from cradle to grave, and I know what are (the issues) faced by the different segments of society that come under the purview of the ministry. The appointment came as a surprise and I knew it was going to be challenging and I wasn’t prepared for it. This is me being honest,” she says.
“Even right on day one, I received calls about abuse cases. It simply reinforced what I already knew ... that I had a huge responsibility ahead of me,” she adds.
But, Nancy isn’t one to shy away from a challenge or shirk her responsibility. She’s ready to do her job and to do it as well as she can, she says.
“Let me assure you, when I am given a job, I will give it my all,” she says.
Her team at the Ministry describe her as being “always on the go” and “on top of things” – which are attributes she also demands that they embody.
“I can be quite the task master and this is sometimes at the expense of my team,” she admits. “I will chase them if I think they are working too slowly,” she says.“I have accepted this job and I will give it my best. I am not content for things to be ‘just business as usual’. We have to make sure that we are doing our job efficiently so that the people we serve – women, girls, boys, the OKU and seniors – can access services that are meant for them easily,” she says.
Nancy has identified five short-term goals to achieve by her 100th day in the office: The training and retraining of welfare officers; providing economic stimulus to marginalised women; fast and easy registration (via a QR code) of people with disability; increasing the reach of the ministry’s cervical cancer and breast cancer screening services; and increasing literacy on the anti sexual harassment bill and building resilience among the community.
“There’s a lot more to do but these are my immediate goals ... the low-hanging fruit,” she says.
Nancy hopes to make structural changes that can lead to the ministry and its agency operating more efficiently and serving the community better. Photo: ONG SOON HIN/The StarReporter : S. INDRAMALARInter-agency collaborations
Since she took office in December last year, Nancy has been spending much of her time on the ground so that she can get a pulse of what is needed, she says.
“There are so many issues – even if we just talk about issues pertaining to children alone, we have abuse and neglect, trafficking, children with behavioural issues, teenage pregnancies and more. Only by being on the ground will I be able to understand the scope of the issues so that I can push for a bigger budget,” she says.
She relates a recent visit to a shelter in Johor where she spoke to women, children and teens.
“You don’t see all this on social media or even the mainstream media because we need to protect those in the shelter and keep them safe.
“These were victims of trafficking and their stories were so disheartening. So many sad stories. My job? What I need to do is to make sure that I provide solutions for them,” she says.
She also realises how imperative it is to collaborate with her colleagues in other ministries to come up with good, long-lasting solutions.
“The scope of my ministry is so huge. It’s not just women and girls, but boys, families, the OKU (disabled) community and senior citizens too. The well- being of all Malaysians comes under this ministry, actually. So, to address all the different issues, we must work with other ministries. We cannot leave anyone behind.
“At the shelter I visited, for example, I found out that the children who were sheltered have not been able to continue with their schooling. Some have been there for months. I don’t think that is right. They should also have access to education, especially since we have our ‘zero reject’ policy. So I brought it up to the Education Minister – she wasn’t aware of the situation. How would she know? So it’s my job to bring up these issues, share them with her and for us to find a solution.
“This is the way we must work,” she says, adding that she’s confident that the unity government is one that will not just be more gender sensitive but also more collaborative.
She’s also met with her team at the Ministry (and the six agencies under her: Welfare Department (JKM), National Welfare Foundation (YKN), Institut Sosial Malaysia (ISM), National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), Lembaga Kounselor Malaysia (LKM) and the Women Development or JPW), so that “they can get to know how I work”.
Nancy (centre) with participants of the Women's Reproductive Cancer Awareness Campaign launch recently in Lundu, Sarawak.-- fotoBERNAMA (2023) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA
Fixing gaps
One of the first things she’s looking into is restructuring some departments in her ministry so that she can fulfill her goal of “making things more efficient”.
The welfare department (JKM) is one agency that she says needs immediate attention. “First, we need to make sure that we have qualified people doing the job. And, if they aren’t properly qualified, we need to train them so that they can deal with the many issues that the department has to handle,” she says, adding that the Ministry has come up with revised guidelines and SOPs for welfare officers to improve their service delivery.
So far, 120 officers have undergone training on the new guidelines, with 600 more to go before her 100 days is up.
“There have been complaints, yes, and we must address these,” says Nancy, adding that she’s “very sensitive to complaints” from the public.
“Of course, not all complaints are legitimate but we have to look into all grouses and address those that are legitimate,” she says.
She also acknowledged that there was a shortage of protection officers which is another urgent area she will address.
At a recent townhall session on Child Services with those involved with child care and protection last month, Nancy revealed that the ministry had about 5,000 child protection officers on staff currently, which she said was insufficient to handle the department’s workload.
She said that the ministry had the approval to hire 13,000 more child protection officers but to do so, she she needed a bigger budget allocation from the government.
“We really need a proper setup for our children. We need to make some structural changes. Currently, all child-related issues come under one unit under the welfare department and existing officers handle multiple responsibilities on top of having to go on the ground to assist the children, accompany them to the police station and so on.
“We also have been relying a lot on volunteers from NGOs as well as the LKM. It is so nice of them to volunteer their services – for free – but this is not right. I feel they should get some compensation. We also cannot go on depending on volunteers to do the job. We need to have our own staff to do the work.
“I have requested for support from the Cabinet to get this done and hopefully, we get the budget we need to make the necessary changes,” she said.
Nancy after a townhall meeting with some of JKM's child care annd protection officers recently. Photo: Bernama
Empowering women, girls and the community
Nancy also feels strongly about the need to empower women economically and to combat sexist beliefs that hold women back.
“More advocacy is needed for women. We have so many girls who are educated. Our female graduates outnumber the boys. But there are many who are still controlled and confined by their families who don’t encourage or even allow them to go out and work. They are expected to stay at home and care for the family. As a result, the women lose motivation.
“So, more than academic qualifications, I think it’s very important to build up their self esteem and to empower them. Equip them with skills that they can use at any time, anywhere.
“We must teach girls to appreciate themselves, to have self belief, to be resilient,” says Nancy who was with the Sarawak Federation of Women’s Institutes.
Nancy shares that she’s been involved in NGO work since she was young, following her late mother Bibi MacPherson (who is known as one of the pioneers of women in politics in Sarawak) when she went around to rural villages to help women. Her NGO background, she says, helps her understand the challenges and plight of women in rural communities and also in cities. It’s also made her more empathetic in dealing with grievances from the public.
“I remind my team that we have to always put ourselves in other people’s shoes. We may think their complaints are petty or aren’t serious but if we understand their situation and put ourselves in their shoes for a moment, we will see things differently. If we can help, we must,” she says.
Apart from extending help, however, Nancy is firm in her resolve to also teach resilience among women and girls while training them in living skills so that they can be steered away from “always expecting handouts”.
“We need to upskill our women, girls and also other marginalised groups and teach them how they can monetise their skills,” she says.
In line with this, she also says technical and vocational education training programmes (TVET) must also be relooked at to see if they fit the needs of the current economic demands as well as the interest of the population.
“The government has these TVET programmes but are they still relevant? We need to constantly update these programmes so that they are useful,” she says.
Nancy hopes that Malaysians from all walks of life will support her and the unity government to build a stronger nation together.
“It is the role of all Malaysians to build this nation together. Leaders must do their job and people must support initiatives and also tell us if there is anything that is not done right ... in a constructive manner.
“We also need to emphasise good values in society. I’m not talking about faith-based values but basic family values. I think this way we can have a better Malaysia for everyone,” she concludes.
