By: TEO NIE CHING
I brought my babies to parliament not because I need a crèche for my kids in Parliament. I have a very capable babysitter. The missus of Zairil Johari, Bukit Bendera MP, and Steven Sim, Bukit Mertajam MP, are housewives. So if you ask me, do we really need a crèche in Parliament? The answer would be “NO”.
However, I can’t stop wonder, how about the other staffs working in the Parliament? How about those women who have no choice but to leave their jobs in the middle of their careers once they have children?
Remember that a three-year-old girl died in a car after being left alone by her mother, a teacher, at a car park of a secondary school in Subang Jaya last year? If crèche were set up at the workplace of the mother, I believe such tragedy would not have happened.
I thank Ivone Low for her concern over my son Eger. But her question on whether I have thought about the pressure my infant has to endure by being exposed publicly amuses me.
Italian Member of European Parliament Licia Ronzulli took her daughter, Vittoria, to plenary session of the European Parliament as a symbolic gesture to reclaim more rights for women in reconciling work and family life since her baby was only 44-day old. Prince William and Kate brought their 8-month old son Prince George to Australia and New Zealand. Would Low condemn them for doing so?
When Low said Parliament is never a suitable place for crèche to be set up, I would like to bring her attention to the crèche at the Scottish Parliament. As a family friendly Parliament, the public crèche at the Scottish Parliament is the only facility of its kind in Europe and is considered by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to be an important part of creating an open and accessible Parliament. Its main purpose is to provide supervision for children of staffs and people visiting the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The crèche is free to the public and provides care for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years. So I wonder, on what basis Low claimed “the House is never a suitable place”?
Despite the 2012, 2013 and 2014 government incentive programmes for setting up childcare centres, there are only 99 crèche sets up among 1378 government agencies. If Low thinks the government has done its best, I will tell her that her best is simply not good enough.
Childcare is not a personal or family issue. It has great impact on economic as well. To reach our goal of becoming a high-income nation, Malaysia needs to tap into all human resources in the country, that includes men and women.
Currently, Malaysia’s level of labour force participation among women is the lowest in East Asia. At least 500,000, and as many as 2.3 million, Malaysian women are “absent” from the labour market. Lack of affordable and high quality childcare options outside the home influences women’s decision to stay out of the labour force.
A preliminary growth accounting exercise suggests that a growth dividend of approximately 0.4% points per year could arise from bringing some of these absent women back into the labour markets. Setting up childcare centre at workplace will unlock the women’s potential.
It is the responsibility of every parent to look after the welfare of his or her children. But it is also the duty of a responsible and caring government to make the workplace more family-friendly. And as a Member of Parliament, it is my duty to speak up for the working parents.
# Teo Nie Ching is an Assistant National Publicity Secretary cum MP for Kulai