PAKAN: The women’s bureau can play an important role, especially in longhouses and rural villages, in uniting the community, says Pakan assemblyman Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom.
The bureau, he added, could help the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) to administer longhouses and villages, especially in organising community-based activities and programmes.
“Women today are unlike women of the past. Many are well-educated today and have high leadership qualities.
“They should be given the same opportunity as men to develop and unite the community at the grassroots level,” Mawan said during the anniversary celebration of Rumah Asun’s Women’s Bureau, Marau Tengah here recently.
“In the past, women are associated with working at home, even if they went to the farm, their job was more towards clearing the fields and harvesting rice but now everything has changed.
“Many women are now venturing into fields that were previously dominated by men, such as politics.”
Mawan urged the women’s bureau to organise more programmes and activities to further strengthen the unity among residents.
He said the bureau should also help the government educate the public on Covid-19 standard operating procedure and the new normal.
“Therefore, I advise longhouses or villages that have yet to set up a women’s bureau to do so immediately. I will help in terms of grants.”
Also present were Pakan District administrative officer Dana Ungki, Penghulu Dandan, Penghulu Ting Tiu Look and Women’s Bureau chairperson Sylvia Jawa.
