Friday, April 8, 2011

Perkasa chief tells why men like him cheat wives

Harakahdaily

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 7: When was the last time that a woman was blamed for her wayward husband? In Malaysia's case, it was only today.

Only a few days after Kinabatangan member of parliament Bung Mukhtar - no stranger to chauvinist remarks - suggested that female drivers were the cause of road accidents, pro-UMNO independent MP Ibrahim Ali (pic) said today that wives are to blame if husbands commit adultery.

"There are times when husbands have desires, but when they come home to their wives, they will say, 'wait, I'm cooking', or 'wait, I'm getting ready to visit relatives'," said Ibrahim, perhaps offering an insight into his own marital issues.

But far from claiming that the comments were entirely his, Ibrahim even used Islam to back his claim, arguing that a wife is expected to "drop whatever she is doing to please the husband's (sexual) desire".

"In Islam, wives are supposed to stop everything to fulfil their husbands' demands," he was quoted as saying by online news site Malaysiakini.

Far from the modern adage that men come home to get a good night's sleep, Ibrahim sugggested that he would come home from with only sex in his mind.

"Husbands driving home after work see things that are sexually arousing and go to their wives to ease their urges," said Ibrahim, who went on to take a potshot at the pornographic video targetting Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, by saying that men went to "private places" only to be later get caught in video.

"This is why I want a proper explanation as to whether wives understand their roles," he further remarked.

Predictably, Ibrahim's theory about sex and marriage sparked angry reactions from others, including Subang Jaya state assemblywoman Hannah Yeoh.

“BN men mock women drivers, maternity leave, bocor remarks and now Perkasa states it's women's responsibility to ensure men don’t stray. I'm boiling!” said Hannah on Twitter.

“Stop sending men like that to Parliament! They don't deserve the seat, the microphone and the honourable title. Nothing about them is honourable,” she added.

'A shade of his racist politics'

Meanwhile, Steven Sim, chairman of Penang DAP's Gender Justice and Social Development Bureau, said Ibrahim had gone against his earlier theory of why men married more than one wife.

“Previously, Ibrahim Ali has said that women have very strong sexual urges, which caused men to marry many wives. And now he claimed that it was because women failing to satisfy the urges of their husbands that the men commit adultery," he said.

Saying his remarks were "appalling", Sim wondered whether Ibrahim was competing with other sexist MPs.

He said the latest comments on women only reflected Ibrahim's own political understanding.

"Ibrahim Ali’s total disrespect for women only demonstrates his narrow, exclusive and xenophobic worldview, not least reflected through his involvement in the ultra-right wing group Perkasa.

“This is a total disappointment and does not represent the views of men in general,” he added.

Sim called on prime minister Najib Razak to immediately take action against sexist MPs, telling other BN male MPs to show their commitment to gender equality by condemning Ibrahim's statement.

No comments: