Malaysia's first daughter speaks out on touchy topics

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): Marina Mahathir may be the daughter of the Malaysian prime minister, but this lofty distinction has not kept her from becoming actively involved in controversial causes.

She joined the Malaysian AIDS Foundation as a fund-raiser in 1993 when mention of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was controversial (many would argue it still is). The following year, she was elected president of the Malaysian AIDS Council, an umbrella of 30 non-governmental organizations working in the HIV/AIDS field.

Marina, 40, always wears a red double-bowed ribbon pin, the universal symbol of AIDS awareness. She is no mere figurehead for the organization, halfheartedly lending her name in a symbolic good deed.

She does not shy away from discussing the disease. She championed a strong family unit and sex education as the best measures in preventing the spread of HIV in an Asiaweek column earlier this year.

Independent and outspoken are words which pretty much sum up this woman who is also a book publisher, and a columnist for English-language daily The Star and Malay-language weekly Mingguan Malaysia.

Defending the weak has always been her passion. An avowed feminist, Marina often speaks up for women's equality, justice and fairness. She raised funds for the Women Aid Organization, a shelter for battered women and children.

When three young Malaysian women were hauled off a beauty contest stage and charged for indecent exposure in Selangor, Marina criticized the inherent hypocrisy in the incident.

She was in Jakarta last Thursday as the lone woman among 11 recipients of the 5th ASEAN Achievement Awards. Naturally, she was cited for her outstanding community service.

The following are excerpts from The Jakarta Post's interview with her:

Question: What started your involvement in AIDS issues?

Answer: I was a bit interested in AIDS. I realized it was a serious global problem. I have friends who are HIV positive, or friends who have died of AIDS. So I always thought I would do something.

I always did the fund-raising side. But after joining the Foundation, I soon realized you can't raise funds without talking about it. People don't understand why they have to donate money. So, I started to talk more and more about it, learning about it through time. It is a subject that pulls you in deeper and deeper.

Talking about AIDS is still a sensitive issue everywhere, including in Malaysia. Does it help to be a daughter of the prime minister to do it?

Yes, it does. It attracts attention. Before I came along, AIDS wasn't talked (about) very much. We had a health deputy minister who was very keen on it. He actually founded the Council. Having me helped attract and focus the attention. And people ask why she is doing this -- they want to know about it.

However, it is not enough to be merely a figure. I actually work in the AIDS issues and know quite a bit about them. It is still not easy for me. I get into the government's meetings, and I have to fight.

Sure, being a daughter helps. But fighting AIDS needs more than that.

What kind of controversial issues do you raise?

People shy away from AIDS because you have to deal with controversial issues, such as condoms, sex education, needle exchange and human rights.

You have to talk about it.

Is there any contradiction between those issues and the Eastern values Malaysia always promotes?

Not really. Not letting people die or suffer is very Eastern. And that's what I do. I try to save lives. But when it comes to approaches -- how we do it -- there are a lot of debates of what is appropriate. Our stance is that there are different strategies for different groups of people.

People think that we are distributing condoms for everybody. We don't. We do it among marginalized groups who are most vulnerable, such as sex workers. But, it is only a part of the prevention programs. There is no point to giving out condoms if they don't have any knowledge about prevention.

What's the point of giving them to married women if they can't negotiate it with their husbands? They bring out the subject, and they get beaten up. We have to talk about what other preventive measures to these women. Instead, we may try to educate them on how to communicate with their husbands.

Why do you tend to give them options, instead of only prohibiting and instructing them on what to do?

Dealing with AIDS is dealing with a very intimate, personal behavior which we cannot regulate at all. There is no law that can make people behave in a so-called right way in their intimate activities. The best we can do is to educate them and make them realize they have options. Some options are better than others. We cannot follow everybody around all their lives.

Changing people's behavior is difficult. People sometimes behave in a certain way because of economic or social pressures.

What do you think about Islamic law in Malaysia and how it treats Malaysian women, most notably with the arrest of three beauty pageant contestants?

The problem with Islamic law in Malaysia is it's being controlled by each state, not by the federal level. So, the states can have their own interpretation, and these have served women badly. These laws should correct the injustices, such as men's polygamy, wives' being divorced without consent or being deserted by husbands.

But, no. They concentrate on trivial things, such as women's clothes. It has nothing to do with religion, it is about power.

The issue with the beauty contest arrest is a public humiliation. The contestants were being treated like criminals. A beauty contest is not a crime. The girls voluntarily made their choices. Compared with other exploitation of women, beauty contests rank pretty low. Female prostitution or trafficking in women are much worse.

The girls were charged for indecency. They allegedly violated a fatwa (statement from religious authority) that Moslem girls should dress in certain way. Our argument is that fatwa is just a legal opinion, it is not a law and not supposed to be a law. But the state made it, and nobody could oppose it, including the prime minister.

Moreover, it only bans participation in a beauty contest, not watching one.

Men can go and watch, and they're fine. It targeted women. We also brought up the issue of male bodybuilding contests. Men also have to cover their aurat (body parts which should be concealed under Islamic teachings) from hips to knee. In the contest, men only wear little underwear and this is televised.

Why are there double standards when it comes to women?

Some people say you are even more logical than your father.

Really? I never heard that. Perhaps because my field is pretty limited. He deals with wider and broader issues. People don't always understand everything. But, I inherited abilities to think logically from him. We don't have the same opinion, but the process is pretty much the same.

Are you ever interested in politics?

No. To be a politician, one has to make too many compromises. Given how politics works in Malaysia, where one has to go through the party structure, I find it hard to comply.

I don't think they want me there. I am considered to be a rebel. I am too difficult to control.