Women warned to widen horizon

Women warned to widen horizon

JAKARTA (JP): If women don't want to be forever outwitted by men, then they must broaden their horizons, Mrs. Yogie S. M. warned yesterday.

The boss of the Association of Civil Servants' Wives (Dharma Wanita) under the home affairs ministry said women must better educate themselves because men keep developing cheating techniques and are ready to prey on the unwary, Antara reported.

She said that women had to keep up with current issues, including the men's new techniques on how to "cheat" women.

"If you fail to do this, men will leave you Indonesian women behind and prey on you with their sophisticated cheating techniques," she said when addressing a Dharma Wanita gathering in Palu, Central Sulawesi.

She told her listeners that in the world of work, women's wages are generally lower than men's for similar qualifications and responsibilities.

She did not elaborate on what precisely she meant by "men cheating women".

The wife of Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S. M. acknowledged that women, particularly in Indonesia, were still left behind men in terms of education and mastery of science and technology.

The fact that women represent two-thirds of the participants in state-sponsored basic literacy courses illustrates the point, she said. (pan)