Beyond The Glass Ceiling
Women's AffairsHappy New Year!
The year 2008 ended with the world in uncertainty over the global financial turmoil and we can expect the uncertainty to grow as critics are still unsure of the causes and the duration of the economic collapse.
Crisis can be described in the Chinese language as, "Wei Gee", meaning danger and opportunity, but one of the many alternative interpretations of these powerful words can also be; realising opportunities against a dangerous backdrop.
In New Zealand the governing National Party, of which I am a member, won the general election on November 8 last year during a dangerous economic backdrop.
The people spoke and saw that National is a better economic manager and is better equipped to see us through this financial crisis.
The election win came after our party had been in opposition for three terms, nine long years, and the relief and joy of the win was huge even though we were all aware of the huge task ahead.
The people of New Zealand delivered the National Party a huge mandate which saw us enter the government with 14 Members of Parliament more than the Labour Party, which governed New Zealand for the past nine years.
If the election had of been held under the First Past the Post system - rather than the current MMP system - it would have been a landslide victory for our party.
Under the First Past the Post system, the country was divided into 99 electorates and whichever party won 50 seats had the majority to govern. Elections were won and lost on winning marginal seats.
However, since 1996, New Zealand has adopted the MMP electorate system. MMP, or the Mixed Member Proportional system, gives voters two votes; one vote for the party and another vote for the local electorate candidates.
New Zealand is divided into 63 general seats, seven Maori seats plus the creation of 50 list seats - a new class of MPs that gain entry through being placed high on the party list and who do not need to win an electorate seat.
The total number of MPs under this system is increased to 120 and is still a constant source of complaint by critics, who say there are too many politicians.
The public is particularly skeptical of list MPs who are perceived to be party appointed MPs rather than deriving their mandate through winning a seat in the general election.
Nonetheless, under MMP every vote counts, rather than just the voters who live in marginal seats, as it was under the First Past the Post system.
Ultimately the total number of party votes won by each political party is important under MMP. The number of seats in Parliament is allocated by the number of party votes won by each party, while the second vote determines how many electorate MPs vs. list MPs will enter the Parliament from each party.
At the last election, the number of party votes won by National entitled us to have 58 seats in the Parliament, 41 of our candidates won their electorate seats and 17 list MPs were assigned from the party list.
Some of the arguments for the change to the MMP electorate system included the ability to use list positions to bring in more women MPs, minority groups and increase the presence of minority political parties in the parliamentary makeup.
Under the previous system, minority parties could win many votes but fail to win a seat and would therefore be excluded from the parliament.
One of the significant reasons that people voted the MMP system into governance - which came into affect by the narrowest of margins - was the desire of the people to moderate the dominance of the Parliament by the two major parties, National and Labour.
Both parties were perceived to have ignored the people's wishes as soon as they won the election and it was thought that MMP would ensure that the two major parties would share their power with minor parties and thus the government would be more reflective of the people's wishes. Under the MMP system it is difficult for a single party to win an outright majority to govern and coalitions must be formed with the minor parties.
So far the verdict on the MMP system is that the diversity aspects of it have worked and have been welcomed; yet in the last four terms of Parliament, people have seen minority parties exercising power disportionate to its share of votes won.
National has campaigned on a referendum of MMP and my belief is New Zealanders will not go back to the previous First Past the Post system, but they will opt for a modified proportional electoral system.
Indeed the MMP system has helped to increase the number of women MPs in New Zealand dramatically. The slow pace of increase of women MPs started from under five percent in the 1972 Parliament to just 20 percent by 1996 - before the change of the electorate system. In the 1996 election, women MPs increased from 20 percent to 28 percent and that figure has stayed around 30 percent to 33 percent ever since.
I was the benefactor of this system, fulfilling the criteria of being a woman as well as minority. The MMP system has placed New Zealand high on the table in terms of the number of women MPs within the Asia Pacific region.
Research conducted by the Inter Parliamentary Union showed that as of October 2008, 33.6 percent of New Zealand's Parliament were women, compared to 24.5 percent in Singapore.
Even with a landslide victory, under the MMP system, National has to seek coalition partners to gain the majority to govern.
We won 58 seats but it was not enough to govern alone.
Our Prime Minister John Key, who was born on Singapore's Independence Day, took one week to form a coalition government with Act, United Future and, to everyone's surprise, the Maori Party.
The Maori Party was formed by the defection of a previous Maori Labour Minister and they have won five out of the seven Maori seats. National does not need the Maori Party to govern, but the move by our Prime Minister to include them in his government has sent a powerful message of the importance for unity and the need for the country to forge ahead in a racially inclusive manner.
Singapore has long been aware of the need to adopt policies that ensure racial harmony.
Leadership is important in sending out those powerful messages through both words and actions.
The Right Honourable John Key has set out to ensure that racial harmony and gender equity is as important as economic and other policies, after all democracy is based on one person, one vote.
That was not always the case for women, even for a progressive country like New Zealand - the first country in the world to grant women the vote in 1893.
It was some 39 years after the first Parliament was voted into power in 1854 that women were allowed to join men at the polls.
It took another 26 years before Parliament was opened to women in 1919. New Zealand's first woman MP was Elizabeth McCombs who won a by-election of a seat made vacant by the death of her husband in 1933.
John Key also made it clear that more ethnic minority MPs should feature in our party. After the election our party gained the first Korean and Indian New Zealander MPs by placing them high on the party list and thus giving them a voice in the Parliament.
Twelve years ago I gained my entrance to NZ parliament through the list seats as well and the experience and skill I learned has enabled me to win the Botany seat in the last election.
Personally that win has been a highlight in my political career. Out of the 70 electorate seats, women electorate MPs only account for 19.
In 1996 when I entered New Zealand Parliament, the high profile anti-Asian migrant senior politician Honourable Winston Peters - who has since been voted out of Parliament - labeled me a token MP.
It is amazing that labels like that stick easily and journalists quietly bought into it for a long time.
I referred to this recently to highlight the unfairness of such things as the label stuck because I am a minority as well as a woman.
On the other hand, I have long come to the observation that one must grasp opportunity; it is not how you start that matters but how you utilise the opportunity.
I stated openly that without MMP, it is unlikely that I could enter Parliament. However, at the same time I am mindful that in order for Asian New Zealanders and women to claim equality it is important to prove that we can win the people's mandate through gaining experience and know-how.
In 2002, I moved from Christchurch as a list MP to twice contest the traditionally Labour stronghold Auckland Central electorate in 2002 and 2005 and turned it into a marginal seat.
The new seat of Botany - which I won in the 2008 elections - was created during the five yearly boundary changes designed to accommodate population growth.
Even as a senior four-term National MP, I still had to win the selection process against three other contenders. It was a process that took eight months to conclude from when I first declared my interest.
I started my campaign for Botany in October 2007 and concluded on November 8, 2008, after knocking on 10,000 doors and holding 36 street corner meetings. I also dropped four campaign pamphlets, including 20,000, in the last two weeks with the help of volunteers.
I had a pair of worn out shoes to show for it, but it was all worth the hard work, when we won the seat with a more-than 10,000 majority.
I gained 56 percent of the electorate votes and the National Party won 61 percent of the party votes, giving us the fourth-highest party vote in New Zealand's political history.
It would not have happened without a good team of volunteers. On the election night in 1996 my supporters were Asian, largely Chinese. On the election night of 2008, the supporters were a wide mix of Asian and non-Asian.
The constant is my husband Sammy Wong, who continues to be the effective strategist and co-coordinator of my election campaigns.
During the election, pressure was mounting for me from supporters and Asians in general to win the seat and to also become a Minister.
Having now experienced and proven that Asians can enter Parliament, it has lifted the ambition of all Asians in New Zealand.
My chance of being appointed to the Cabinet was lifted by my winning the Botany seat with a clear majority, but nothing is certain in politics.
It was an anxious wait because first of all a coalition government had to be formed and that affects the number of Cabinet seats available for the National MPs.
There is only 20 Cabinet positions with an additional eight positions outside and five of those have been allocated to the coalition parties. When the call came from the Prime Minister to say I was going to be given a Cabinet position, it was an enormous relief because I understand that it is not just about Pansy Wong making it, it is about proving that Chinese and Asian New Zealanders can make it to the top.
It was not a surprise for me to have been appointed as the Ethnic Affairs Minister. After all that was the reason that I entered politics; to show that Asians will and can succeed in politics and make a difference to our country.
It was, however, to everyone's surprise that I was also appointed Minister of Women's Affairs. It is a high-profile and privileged appointment because New Zealand and New Zealand women pride themselves in the advancement of gender equality.
The role of Minister of Women's Affairs is supported by a stand alone ministry, which gives specific attention to policy that will improve women's lives.
My reflection of the Prime Minister's move is his instinct that women and ethnic minority shared something in common. Both portfolios were established as a result of intense lobbying by those groups because there is a reality and perception by them that the playing field is not even in terms of holding high offices, pay equity and opportunities.
The Prime Minister's decision has ensured that there are six women in the 20 person Cabinet. Of the six, four are electorate MPs and two are on the front bench holding portfolios of Police, Corrections and Education.
The highest offices of Governor General, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and Speaker of the House of Representatives have been occupied by women, which many may think is a sign that New Zealand women can rest on our laurels.
However, the fact that we are keen to promote these evidences is a sign that they are a rare occurrence. Their frequent recurrences cannot be taken for granted or guaranteed.
Critics will raise the popular argument that individuals should be promoted on merit, not on gender or race, but the fallacy of this argument is the assumption that the playing field is level.
Take my experience as an example, which is not uncommon even today in many parts of the world, and shows that girls are subconsciously molded by their parents and by others based on their own experiences.
My mother had expected me to grow up to be a teacher or a nurse, but my lack of patience put both of those two careers out of the reach. They are both commendable career paths, but nonetheless they are gender-based and therefore cut off options subconsciously and limit dreams for girls.
During my high school days, one of the male math teachers was so frustrated in having to teach a class of mainly girls in the art stream that he burst out with a statement saying we did not do our best because we were mucking around until we could get a meal ticket.
This teacher was partly responsible for my determination to be financially independent when I finished my studies.
One of the many projects undertaken by the Ministry of Women Affairs is to identify barriers in the life of women that hinder or prevent them from being able to exercise choices.
I am keen to work with schools to ensure that girls are encouraged to excel in any subject from a young age and to educate people that the expectation of teachers and parents affect a child's outlook of the world and the part that they can play in it.
One of my favorite tasks is to visit schools and witness young people mastering the tools that will equip them for the adult world and, in time, modify the adult world.
At some of the primary schools in my electorate, classes take turns to conduct the weekly assembly. I wish in my school days assemblies were conducted by seven-year-olds equipped with sound tracks and video to demonstrate their class projects.
This is certainly a contrast to the days when long lectures delivered by principals and VIPs were the norm.
The confidence and leadership skill learnt by these children from adults trusting them to carry out the tasks is immeasurable.
Against this positive picture, we are wrestling with the ugly problem of domestic violence.
Statistics in New Zealand show that a woman dies at the hands of their partner or former partner every 26 days.
Children who witness these traumatic incidences are likely to bear permanent scars and grow up to be offenders or victims to perpetuate this ugly cycle.
One of the first tasks after I became the Minister of Women Affairs was to participate in the "White Ribbon Day" movement.
White Ribbon Day was started by a group of Canadian men with the aim to eliminate violence against women and the United Nations has since assigned November 25 to be White Ribbon Day internationally.
In my role as Minister I and others handed out half a million white ribbons on that day to raise awareness of domestic violence.
Ultimately society needs to endorse the attitude that violence against women is unacceptable.
New Zealand's high rate of domestic violence is the result of a deliberate political and non-government organisations push to highlight and encourage reporting incidents and speaking out against the problem in order to eliminate it.
One of the first pieces of legislation introduced in the new government during a two-week meeting before the house adjourned for the New Year break was on the spot restraining orders that can be issued by police attending domestic violence complaints.
Currently restraining orders can only be issued through application to the court, which can put the victim at risk due to the offenders still having access to the property etc.
Under the new legislation, restraining orders can be issued with effect up to five days after the incident and can even be issued without the agreement of the victims.
It is all too often the victims are reluctant to take action against the offenders so the new legislation will give police the powers to act on their behalf.
Domestic violence in Asian families is known to happen but difficult to quantify because of the stigma and the attitude that victims should shoulder some blame.
However, a few high-profile cases found their way into the media. In 2007 a four-year-old girl was found abandoned at the Melbourne Railway Station and the mother's body was later found in the boot of a car in New Zealand.
The father is currently in detention awaiting trial in relation to the murder and there was a known history of family violence.
This was the third domestic violence case to happen involving New Zealand Chinese that I attended to and they all ended with irreversible loss of lives.
It has to stop.
Some of the reports in the Chinese media showed that the victim's behaviour somehow played a part is a sign that we have a long way to go toward changing the attitude that domestic violence is never acceptable.
The other major issues surround women is pay equality.
When women enter the workforce, the ever puzzling issue is one of pay parity and the equality of opportunities.
There is an observation - supported by statistics - that when a profession is dominated by females, pay conditions will be lower in general.
This has been presented as an argument by the Physiotherapy Association to me in my Accident Compensation Corporation portfolio. The Accident Compensation Corporation - or ACC - portfolio is a scheme unique to New Zealand that covers all work, non work and road accidents where the victims forgo their right to sue.
In return their medical care and compensation will be paid through this central corporation. Revenue for the payments are generated through a range of initiatives including general tax, petrol levies and wage levies, depending on the type of injury categories. Physiotherapists in New Zealand derive the bulk of their income through accident claimants.
They are putting forward the case for an increased contract pay rate on the ground that the contract pay rate has not been reviewed for the last few years.
According to physiotherapists I've spoken with this is a profession dominated by women who tend to focus on job satisfaction and work life balance rather than financial consideration and they are less militant in demanding financial reward.
One of the projects of the Ministry of Women's Affairs is to highlight research of this type to effect changes in attitude.
Currently there are projects underway designed to encourage young women to diversify into different professions. At the moment New Zealand is in short supply of mechanics, plumbers, electricians and other skilled labourers and there is no reason why women cannot enter these professions.
There is no difference between that and the fact that New Zealand did not have an Asian MP prior to 1996, despite Asian New Zealanders having been in the country for more than 130 years before progress was finally made.
Now that Asians are aware that it is possible they are putting their hands up.
Child bearing and the need to make choices between family and work remain a major challenge for women.
Through legislative requirements such as parental leave as well as changes in employers' attitudes, changes in the nature of jobs such as working from home, an increasing number of women starting businesses, the availability of childcare and, in Asia, home help, has seen women better able to juggle the demand.
Ultimately there needs to be acceptance in society that both men and women can share childcare responsibility.
The other change in mindset that must happen is that women should be respected for choosing to stay home to bring up children.
The importance is not what women do, but their ability to exercise choices and that they shouldn't feel they have to live up to other people's expectation.
The other issue is the lack of women in top governance and management positions. Among the government-appointed board members, the previous government set the goal in 2004 of reaching 50 percent women representation by 2010.
Unfortunately the current achievement is only 41 percent and it is unlikely that within 2 years, we can close the gap of nine percent.
It is unfortunate that I have to work with the Ministry of Women Affairs to resolve this within a short time frame.
But comparing these figures to the private enterprise sector - where the presence of women directors is less than 10 percent - it is a good result.
The challenge for us now is to work with private enterprises to address this imbalance. International research showed that corporations with more diverse representation performed better and dominated the top performers' list.
Therefore it is not just a case of equality to have women representation in the boardroom, it makes good financial sense.
Despite this, I keep hearing the argument that promotion should be on merit, not gender or race and hear the question: Are women less capable or less ambitious?
In 1996 when I first entered Parliament, there were nine first time MPs in the National Party. There were three women MPs in the new influx and we all kept busy setting up electorate offices etc, and meanwhile the guys lobbied to be the chair of the backbench club - when some of us did not even know the club existed.
As the number of women MPs and women officials in the party increased so too did our network and so has access to information. Information is power.
Numbers are important, awareness of the need to network and take opportunities is also important.
At the senior level, technical competence alone is no longer sufficient to be promoted or recognised.
Instead, the seemingly subjective criteria of getting yourself and your expertise known has become important; only then can you take advantage of opportunities.
As an Asian woman in New Zealand, many would look at my situation as one of double negatives. But at the same time, it can be turned into a positive. I am easily identifiable and visible, hence I was approached to go onto both local and central government boards and eventually into politics.
The negative is the risk of being typecast into certain roles, but the solution is to take advantage of the offer and then make the most of it using one's expertise.
All too often, I have heard women in senior positions being defensive about affirmative actions for women in order to not be seen as getting there other than through their own merit.
I hasten to add that it would be a miracle if only competent men got to the top!
Women have occasionally been able to break through glass ceiling because of our competence but we also owe it to the various non-governmental organisations' lobbying efforts. Some are also set up to nurture women's network and leadership skills.
In New Zealand the case for ensuring women can realise their full potential has reached beyond the human rights and equity argument. Ours is a small population country of 4.3 million, women make up just over half of the population and live longer than men so it makes good economic sense that we should participate fully in our economy and society.
One of the attitudes that women have to change is to see power in a positive rather than negative light; even though media reports tend to highlight incidents of abuse of power and individual downfallls. The reality is that power can be used in a positive way to bring about changes at a macro level.
My entrance into parliament, winning a seat and recent appointment to the Cabinet has definitely changed attitudes.
In the past 12 years there have been an increasing number of Asian candidates seeking offices at both local and central government level and political parties of all factions are seeking Asian candidates and thus creating opportunities for individuals.
After the recent general election, there are now six MPs of Asian ethnicity - a 200 percent increase over the two that held office for the last two terms.
I have noticed also expression of interests from young Asian women to participate in political parties.
The advancement of women need not come at the expense of men. In fact the advancement of women needs the support of men. It is not a battle of gender, it is a cooperation and partnership that will benefit us all.
To seek solutions to problems from one dimension is never as ideal as an all around approach. It is not about cutting smaller slices from the same piece of cake, it is about working together to produce bigger cakes, better solutions at all levels.
Certainly the glass ceiling has cracked open for women in high places but it has not been shattered, otherwise we would not be sighting the excitably of the individuals who have made it through.
For individuals who have slipped through the cracked ceiling, the task is to ensure that others can get through to make sure that our young women can in time relax and not even have to be conscious of breaking through glass ceilings because there will be none to limit their choices or the fulfillment of their dreams.
What is the view on the other side of the glass ceiling? It is uplifting and exciting but it can be lonely - similar to my experience of sky-jumping from the 192 metre tall Sky Tower in Auckland in 2002.
I can't wait for more of you to join me up on the other side of the glass ceiling.