International\nWomen’s Day is celebrated on 8 March every year. For 2019 the campaign\u2019s theme\nis \u201cBetter the Balance, Better the World\u201d with hashtag BalanceforBetter. Among\nothers, the campaign is intended to raise awareness against bias throughout the globe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Undeniably\nin some parts of the world, there are women still facing some sort of gender\ndiscrimination. This imbalanced gender practices may occur in various occasions\nlike work place, household role, education and others. Most of the time, such\npractises are not associated with any religion values. Rather, it relates to\nthe culture of that particular society and the way they interpret their life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why\nis it until today, we see women need to be \u2018supported\u2019? Are they born with all\nsorts of weaknesses? The truth is on how we perceive and define \u2018support\u2019.\nThose who associate the word with weakness will never understand how women play\ntheir unique role in the world so that we can live peacefully. The other view interprets\nthe word as the way women empower and appreciate each other positively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\nexample, care work is very synonym to women. Throughout time, women play a very\nimportant role in care work since they are blessed with the richness of love\nand emotions. They conceive, and become mothers. Allah mentioned in Surah\nLuqman verse 14. \u201cAnd We have enjoined upon man (care) for his parents. His\nmother carried him, (increasing her) in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning\nis in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the (final)\ndestination\u201d. This verse indicates that Allah has bestowed and appreciate the\nimportant role of women by asking us, the children to respect, love and care\nfor them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Love\nis essential for the well-being of human and demanded in Islam. In fact, to be\na true Muslim, one has to inculcate love for others within himself. This act is\nmentioned in a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) narrated by Abu Hurairah\nwhich means, \u201cYou will not enter Paradise until you believe and you will not\nbelieve until you love each other. Shall I show you something that, if you did,\nyou would love each other? Spread peace between yourselves\u201d (Sahih Muslim).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\ncare work, love is the most powerful and free tool for human in entertaining\nothers. In economy, care work can be found across the formal and informal\nsector. In the formal sector, health, education and social services are\nprovided by the government through institutionalization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nunpaid care services on the other hand, are usually served by family members.\nAccording to International Labour Organization (ILO), care for the elderly and\nthe sick often falls on women and girls. This is in line with the fact that the\nworld\u2019s population is living longer today. The situation becomes more\nchallenging hence the increasing number of women entering the workforce but still\nfulfilling the responsibilities to care for family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some\npeople take for granted the important role of care work. They view this action as\na \u2018women thing\u2019; not productive and does not contribute to the economy. But\nthey forget this \u2018women thing\u2019 is born to both men and women and contributed to\ntheir success in career and life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
From\none perspective, care work in today\u2019s economy is a potentially growing sector with\ndiversity of skills and employment. Therefore, care work is no longer associated\nwith unpaid and limited services nor to be offered on money based only. In\nfact, it caters both purposes, economic and social development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However\ncare work in economy does not mean that family members may switch the care to\nothers, irresponsibly. In one view, it is a way to give economic value to this\nsocial aspect (care work) that we have neglected before. For example, policies\npertaining early childhood education, disability and long term care,\nfamily-friendly working environment, parental leaves and others that can actually\nencourage people to be more productive but at the same time care for their\nfamily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nanother view, care work also provides job opportunities for people in various\nareas including gerontology, childcare service and social work through a stable\nand strong institution governed by the government. In UK for example, there is\nan assumption that rising from ageing population may demand for 25,000 jobs by\n2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of\ncourse, the best care is provided by family members. It teaches us about\nunconditional love, responsibilities and humanity to others. In caring for the elderly\nfor example, the children, both men and women, married and unmarried, are\nresponsible to care and love for them unless they are not able to do so.\nNeither\na little \u201cah\u201d nor harsh words can be uttered to them, but only good words to\naddress them (Quran, 17:23).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8 March every year. For 2019 the campaign\u2019s theme is \u201cBetter the Balance, Better the World\u201d with hashtag BalanceforBetter. Among others, the campaign is intended to raise awareness against bias throughout the globe. Undeniably in some parts of the world, there are women still facing some sort of gender…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-225","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}