5 Zuraida moments that show that she’s trying hard to be Malaysia’s ‘mommy’

Since we’ve got a resident Daddy figure among Keluarga Malaysia™ in the form of KJ, it’s only natural that we get a mother figure in Parliament as well. Fortunately, one such lady has stepped up to do just that: Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, who recently launched a website dedicated to Malaysian mothers:

“I AM MOTHER. To mother is to care. To mother is to grow. To mother is to love. Whether it’s mothering my family, my children, my home, my office, my workforce or the world around me, I relish my role as mother.” – Zuraida Kamaruddin, ‘Mothering’

Sure, Zuraida the Mother has had her fair share of critics, having made some controversial decisions in the past. But hey, as anyone reading this would know, mothers couldn’t care less what you think about them as long as their family is taken care of. So, we thought we’d look back at her top 5 motherly moments that show that, yes, she can be as fiercely protective and outspoken as she can be caring.

1) She lashed out at the US-EU palm oil import ban

With the trend of much of the Western world moving away from palm oil, the United States Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) and the European Union (EU) slapped bans on Malaysian palm oil, which of course, hurts Malaysian palm oil companies in the process. One such claim made against the local palm oil industry (besides its environmental impact) is the alleged practice of forced labor, especially by palm oil giants Sime Darby Plantation Berhad.

Since Zuraida is (was? It’s complicated, will explain later) the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, she fiercely clapped back fiercely at critics, claiming that their accusations were baseless:

“The people who made such allegations did it after visiting a plantation and interviewing one worker… To date, no verification has been done. They just hurl their accusations and then they will impose their sanctions.” – Zuraida Kamaruddin

After flying to the US to give them a piece of her mind, the CBP compromised and agreed to set up a working committee with Malaysia to address the forced labor issue. I mean, ever tried saying no to an Asian mum?

However, it seems that she might not be able to follow up on the progress made there, as it seems like she’s giving up her post as Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities. And the reason for this is…

2) She left BERSATU to join PBM

Part of being a mother is knowing when to make sacrifices to protect what you believe is the greater good. And Zuraida showed she was capable of doing just that by making the decision to leave ruling party BERSATU for the relatively new Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM). It’s a big step indeed, especially since she’ll also have to give up her minister post, as well as with all the controversy surrounding party-hoppers/’kataks’ in recent times.

But Zuraida (who’s already been expelled in the past by former party PKR) had her own reasons for doing so; reportedly, she was won over by their core principles and beliefs, especially with regards to multi-racialism, women, and children development.

And if Sarawakian social activist Voon Shiak Ni is to be believed, this wasn’t a move to chase clout or power, but had come from a place of wanting to ’empower women and youth from all walks of life’:

“It is because of her firm and unwavering belief in fighting for the rights of the weaker ones, that she made this bold, unselfish decision. There is no other reason for her to make such a move and jeopardize her ministerial position, something that no other minister would ever do.” – Voon Shiak Ni

But, understandably, not everyone was pleased with her exit from BERSATU. Following her announcement, UMNO President Zahid Hamidi called on the government to speed up the passing of the proposed anti-hopping bill, as he claimed that continuing to allow party-hopping would diminish voter confidence for the next election, resulting in a low voter turnout:

“The prime minister needs to take this matter seriously and should no longer compromise on those who switch parties.” – Zahid Hamidi

3) She personally sanitized a Kajang wet market, even though no one asked her to

Hands up if your own mother has ever given you flak for being complacent about cleanliness.

Back during the dark, early days of C-19, Zuraida found herself holding a very crucial position: Minister of Housing and Local Government. And since back then we didn’t have as good of an understanding of the virus as we do now, no one was really sure how to handle it. So when guys in PPE suits started spraying the streets on her orders, some labelled it as a ‘waste of resources’. But Zuraida had her own take:

As of now, there is no one accurate conclusion as to how the coronavirus spreads or travels… we are merely taking the ‘can’t-miss-anything’ attitude for that matter.” – Zuraida

She even walked the talk when she donned a personal protective equipment (PPE) suit herself, personally joining the sanitization effort at a wet market in Kajang.

… which, unfortunately for her, led to her being criticized further, as some believed it was not her place to be carrying out such an exercise without the proper training in the procedure. Oh well, sometimes you just can’t win.

4) She claimed that there’s too many men in politics

If we had to sum up Zuraida’s maternal side in a single quote, it would probably be from an opinion piece responding to questions about her launching of her Mothering website:

“Many do not get the kind of empathy from political leaders, the way a toddler typically gets his or her mother’s full attention after bruising a knee from a fall… Mothering is what will ultimately transform us from being weak to being a rock.” – Zuraida

Because she claims that world politics (including in Malaysia) has become too male-dominated, quoting Barack Obama who said that a testosterone-driven brand of politics has led to ‘most of the problems in the world’.

And while she’s all for more women in the political force, she made it very clear that she believes selections should be based solely on merit, and not tokenism, which is an idea we’re sure many could get behind.

5) “Orangutan will kill you first”

Ok, this one is a bit of a weird one, we’ll admit. But it actually isn’t too far from those precautionary tales your mother would tell you to stay away from dangerous animals.

During her stint as Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, she defended the local palm oil industry, saying that the cultivation of palm would not harm orangutan population numbers. In her own words:

“In Malaysia, if you see an orangutan, it will kill you first, not you kill the orangutan first, correct?” – Zuraida

While we couldn’t verify her claim because, well, none of us have ever gotten in a fight with an orangutan, Zuraida came under fire for this, with an environmentalist calling it ‘bizarre and ignorant’. What we can confirm though, is that orangutans are listed as ‘critically endangered’ by the WWF, though active efforts are being carried out to stabilize their population in their native Borneo.

However, Zuraida later said that her killer orangutan quote was cherry-picked and taken out of context, and that its intention was to ‘get relevant agencies to further study the habitats and living habits of the species’.

Not everyone might agree with her, but Zuraida sticks to her guns under criticism

Whether she’s right or wrong on some of the things she’s said or done is another issue, but it does take some steel to be able to maintain conviction when under pressure. As befitting the maternal persona she puts out to the public, she is as unapologetic as she is strong-willed when people try to put her down.

As of now, we don’t really know what’s in store for Zuraida for the near future, as she’s in the process of sorting out her resignation from her ministerial post with PM Ismail Sabri. But we think it’s safe to assume that at the core of things, she’ll continue doing what she does best: being a mother.