I would like to condemn the insensitive remarks made by Works Minister S Samy Vellu and the behaviours of MPs who laughed at the minister's sexist joke equating toilets to brides.

Brides are women, and by equating women to toilets that are to be 'used', the minister is sending out the message the women are mere objects that need to be taken care of, maintained and spoiled. Other MPs laughing at his joke, it just shows that they too, share similar opinions about women.

In his attempt to divert away from the real issues plaguing his ministry like poor maintenance, lack of proper planning and a total disregard for the people, the minister foolishly thought that using a sexist joke might get him off the hook in the parliamentary sessions.

It did for a while, with sexist MPs laughing at the joke. But it uncovered the shocking mentality of the people's representatives in that they have very sexist opinions. What's the use of working towards a 30 percent representation in the government by women if these sexist attitudes are so entrenched?

This is indeed a poor reflection on the calibre of our leaders. I do hope that steps are being taken by the government to ensure that racist, sexist and discriminatory practices and behaviours are eradicated at all levels of the government.