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Dr Azly Rahman seems to miss the point in his letter Feminist movement akin to separatist movement and his article Malaysian feminism in an 'apartheid nation' .

As a Malaysian female working and living in Malaysia, I found his writing to be offensive and off the point. So much so that one wonders if this is just another male wanting to hold down women and not being able to see their point of view and feels threatened because we wish to change our traditional roles of womanhood in our country which is not in tandem with how males want our roles to be here. Men the world over regard it their right to determine how a women's body should be used either for sexual relations inside a marriage and even on abortion.

Malaysia is a country that is not fair to women on many levels - a wife has a hard time saying no to her husband in Malaysia to sex with the government not making marital rape a crime. Being married does not give a man the right to another person's body. Period. It is her body and she has the right even in a marriage to say no. We need protection for this but have never got it.

As with the right for women to decide what they will wear without fear of their husbands or bosses. The right to equal pay and chances in the workplace and government. The right to be able to work in an office without hearing cruel jokes about another women's body, the right to be able to walk down a street and not be gawked at, cat whistled or jeered at.

The right to decide to work or stay home with no penalties. In certain states in the east there are certain leaders whom have said pretty women can always find a husband thus there is no need for them to work.

The right to decide on their child's education and religion. The right to get married to a non- Malaysian male and he be allowed permanent status here as in the case of Malaysian men who marry non-Malaysian women.

This list can go on and on and Azly calls it an import from the West. It seems funny to me and my friends that whenever people here want to assert things for themselves, there are people who claim this is 'the importing of Western culture'. This is not the case by far. Perhaps there was a time once ago where being submissive was an Asian cultural attitude but as we progress, and technology develops, we become more educated and experienced.

And we begin to realise there are injustices.

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