The Pakatan Rakyat-ruled Selangor government emphasises more on doing its job for the people, rather than retaliate or make counter-attacks against BN.

Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that for the past 22 months, the state government was not reacting to BN criticisms but was focused on doing its job.

"I think what the Barisan Nasional wants to do, maybe, is to unsettle us but from our point of view, the answer is (for us) to continue to do the job.

khalid ibrahim pc 120809 02 "The people of Selangor voted us in to do the job... the people of Selangor did not vote (us) to go and fight and quarrel with the Barisan Nasional.

"This is why the state government has organised the one-day seminar (which Abdul Khalid officiated today) solely for women to explain its plans and aspirations for them, instead of charting strategies to counter-attack the BN," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after officiating the seminar, 'Selangor Women Leadership Convention' here.

Abdul Khalid said this when asked to comment on blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin's recent criticism that the Selangor Pakatan government was quite slow in responding to the BN's move to undermine them.

Nevertheless, the menteri besar said, when the appropriate time came, the Selangor government would attack the BN, especially on the manner in which a state government officer was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, in relation to sand theft activities in the country.

IT can help women

Earlier in his speech, Abdul Khalid said that Selangor was looking forward and preparing itself to accommodate more women in the workforce to participate in the economic development of the state.

"The role of women in the state economic development would increase as currently, the hand that rocks the cradle represents half of the five million population in Selangor.

"Besides, Selangor which has the most higher learning institutions in the country, produces 35,000 graduates a year, of which 60 percent were women," he noted.

Therefore, Abdul Khalid said, the state government noted that the service sector was one of the economic activities in the state that has no or less gender discrimination against women, because it mostly required knowledge and experience, instead of strength.

The advancement of broadband telecommunication technology in the state would also augur well for the service sector as women might not have to go to office to work anymore.

Instead, they could work from their homes and at the same time, take care of their family and children, he said.

The menteri besar said, by using Yahoo messenger for example, women could not only share their gossip with one another, but also use this platform to connect with their colleagues or bosses online.

- Bernama