PARLIAMENT | Government and Opposition MPs have set aside political differences to create a WhatsApp group focused on discussions surrounding the formulation of the bill on gender equality.

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh, who announced the matter at the Dewan Rakyat today also invited opposition MP Noraini Ahmad (BN-Parit Sulong) to add any remaining female MPs into the group to share their thoughts and suggestions.

"We already have a WhatsApp group. For those (female parliamentarians) who have yet to join the WhatsApp group, you may ask Parit Sulong (Noraini) to include your number.

"We will discuss women's issues in an informal way (through the group) before bringing it to Parliament," she said in reply to a supplementary question by Rohani Abdul Karim (PBB-Batang Lupar) on the developments surrounding the bill.

Yeoh said although efforts to table the bill had begun since the time of the previous government, there were certain constraints which needed to be reviewed in detail before it could be brought to Parliament.

"There are some constraints which are still being discussed, among them, the law of division of property through the faraid (Islamic) system, this requires a more detailed discussion with the Shariah division, and discussions on this bill are always carried out with various parties including NGOs as well as experts from within and outside the country," she said.

According to Yeoh, there were three matters which had no conflict with the issue of gender equality in the country, namely education, health, and job opportunities.

"Through the discussions held, three aspects have been achieved, namely through education, where every citizen has equal opportunity to receive education from primary school till university.

"In terms of health, all citizens can access the same health services and job opportunities are also open to all, regardless of race, religion and gender," she said.

- Bernama