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Derived from the word politicus , politics is the science and the art of government, dealing with the administration of a state.

And whosoever participates in it must first be recognised as a citizen of the state. Women around the world, even in the West, have had to struggle to acquire the rights and duties of a citizen.

And until today a woman's status in society is defined by her family within her family, in a way that does not hold true for a man. But women in this country have made some important strides in the government and as professionals.

The common and oft-quoted yardstick is Rafidah Aziz who holds the crucial International Trade and Industry ministerial portfolio.

Additionally, we have Bank Negara governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz and Attorney-General Ainum Mohd Saaid - the first women in the country in their positions. The 14th solicitor-general, Heliliah Mohd Yusof, has had that distinction since 1994.

However, are these positions mere tokens, to placate the fairer sex who is increasingly staking a claim to non-traditional gender roles? As ex-British MP Shirley Williams put it: "Since the war, it has become the rule to have a woman in every cabinet, like those advertisements for chiming doorbells which said that every home should have one." (Guardian, Oct 30 1979)

Still, in New Zealand, the prime minister, opposition leader, governor-general and chief justice are all women. Surely they cannot all be token appointments?

Patriarchal society

Despite the encouraging number of women around the world who have turned to politics as a career, there is still much to be done for the group as a whole.

In Malaysia, the number of women candidates in the 1999 general elections leaves a lot to be desired - at 11 percent or so. Out of the 193 parliamentary seats, only 10 percent are held by women. In totality, for both parliamentary and state seats, there were 43 women.

However, the trend in Malaysian politics shows no significant increase in women's participation. And the percentage of representation is similar to the least developed Asian-African nations.

Although more women are becoming members of political parties, they still do not elect their own to party positions of power, inferring that women do not trust their own kind and still prefer men to be decision makers.

Women leaders are aware of their strength in numbers but this awareness is restrained by the regard for the view of the (male) membership. Malaysia is still very much a patriarchal society.

Chong Eng, a DAP member of parliament for Bukit Mertajam, Penang, says she is happy being the head of the party's women wing and has no illusions of grandeur of wanting to contest for party presidency.

Women leaders are unable to say when women will land themselves in top leadership positions but agree that the process would be a long and arduous one.

Roping in 'princesses'

On top of this, internal conflicts have also hampered the growth of the women wing in political parties. In the 1980s more and more younger women joined Umno and this brought about an internal struggle between those who urge for a more definite stand on women's issues and those who seek more traditional approaches.

Umno and its coalition partner, the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) are trying to address the issue by forming units for younger women.

Umno recently set up Puteri Umno or Umno 'princesses', headed by a political novice, Azalina Othman, who has also been appointed a Supreme Council member by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself.

MIC is working towards roping women between the ages of 25 and 35 into the party.

Like elsewhere in Southeast Asia, women in Malaysia appear to have limited political roles, but are high potential leaders of society. They may not be able to develop their potential to the fullest as political party systems render the women wing an 'organisation of minorities' or a 'social welfare organisation'.

Some argue that the appointment of women to high portfolios is because they would be less likely to pose a threat to their bosses thereafter by aspiring for even higher positions.

'Insufficient masculinisation'

Where the ordinary citizenry is concerned, women generally suffer from under-exposure to political and economic issues. And since they are physically and geographically less mobile (due to their responsibilities as mothers and wives) it is often implied that women cannot indulge in or develop an interest in political activity to the same extent as men.

They are said to be suffering from 'insufficient masculinisation'; if women were more 'like men' - more informed, had greater feelings of efficacy, more involved in the real world - they would be more readily accepted within the male fraternity.

At the heart of the matter, discrimination against women lies with women themselves.

PRASANA CHANDRAN is a researcher of Strategic Analysis Malaysia (SAM). She is a journalism graduate from Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. SAM's subscription-based website has more information, facts and figures, dossiers and analyses of women in Malaysian politics.