M'SIANS URGED TO BE PROACTIVE IN FACING GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysians need to have a positive
attitude and be proactive in facing the global financial crisis, Ruler of
southern state of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir said Friday.

"Such qualities are most important for the people to surmount the crisis, as
despite it being a concern for all governments and people, the full scale of the
crisis may yet to be known.

"In Malaysia, some factories have retrenched workers or reduced their
working days and there are Malaysians overseas who lost their jobs and have
returned home.

"Despite these setbacks, Malaysia has escaped the worst, and in fact we are
doing quite well. While the government has taken positive steps to reduce the
impact of the worldwide problem, the most important quality which a Malaysian
should possess is a positive and proactive attitude to surmount the crisis," he
said in his royal address in conjunction with a World Population Day 2009
celebration, here, Friday.

The Ruler's consort Tuanku Aishah Rohani was also present at the event
organised by the Women's Institute of Management (WIM) and United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA).

At a news conference later, WIM chairman Napsiah Omar said the institute was
working with the UNFPA to come up with a manual to train three categories of
deprived women -- women in the prisons, in the estates and those who are HIV
positive -- how to do business and to educate them in reproductive health.

She said a pilot survey on 60 estate women aged 20 to 29, conducted early
last year, found that their attitude towards violence had been so entrenched in
them that 45 per cent of them thought "that it is alright for a man to beat his
wife when he is angry".

Of the 60 interviewed, 43 per cent had never been to school and 47 per cent
had only some level of primary education. Their average monthly income was
between RM100 and RM500.

The survey also found that 41.7 per cent of them thought that there were no
laws to protect a woman's right.

"Eight out of 10 of them felt that even if their husbands beat them,
they should not leave because of their children. From the survey findings, we
are concerned about how some women are being treated.

"We hope that through this training programme, we can reach out to them. We
want to train, empower and educate these women on their rights against
discrimination and violence," Napsiah said.

She said WIM received US$300,000 from UNFPA to conduct the training for
five years. (US$1=RM3.58)
-- BERNAMA