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Khadijah Sidek

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Khatijah Sidek (1918-1982) or Che Khadijah Mohd Sidik was a Malay nationalist and politician during colonial Malaya and the elected leader of the Kaum Ibu (later known as Wanita UMNO) in 1954. She was a key figure in the early history of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) and a vocal campaigner of women's rights and the education of girls.[1]

Early life and political career

Khatijah was born in Pariaman, West Sumatra, Indonesia to a Minangkabau family, known for their matrilineal heritage system.[2] She received her education at a Dutch school in Sumatra before moving to Singapore in 1946. Prior to coming to Malaya, Khatijah was active in Puteri Kesatria, an anti-colonial women's group based in Bukit Tinggi, Sumatra. In 1953, she joined UMNO's branch in Johor Bahru following an invitation to survey Malay women's condition under British rule.[3]

Khatijah's rise in politics was reflective of the social changes experienced by women in the post-war years under Japanese occupation. Most women who were active in politics of the period benefited from the promotion of women and girl's education, women's paid employment outside the home, and the rural-urban migration[4] Women who held positions of party leadership at the national, state, and division level were for the most part urban or suburban dwellers, and were either wives or close relations of political activists or members of aristocracy.

Women's rights campaigner

When Khatijah arrived in Malaya in the 1940s, she was disturbed by what saw as the great oppression of women. In her second visit to Singapore in 1947, she wrote in her memoirs that she was determined to help under-educated women by teaching them housekeeping skills and raising their political consciousness.[5] She joined the women's welfare group, the Indonesian and Malay Women's Assembly (HIMWIM), to agitate the liberation of Malay-Indonesian women who resided in Singapore. However, Khatijah's work with HIMWIM fell foul of the British colonial administration and was imprisoned under the Emergency Act between 1948 to 1950[6]

Upon her release from prison, Khatijah was exiled from Singapore. With the support of Tunku Abdul Rahman, she was invited by the campaigner Ibu Zain to join UMNO. In April 1953, she became a member of UMNO's congress in Melaka. At the congress, her proposal to increase the number of women in the congress was met with anger and disgust by the male delegates.[7]

Leadership of Kaum Ibu UMNO

Presiding the leadership of Kaum Ibu UMNO at the national level for only three months, she was sacked for challenging the sexual politics of the party. Her dismissal was officially justified on the grounds that she breached party discipline and rules[8] Khatijah succeeded Raja Perempuan Perlis Tengku Badriah (later the 'Queen of Malaya')[9] who took the baton of leadership following the ill health of the latter's predecessor, Hajjah Zain Suleiman or Ibu Zain.

Dismissal from UMNO

Khatijah demanded the women's vote within UMNO's National Assembly in 1953 and equal political representation within the party. Moreover, she fought for the autonomy of UMNO's women's section, a separate women youth's section to complement the existing UMNO Youth section, and the increased nomination of women to contest the general elections via the pre-selection of female candidates. But soon she was dismissed from the party in November 1956. Although Khatijah was expelled from UMNO for disciplinary reasons, it was more likely because she was challenging the patriarchal tradition and hegemony within the parent party. The Central Executive Committee of UMNO then appointed Fatimah binte Haji Hashim as the new leader of Kaum Ibu, a role she held until 1972.

Khatijah Sidek in PAS

Following her expulsion from UMNO for challenging the party's male-dominated hegemony, Khatijah defected to the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party or PAS, becoming the leader of its women's section, Kaum Ibu PAS, in the late 1950s.

Reference

  1. ^ Sohaimi Abdul Aziz (2011) 'Khatijah Sidek: Suara pejuang terpinggir yang dibisukan dalam sejarah perkembangan UMNO', Akademika, Vol 81, No.3, pp 43-47
  2. ^ 'Khatijah Sidek' http://theearlymalaydoctors.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/khatijah-sidek.html Accessed 11 August 2014
  3. ^ Sohaimi Abdul Aziz (2011) p.43
  4. ^ AlJunied, Syed Muhd Khairuddin (2013) 'Against multiple hegemonies: Radical Malay women in colonial Malaya, Journal of Social History, Vol.47, No.1, pp 153-175
  5. ^ Khatijah Sidek (1995) Memoir Khatijah Sidek: Puteri Kesatria Bangsa, Penerbit UKM: Bangi
  6. ^ Sohaimi Abdul Aziz (2011) p.44
  7. ^ Khatijah Sidek (1995) p. 148
  8. ^ Mohamad, Maznah (1988) 'Islam, the secular state, and Muslim women in Malaysia', Dossier 5-6
  9. ^ Manderson, Lenore (1977) 'The shaping of Kaum Ibu (women's section) of the United Malay National Organization', Signs, Vol.3, No.1, pp 210-228

See also

Further reading

  • Memoir Khatijah Sidek: Puteri Kesatria Bangsa (1995), Penerbit UKM: Bangi ISBN 978-967-942-308-5
  • Susan Blackburn and Helen Ting (editors) Women in Southeast Asian Nationalist Movements (2013) NUS Press: Singapore
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