recently, the National Union of Bank Employeed (NUBE) has launched the "Our 90 Days for Mums - 1 MIllion Signature Campaign" at their headquarters in conjunction with thte International Women's Day... NUBE aims to gather the signatures in support of a memorandum to increase the 60 days paid maternity leave to 90 days - an act that would bring Malaysia up to par with the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 183 on Maternity Protection.
Other countries in the region - Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia already has 90 days for maternity leave.....
Some Southeast Asian countries even provide breastfeeding and child care protection. For example a mother in Singapore gets up to 12 months leave to breastfeed and care for her newborn. In Cambodia, companies are obliged to grant a new mother a 30-minute break twice daily to breastfeed her child. Those with more than 100 women workers have to provide nursing rooms and day care centers, with the cost of childcare borne by the company. Indonesian employers meanwhile are required to provide a suitable place for breastfeeding mothers to nurse their children during work hours.
based on my personal experiences, it is not easy to make people to understand the nature and the needs of breastfeeding for our own babies....to implement such a policy as mentioned above in Malaysia, we are still lagging behind and with more awareness and education of the benefits in breastfeeding for both mother and child, there is a pressing need to amend the relevant provision in the Employment Act 1955. The 60-day paid maternity leave is simply not enough for most Malaysian women.
for us, this is the time for recovery from physical, emotional and mental stress after delivery...taking care of a newborn baby is not an easy job....the new environment for a new mother, they simply need time for adjustment and recovery...going back to work is another mental and emotional stress for the new mothers and they need adequate time to prepare themselves mentally, physically and emotionally for it....
the collection of signatures in supporting this petition ends on 6th June 2010.... it will be submitted together with a a Memorandum to the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia and a copy to the 221 Members of Parliament as the voice of 1Malaysian citizen urging for the amendments...
lets make a change towards a better quality of postnatal care and breastfeeding practice in Malaysia...
show your supports by clicking the link below and participate...!
.jpg)
.jpg)
