Teo said the performance of women in politics is often doubted when they have a family of their own to care for, but men are rarely subject to the same scrutiny.

“People would question, ‘You have three children, how are you going to look after your constituents?’

“But men can have four wives and no one questions that,” she  said at the Malaysia Women and Girls Forum 2024, of which FMT is a media partner.

Teo spoke from her own experience, saying she joined politics when she was single and has had to deal with such questions after getting married and having three children.

The deputy communications minister also expressed disappointment with the slow increase in female representation in Parliament over the years.

She said that in 2008, about 8% of MPs were women but now it only stood at 13%.

“The increase is so insignificant. We need more female politicians,” she said.