When the Premier of Malaysia announced that maternity leave would be stretched from 60 to 90 days for government servants, one particular letter made it to the papers a few days later. This individual highlighted some examples of discrimination against singletons in the workforce and while I can sympathize, I wasn’t all that impressed when that same person asked for an equivalent number of leave for dating (s/he made it sound as if one was shopping around for a hot tub cover)!

… If pregnant women can get maternity leave, why can’t the Government then also give 60-day “dating leave” for single people? …

Evidently, there are people out there who think that maternity leave is used by women to lounge around, shake their legs…all while getting paid. Never mind that it is always hardly the case, that the same single women later go on to marry and feel that they have been “singled out” (don’t mind the pun) as pregnant women or married women with young children.

Honestly, is it a pregnant woman’s fault when a singleton ends up having to pick up the pieces during maternity leave? When that same singleton is asked to handle more than they can take without due compensation? In fact, it isn’t. Pregnant women face problems of their own at the workplace. Many companies try to get away without having to pay for maternity leave by overworking pregnant women in hopes that they would leave before they can claim maternity leave. Others make life miserable for such a woman by loading her with work or impossible assignments upon her return from maternity leave. I know of many such cases in Singapore and I am sure that there are some in Malaysia as well. It was only recently, after the announcement of extended maternity leave, that women started coming forward with stories of companies mistreating pregnant employees.

Can we still say that single employees are right to pin the blame on their pregnant colleagues? I hope not. I shared my thoughts on the matter with the Star and the letter appeared today. Below is the full, unedited version.

The letter “Don’t single us out only when in need” left me feeling quite disappointed and sad to know that in this day and age, there are people who are still ignorant of why maternity leave exists.

Maternity leave is important as women need time to cope with breastfeeding, the care of a newborn, adjusting both physically and emotionally, and so forth. Some women have more difficult pregnancies than others with problems like morning sickness, gestational diabetes, bleeding, so forth. Carrying a baby – a human being – to full term is not an easy task or for the faint of heart. I find it shocking that an equation to dating is drawn! For a lot of women out there, can we truly say that our dating days are the same as having a baby? I doubt so.

If single people or married individuals are being singled out to handle tasks unfairly, they should take it up with their management and the Ministry of Manpower, not blame other married colleagues. Poor leave coverage is clearly a management problem and if someone has to shoulder the extra burden, the compensation should be made to that person. Again this falls under the jurisdiction and care of the company. For far too long, many Malaysian companies have forced individuals to work overtime or take on additional work without pay or time off. What is the Ministry doing about such organizations?

By complaining about these benefits that supposedly are for a group of people, the author run the risk of it backfiring. What if in the future, this person goes on to have children? Would they appreciate being forced to work away from home constantly, being forced to return to work immediately after having a child?

One thing is obvious – this single person definitely have no idea what it takes to have a child, much less, maintain a family.