COMMENT | Women have been leaders in our country long before independence and continue to play important leadership roles in our society today. This is particularly important to note because leadership has not always been easy for women in Malaysia. Every woman in a leadership role has had, at some point, her leadership position and qualities questioned.

The latest to cast this shadow of doubt over women's leadership is Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s daughter Nurulhidayah. In her latest flippant statement, she said that women are not born leaders – a remark that is a disgrace and a disservice to the fundamental leadership roles that women continue to play.

Again, women find themselves having to justify that yes, we are qualified; yes, we are capable and yes, we do want to be leaders.

It is not enough that we need to justify ourselves against men who look down on the leadership qualities of women, we also need to deal with women who disregard the achievements of other women and drag other women down like this.

Within our education system today, girls are now...