The Stranger | We can do better than that

      Sheyla Zandonai

The celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Macau SAR this week on December 20 is a good opportunity to remind the incoming government about certain women’s rights, which have been forgotten over the past few years. It is high time for the politics of breastfeeding and maternity leave rights to be considered.
Currently, the conditions that exist for maternity leave in Macau are likely one of the lowest worldwide, requiring only 56 calendar days with no legal protection for breastfeeding. The new government, which will be inaugurated on Friday, should live up to previous promises and work to improve the living conditions of many who choose to start a family in the city.
Announcing his government as the government of continuity, Ho Iat Seng does not offer any reason to hold high hopes, but maternity leave is certainly one issue that the Chief Executive might not want to ovearlook, as it is an area that is lacking in improvement.
To be fair, roughly a year ago, the government proposed to extend maternity leave to 70 days, but the majority of the plenary killed the bill at its first reading. While the proposed improvement was minor, any help would be welcome for mothers in distress with a new baby who, in many cases, face the anxiety of returning to work when they have barely recovered from birth and want to keep breastfeeding. As a result, the message sent by choosing to deprive women of two more weeks of maternity leave is that of avarice.
In a city as wealthy as Macau, it is obscene and seems incomprehensible to see lawmakers in a male-dominated and business-oriented legislative body turning the bill down so quickly.
Really, are we reduced to this? It is a poor calculation on the lawmakers’ part to believe that depriving women of even slightly improved conditions would make much of a difference. The choice of most casino corporations to extend maternity leave for employees to 90 days (the same amount as civil servants) is the best way to produce happier employees who are more loyal and more productive. Besides, it is incomprehensible that some women have more rights than others because they work for the government or a certain company.
The problem is that people still treat these few weeks as a currency. While it may still work to attract some employees, all women should be entitled the same right: at least 90 days of leave. Anything less than this is playing with people’s lives. And if the coming government’s approach to social affairs is serious, maternity leave should be extended beyond that length.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that women breastfeed for at least six months. Macau’s mark is far lower than this, with only about 18% of mothers breastfeeding their babies up to six months in 2018. Although many opt out of breastfeeding because of fears it may damage their bodies, even many educated people in Macau still think formula milk is better than breast milk, which is nonsense. Many others give up breastfeeding when they return to work due to the lack of conditions and facilities, and the lack of encouragement. Because the private sector will still treat it as a currency, the government has a role to fill and an example to set.