KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 ― A misogynistic society is a hindrance to becoming a developed nation, youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin has said.

In a Transformation Nasional 2050 (TN50) dialogue session last night, Khairy also spoke about the time social media trolls had mercilessly attacked national gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi for the leotard she wore instead of her twin gold medal wins.

“It was not the gold medal they were talking about. It was her leotard. I mean come on, what the hell did you expect her to wear? We are talking about rhythmic gymnastics here.

“It’s the same kind of attitude that you see on Facebook, on social media. Trying to tell women what to wear, not in a nice way. It’s in a way which says if you’re wearing  this, you’re going to go to hell. Excuse me, who made you God? These are the things we need to confront,” Khairy told the dialogue titled TN50: Wanita Pemacu Negara.

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“A very misogynistic society. A society which still thinks it can tell women what to do. A society that does not give women the choice to decide for themselves. So as much as we can talk about technology, education, empowerment, the great work that MyWin Academy is doing, a big round of applause for them,” Khairy said stopping midway to congratulate the organisers of the event.

“If you don’t shatter that wall of misogyny, then you are not going to be a developed country,” Khairy said to applause from the audience.

“To me, a developed country is not just a country with US$12,000 (RM51,922) per capita income. It’s not a country where you have great infrastructure. But a developed country is about having a developed mindset.

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“It’s about appreciating people no matter who they are. Women, children, disabled. Its about not leaving anybody behind. It’s about having a reclusive society,” he added.

TN50, launched on January 19 was initiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as a policy to map the country’s future for a period of 30 years after 2020.

While tabling the Budget last October 21, Najib announced that a series of national discourses would be carried out to chart the nation’s direction for the next 30 years under the TN50 plan.