Kuala Lampur, June 6 -- It's disturbing to know that a hardworking, talented and dedicated woman politician has chosen to end her political career at a young age.

Marina Ibrahim, 38, who was DAP assemblywoman for the Chinese-majority Skudai constituency, publicly announced on May 31 her decision ahead of the Johor state election. She will not defend her Skudai seat.

From one perspective, this could be read as a substantial loss to Malaysian women's political participation in an ecosystem where male politicians already outnumber their female counterparts.

Her abrupt resignation from DAP reportedly came about after Johor DAP chief Teo Nie Ching stated that the party planned to move Marina to a Malay-majority constituency, possibly Tiram,...