MALAYSIAN GOVT TOLD TO HAVE CLEAR GUIDELINES ON DRESS CODES?

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia -Former high-ranking civil servants and diplomats (G25) coordinator Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin suggested  to The Chief Secretary to the Government to have a clear directives regarding dress codes and its enforcement at government offices and agencies.

So far, There is no legal basis for the imposition of dress codes on the public whom they are serving, said Faridah.

The incident involving a middle-aged ethnic Chinese woman wearing a knee-length skirt was asked to wrap herself with a sarong before entering the Road and Transport Department, created an uproar in Parliament, with lawmakers asking if this meant Malaysia was becoming a fundamentalist Muslim nation.

On Thursday, former Malaysian PM, Dr Mahathir Mohammad reportedly said that dress codes were an office matter, that it was the right of an individual to wear shorts in public and should be allowed to enter government facilities like a hospital as long as they weren't naked.

Noor Farida added that G25 felt it was inappropriate for security guards at government agencies or other places to enforce dress codes at their whims and fancy.

Last month, businessman Wilson Ng returned from a holiday abroad and forgot his baggage at the airport.

He returned to KLIA the next day but was denied entry to Lost & Found. 

• The security officer said his knee-length pink shorts were not appropriate, and provided him with trousers and shoes which he wore to gain entry.

In yet another incident over dress codes, a lawyer was last week barred from a government building for wearing a skirt that was “too short”.
According to lawyer Katy Chan(photo), the security guard at the Federal Territories Director of Land and Mines’ office stopped her last Friday morning as she was writing down her name in the visitors’ registration book to get a visitors’ pass.
Chan said the guard told her that her skirt was “too short”, also telling her that she could not enter the building while also asking if she had a pair of pants with her to wear.

• The guard also told her to read the dress code placed near the guard house, with Chan telling Malay Mail Online that it required her to wear clothing at knee level.

Source: Asia One