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Reporter told to cover up with long skirt at Mindef

The Star reporter Tashny Sukumaran was denied entry at the guardhouse to the Defence Ministry (Mindef) as her knees were showing. She went to the Mindef yesterday to cover a presentation of Hari Raya goodies to the armed forces by the prime minister’s wife, and the event was also attended by the defence minister and his deputy.

She was dressed in a simple black-and-white piece with short sleeves and a hemline that ended just above my knees to, and had to cover this up with a long skirt. The guard had said that she would not be allowed in because her knees were showing. Another military policeman politely ‘assessed’ her outfit and stated that she had violated the dress code.

The issue was later raised with the deputy minister who laughed it off, thus indirectly agreeing with the action of the guard and the military officer.

There have been several reported cases of ‘violations’ of ‘dress code’ in government departments and many, including Marina Mahathir, have commented on this. The action of some civil servants appear to give the impression that male members of civil service can be distracted or even ‘excited’ even by exposed knees of women.

The ‘laughed it off’ response of the deputy minister and lack of response by the political/religious/civil leadership will only encourage others to do make unilateral decisions on irrelevant matters.

Women now number over 40 percent of the civil service. Will there be another ‘dress code’ for men to ensure that the women employees are not tempted or excited.

Will now some women civil servants not serve men who visit government departments/government-linked companies (GLCs)/ agencies such as Immigration/Registration/Inland Revenue/etc where some men are in contravention (in their view) of an acceptable ‘dress code’?

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