For a Malaysian who thinks and a Malaysian who sees the future, the directive by the police to all female personnel irrespective of religion to use the tudung during official functions is wrong and not good for the complex multiracial fabric that Malaysia is made up of.

If uniformity is the answer to the latest directive, then why not ask all the MCA, MIC and Gerakan women politicians to also don the tudung as a form of uniformity during their meetings? If the education minister is clear and progressive by saying that the tudung is encouraged but not compulsory for schoolchildren, then why have the police taken a step backwards? One hopes that Malaysians now see why certain quarters have boldly said that Malaysian women are being treated as second-class citizens.

None of the MCA, MIC or the Gerakan women politicians have said a word about the police tudung directive. This goes to show how much they can be trusted to champion women's rights, freedom of choice and religion. If the police are allowed to enforce this ruling, other government departments and agencies will see no harm in enforcing the same on their female non-Muslim staff in the near future.

One has got no issue with Muslim women who choose to don the tudung, but why make it an official attire for non-Muslim women? Why then be hypocrites by saying that we are a melting pot of cultures in Asia? Why call ourselves 'Malaysia truly Asia'? Why do we see three women in the baju kebaya, cheongsam and saree respectively in the tourism advertisements? Why not all three of them in the baju kebaya and tudung in uniformity so that we can at least portray to the world, the truth.

By stating that uniformity is the reason for such a directive, it will not be surprising to note that very few non-Malays will take up the call to join the civil service and uniformed units. One's very own identity can be lost in the long run as a result of being in the civil service. All these directives are clearly going against the very tenets of civil liberties and guarantees that have been enshrined in the Federal Constitution.