The All Women's Action Society (Awam) wishes to express its deep concern over your report, No kissing or hugging, we're Malaysians .

Over the past few years, we have seen increasing cases where people in authority be they the judiciary, legislators, local councils, or religious and public officials take it upon themselves to be the enforcers of morality. A recent example is of the Penang school which made headlines in February when the headmistress withdrew a netball team from competition, allegedly due to some of the players taking off their 'tudung'.

In the case of the two students accused of indecent behaviour, Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim raised the question as to whether "kissing and hugging" are acts "according to the morality of the Asian people." Awam is of opinion that it is not the role of the authorities to decide for Malaysian citizens what our definition of morality should be and to act as the public's moral guardian.

The role of the authorities should be to serve public interest, by focussing on real issues of social and national interest. Corruption, for example, is still seen as an inescapable part of Malaysian life. The recent scandals engulfing the police force have seriously undermined public confidence and indicate a real need to reform the police force, but progress has been slow and even blocked by those supposedly elected to look after their constituents' best interests.

Instead of expending resources and taxpayers' money on penalising people for engaging in consensual and victimless acts of affection, the authorities should be dealing with major problems facing us as a nation. Violent crimes such as the rape and murder of Chee Gaik Yap provoked massive public distress, but many of these crimes are still unsolved, and little has been done by the authorities to tackle the roots of such social problems.

Awam recognises the authorities have a responsibility and a duty to implement laws. However, we then question why the dedication displayed in penalising alleged infringements of morality has not been applied to the administration of laws relating to alimony and maintenance. Many divorced women are not receiving maintenance money owed to them from their former husbands and thus must struggle to keep their children fed and educated a problem so serious that Wanita MCA has suggested a range of punitive measures, including the non-renewal of passports and driving licenses to induce men to pay maintenance to their children and former wives.

Morality is not simply about the regulation of sexuality or, as it has become increasingly synonymous with, the persecution of any behaviour seen as deviating from a 'norm' arbitrarily established by those in authority. It is also about values such as integrity, accountability, and fairness values we would like to see become the watchwords of the authorities and embodied in the governing of our country.