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'Will traditionally dressed Iban also be barred?'
Published:  Jul 6, 2015 12:49 PM
Updated: 7:35 AM

The government has received yet another dressing down over the recent dress code fiasco, with an opposition MP asking if the Iban in their traditional attire will also be barred from entering government premises.

 

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok posted a photograph of a Gawai gathering and mused if the Iban participants would have any problem at government office counters.

 

“When I entered the Church of Divine Mercy in Shah Alam to attend a Gawai and Kaamatan celebration, I was really attracted by the costumes of the Iban men, who were semi-clothed and did not ‘cover their aurat ’.

 

“This traditional Iban attire would definitely have them barred from entering government offices with the civil service dress code now,” Kok mused.

 

Her comment follows public outcry over recent incidents in which several non-Muslim women were reported to have been barred from entering into government office premises unless they were "properly covered up".

The arbitrary enforcement of a dress code also elicited outrage from BN partners MCA and MIC, whose leaders railed against increasing ultra-conservatism and Islamisation , respectively.

Razali: What next, bikini, nude?

 

Yesterday, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Razali Ibrahim defended the conservative dress code, saying the government wants to instil “discipline” in the people.

 

“Later on, we don’t want anyone to come to the government offices wearing only a bikini , or to strip naked in the public,” Bernama reported Razali as saying.

 

He also challenged the opposition to change their dress code to allow people in shorts to meet their chief minister or menteri besar.

 

Kok, who is also DAP vice-chairperson also wrote in her posting that the nation’s colourful and diverse culture - of which the costumes of the iban were a part - needed to be preserved.

 

“This is the culture and costume that should be preserved, because it is one of the characteristics that draw tourists to Malaysia,” Kok said.

'Women target victims'

Meanwhile Penang exco for women, family & community development Chong Eng lamented nine out of 10 cases over the past two months, in which visitors had been told to cover up, involved women.

"Not only were the targeted persons denied from accessing essential public services, they were also subject to unnecessary scrutiny and humiliation.

"Any public agency which claims to be people-centric should facilitate easy access, and not impose overzealous or inconvenient standards on the rakyat," said Chong in a statement, echoing Malaysian Bar president Steven Thiru's statement last Saturday.

"Since Malaysians come from all types of cultural, social and economic backgrounds, government agencies must act fairly and uphold the principles of tolerance and respect for diversity," she said.

Chong said in the cases reported the women were only wearing what was "typical of Malaysians’ daily attire and not indecent at all".

She added that such moral policing of women’s clothing "is becoming a disturbing trend in Malaysia".

"In many cases, there is a very thin line separating moral policing and prejudice, harassment, and abuse of power."

Chong said the BN government should "exercise leadership" and  carry out serious reforms to uphold gender equality and women’s rights.

"The cabinet should set an example and direct all public agencies to undertake substantive measures towards gender equality, instead of misplaced priorities like overzealous dress codes".

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