COMMENT | In the hustle and bustle of the news cycle, it’s sometimes easy to start missing the difference between small things that don’t matter, and big things that do.

I was quite tickled to read S Arutchelvan’s call for slipper users to unite. I personally am all for it. I rather dislike wearing shoes, and if I had my little way, I’d wear slippers (and eat peaches) every day.

That said, I fully agree with Transport Minister Anthony Loke (who, like Arutchelvan, I admire), who said that the issue of footwear was not what was important.

In the incident involving Dewan Negara President SA Vigneswaran, the part that bothered me personally the most was this:

“Also present at the press conference was KLIA customer experience personnel Norafiza Mohd Nasir, who had been on duty at the VIP lounge that night.

"She claimed Vigneswaran had raised his voice at her when she showed him a government circular stating the dress code.

“He arrived (at the lounge) and argued why he was not allowed inside. I told him he could use the VIP lounge, but was not allowed to the (departure) gate because he was not wearing shoes.

“...He was not satisfied and became angry, he asked ‘where does it say in the circular that you can’t wear slippers’.

“...When he held the circular, he threw it and walked off while mouthing some other comments...