DYANA SOCKS IT TO GOVT EXTREMISTS: Keep your ‘holier-than-thou, forcing-your-beliefs’ attitude to yourself

KUALA LUMPUR - Following the recent furore over dress codes imposed at public institutions, a Muslim female DAP leader took to social media today to vent her frustrations, telling religious hardliners not to force their personal beliefs and cultures on others.

In a post on social networking sites Facebook and Instagram, the DAP Youth (Dapsy) leader Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud said Malaysians should be celebrating their diversity instead of imposing their “offensive”, “holier than thou” attitudes on one another.

“Celebrate diversity and respect other people’s choices! Keep your offensive (yes it is offensive!) holier-than-thou, better-than-everyone, forcing-your-belief-on-unsuspecting-people(sic) attitude to yourself,” she posted on her accounts in the two social media platforms.

She also posted a banner bearing the message “No Room for Extremism, celebrate our true Malaysianess.”

Recently, several women were blocked from entering public institutions and government buildings such as a Penang courthouse, a Road Transport Department (RTD) office, the Selangor state secretariat, the Sungai Buloh public hospital and Federal Territories Director of Land and Mines’ for wearing knee-length skirts and shorts deemed indecent.

Some of these women were given sarongs by security personnel to cover their legs to fit with the dress code and be granted entry into the buildings.

In a Facebook post, DAP Youth leader Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud urged Malaysians to celebrate their diversity instead of imposing a ‘holier than thou’ attitude on one another.

Businessman and blogger Wilson Ng later revealed that he too was forced to don long trousers last month to enter the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) Baggage Services Lost and Found section after airport security told him his knee-length shorts were inappropriate.

Weighing in on the dress code controversy, Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria reportedly said that non-Muslims should dress more “appropriately” in public places out of “respect” for Muslims who will sin upon seeing people, including non-Muslims, who do not cover their “aurat”.

Also touching raw nerves were reports of a senior teacher in Kedah who told non-Muslim primary school students who were not fasting to drink water in the school toilets, and if they do not have water, “they can drink from the tap or their own urine.” - Malay mail