The dress-code is no laughing matter

The overenthusiastic and inconsistent implementation of the dress-code is made worse by the reactions of the powers-that-be

FMT LETTERS

By Ruby Foster

The dress-code police are at it again.

In the latest dress-code incident a journalist for the Star, Tashny Sukumaran, who was due to cover an event at the Defence Ministry headlined by the Prime Minister’s wife, the Defence Minister and his deputy, was stopped at the guardhouse and informed that she was in violation of the dress code as her knees were visible.

Her outfit, which stopped just short of her knees, was deemed inappropriate.

The Military Police personnel who assessed the appropriateness of her outfit were unmoved by her explanations that she had never before been denied entry even though she had been similarly attired.

Fortunately, the forward thinking journalist was in possession of a long skirt, which she kept just for instances such as this. She donned it over her dress, thus covering her knees, and was let into the event but not before a comment was passed on her “new” appearance. “You look nice like this as well”.

The overenthusiastic and inconsistent implementation of the dress-code is made worse by the reactions of the powers-that-be.

In the latest incident at the Defence Ministry, the Deputy Minister laughed it off when he was approached by the journalist in question.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim in turn, recently expressed puzzlement as to why the whole dress-code issue was garnering so much attention, given that it had always been in place.

The de facto Minister of Law opined that sensible Malaysians will know how to abide by the dress code and that handing out cover-alls like sarongs should not be practiced due to hygiene-related reasons.

The public, whose tax dollars fund the same Government agencies who are denying them entry and hence service, deserve better.

It is time for some clarity on the dress code. It’s no laughing matter.

Ruby Foster is an FMT reader.