RSC members rejoice as no-women rule dropped after 139 years

 

A lady member of the Royal Selangor Club at the club’s Long Bar, where women have been barred for 139 years. (Lorela Chia Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Members of the Royal Selangor Club, Malaysia’s oldest private club, were rejoicing today after the club repealed a 139-year-old ban on women at the Long Bar.

The vote to overturn the 139-year-old rule was carried with an overwhelming majority, wrote Ramesh Rajaratnam.

“Of course, there were some dissent but we have to do what’s right. And so be it. History was made today in one of the oldest establishments in KL,” he said in a Facebook post.

For businesswoman Lorela Chia, it was “a mixed bag of emotions”.

“There is triumph, of course, that’s 139 years late!” she said in a Facebook posting. “But it’s also a reminder that despite the many achievements of many of us, the quest for equality and equitability continues.”

Chia posted a photograph of RSC member Dalvin Kaur, who she said is believed to be the first woman member at the Long Bar.

The bar, once reputed to be the longest in Kuala Lumpur, is housed in the sports pavilion fronting the cricket pitch on what was the Kuala Lumpur padang.

The club, founded in 1884, has a long sporting tradition and its distinctive Tudor-style clubhouse was nicknamed the Spotted Dog after a member’s two dalmatians were left guarding the front door in its early days.

The plaque at the Long Bar of the Royal Selangor Club stating the club’s 139-year-old rule. (Ramesh Rajaratnam Facebook pic)

Women were traditionally barred from the Long Bar to allow sportsmen to lounge in the area in sports wear rather than the more formal dressing expected at the club.

Chia said women were barred because men did not want “ladies to see their exuberant behaviour” while they drank and got excited when watching games. And until today, women had to sit in the verandah and watch from there, she said.

Exceptions were made for New Year’s Day as well as occasions such as the 1998 World Hash Run at the birthplace of the Hash House Harriers.

However, the venue will remain off-limits until the constitutional amendment is approved by the Registrar of Societies, according to the New Straits Times. - FMT