“Use proper discretion with modest dressing guidelines; nobody goes to police stations for fun”

 

SKIN, knees and length of hemlines are back in the headlines. This time courtesy of a woman in her 20s who was denied entry into a police station in Jasin, Melaka when she turned up with her mother in her 50s to lodge a report on a traffic accident.

Her crime? For wearing a skirt slightly above the knee.

As reported in various media, a police officer upon noting the women were not injured, requested that the younger woman return home to change into something more appropriate before making a report on an accident.

The mother and daughter duly obliged (the latter had to purchase trousers from a nearby mall) and was allowed entry into the police station when she returned in more modest attire.

The chain of events was defended by Melaka police chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar who reminded the public that a dress code applies at all complaint counters except in emergencies.

But the underlying truth is that dress codes at government departments have long been a source of public debate. On one hand, it is entirely reasonable to expect people conducting official government business to be properly attired.

They should not be dressed as if they are going to a beach party.

On the other hand, who decides what is proper and modest attire? It has been argued that the guidelines are somewhat archaic with skirts slightly above the hemline deemed inappropriate.

Thorny issue

There have been plenty of complaints from the public of over-zealous security personnel applying their own brand of moral policing.

This is evident on the Free Malaysia Today’s (FMT) Facebook feed which has drawn 935 likes (mostly laughing and angry emojis), 915 comments and 85 shares at the time of writing, denoting that this remains a hot topic among Malaysians.

Despite the coppers having made it clear that exceptions to the rule will be “made for emergencies or situations requiring immediate police intervention.”, one commenter pointed out that commonsense should prevail.

In his contention, not only that every accident case should be treated as an emergency, it is absurd to expect everyone to live near a police station so as to facilitate easy change of wardrobe.

He was adamant that no such requirements should be imposed unless “they are in their underwear”.

Many commenters also sought clarifications on what scenarios are deemed “emergencies”?

One commenter simply pointed out that nobody ever visits a police station unless it is for an emergency.

It was also questioned whether the police station is now a religious establishment that required modest dressing.

The ordeal faced by the mother and daughter also drew plenty of responses when shared on Malaysiakini’s Facebook page which was swamped with 1.4K comments at the time of writing which mostly centred on the skewered priorities of the cops.

Highlighting that road accidents are unplanned, one commenter stressed that the public should be allowed to get on with doing the necessary rather than worrying about their appearances.

Some even suggested that the coppers set up rental booth for required attire. Or at least have some emergency attire on stand-by to ensure that nobody is turned away for violating the dress code.

Editor’s Note: Some government departments had previously provided sarongs for underclad visitors to cover up, which led to uproar from the public.

Differing views

So where do Malaysians draw the line?

This seems to be another case of misguided priorities. The police force should do well to remember they are there to serve the public.

While certain decorum is to be expected in a police station (or in any government department for that matter), it really does seem excessive to ask accident victims to change before making a report.

It is not only inconvenient but smacks of moral policing that is unwelcome as well as infringement on civil liberties.

Interestingly, it is a tale of two halves in the Malaysiakini BM’s (Bahasa Malaysia) FB post given its readership tended to side the cops in this instance with one commenter reminding that “even dress code applies when entering a casino”. 

 - Focus Malaysia