MAS stewardess wept for having to serve alcohol, says mufti

Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said a Malaysia Airlines stewardess had wept in front of him as she complained about having to serve alcohol and not being allowed to wear the headscarf.

"On a MAS flight tonight, an air stewardess complained and cried in front of me about her fate.

"She is tormented that she has to service alcohol and is not allowed to put on the headscarf.

"She is only trying to support her children and this is not the first time I hear of such complaints," said Asri in a Facebook posting last night.

Asri said he sympathised with the woman and said it was unbecoming for the national air carrier of a majority Muslim country to prevent its air stewardess from wearing the headscarf and serve alcohol.

"If some Malays hear that there are companies that prevent Muslim women from wearing the headscarf or are forced to serve alcohol, they would surely run amuck.

"But we forget that our own national carrier which represents Malaysia's image and identity does not allow its stewardess to wear headscarves and force them to serve alcohol," he said.

As such, Asri urged Malaysians to lobby the government to allow Muslim MAS stewardess to wear headscarves as per their religious requirement.

He added that a Muslim stewardess should also not be made to serve alcohol or better off, for MAS not to serve alcohol at all.

"Accept it as their right to religious practices as Muslims," he said.

"Let us bring this proposal to a government that often uses Islam's name in its slogans," he said. -Mkini