DAP offers legal aid to those affected by headscarf ban

DAP has offered legal assistance to Muslim employees affected by the policy which bars them from wearing the tudung at the front desk.

The party's legal bureau chairperson Gobind Singh Deo urged the government to set the record straight on this matter, be it by legislation or otherwise.

“If there is a need for a court ruling on the matter, I am prepared, on behalf of DAP, to offer legal assistance to those affected to challenge such a ruling in court as to the legality or otherwise of such policies,” Gobind added in a media statement this afternoon.

Gobind, who is also DAP deputy chairperson, criticised the policy as arbitrary, discriminatory and unconstitutional.

“It offends the constitutional right of a person to profess and practice his or her religion.

“It is also highly insensitive to the religious beliefs of Muslim women, a right we should respect and uphold. To my mind, an outright ban on the tudung in this instance is unreasonable,” he said.

Yesterday, the Penang chapter of Malaysian Hotels Association (MAH) revealed that state Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is also DAP secretary-general, disagreed with the ban as well and expressed concern over MAH's stand on the matter.

“The CM has expressed his dismay about such remarks, which he considers discriminatory and an abuse of the basic human rights of working Muslim women to wear their choice of attire.

"The CM also considers the ban discriminatory because it has nothing to do with the employee's performance," Penang MAH chairperson Khoo Boo Lim said.

Khoo (right in photo) said Muslim women working in hotels located in Penang would not be barred from wearing headscarves.

A long-standing practice

In a Nov 11 report in The Star Online, MAH president Samuel Cheah was quoted as stating that the uniform policy has been practised in international hotel chains for a long time.

“This policy is practised in international hotel chains that use the same standard operating procedure on uniforms in all the hotels in their chain globally.

"The problem is everyone wants to join the five-star global hotel brand, but they do not want to follow the uniform policy that is their worldwide standard," Cheah added.

He was responding to the Union Network International-Malaysia Labour Centre (UNI-MLC) which highlighted complaints received from female hotel employees that their management does not allow them to wear headscarves at work.

UNI-MLC also said students in hospitality and tourism courses have been instructed to remove their headscarves before going on internships or the company would not hire them.

As a result, some employees had no choice but to remove their headscarves during work before putting them back on after their shifts ended.

Various quarters have condemned the policy, while the Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) called on Muslims to boycott these hotels.- Mkini