MPs can now wear batik to Parliament on Thursdays

 

PARLIAMENT | Parliamentarians are now allowed to wear batik to Parliament on Thursdays.

This comes after a motion involving this matter, tabled by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, was approved in the Dewan Rakyat unanimously through a voice vote today.

“The third recommendation is that the house committee has agreed to allow MPs in the Dewan Rakyat to wear long-sleeved Malaysian batik shirts when attending the Dewan Rakyat sitting every Thursday.

“This was a suggestion from the Tourism, Art and Culture Minister (Nancy Shukri) to the Dewan Rakyat speaker to promote the country’s heritage.

“Wearing batik clothing (in Parliament on Thursdays) is not mandatory and will be on a voluntary basis,” Wan Junaidi had said while tabling the motion in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Nurul Izzah Anwar (Harapan-Permatang Pauh) was one of the first MPs to raise the issue back in 2019, when she had asked the Tourism Ministry then about allowing parliamentarians to wear batik in the Dewan Rakyat.

Many lawmakers from both sides of the divide have supported this call since.

The federal government had also mandated wearing batik for civil servants on Thursdays since 2008.

Wan Junaidi had also earlier tabled a proposal to increase the number of members in parliamentary special select committees from seven to nine members, five from the government and four from the opposition.

Another proposal is to form a new special select committee on international affairs, with the terms of reference containing the purpose, the membership, the term of appointment, among others.

Both proposals were also passed in the Dewan Rakyat unanimously. - Mkini