After another dress code incident, N Sembilan exco moots 'video reminders'

 

Negeri Sembilan state executive councillor Nicole Tan has urged the state government to create a video as a "gentle reminder" on dress codes at government premises.

This was in reaction to yet another incident in which a woman was denied entry into government premises at the Negeri Sembilan government headquarters.

The woman was wearing a knee-length dress. However, she was denied entry because of a small slit in her dress.

"Tomorrow (today) we have a cabinet meeting. I will propose that the government produces videos as a gentle reminder for dress codes.

"When conducting business at government premises, there is a need to follow the rules," Tan (above) told Malaysiakini yesterday.

According to China Press, the complainant in the latest incident said she had felt helpless despite believing that she did not violate the dress code, adding that she had taken leave from work in order to conduct business with the state government.

Tan said that although the woman's dress covered her knees, the slit revealed her knees and thus was a violation of the dress code.

Arguing that this "is a grey area", she said she is of the view that the woman should have been exempted from the rule.

"However, the (security section's) view is that they should prepare a jacket and sarong for those who do not fulfil the dress code," she said.

Tan also stressed that as a multi-ethnic society, Malaysians need to find a middle ground and agree to a standard dress code when seeking public services.

"Of course, every set of rules or guidelines must take exceptional circumstances into account, such as during medical emergencies. We can't expect the people to go home and change first," she said.

Tan to personally look into complaints

Should there be more new, related complaints in dealing with the Negeri Sembilan government, Tan said, she will personally look into them.

Although some of her DAP colleagues have claimed in the Dewan Rakyat that government dress codes can at times be discriminatory, Tan disagreed.

"In society, we have to abide by certain rules. As long as the public can follow the fundamental rules - cover the knees and not wear sleeveless clothing - that is enough," she said.

On Monday, Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham told Dewan Rakyat that overzealous dress code enforcement was a violation of the circular issued by the chief secretary of the government, dated Dec 1, 2020.

The circular states that no one shall be discriminated against from receiving government services based on how they were dressed.

On the same day, Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran also told the Dewan Rakyat that a woman was not allowed to lodge a police report at the Gombak police station over a traffic accident because she was dressed in a skirt and a blouse that was reportedly deemed “inappropriate”. - Mkini