It Is Not Just Moral Policing It Is The Village Mob Becoming Moral Police

 

The scarier point to note is that it is the Policeman on duty and the hospital attendant who have begun wearing the hat of moral guardians. 

Amidst their firearms training and CPR training both the policeman and the hospital attendant did not take secret classes on moral guidelines. Yet here they are as interpreters of morality. And that too related to their favorite "eyecatching" pastime - female dress codes.

The untrained and ill read village mob has become the guardians of female dress codes. Usually women of other races and other religions or faiths. 

The other beguiling fact is since when can the Chief Secretary to the Government (or the Ketua Setiausaha Negara) make "laws"? Isnt making Federal laws the sole prerogative of Parliament?

And what is the penalty? If it is a law, then that law can be broken. If a law is broken then there should be a penalty - a fine and/or jail, preceded by arrest, being charged in Court and a trial in front of a judge or magistrate. Did any of this happen? No.

For instance if the woman at the hospital did not return home to change her clothes and insisted to remain at the hospital would she have been arrested? Arrested under what law? And charged in Court? Charged with what offense ? For wearing shorts and refusing to leave the Emergency room of a hospital without getting treated for her pain?

The same with the woman at the Police station. She came to make a Police report. If she insisted on staying at the Police station and making her report (about a car accident) while wearing shorts would the police have arrested her instead? So the Police would not avail their Police services to the woman wearing shorts but they would arrest her (which is also part of Police services) if she had insisted on remaining at the Police station to make her Police report? 

What kind of logic is this? 

So if it is NOT a law but it is just a ruling or a guideline, then what is the remedy or course of action if someone decides NOT to follow the guideline or the ruling? 

In any civilised country only the laws passed by a legislature are binding. And if you break the law, then there is arrest, trial and jail. This is the law.

But what is a guideline or ruling?  What exactly is 'go home and change your clothes' ?

To make a long story short this is becoming lawless. It is becoming 'ikut suka hati'. If this type of behaviour goes unchecked there is a risk that one day village mobs will patrol the streets acting as moral enforcers.

A Policeman or Hospital Attendant with maybe a Form 5 education and with unrelated training (firearms training, CPR training) suddenly becomes an interpreter of the KSN's guidelines ? Or interpreter of the KSN's "laws"? 

Because he has to decide on the spot if the woman's shorts were too far above the knee, not too far above the knee, is she a leggy damsel or is she a stumpy tomato or what? 

The Policeman with his firearms training and the Hospital Attendant with his  CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) training suddenly has to let his mind wander over the length of a woman's legs. 

I dont think that should be their job. They should focus on their professional jobs to render assistance to the public, as is so precisely explained by the lawyer in the video.

 

 The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.