LETTER | Dress codes continue to draw flak in Malaysia

LETTER | The news of Malaysians being denied entry into government buildings including hospitals and even police stations for not complying with a seeming nationwide dress code cannot be ignored.

Such dress codes are seemingly appearing all over the country. Who is the architect driving this “decent” dress code in Malaysia? Is blaming “Little Napoleons” a pulling wool over the eyes strategy to circumvent public protest? 

What is so indecent about wearing clean, knee-length, short pants anyway? Have we become so puritanical in outlook suddenly that we are bent in enforcing “covering up” even our legs below our knees?

How would enforcing such codes make our nation into a more virtuous population, free of corrupt mindsets and corrupt deeds? 

When Islam was already well anchored in the pre- and post-independence periods in Malaya and later Malaysia, our citizens even donned uniforms that included knee-length khakis and knee-length dresses.

It was neither indecent then nor was it a threat to Muslims. It was not even about sensitivities. 

But why the sudden militant-styled coercive enforcement of new dress codes that goes as far as setting up counters to hand out sarongs for those not complying with these new dress codes before a citizen can gain entry into a government building?

And how about the case in the eastern state of Kelantan, where a citizen was being slammed with a reprimand and even taken to court for wearing shorts at an eatery?

In one case in particular, we heard that a citizen was denied entry into a police station even in an emergency, mind you.

Tourists throng the shopping paradises all over the country in hot pants and braless blouses. That seems to be not a problem.

Prostitution is still a lucrative, thriving business in the country. That too is not a concern.

Drug addiction in the country is a lost battle - don’t deny it. 

Corruption is rooted right inside the heart of the nation’s governance. That too is appearing like a hopeless battle to win.

Even a brutal murder - unprecedented in world history, remains hanging like an albatross without acceptable closure after decades.

And against this canopy of eroding social values and right conduct, it suddenly seems that dress codes are a top, nationwide priority.

Either the Madani government of Anwar Ibrahim steps out and makes an official stand on this matter now or we as a nation will earn more brickbats from the discerning world of progressive and fast-progressing nations, including in the Asean region.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.