What is wrong if policy makers made it relevant for women to be properly attired?Kota Baru Municipal Council has listed the Do's and Don'ts for female workers in retail outlets and restaurants. For Muslims, their dressing must cover down to the ankles and must wear head dress (tudung). For non-Muslims, the dress must be decent and not to expose the navel or to show a lot of cleavage and emphasis on the buttocks.
The Don'ts are: Body hugging outfits which shows off the body; blouses which shows the navel; see-through blouses; mini-skirts; and tight pants.
However, several women's organizations are against the decision of the Kota Baru Municipal Council to disallow and fine those who disobeyed the sanction. Ivy Josiah, the executive director of Women's Aids Organization (WAO) said the ruling was unacceptable and ridiculous as the ruling was a reflection of a narrow mindset, that woman should have the freedom to wear what they want and no one should dictate what a person wants to wear. The All-Women's Action Society (AWAM) executive director Honey Tan said that AWAM was totally opposed to the move as imposing moral standards are forcing women to bear the burden of morality and is a discrimination and a violation of their rights. According to Honey Tan, it is not the job of the council to become the moral police.
I do not agree with all these views. It is the council's duty to formulate policies to ensure moral codes are clear and unambiguous and that enforcers have clear knowledge and proper guidelines. This is to avoid wide discretionary and arbitrary actions such as those applied by DBKL enforcement officers and from other councils. In fact, the PAS government when formulating policies have always ensured that these policies are written in clear words and leaves little for arbitrary decisions whereas in other councils, you can see that their policies are drafted in subjectiveness which allow enforcers such wide discretion to act at their whims and fancies and consequently permitted the seeking of personal gains - the root of corruption.
What is wrong to have women properly dressed? The policies by MPKB did not dictate what women should wear; rather, it limits only those sexy attires and those clothings which reveals the women's navel and emphasized the attraction of the buttocks. However, it leaves the choice of women to wear any styles or fashions, choice of color or fabrics. I hardly can attribute this as a discriminatory rule nor violating any aspects of human rights. On the contrary, the requirements of non-Muslim uniform officers to wear tudung or head scarfs should be construed as a violation of human rights; that again is subjective as this rule is formulated by Barisan Nasional govt and few ever objected.
11 comments:
oh maverick, i beg to differ...how on earth do we define 'sexy' and 'properly attired' and why should we discriminate / distinguish attires worn by muslims and non muslim women?
just because other councils apply arbitrary rulings on how they enforce the dress code does not make KBMC's strict ruling any better - we seem to be moving backwards and will only push 'moral indecency' underground, making it more difficult to monitor (incest is a case in point). "Covering Up" as panecea to social ills also imply that if women cover up, they wont get raped or have loose morals. does this mean there are no sexual deviances in the covered up Arab world?
on that basis, i do not agree with your views but an interesting perspective nevertheless for seeing this article from a different angle (i.e. non arbitrary rules and codes of conduct) instead of the usual religious arguments.
Remember the case of the Australian mufti and his 'uncovered meat'? Only that here in BolehLand we cannot hound these sex maniacs out of the country, unlike that Australian 'holy' man who was deported back to Egypt in just a couple of days. I believe he is now preaching his uncovered meat fatwa to the camels and sheep there....
Ms j's comments are fair and one would definitely respect her view after reading them. Just like to put a short comment to echo yr view...certainly many will disagree, but hopefully some will spare a little thought..
Doing the right thing is not always easy, while doing the wrong things can easily get scot-free. It seems to be okay for women to be 'near naked' on billboards across the country or on tv or newspapers..one could not be blamed for thinking so as there are no noises that we could put our fingers on..at least in the near past.. I guess women are more dignified in those 'near naked' or revealing poses!
bullshit story make-up by the star. i've seen many kelantan kamoung ladies dressed more sexier than the town ladies. they always in sarong cover up to the papaya area.
the star cab go f-themselves.
Ms J and others,
Thanks for the comments. However, I believed Kelantan MPKB is not arguing about how sexy is sexy or how to dress; they are setting policy for dress code for those working at restaurants and retail outlets. I can't find what's wrong if those policies wouldn't restrict the women's freedom but only when they are working at retail outlets and restaurants. It's like having uniform dresses of which most restaurants do. It didn't say that women should be fully covered-up from head to toe.
The question of differences between non-Muslims clothings and Muslims are a fact of religion and PAS being an Islamic party, Kelantan being an Islamic State, it becomes necessary to see to it that the Islamic values are reflected and at the same time, the state govt are conscious of the non-Muslims' religious flexibilities on clothings.
I believed the policies are fair and not discriminating to both Muslims and non-Muslims. Similarly, when non-Muslims visits Muslims at their home, it is a value and being respectful for visitors to dress appropriately or "decently". The question of the "decency" is more to do with values, human nature and the norms. Most, if not, everyone, knows what is meant by decency. You can observed where people attend functions such as funerals, wedding dinners, attending meetings and any other social functions. Somehow, everyone knows how to dress at the right place and at the right time, without being told. However, state govt would still find it necessary to provide clear policy guidelines to ensure that their enforcers have clear and unambiguous directions which prevents arbitrary and discretionary enforcers from abusive actions.
That's mean we have to cover ourself from top to bottom, left only eye?
Well, I agree with my you said.
"I believed the policies are fair and not discriminating to both Muslims and non-Muslims. Similarly, when non-Muslims visits Muslims at their home, it is a value and being respectful for visitors to dress appropriately or "decently". The question of the "decency" is more to do with values, human nature and the norms. Most, if not, everyone, knows what is meant by decency. You can observed where people attend functions such as funerals, wedding dinners, attending meetings and any other social functions. Somehow, everyone knows how to dress at the right place and at the right time, without being told. However, state govt would still find it necessary to provide clear policy guidelines to ensure that their enforcers have clear and unambiguous directions which prevents arbitrary and discretionary enforcers from abusive actions."
wait for clear-statement from YB Takiyuddin at www.kelantan.tv on the matters...
Thanks Angel, you are the first woman that agreed. So nice of you.
maverick my man.
I seconded your opinion.
You really used your head to write that, unlike other bloggers who wasted their already useless time to comment on the matter.
Salute you.
I am a Malay/Muslim lady. I just feel that this topic is not only about women covering up to prevent rape/illicit sex. But also, it acts as an obligatory cause for Muslim females to cover up themselves as according to Islamic rule. As we can see nowadays, alot of Muslim females are not covering up anymore. As the end of the world is nearing, this is one of the signs that shows. Females covered but yet "uncovered".
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