KUALA LUMPUR: A senior government backbencher wants the relevant authorities to stop all forms of moral policing related to dress codes at government offices.
M. Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) urged the government to stop moral policing and urged the Chief Secretary to issue updated instructions to the civil service.
"There are cases where the public was stopped from lodging a report at the police station and even receiving treatment due to their dress code.
"I feel this is an unacceptable incident in any multiracial and multilingual country," Kulasegaran told the Dewan Rakyat during his committee stage debate of Budget 2023.
In a recent case on March 10, The Star reported that a woman known as Khor Hooi Chin, 41, from Pantai Remis, whose dress length was slightly above her knees, was denied entry into a government building by a staff member who informed her that her attire failed to comply with the agency’s dress code.
In a video she posted, the woman could be heard asking the male staff member which part of her attire was not presentable.
Several other incidents of women being denied entry to hospitals, police stations and government offices due to their attire have been reported this past month.
Kulasegaran also pointed out at a reported statement by then-de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri in 2015 that individuals who did not abide by the dress code will still be served at government premises.
He also cited another example made by then-minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said who clearly said the government will not turn away people even if they are not "appropriately dressed".
"I hope a guideline will be issued to all to put an end to these moral policing measures," Kulasegaran said, adding that the Chief Secretary to the Government should instruct civil servants and other parties such as security guards to not be overzealous in enforcing the dress code.
