My Longkang

In today’s issue of the star, Public relations officer, Mohd Azman Daham of the Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB) said women working in retail outlets and restaurants in Kelantan have been warned to mind their dressing or be prepared to face a fine.

The Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB) has announced that it would no longer tolerate indecent dressing by women, both Muslim and non-Muslim.

Yours truly here feels that is unfair to target those in the retail field. Are only those working in the retail field immoral? Does their clothing make them immoral? A pretty woman would attract attention whatever clothing she wears.

In this article, I will only touch on the non-Muslim women.

The next step would be to gazette by-laws for all those working in all fields from the hospital to the army and the police, to the farmer, person who slaughters chicken, washes the dishes etc. It cannot be denied all ladies must wear morally acceptable clothing.

I recommend that multi-million complexes be built at the outskirts of Kota Baru. All non-Muslim ladies who work in the retail industry will be required to descend from the bus/car/motor-cycle/lorry/trishaw/bicycle they are on to enter a special building to be called, Jabatan Imigrasi Pakaian.

On entering the building, each woman will be given a number. After being examined in cleverly-shielded-from-public-eyes-cubicles and certified as wearing morally acceptable clothing (m.a.c.), pass through a counter and after paying a certain amount e.g. one dinar, they will have their clothing stamped with a special dye that is not washable lest they be caught outside with clothes that are ‘morally questionable’. The dye will authenticate their claims and make void any further legal complications.

Let there be a special section for the tourists who will also be herded there. Make available clothing of a higher grade e.g. sell kain songket in m.a.c. styles: develop the local kain songket industry.

Tourists who come to see the image of Kota Baru will be impressed as they discard the clothing they are wearing and shop for these expensive m.a.c. They have all the time in the world……..there isn’t much to do in Kota Baru.

It will be a good idea too to issue these retail licenses to poor families. Kill two birds with one stone.

For the non-Muslim where will be the boundary for morally acceptable clothing? “Non-Muslim women are required to wear decent clothes.” Mohd Azman said, “Tight-fitting tops and pants are not allowed, even for non-Muslims.”What is the definition of tight-fitting tops and pants? Everything has to be very clear and concise lest it be challenged in court.

Public relations officer Mohd Azman Daham said that under local council by-laws women who “dressed sexily or indecently” could be fined up to RM500. He added that although punishment for indecent dressing was in place under the by-laws, it had not been totally enforced.Mohd Azman said MPKB would focus on “suspicious areas”, especially the shopping malls in Taman Hijau, Taman Uda and Taman Tengku Anis here.

I recommend a band of man be employed and wear taliban-style uniform with its main role to monitor the clothing of these said females in the retail industry just like the guys in the immigration offices. They must be taught to smile, say, “Good morning…etc etc,” to project a service-friendly atmosphere. It is not wise to issue firearms to these men who only have to protect themselves from these women so I recommend they carry a long thick rotan. Of course in the discharge of their duties, they might have to pull at some clothing, causing some disarray… to measure the level of ‘tight-fitting’ , said clothing is supposed to be.

I recommend a fund be set up to protect this band of men as they discharge their duties to keep at bay these said criminals who, horror of horrors, smear the image of Kota Baru. This fund I propose to be used to buy personal accident and life insurance for these patriotic men.

I further propose a portion of the fine of RM500 be channeled to a fund to buy quality jamming equipment….to jam reception of Malaysian TV networks where horror of horrors………………………. women are not following the dress code set up by the MPKB

I further propose in our post-independence Malaysia, specific guidelines to be written for the males to follow where clothing is concerned. Set up a band of women. They will patrol the streets. They will know when their sensitivities have been offended.

This tongue-in-cheek article is written in jest, not to provoke any sensitivities but to highlight the difficulties in running a municipal council like MPKB….where there are two prominent and culturally dissimilar cultures. It is easy to criticize but what would you do if you were in their shoes? Easier said than done

The council had received complaints from ratepayers that certain shop assistants and waitresses here donned sexy outfits, supposedly to woo more male customers.
State Local Government Committee chairman Takiyuddin Hassan said the state had not taken any tough action yet as, the MPKB had been more involved in generating awareness about proper attire.

“We define proper attire as wearing respectful clothing,” he said.

He urged the people to co-operate, especially those in the retail and restaurant businesses.