In The Name Of Allah, The Most Gracious and The Most Merciful

20061206

To Cover or Not To Cover ?

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"Dan katakanlah kepada perempuan-perempuan yang beriman supaya menyekat pandangan mereka (daripada memandang yang haram), dan memelihara kehormatan mereka; dan janganlah mereka memperlihatkan perhiasan tubuh mereka kecuali yang zahir daripadanya; dan hendaklah mereka menutup belahan leher bajunya dengan tudung kepala mereka; dan janganlah mereka memperlihatkan perhiasan tubuh mereka melainkan kepada suami mereka, atau bapa mereka atau bapa mertua mereka atau anak-anak mereka, atau anak-anak tiri mereka, atau saudara-saudara mereka, atau anak bagi saudara-saudara mereka yang lelaki, atau anak bagi saudara-saudara mereka yang perempuan, atau perempuan-perempuan Islam, atau hamba-hamba mereka, atau orang gaji dari orang-orang lelaki yang telah tua dan tidak berkeinginan kepada perempuan, atau kanak-kanak yang belum mengerti lagi tentang aurat perempuan; dan janganlah mereka menghentakkan kaki untuk diketahui orang akan apa yang tersembunyi dari perhiasan mereka; dan bertaubatlah kamu sekalian kepada Allah, wahai orang-orang yang beriman, supaya kamu berjaya. " [An-Nur : 31]
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TheStar dated 5th December 2006 wrote an article about the strict women dressing law in Kelantan,

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MPKB: Cover up or else

KOTA BARU: 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.

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.

“Such outfits are prohibited here as it smears the reputation of Kota Baru and affects its status as an Islamic City,” he said in an interview.

He added that although punishment for indecent dressing was in place under the by-laws, it had not been totally enforced.

“But now, MPKB will no longer tolerate skimpy outfits, following mounting complaints from the public,” Mohd Azman said, adding that under the by-laws, women working in retail outlets should wear decent clothes.

Council enforcement officers, he added, would step up checks in various localities.

Mohd Azman said MPKB would focus on “suspicious areas”, especially the shopping malls in Taman Hijau, Taman Uda and Taman Tengku Anis here.

The council had received complaints from ratepayers that certain shop assistants and waitresses here donned sexy outfits, supposedly to woo more male customers.

Under the standard dress code here, a Muslim women has to be covered until the ankles and wear a tudung. Non-Muslim women are required to wear decent clothes.

Tight-fitting tops and pants were not allowed, even for non-Muslims, Mohd Azman said.

Mohd Azman said under the council by-laws, the owners of retail outlets who employed indecently dressed workers could also be fined.

If the offence was repeated, the council could suspend the business permit of the outlet, he added.

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.

“We apologise to non-Muslims if this comes across as harsh but we must respect our Asian culture and religion in public.”

He noted that “eye-popping” outfits invited undesirable attention.

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

Trader Che Suraya Hulaimi Sulaiman, 32, supported the council's move, saying: “Almost everywhere there are retail assistants or waitresses wearing sexy clothes.

“This is an insult to Islam.”

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At the same time, TheStar also wrote another article,

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Shahrizat: Dress code is disrespectful and undermines women’s capabilities

KUALA LUMPUR: The latest dress code ruling in Kelantan is disrespectful and undermines women’s capabilities.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said she is appalled at the no sexy clothes ruling in Kelantan.

The state government, she said, should instead focus on how it can help the development of women instead of concentrating on flimsy issues such as dress codes.

“Why are they focusing on dressing issues when they should be thinking about how they can help women in Kelantan excel and develop fur ther, both in education and entrepreneurship?” she told The Star at the Parliament lobby Tuesday in commenting on its front-page report.

The Kota Baru Municipal Council had warned that both Muslim and non-Muslim women working in retail out lets and restaurants in Kelantan should take note of their dress ing or risk being fined.

The council said it would be conducting spot checks and women who flouted its guidelines could be fined up to RM500, Several women's organisations reacted with outrage.

Shahrizat said creating such a ruling will in the end back-fire on the Kelantan government.

“In the end, Kelantanese women will object to it," she warned.

“It is so disrespectful to the women there. The ruling makes it seem like women cannot decide for themselves what they should or should not wear and need the government to help them decide.

“It just goes to show what kind of government they are.”


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Well, I honestly believe that Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil (DSSS) is partially wrong there. IMHO, I do not see, in any way at all, the law looks disrespectful to women. Just few weeks ago, there were discussions in Parliament ( if I am not mistaken ) about foreign tourists marking Bukit Bintang as a prostitute-part of KL, or something like that. Looking from that point of view, I believe that this law is quite important in order to remove such views and thinkings from the foreign tourists.

Malaysia, as we know it, is a country full of tradition, specifically The Eastern Culture. Somehow, due to what people call as 'globalisation', Malaysians are becoming more and more revealing themselves. From baju kurung with tudungs, the young Malay feminines are starting to dress like the Westerners, some even on short pants and baby-Tees, all in the name of globalisation.


For me, there is no such thing as globalisation in this aspect. Culture is something we should be proud of. Wearing such fancy things means that we are slowly eradicating the culture from the deepest of our hearts. One might say "Well, even with these dress, I still know, and love my culture. Never will I forget them". To know your culture is a thing. To love your culture is a thing. To be proud of your culture is also a thing.

Eastern cultures never taught us to wear fancy baby-Tees, revealing the upper part of the torso and the tummy. Eastern cultures never taught us to wear dress that are sexually appealing. The more we become like that, the more sex-city we are becoming. That is why the code was introduced, to further ease on issue of Malaysia having a sex-city. Imagine if the code is implemented in the whole nation, that issue would have probably be gone, or better still, never went out from anyone at all.

Do someone need to dress in a sexually appealing condition to outperform or overachieve something? For sure not, unless the person is a sex slave, a prostitute.

If we go to a microchips fabrication factories, there are stricter dress code. Every worker must wear a full-body suit while working. The idea is to remove, at any costs, probabilities of any germs, bacterias to infect the microchips and degrade it, if not making it unusable at all. The end result? Microchips with high-end technology with superb capabilities in helping humans achieve outstanding objectives. See there ? The effect of properly-dressing, no sexual-appealing dress at all ?

So, why not implement such concepts to the commons ?

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