BY: KEN WATANABE

Malaysians are puzzled over incidents where they are barred from entering government premises because of their ‘inappropriate dressing’ and this has led to allegations of moral policing by the authorities.

But are the authorities to be blamed for barring you from conducting business with them when you are dressed as if you are ready on a wild partying night to paint the town red and not modestly dressed for the occasion.

While there are people who will decry that it is sweeping statements and generalizations, it appears that most of these girls and women are Chinese, and though there may also be Malays and Indians they are deemed to be more conservative.

This observation is not in any way racist. While there might be “offensive dressing” by Malay and Indian girls and women they rate as a rarity rather than the norm whereas a significant number of Chinese girls and women dress scantily most of the time.

It doesn’t matter if they work in an office or as a waitress in a coffee shop, the need to seek attention from people and to bare their bodies is very evident and this is why there has to be some form of code of conduct in dressing for an occasion.

If there are occurrences such as ‘gangguan seksual’ or sexual harrassment on public transport vehicles and rising incidences of molest and rape it can be traced to girls and women who not only dress provocatively but misbehave in public.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher