KUCHING: Gatekeepers, who are usually security guards, must be taught to be tactful in advising visitors on the dress code to “certain places”, said Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah.
She said that for places of worship like mosques, it is understandable that those entering have to be properly dressed, while the offices of the Chief Minister and Head of State observe a strict dress code, but all these are stated in a letter given to visitors when they make an appointment for a visit.
The public must first be acquainted with the dress code or risk being red-faced when they have already arrived at a (government) office and told to not expose their kneecaps and thus be handed a ‘sarong’.
“A security guard can point out to visitors that they are not following the dress code, but they must do it tactfully, with respect and not to tell them off in a high-handed and haughty manner. We must always remember that people who come to us are our clients whom we are supposed to serve,” said Fatimah when met after a Hari Raya goodies packing event at Wisma Wanita yesterday.
“They (the public) may think that they are dressed appropriately but when they get treated like this (forced to wear ‘sarong’), they feel hurt and embarrassed.”
She was asked for her opinion on the recent headlines of women being barred entry at government offices unless they complied with a certain gatekeeper’s knee jerk reaction that they must follow his sarong dress code.
For other offices wishing to follow the cue of the ‘little napoleons at the gate’, she felt the public must be informed of the dress code for visitors beforehand and given a grace period for compliance.
On why lately women are the target of dress code violations, Fatimah was no better at guesswork, but she liked what a young Johor prince shared in words of wisdom of internationally renowned Zimbabwean scholar Mufti Ismail Menk on his Instagram: “When you see a female dressed in a manner that is unacceptable Islamically, do not for one moment think that she is lower than you spiritually. If you do that, you are lower than her. Believe me, that is the teaching of your religion. She might have a heart that is tons better than yours. She might have one weakness that is outward, and you have 50 weaknesses that are hidden.”
While the odd security guard’s fashion code is a question of wearing the ‘mini, midi or maxi’ (sarong), the knee jerk reactions are likely to come from gatekeepers bordering on the hemline of a modern, secular society in Malaysia.