KUALA LUMPUR – The women’s wing of Johor MCA has expressed concern over an incident at Wisma Persekutuan, the federal government building in Johor Baru, where a woman was denied entry by a security guard who found her long skirt too “provocative and revealing”.
Johor Wanita MCA chairman Wong You Fong said they are saddened by the ongoing problem of security guards exercising arbitrary interpretation of what is considered acceptable attire.
She cautioned against such enforcement methods devolving into moral policing and coercion of one’s values on others, instead of guards ensuring the security of staff and visitors to a building.
“We are further perturbed that security personnel of any building management with prurient minds may exploit such ‘enforcement powers’ to legitimise ogling at women’s or even men’s physique on the pretext of distinguishing dressing, which they deem is provocative or is not,” she said in a statement.
She added that female visitors looking to enter any government building while dressed in decent and modest outfits, as opposed to short pants and sleeveless tops, should not be denied entry.
“Especially in times of emergencies, the moral policing of clothing worn would result in inconvenience or could even make a difference to life and death,” read the statement.
Wong called on the management of Wisma Persekutuan to investigate and clarify to the public if indeed female visitors to the building are required to don attire that reaches their ankles or if what transpired was due to an independent decision by the guards.
“The latest incident again does not reflect the government in a positive light, despite hard work and dedication put in by civil servants to the needs and queries from the public,” she said.
On Monday, lawyer Norman Fernandez had claimed that his wife Leni was denied entry into the Johor government building for wearing inappropriate clothing as determined by the guard on duty.
Fernandez had claimed that his wife, who has been visiting the government building’s café for meals over the past few years, was wearing a skirt that extended around 7cm below her knees with closed-toed shoes.
He said the guard insisted that non-Muslims looking to enter the building should don clothing that reached the ankles or long pants to be allowed in.
He included that their requests to speak to the security guard’s superiors fell on deaf ears with no one showing up to offer an explanation even after an hour of waiting. – The Vibes, May 11, 2022
