Dapsy S’wak: Dress codes as guidelines, cannot be enforced as law

Peter Hee

MIRI (Feb 2): Dress codes should not supersede the core business of law enforcement agencies in serving the society, said Dapsy Sarawak chief Peter Hee.

The Dapsy chief said this in support of former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan’s statement in Free Malaysia Today that the police have no power to stop anyone lodging a police report for not complying with the dress code.

“All government officers should not overreact and have to handle dress code with flexibility, especially at emergency conditions and places like police stations or hospitals,” said Hee, adding that the dress code should not have been an issue in times of urgency.

Hee was commenting on Free Malaysia Today’s report on Tuesday (Jan 31) where a woman intending to lodge a police report following a car accident claimed she was denied entry into the Kajang police station because of her attire.

The complainant said she was wearing Bermuda pants which covered her ankle at that time, but was told to leave and be dressed decently.

A perplexed Hee wondered whether the Malaysian society is progressing or regressing with dress code issues still in the news from time to time after all these years.

While agreeing that appropriate clothing is also respectful and as a standard practice for government departments, Hee stressed that the dress codes are just guidelines to refer to but cannot be enforced as law.

Malay Mail yesterday reported that the Kajang police issued a statement that the complainant was admitted entry after she had changed into a longer pair of pants, after initially being denied entry for wearing a pair of shorts above her knees, breaching the dress code for government departments.

Musa said that any member who prevents anyone from making a report has committed a disciplinary offence and could be reported to the Department of Integrity and Standard Compliance for action to be taken against the members involved.

He suggested that Bukit Aman headquarters issue instructions to all police stations to allow anyone to make a report regardless of their attire.

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